We had a great time at Sunbury Christian Camp! It was an amazing week, with many decisions for Christ. Thanks for praying!

 Here is a picture of the kitchen we worked in:

I will try to add more pictures when I get them!  

Thoroughly enjoyed worshipping at Crossroads Community Church this morning! Brad was able to preach. We had a great time of fellowship with them. 

We leave for camp at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Please pray for us as we strive to serve others and build relationships! We are looking forward to it and will give you an update when we get back. Have a great week!

Amazing Race - Word of Life Kids Camp

With over 95 at kids camp, we have heard that it was a blast! Games, good food, fellowship, and especially - time spent in God's Word.
Please pray for those children that made decisions for Christ to be faithful!
Click on the photo to the right to see more pictures.
Pray also for the camp staff as teen camp starts tomorrow afternoon!

December Prayer Letter

Here is our most recent prayer letter. Follow this link to download it to your computer.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya Hawkins

Support Update

If you remember from our last prayer letter, we asked you to join us in praying about our support, as we are currently bringing in 78% of our needed support. We have set goals to raise the rest of our support in $500 increments. We would like to see the first $500 raised by Dec 31.

We have seen some gifts from new givers since that time (thank you!) but do not know if those will be one time gifts or ongoing support. Please continue to pray with us as we try to reach this goal!

If you feel that God is leading you to give financially you can follow this link for more information, and indicate in the comments section if this is a one-time gift or monthly support

Mary, for the fam

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog page! We are glad you came on over to visit!

Please have some patience with us. Multiply is no longer supporting blogs as of tomorrow, and I hurriedly imported our previous blog here. It will take some time to edit the blogs for blogspot format!

We hope that this site will help keep you informed and updated on all that is happening with our family and our ministry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from South Africa! We are thankful for so many things today! Among them are friends and fellow missionaries, Henry and Janet Houk to share Thanksgiving dinner with. We are also thankful for your prayers, for without them our ministry would not be the same! Thank you!

We have arrived!

Our move went smoothly and we are crazy busy settling into our new home in Amanzimtoti, also known as Toti for short. We had an uneventful trip and were grateful for the help of Kyle Steven Paradis and John Cottier as they drove the 7 hour trip Friday, helped unload the moving truck Saturday, and drove back to Joburg on Sunday, despite Kyle coming down with the flu on Sat evening.

We have a lot of work to do to settle in. The girls have already made friends with the neighbor kids, which is an answer to prayer! And we have had a few opportunities already to share our faith. We are excited to see all that God has in store for the ministry here!

Nov 14. 9:34

Olympians Games Day

Thank you for praying for our second Olympian Games Day this year! We had 95 in attendance and 21 salvation decisions! I sat outside and listened to the gospel being shared in different languages and my heart just welled up with His praise at the privilege to be used by Him.

Follow this link to see more pics!

Oct 31. 12:19 am

Olympians Quizzing

 

Here's a picture of the Olympian Quiz last week between Grace Baptist and Muldersdrift Union. SOOOO exciting to see the way the kids studied God's Word and remembered it!

 

(Our Marissa is second from the left.)

Upcoming Ministry Opportunities

On Friday, we will have our first quiz between two Olympian groups. This is a fun way to get the children studying their Bible Lessons they were taught for the whole year! This will take place between our church, Grace Baptist Church, and Muldersdrift Union. Pray that the equipment works, everything goes smoothly, the children have fun and that God is glorified.

Also, this Saturday is the first of two Olympian Games Days for this year! We will have carnival type games for children, a snack shop, and many volunteers to help us run the event smoothly. Please pray for Brad as he shares the Gospel message!

October Prayer Letter

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter. You will need Adobe Reader to open the files. Click here to download free.

For more info on Student Fusion, follow this link: http://missions.wol.org/studentfusion

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Attachment: Oct 2012.pdf

Prayer Update

Our New House in Amanzimtoti!

There is so much going on here in Joburg! We are packing for the big move in November! But life doesn't slow down around us, so pray as we keep up with home school and ministry while we pack.

If you would like to see pictures of our new house, follow this link. Our God is GREAT and provided just what we needed at the right price! And we have room for you so you can come visit!

We need your opinions! Multiply is closing down their blog sites, which includes our "Hawkins Headlines" Blog, and we are wondering if we should move to another blog, or simply continue our updates on our Facebook page. Are there any of you that would not be able to  (or prefer not to) access our Facebook page? PLEASE give us feedback so that we can find the most efficient way to share with you what God is doing in South Africa!

Text Only Prayer Letter....

For those of you that prefer a simple, text-only prayer letter, here it is! :)

Our upcoming move is getting closer. We’ve set a goal to move on Nov. 1, and it’s hard to believe that in less than 3 months we will be in Durban starting a new ministry! We are extremely grateful to those that have given toward our moving expenses. God has allowed us to reach & exceed our goal of $3500 to cover expenses for the move.

We are still needing additional monthly support, so please pray regarding whether God desires to have you join our ministry team in this way. If you would like to give toward our ministry, you can do so here: https://home.wol.org/giving/giveto/Brad+Hawkins.

Since we last wrote, we had some amazing family time in Durban. It was a much needed time away, as well as a great opportunity to visit churches and make connections for our upcoming move.
We also had the opportunity to go to family camp with Grace Baptist Church in Northdene. Brad was given the privilege of being the speaker for the adults and Mary for the children. We had a great time of fellowship and made some new friends!

On June 21 we had a Micro F1 in Muldersdrift (Hot Wheels Car Race). We had around 115 in attendance, and 24 decisions for Christ! John Cottier, an intern with Word of Life SA, shared the gospel, Steven Bongani Ndaba, a Discipleship Training Centre Student, translated and God changed lives!

Thank you so much for your prayers for SMASH (Students Ministering And Serving Him, a mission trip for S. African Kids). We had an amazing week in Durban from June 24-30!

We had a total of 34 people on our team, and we stayed at a local church, Grace Baptist of Northdene. The church was gracious to let us stay there, even though they had their own Holiday Bible Club (HBC, like VBS) throughout the week. Each day we would get up early, pack up all of our things and attempt to make it appear as if we'd never been there before they arrived for a full program of ministry.

Then we split into two groups and went to two churches. In the mornings we did all that we could to help them run HBC, ministering to well over 330 children. 
In the afternoons, still in our two groups at two churches, we worked on training youth in the church in personal Bible study & evangelism. We went with their youth out into the community and were able to share the gospel with numerous people.
We were excited to see, with the two HBCs and afternoon evangelism outreaches combined, over 45 people make decisions to follow Christ!

In the evenings we gathered all of our team back at our base church and heard amazing, challenging messages from several Pastors and Missionaries in the area.

And following SMASH, we had a great visit from Word of Life Student Fusion, a group of 15 teens and young adults  from  all  over  the  US  that came together for short-term missions. The Student Fusion team was immersed in ministry from the moment the airplane landed until take off to return to the US 2 weeks later. They were able to do ministry here in South Africa as well as Mozambique and were involved in orphan ministry, open air evangelism, school outreaches, youth groups, churches, etc. We are so grateful for refreshing encouragement they gave as well as their lasting impact on our communities.

~Upcoming Ministry Opportunities~

9/10-14 - Running Camp for Grace Christian School
9/21-24 - Young Adult Camp
10/20 - Olympian Games Day, West Rand
10/27 - Olympian Games Day, East Rand
11/1 - Move to Durban

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya Hawkins
Word of Life
PO Box 600
Schroon Lk, NY 12870

Word of Life South Africa
PO Box 2013
Ruimsig
1732
Gauteng, South Africa

bradhawkins@wol.org
maryhawkins@wol.org
http://missions.wol.org/imepages/index/bradhawkins

August Prayer Letter

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter. Note that there are two attachments! There are two pages, one in each file.
You will need Adobe Reader to open the files. Click here to download free.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Attachment: Aug 2012.pdf
Attachment: Aug 2012 2.pdf

Prayer Update

After a busy 2 weeks with the Student Fusion team, they left to return to the US last Friday night. What an amazing 2 weeks of ministry! Here are a couple of links to pics if you are interested! Week 1 Week 2

Saturday night we were able to attend a dinner at Paseo Baptist Church. We have really appreciated their youth leadership, Derrick & Hadessah Martin Jones, and the friendship that we've developed with them. The youth from our church will be joining their youth this upcoming Friday night and we're looking forward to fun and fellowship!

