2022 flew by and we look back on the whirlwind of life and ministry, and we can truly say that God is faithful. There was much change in both our family life and ministry. In August, Marissa transferred to the New York campus of the Word of Life Bible Institute to continue her studies. We were so excited to have her home for three weeks over Christmas, though it did not seem long enough.
In October, Brandon and Brianna returned to their ministry with Word of Life in Taiwan! Once the country opened it’s doors to new visa applications, everything fell into place pretty quickly. We are so excited to see how God is using them to minister to the SYME students there, the staff, and also in their local church.
Mya is continuing homeschool and started Grade 10 in January. Within the last year she has taken up tennis and violin, and was able to assist backstage at a local school theatre production.
Also living in the Hawkins household is a young man named Lihle Sogoni. He was a youth at our church, and just gradually became a part of the family. When he needed a place to stay so that he could study at a local university, we were happy to open up our home to him, and he has been living with us for the last few years. He is a help and a blessing, both in the ministry and in our home.
Bowling on Brad's 50th Birthday (from left to right)
Lihle Brad, Ngcebo, Lamoudie, Mya, Johrin
Lihle Brad, Ngcebo, Lamoudie, Mya, Johrin
2023 brings with it some new adventures! Some of you know that Johrin January was an intern with us in Durban for the last part of 2022. Not only did she return to intern for 2023, but we also welcomed two new interns. The first is Lamoudie Nawezi. You may recognize her name from a previous prayer letter. She started as a student at our other campus, and when she finished her studies, she committed to intern with us for at least the next 6 months. The third intern, Ngcebo Buthelezi, just matriculated (graduated) from high school in December, and he is planning to be with us for the year. Each of the interns will be studying and working with Word of Life. They live with us on the Word of Life property during the week and go home on the weekend to minsister in their local churches, with the exception of Johrin, who lives too far away to travel weekly.
NextGen Class
Among our new and exciting news here at Word of Life Durban is that we are working with our local church, Grace Baptist Church Queensburgh, to teach NextGen Bible Institute classes in coordination with the South African Theological Seminary right here in our classroom. These classes will be attended by the three interns, but also a couple of local pastors that are working toward their degrees. The first course is Biblical Worldview taught by Pastor Louis Fourie and it started tonight!
Raising the Bar Leadership Conference
The 2023 theme in both ministry and in our personal lives is “Raising the Bar.” We do not want to settle for mediocrity. Just last Saturday we had our Leader’s Kick Off conference for the local youth ministry leaders, and we were excited to have around 30 in attendance. We were challenged by Ed Ransami and S’bu Nyawo to raise the bar in the areas of evangelism, discipleship, and leadership. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead serving God together.
