Children's & Youth Ministry at DBC

This term, I taught a double class at Durban Bible College, combining Children's Ministry and Youth Ministry. While it was combined, it was still two credits for the students, and involved twice as much class time and grading.
It was a great term! I love passing on what I've learned to others and seeing them catch the vision of ministry. Please pray for these students as they continue their studies and strive to apply what they have learned!

I also had the opportunity to preach at graduation this month! It was a privilege to challenge the finishing students to continue to Know God's Word, Grow in their relationship with Him, and Show their faith wherever God may lead them.

October Hawkins' Headlines

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SMASH Update

We are so excited to share with you about our recent SMASH trip! SMASH stands for Students Ministering And Serving Him, and is a missions trip for local teens, providing them an opportunity to raise support and serve God right here in South Africa. This years’ SMASH team headed to First Baptist Church of Kokstad, about 3 hours from Durban.
On our team, we had a total of 21 youth and leaders from 5 different churches. We ran an Holiday Bible Club (HBC or VBS) for the church, did work projects around the church property, helped out at a soup kitchen, as well as a small amount of street evangelism. We saw over 40 people commit their lives to Christ.

Our first day of HBC we had 30 children, and every day the group grew until, on Friday, there were 103 children!

We started every day around the Word of God in personal devotions, and ended every evening gathered around the Word in corporate study and worship. It is such a privilege to see how God is using His Word to change the lives of His people!

Brandon & Marissa's Mission Trip!

Two of our children, Brandon & Marissa, are planning to go on a short-term missions trip next month. Here is a letter from them asking you to invest in their ministry.
Brad & Mary Hawkins

Dear Friends & Family,

We would like to share with you the opportunity the Lord has given us to serve in Kokstad during our school break on a short-term mission trip! We will be part of a Word of Life Missions team called SMASH (Students Ministering And Serving Him). Through SMASH, young people from around Durban have the opportunity to minister in South Africa for a week. 

Our trip to Kokstad will be from 2-8 October. We will have a few meetings before our trip for training. Along with the rest of our team, we will learn how to share the Gospel clearly, effectively share our personal testimonies, and spend time preparing for specific ministry opportunities. This will be a great chance for us to develop team unity as well as prepare for our time in Kokstad. 

While in Kokstad, we will work with Word of Life Missionaries and alongside First Baptist Church of Kokstad, running Holiday Bible Club (VBS) and ministering in a variety of ways in order to share the Gospel with those we meet. Our team will also have a chance to do work projects at the church. We will have a full schedule, sharing the hope of salvation with as many people as we can! 

We are writing to invite you to be a part of what God is going to do through this team in Kokstad. We are currently putting together a team of people who will invest in the work financially as well as through prayer. Will you commit to pray for us, both as we prepare for the trip and while we are in Kokstad? In addition to prayer support, together we need to raise $400 for trip expenses (food, lodging, transportation, ministry funds, etc.). Will you consider joining our financial team by giving a special gift toward our goal? Thank you for prayerfully considering how you can be part of what God is doing through SMASH Kokstad! 

If you are interested in financially being a part of our team to reach youth in Kokstad, you can follow this link - https://give.wol.org/06113c. Please write Hawkins SMASH in the summary as a reference, and let us know the amount so that we can keep track of progress toward our goal. If you are giving from within South Africa, we have included the banking details below. We are excited to see how the Lord will lead us through this experience and opportunity! 

Gratefully, 

Brandon & Marissa Hawkins 

“Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.” Psalm 96:2-3 

Word of Life South Africa FNB Clearwater Branch code: 254-005 Account # 62009024093

Kids' Fun Day

We had 47 children come and 12 salvation decisions. We also had close to 20 volunteers help run the day. Thank you! We couldn't do this without you. So grateful to God to keep the rain away until just after we finished. Please pray for the leaders in the local churches as they follow up with the children.

July Prayer Letter

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Interns

Caleb, Macy & Taurai

We have recently added 3 interns to our Word of Life Durban team.

First, let me introduce you to Taurai Manyamba. We have been working with Taurai for a few years now as a youth leader from Bethany Baptist Church. Brad has had the chance to disciple Taurai, and Taurai is, in turn, discipling the youth at his church. Taurai will be interning with us through the end of 2016.

Caleb Bonney and Macy Ford are part of the Word of Life Cross Cultural Internship program. They have been in Johannesburg, and joined us in Durban the beginning of June. Macy will be returning to Joburg on July 9, and Caleb, July 17. We are so grateful for the extra help during this busy ministry season! 

BattleZone Camp

We had an amazing time at BattleZone Camp! We had 24 youth, and the help of their youth leaders and interns, Caleb Bonney and Macy Ford. Lots of fun, praising God and learning the Word. Here are some photos so you can see what it was all about!

Great meetings - Brad got the opportunity to teach on taming the tongue!

We had help with worship with a team from Reservoir Hills Bible Baptist Church.

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Car Fund

We have received word that the funds are on the way to put us over the top for our car fund! We are so grateful for your prayers and gifts for this project, and will keep you posted as to the progress of the purchase of the new vehicle. Thank you!

April Prayer Letter

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Car Project Update

Car Fund Project: We want to keep you updated on how God is providing for this need! It will take approximately $15,000, and we have already had $10,645 promised toward this project. We are so grateful to all who have already given! If you would like to help with our car fund, follow this link: https://give.wol.org/giveto/the+Hawkins+Family%20(06113C)

BZ Camp EBC 2016

We had a great whirlwind of ministry with the team from Johannesburg! We had 10 young adults come from Joburg, along with 1 that joined the team from the Durban area. Some of these were giving of their spring break, some taking leave from work, in order to spend some time with us in ministering in our local community.

We spent 2 days running a camp alongside Ekukhanyeni Baptist Church in New Germany. The gospel message was shared with over 17 teens and 125 children! The focus for the camp was relationships, first and foremost being their relationship with God.

The teens delved deeper into other relationships - parents/authority, friendships and dating. They had a lot of hard questions about how to honour God in their every day lives. Please pray for them, as well as  Pastor Henry and Janet,  Pastor Phakamani and Philani as they continue to minister to these young people on a daily basis, pouring into their lives and living an example of what it means to walk with God.

The team also helped with some work projects while they were here. We were able to purchase a storage shed to store our supplies for Word of Life, and the majority of the team helped finish it off - sealing the outside, painting the roof and putting up plywood on the inside.

While they worked on the storage shed, a few of us slipped over to Little Feet Baby Home and were able to help them clean and organize the donations that they've received recently. They are a fairly new baby home and have 4 sweet little babies that they care for.

The time that the team spent with us was fruitful and encouraging. Thank you for giving of your time and energy to serve the Lord! We appreciate each one of you!

Ekukhanyeni BattleZone 2016

One week from today we welcome a team of 10 young adults from Johannesburg to help with a BattleZone camp for Ekukhanyeni Baptist Church! This is a 2 day camp for Grades 1-12. It will be held at the local community hall where the church meets. We are excited about the opportunity to minister to this community and support this local church. This is our second BattleZone Camp at this location. Pray for us as we seek to strengthen and encourage the youth in their walks with Christ and help the church reach out into their community. Please pray, also, for good weather. With the age span that we have, we really will be running 2 programs, and will need to work with one group outside while the other uses the hall, and vice versa.

Car Project

Last month we shared with you about our need for a second vehicle due to increased ministry travels. We wanted to keep you updated on how God is providing for this need! It will take approximately $15,000, and we have already had $8,550 promised toward this project. With the Rand/Dollar exchange rate at an all-time high in our favour, we are hoping to raise the needed funds quickly and purchase a vehicle before the exchange rate goes down. If you would like to help with our car fund, follow this link.

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Micro F1

So exciting! About a week and a half ago, we ran a Micro F1. Micro F1 is a race uses Hot Wheels cars on a six lane wood track. This event is an evangelistic outreach geared toward children, but can be exciting for the whole family! We have run numerous Micro F1 events over the years, and it is exciting to see God use this as a tool to bring others to know Him.

This particular event was exciting for different reasons. We were able to run this whole event basically as a family! In the past, we have run it alongside other coworkers and young adults, but this time it was us and our children, along with 1 young adult from Durban Bible College that tagged along to see what Word of Life is all about. It is so exciting to work together as a family to advance the gospel! Brandon and Marissa took over the "up-front" responsibilities on the mic and running the track, and Brad and I were support on the computer and organizing the cars. As the main thrust of this event is to share the gospel, we stop at peak racing time and draw the children in to hear from the Word of God. Brandon was able to share the gospel for the first time to a group of children, and did a great job! I feel like Paul must have felt when he said, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Thank you so much for your prayers for this ministry event. It means so much to know that you are on our team!

Ministry Vehicle

With increased ministry travels in different directions for Mary and I, we see the need for a second vehicle. With the Rand/Dollar exchange rate at an all-time high in our favour, we are hoping to raise the needed funds quickly and purchase a vehicle before the exchange rate goes down. It will take approximately $15,000. If you would like to help with our car fund, follow this link.

Fundraising Thermometer by:
Provided by Easy Fundraising Ideas

February Prayer Letter

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We are excited about our Leader's Kick Off this coming Saturday! We could potentially have leaders from 5 local churches. Please pray for us as we seek to prepare and excite them to pour into the lives of their youth in the upcoming year!