Sunday morning Brad was able to visit Toekumsrus Baptist Church. Two of our Discipleship Training Center students are from this church, and the church also has an Olympians (Children's) program. It's always encouraging to worship with them!

Please pray for my friend, Memory, and her husband as their house burned down this week. They lived in a squatter camp and the fire took 2 lives and over 20 shacks. They have been told that they are not allowed to rebuild and they don't have anywhere else to go. It is winter in South Africa and there is supposed to be a cold front on it's way, and all they have left of their belongings is a mattress. Pray that God uses this situation to draw them closer to Him and that I can find an opportunity to share the gospel through this situation.

It's hard to believe that it is already August 1! That means 3 months and counting until the planned move date to Durban. There is so much to do!!! Please pray for us as we pare down some of our belongings and pack for the move.

Serving Him,
Mary, for the fam
Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya Hawkins

Micro F1 in Muldersdrift

Yesterday we had a Micro F1 (Hot Wheels Car Race). We had around 115 in attendance, and 24 decisions for Christ! John Cottier, an intern with Word of Life SA, shared the gospel, Steven Bongani Ndaba, a Discipleship Training Centre Student, translated and God changed lives!
Click here to view more pictures!

New Team Members for Word of Life South Africa!

Meet our new team members for Word of Life South Africa, Luke & Erin Lacey. Please pray for them as they pursue a support team.  They desire to be in South Africa by June/July of 2013.

Prayer Update

Thank you to those that have been praying for Brad's health! He was down this past week for 4 days with gastro, and finally feels like he got his strength back today, almost a week later! He's back in the office today playing catch up and preparing for Student Fusion to arrive on Saturday!
In his absence, John Cottier (an intern with Word of Life South Africa for 2 years) and I were able to teach a second Olympians Training to a church new to Word of Life, South Hills Church. We enjoyed our time of fellowship together with them, as well as seeing their excitement about implementing new changes that will facilitate discipleship with the children in their church!
Please pray for the Student Fusion team, as they are in training this week at Word of Life in Schroon Lake, NY and will arrive in South Africa on Saturday. They are a team of students from all over the US that are coming to help with the ministry in South Africa and Mozambique. Click here to keep up with the team!

Serving Him,
Mary, for the fam
Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya

S.M.A.S.H. Update

Thank you so much for your prayers for S.M.A.S.H.! We returned safely from Durban, and had an amazing week!
We had a total of 34 people on our team, and we stayed at a local church, Grace Baptist of Northdene. The church was gracious to let us stay there, even though they had their own HBC (VBS) every day. Each day we would get up early, pack up all of our things and attempt to make it appear as if we'd never been there before they arrived for a full program of ministry.
Then we split into two groups, one group ministering at Crossroads Community Church and the other at Ekukhanyeni Baptist Church. In the mornings we did all that we could to help them run their HBC, in total ministering to well over 330 children.
In the afternoons, still in our two groups at two churches, we worked on training the youth in the church in personal Bible study and evangelism. We even went out into the community and were able to share the gospel with numerous people.
We were excited to see, between the HBCs and afternoon evangelism outreaches, over 45 people make decisions to follow Christ!
In the evenings we gathered all of our team back at our base church and heard amazing, challenging messages from several Pastors and Missionaries in the area.
We are so grateful for those that allowed us to come and minister alongside them and poured themselves into those on our team: Pastor Mike Blackstock and Pastor Louis Fourie of Grace Baptist Northdene, Pastor Henry and Janet Houk and Pastor Bongani of Ekukhanyeni Baptist Church, Pastor Dennis & Violet Nkosi and Darin and Kathy Ishler of Crossroads Community Church. Thank you!

