I am so grateful for God's protection. God made His presence so real to us through it all, and we really feel at peace.
Love,
Mary, for the fam
Just wanted to take a moment and fill you in on the events for this weekend. We have a church running a STORM Event (Sending Teens Out to Reach the Masses) This will only be the second one that has been done here in SA. Then on Saturday we will be running our FIRST Olympian Games Day! We are very excited to see what God will do through this activity. We are excepting around 300 kids and 80 volunteers! This is going to be HUGE! Now, if that isn't enough I will then be preaching at Paseo Baptist Church on Sunday morning. Busy, Busy, Busy as usual.
I know that sounds a bit crazy to be having so much in one weekend but it is not all that much when there are several workers to help. We just had a missionary, Timi, arrive from Hungry to work with us for at least 9 months! She has been able to jump right in and is a valued part of our team. We are looking forward to seeing what an impact she will have in the lives of the youth.
A few praises to pass along - We have received several gifts towards the repairs on the car as well as funds to help with the replacement of the stolen vehicle. THANK YOU all who have helped! We also have recently seen an increase in our support! We are currently at 86%! Please continue to be praying with us as we need to see this continue to climb. We are scheduled for furlough next year but we would really like to be in the 90% level's before then.
In HIS Service,
Brad
Here's the latest from our Country Director, John Page:
Being involved with Christian camping for about 20 years has proved to us that God works in the lives of teens and children when they are in a camp atmosphere. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring someone to come to camp? (Read more in the attached letter!)
Although Teen camp is $90 per camper and Kids Camp is $50, any amount that you are able to share will benefit a camper! (If you would like to sponsor a camper, you may do so online by following this link and choosing camp scholarships, OR print the attached "form" and mail it to Word of Life.)
Thank you to all who helped sponsor 40+ campers for the 2009 camp season. We thank the Lord for your generosity!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support of our ministry! We are excited about all that God is doing in South Africa! We are thrilled to share with you that Mya's adoption has been finalized and she is officially a permanent part of the Hawkins’ family!!
Mike, Fran, Bret & Rachel VanBruggen have joined us in South Africa, and with more staff comes more ministry! There is a lot going on in the next few months. We have just returned from a Southern Africa Staff Retreat where we joined the Word of Life Mozambique Staff, and we are feeling rejuvenated and united as we press forward to reach South Africa for Christ.
South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup Soccer beginning in just 11 days! The schools are taking 5-6 weeks off school, and we are going to jump on the chance to minister to these children. We are running 3 SMASH (Students Ministering And Serving Him) camps, providing soccer clinics, tournaments, and Holiday Bible Club (VBS) while using all of these as a medium to reach people for Christ. Please join us in prayer as we will be teaming up with local churches, providing opportunities for upwards of 60 teens to minister with us, and especially for souls to be won for Christ!
There have been MANY ministry opportunities for us in the last few months, and there are many more in the near future that we just don’t have room to share! Unfortunately, our support level has been low on average over the past year, and has limited some of what we could do. Our incoming support is approximately $1300 below our support needs and we will not be coming home on furlough until some time in 2011. We know that we have a God that will meet all of our needs, but with more funds we could do more ministry! Will you please pray about whether God would use you in this way to further the ministry of Word of Life in S. Africa?
Thank you!
Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya