American English vs. S. African English

South Africa has 11 official languages! Fortunately for us, one of
those languages is English. While we didn't have to learn a new
language to start the ministry, there are a lot of differences! I
thought it might be fun for you to see just a few of them.

Bakkie (pronounced bah-cky) - pickup truck
Boot - trunk of car
Bonnet - hood of car
Hooter - horn
Robot - stoplight
Trolley - grocery cart
Serviette - Napkin
Brinjal - Eggplant
Marrow - Zucchini
Mince - Ground Beef
Peg - Clothes Pin

Cot - baby crib
Dummy - pacifier
Nappy - diaper
Doo Doo - nap

Pronunciation and spelling are also often very different! Here are a couple of examples:
When saying "path" the a would be pronounced like the a in wigwam; but when saying "wigwam", the a would be pronounced like we say the a in path!

Due to other languages, street and suburb names can get quite interesting! We lived in Weltevreden Park (veltefreeden). Yet now we live in Wilro Park, and it's pronounced like it's written. Another suburb is Helderkruin (helderkrane). W's can be"v", V's can be "f", ui says long a....

Here are a couple of the spelling differences: colour, practise.

Dates are written as day/month/year. For example, today is 26/09/2006, or 26 Sept 2006.

Time is frequently referred to as military time. It is currently 22h42.

Needless to say, we've had some good laughs, but we're learning!

We are working at learning Afrikaans slowly but surely, and hope to speed up on it soon.

Prayer Update

Dear Friends,

             Wow, so much has been happening here these
last few weeks, I am not sure where to start.  Last week Friday, when we all got
home from holiday, one of the youth leaders call to let me know how things went
that night at Club.  For you to really understand this story I need to give you
some background.  This church has been struggling with the youth ministry and
they have allowed many of the Biblical Principles to be neglected over the last
year.  About 2 months ago I was able to sit own with them and to teach them why
we do the thing we do in Word of Life.  They made the decision that they needed
to get things right and really focus on the spiritual needs of the young
people.  So, last Friday night they were in their DIA (Discipleship in Action)
groups and they were challenging the teens about committing to Christ.  There
was a student who had been attending youth for about 8 months and they all
believed he was a Christian. However, in the DIA groups it came out that he was
confused and uncertain where he would spend eternity.  That night he accepted
Christ as his personal Savior!  All of the leaders at this church are totally
committed to doing the Biblical Principles themselves and with the youth.  It
goes to show that we should never make those assumptions and we must
always ask the questions!!!  It is times like this that make all the sacrifices
worth it!

Prayer Requests:

1. T-Junction – this
   Saturday
   
2. Car trouble – $1500
   for 2 vehicles needed
   
3. Nov trip to US
   
   
4. Furloughing families
   
   
5. Local Church Leaders and Students
   

Praise Items:

1. Discipleship of
   young people
   
2. Family Holiday
   
3. God's provision for
   the Ministry

In His Service,
Brad Hawkins
Word of Life South
Africa

Prayer Update from Mary

We are excited to see how
things are progressing as God continues to work in His people here!



This week I would like to ask you to pray specifically for those that
we are teaching and discipling. These are their names: Earl &
Genevieve, Deon, Chaplain, Trish and Tracy

• Pray that they are faithful in their Quiet Times and Bible Study.
  
  
• Pray that they are faithful in their prayer life, seeing specific answers to prayer, which helps strengthen faith.
• 
  
  Pray that we have the wisdom needed to give advice and teach God's Word.

Another matter for prayer is our support needs. Brad was hoping to make a trip home in November/December and has even scheduled several church meetings for this time. However, in order for this to happen, we need more staff on the field. Currently the Pages and the Schusters are in the US raising support and we are on the field with the Lombards. It would be impossible to leave Garth here alone to run the ministry, so the trip would depend on the return of one of the other couples.

Please pray that if possible we can increase our support without this trip. While we know that God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, we know that He chooses His people to provide for those needs. Please pray that we connect with those that He wants to be a part of our ministry! We are currently needing an additional $857.31 in monthly support.

Thank you for your prayers!