Prayer Update

Please pray for us as we prepare for a second ministry team, S.M.A.S.H. (Students Ministering And Serving Him) leaving for Durban this weekend! This will be a team of approximately 35. Brad and I will be on this ministry team, and Brandon, Marissa & Mya will be staying at our home with some friends.
Pray as we plan and prepare! Pray that all of the details will continue to fall into place smoothly, and pray that those on the team as well as those we minister to will have hearts that are open to God's teaching.

Serving Him,

Mary, for the fam

Prayer Update

Be praying for us tomorrow, we are doing some training at one of our churches here in SA. I have the opportunity to share with the Children's Leaders, Student Leaders, and the Sunday School Teachers. We will be talking about make the Bible relevant in the lives of the youth and us as leaders! Thanks for all your prayers and support!

In His Service,
Brad

Text Only Prayer Letter....

For those of you that prefer a simple, text-only prayer letter, I'm sorry I forgot to post it in May. Here it is! :)

Join us in reaching S. Africa for Christ!
We are so grateful as we see God’s provision for our needs! We saw another small increase in our support this month. Thank you! We are still needing around $920 per month. We are extremely grateful to those that have given toward our moving expenses! We have raised $3000, leaving only $500 to raise!

There has been a lot happening since you heard from us!
March 10 was T-Junction, a “fun” event at a local water park, designed to attract unsaved youth. This event is more importantly designed to bring students to a “T” in the road of life, causing them to choose between turning toward God or turning and going their own way.   We had around 150 in attendance and 6 salvation decisions! It was an amazing day and fun was had by all. Thank you for your prayers!
We had a great time at BattleZone Camp from April 2-4 with approximately 80 in attendance. This camp was held at a local church and the youth slept on the floors in classrooms and in the main hall.  Fran & Mary cooked for them with the help of the Disciple-ship Training Centre students. Mike and I spoke on relationships - "Building Bridges" was the theme. There were lessons on friendships with Christian and non-Christian friends, dating, and relationships with those in authority. It was exciting to see the kids avidly taking notes. The interest and response on dealing with these relationships in a Biblical fashion was encouraging!
I was able to be a part of a satellite BattleZone Camp in Potchefstroom along with some of the young adults that we  work  with. Potch  is about 1 1/2 hours away. We had a great time with the young people there. We were able to have 4 meetings and 4 breakout group meetings in  2 days. We challenged them to evangelize their families, friends, and strangers, then we equipped them to do it! Thanks, again, to those of you who were praying!
We have had  some excellent discipleship  opportunities over the last few months! Please pray for those that we are actively discipling. Here are the names of some of those that we are discipling: Michael, Colleta, Sonny, John, Themba, Cremelda, Ntombesizwe, Rumbi, Miriam, and Agnus, as well as the girls in Mary’s Jr. Youth. Please pray for wisdom to encourage and challenge these precious friends that have a desire to walk closer to Christ!

~Upcoming Ministry~

5/11-13 - Oasis Camp for Young Adults
5/25-6/8 - Trip to Durban (about 6 1/2 hours from Joburg) to help assess when our move will take place and where we’ll be located
6/8-11 - Teach at Family Camp, Grace Baptist Church Northdene, Durban
6/9 - Mid-Year Leadership Conference in Johannesburg (we will be away, but pray for Mike VanBruggen and Christy Page as they will be our only full time staff on hand to run it!)
6/14-18 - Youth Leadership Camp in Durban (We won't be going, but pray for John Page and the team of 11 others that will be ministering there)
6/22-29 - S.M.A.S.H. (Students Ministering And Serving Him) - Mission trip for South African teens - Durban

Prayer Update

  Back in Joburg after an AMAZING, much needed time away. Family camp was great, and Brad had some good meetings regarding our upcoming mission trips. We were able to visit a couple of churches, some missionaries our SA home church supports (the Fouries), and Brad & Brandon were even able to go to senior youth!
Coming back to Joburg was a bit of a shock, as before we left winter was quite mild, but the cold weather arrived while we were away! It was below freezing at night on the weekend, and with no central heat, we found ourselves bundled up in layers and under blankets with hot water bottles. There are many here who don't have the luxuries we do, living in tin shacks, and I can't imagine how they manage. I am so grateful for the home God has blessed us with.

Team in Durban

There is a team of 12 from WOL, headed up by John Page, leaving tomorrow on a mission trip to Durban to help Shawn Duma with a youth leadership camp. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel.
Also, coming up on the 22nd, Brad & I will accompany a team of approximately 30 to Durban for another mission trip. On this trip we will be helping with Holiday Bible Clubs (VBS), training up teens in the local area on Biblical principles, and involved in other ministry opportunities, such as evangelism. Brandon, Marissa & Mya will be staying at our home with some friends of ours, Michael & Colleta. Please keep us in your prayers, both as we prepare, as we minister to those on the team, and as we minister to the youth in Durban! 

May Prayer Letter

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter.
You will need Adobe Reader to open the file. Click here to download free.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Attachment: May 2012.pdf

Prayer Update

This weekend is our young adult Oasis Camp! Please keep all aspects of this camp in your prayers, praying for Brad Hawkins and the other staff that will be running camp, the speaker, Pastor Matham, and for the young adults, that they are refreshed and renewed in the Word of God!
Pray, also, for the kids and I as we will be involved with the youth ministry at church tomorrow most of the day, and for the girls and I as we are still under the weather.
Thanks, again, for your prayers! We are so encouraged and blessed by them.

Satellite BattleZone Camp

Brad had the opportunity to take a team to Potchefstroom, about 1 1/2 hours away, to run a satellite BattleZone camp. Here is his report back!

"Thank you all who were praying for the BatttleZone Camp in Potch! We had a great time with the young people there. We were able to have 4 meetings and 4 breakout group meetings in the 2 days we were there. We challenge them to Evangelize their families, friends, and strangers. Then we equipped them to do it! Thanks again to all who were praying and all those who helped!"

Prayer Update

Thank you for your prayers! We have had a wonderful, busy week filled with ministry in all different areas of life - but specifically A LOT of opportunity for discipleship! It has definitely been a blessing.
Please keep our upcoming Oasis Camp in your prayers! This is a camp for young adults, and runs May 11-13. Pray for the young adults to be challenged and encouraged, coming away with strengthened hearts and changed lives!
We are doing a lot of preparation for the months ahead, as they are going to be PACKED full of ministry! From the last week of May, I think we'll be on the run until at least mid-July! We are excited about all God has in store and we will fill you in on each and every detail as it gets closer.
Please keep the girls and I in your prayers, as we are all under the weather and suspect bronchitis is to blame.

Prayer Update

Since we started a group on Facebook, I have neglected our multiply blog a bit. Please forgive me! I will try to update here as often as I do there. I'll fill you in on some recent events!

We had a great time at BattleZone Camp with around 80 in attendance. This camp was held at a local church and the youth slept on the floors in classrooms and in the main hall, and Fran & I cooked for them with the help of the Discipleship Training Centre students. Brad and Mike spoke on relationships - "Building Bridges" was the theme. There were lessons on friendships with Christian and non-Christian friends, dating, and relationships with those in authority. It was exciting to see the kids avidly taking notes. The interest and response on how to deal with these relationships in a Biblical fashion was encouraging!
The picture about is one of the teams at camp preparing a team chant.

During camp we had our first Born Again to a Living Hope performance for the year. Most of the cast members are new. We had a great performance and are looking forward to seeing how God will use this ministry in the year ahead.

The Discipleship Training Centre (DTC) Students would appreciate your prayers, as their studies and ministry keep them on their toes, and they are striving to do their best for Christ!
To the left you will see a picture of the 5 girls in the DTC. I will list their names starting at the top and going clockwise: Aneesah, Ntombi, Thobile, Cremelda & Shiela. We also have 5 guy students, Stephen, Themba, Tsepho, Joshua and Thato.
Please pray for them to be faithful in their studies, excited about ministry and most of all, to stay close to God and desire to please Him in all that they do.

We shared in our prayer letter that T-Junction was quickly approaching. We had around 150 in attendance and around 6 salvation decisions! It was an amazing day and fun was had by all. Thanks for your prayers! To read more about T-Junction, follow this link.

This update is already getting lengthy, so I will close for now. I will try to update you all on a more regular basis!

Thank you so much for your prayers. You're a vital part of our ministry!

Mary, for the fam
Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Text Only Prayer Letter....

For those of you that have shared with us that you struggle to access the pdf version of our prayer letter, here is a text version!

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.                 Ephesians 6:19-20

Join us in reaching S. Africa for Christ!
We are so grateful as we see God’s provision for our needs! We have seen a big increase in our support, but at the same time had an increase in our insurance costs. This leaves us at 80% of our needed support, or lacking $1000 a month. These extra funds would help in reaching youth with the gospel of Christ. If you feel led by God to be a part of our ministry, you can give by following this link: https://home.wol.org/giving/giveto/Brad+Hawkins+06109S

Have you ever found yourself the answer to your own prayers?

For many years now we have been praying for missionaries to start Word of Life in other areas of South Africa, and specifically, in Durban. We as a staff in South Africa recently started praying regarding the possibility that Mary and I might be the answer to this prayer!
Durban is approximately 7 hours from Johannesburg, where we are currently located.   It is the largest city in the South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. Durban’s population is approximately 3.5 million.
Word of Life is already working with 5 local churches in Durban. John Page and I travelled to Durban this past week for conferences and training, and to meet with many more churches that are interested in using Word of Life. We were asked more than once, “When are you sending a Word of Life Missionary to our area?” It was exciting for us to be able to answer, “Soon!”
We are still praying for God’s wisdom regarding His timing, but are anticipating this to happen around October or November 2012. Please join us in prayer as we seek God for guidance regarding every aspect of this.
We will need to raise approximately $3500 toward expenses that we will incur with this move. If you feel God wants you to help, you can use this link https://home.wol.org/giving/giveto/Brad+Hawkins+06109S and write “move” in the comment section.

Discipleship Training Centre

Mid-January was the opening of our Discipleship Training Centre (DTC) in South Africa for our second year. We welcomed 10 students into the program for 2012!
Students live at Word of Life Headquarters from Monday to Friday and attend classes at Berean Bible Institute of South Africa (BBISA) held at Sandton Bible Church in Douglasdale. They are also trained in ministry with Word of Life and have responsibilities around the office and home. The students are discipled by Word of Life staff members throughout the year, and Mary and I each have the privilege of discipling 2 students this year.
Students return home for the weekends and school holidays to spend time with their families and minister in their local churches.

Micro F-1

God has been using the Micro F-1 ministry (known in the US as FasCar) in a mighty way already this year!
A Micro F-1 is an evangelistic event for children that is hosted by local churches. We bring along a 32 ft. racetrack for hot wheels/matchbox cars and a crew ready for action. After a few rounds of races, we pause the fun for a meeting to share the gospel message. Statistics tell us that us that better than 75 percent of people who receive Christ as Savior do so as children!
We have had 3 Micro F-1’s this year to help kick off the clubs for the new year, and have shared the gospel with almost 200 children as well as many parents, seeing more than 30 children trust Christ as Savior!
Please pray for upcoming Micro F-1 events, that God would prepare the hearts of these children to hear the gospel. Please pray, also, for the children that have responded to the gospel already this year and for the youth leaders that will be teaching and guiding them.

Upcoming Events

T-Junction is fast approaching! On March 10, we are hosting a day of fun for teens and young adults at Wild Waters, a local water park. While this is a “fun” event, designed to attract unsaved youth, this event is more importantly designed to bring students to a “T” in the road of life, causing them to choose between turning toward God or turning and going their own way.
Please pray for this event to run smoothly, that many attend and that lives are changed for Christ!

Also coming up is BattleZone Camp from April 2-4! The express purpose of BattleZone Camp is to prepare Christian youth with the tools necessary to fight the daily battle of the Christian walk.
This camp will be held in a local church to help keep the cost down, opening the doors to more campers. Please pray for us as we plan, and pray for the students that will attend, that God begins to prepare their hearts even now for the lessons He wants them to learn at camp.

Here are some testimonies from our summer camp in December. Thank you for your gifts and prayers!

“Thank you very much for the opportunity of coming to camp. I really enjoyed every minute of it. I have learned many, many things. I don't regret coming. One of the many things I learned is when I pray I should expect 3 answers from God, i.e. ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ and ‘Wait’. And that I should never stop waiting on God. Thank you very much. God bless you!” Dieketseng

“Thank you very much for the gift that made it possible for me to be at camp. May God richly bless you. I had an awesome, fantastic time here. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have learnt a lot and my life has been impacted by all the messages. The campfire service made me look at my Christian walk in a different way. I was blessed and challenged at the same time. God bless!” Nthabiseng

“I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here. I really appreciate all the love you have shown me. It was wonderful to be with Christians every day here at Word of Life Camp. To me it was important to be here because in my family I am the one and only Christian. It was nice to have so many people I can talk to and share the Word of God with. I have learned a lot and my life has changed thanks to you. I have taken out the idols I was struggling with that I learned about at camp and I have put on new good things in my life. Thanks!” Busi

“The camp was fantastic. I am not a church attending person, but now I know that I am saved. The games were fantastic, I learnt a lot from the seminars and I am happy that I was given the opportunity to know Christ and understand His way. Thank you for letting us experience the wonderful Word of God.” Sphamandla

February Prayer Letter - Exciting News!

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter.
You will need Adobe Reader to open the file. Click here to download free.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Attachment: Feb 2012.pdf

Mickey

We are now caring for a friend's little boy to help them out during the week. It's been interesting having a toddler in the house again!

Mickey just came back from his first weekend at home, and boy is he talking up a storm! He is just TOO cute and I could just eat him up.

When he first came to stay with us 2 weeks ago he spoke only 1 English word we could understand - Hello. Here are some of the ones that we can pick up now!

Yi-ya = Mya
Danda = Brandon
Uh = Up
Goggy = Doggy
Come = Come
Dink = Drink
Mmmm-mmmmm = Thank you (it's thank you said with the mouth closed. ;))

He quickly picked up on sign language for more (he loves MORE food!) and he will hesitantly sign please, as well.

He also loves to sing and dance. I often find him in his bed awake in the morning or after a nap just singing sweetly.

Anyway, we're quickly falling in love with the little sweetheart, and I'm thrilled that he's sleeping through the night all the time now!

Prayer Update

We have started off the new year running! We are back to homeschool full force, with Brandon Hawkins in Grade 8, Marissa Hawkins in Grade 5 and Mya in Grade 00 (nought nought, or preschool). We are also taking care of a friends little boy, Mickey, during the week. He is almost 2 and keeps us on our toes!

The Discipleship Training Centre started just over a week ago and we have 10 students! They will be living at WOL South Africa headquarters and attending Berean Bible Institute. I will get the privilege of discipling 2 of these students this year and Brad will disciple 1 or 2, as well!

Brad started again yesterday at the International College of Bible & Missions. He is teaching Contextualization this term for 2 hours every Tuesday.
Brad has also picked up where he left off last year with discipling Mickey's parents, Michael & Coletta and their friend Sonny on Tuesday evenings, then we go from there to Bible Study at church where Brad is teaching Grades 5-12, and I am teaching Grades 00-4.

I am also continuing in the Music Ministry at church, as well as helping as a leader in the Jr. Youth and Sr. Youth. Brad has passed the torch of leading the Sr. Youth over to Wayne Cox, and will use the time to invest in other youth leaders that are using Word of Life in various churches.

Please pray for us in these various ministries, and others that we are involved in as well. We couldn't do all of this without your prayer support!

Leader's Kick-Off

Saturday is our Leaders Kick-off Conference! School started this week and most youth groups will be up and running this weekend or soon thereafter. We are looking forward to a great time of teaching, encouragement, food & fellowship!!! Pray for Brad Hawkins, Christy Hanshew Page, Mike VanBruggen, Brent Meyers & Kyle Steven Paradis as they are teaching, as well as the rest of us staff with our various responsibilities ranging from food to selling club material!
If you are a youth leader in a Word of Life youth in the Joburg area, don't miss out!!!