Prayer Update

Hello, again!  Just wanted to drop a quick note to say we're home and we're leaving again!

Camp was great!!!  We had 76 teens at Student Camp, and 44 children at kidz camp!  What an exciting, fun filled week of blessings....  Unfortunately I won't have time to post pictures before heading off to Cape Town, so check back next week for more updates. 

Brad and I will be flying out tomorrow for Cape Town, and our little lambs will be staying with John & Christy Page.  Please pray for us all, as 5 days is a long time to be separated! I'm sure the children will have a blast, as they will have each other and the Page kids, CJ, 10, and Chae, 8, who have been declared Brandon & Marissa's best friends!  It will probably be hardest on Mom (me) to be away so long, but I'm thrilled  to be going, as I've never been to the Cape and have only heard the best.  We'll take lots of pictures!

The main reason for our trip is to attend the wedding of friends - Deon Janse van Rensburg and Michelle Blackwell.  We also will be meeting up with the pastors from the 7 churches in the area that use Word of Life, as well as conducting a meeting with a Pastor from a church that is interested in starting a Word of Life Club.

Thanks for your prayers as we travel!  We'll post another update soon after we return.

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

Prayer Update

Sorry for the delay in communication - life is very interesting for us right now!

We are currently helping out the Pages by taking care of CJ and Chae while they are in Argentina, and a sudden growth of our family from 5 to 7 makes life interesting to say the least. :)  Extra laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning.  It's a good thing we're enjoying them!  And they are great helpers around the house, as well.

Survivor Camp starts today!  We are excited at the ministry opportunities that lie ahead of us in the next week, and ask that you join us in praying for each of the souls that will attend the teen camp, starting today, and the children's camp, starting on Friday. 

Please pray for safety in travel as campers will be traveling to and from camp today, Friday and Sunday.

Please pray that God will make their hearts malleable, willing to learn what He is ready to teach them!

Pray, also, for strength of our counselors and staff.  Camp can be tiring as you invest of yourself both physically and emotionally!

The children and I will join Brad and the rest of the campers on Wednesday.  Please pray safety as we travel.

Please pray, also, for John & Christy Page, as they are in Argentina sharing the ministry of Word of Life South Africa!  They will be flying home Thursday and Friday.

Thank you for your prayers!  We will post an update and pictures as soon as possible after camp.

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

New Pictures!

We have added 3 new albums to our website.  For some reason it only sent out a notice for one of them.... Anyway, thought you might like to check it out! HomeGrown Kids - The Gingerbread Man, HomeGrown Kids Concert - Music, HomeGrown Kids Concert - Gym

At the concert we served Gingerbread Men and Muffins that the kids made!

Prayer Update

We are busily preparing for our HomeGrown Kids homeschool concert at our house this weekend.  Schooling in South Africa is year round, making this the end of year for schools, along with the beginning of the Christmas season!  It definitely makes life busy!  I will post pictures &/or video after the weekend.

The guys are busily preparing for camp!  We mentioned the camp scholarship in our last prayer update.  We already know of up to 8 teens and 8 children that are planning to take the test!  We are excited at their faithfulness!  Anyone who meets all of the requirements will be able to attend camp for free!  If you are willing to help cover the cost for these campers, or for any campers that would like to attend but don't have the financial means, please contact us or follow this link https://www.wol.org/giving/gift.php, using this account number: 06115C and put South Africa Camp Scholarship in the additional comments.

Please check out this link for a video promo for summer camp!

The children are doing well! We are busy studying Thanksgiving, it's meaning, and it's history.  We are having approximately 30 for Thanksgiving at our house this year, and they are already helping to prepare for it!  We are baking, and cutting out leaves for our Thanksgiving tree.... 

And Mya is doing great!  It's hard to imagine loving her more tomorrow than I do today, but it seems to work that way.  She just worms her way deeper and deeper into our hearts, with her precious smile, warm giggle and her special ways.  When she snuggles down in under your chin, you can't help but smile and sigh.  What a precious gift from God!

Thank you for your faithful prayers!

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

Facebook

I (Mary) now have a facebook account, so if you use facebook, add me to your friends! :)

Prayer Update

Dear Friends,

            Just wanted to let you know what's happening.  We have Leader's Fun Day this Saturday.  This event is not only for fun, but for the youth leaders from different churches to socialize and learn from each others experiences. We are going to introduce Blitz Quiz to the youth leaders! Blitz Quiz is a fun way to reinforce the lessons taught in Word of Life club meetings.  It is a computer program that is played by up to 16 players using x-box type controllers.

            With the end of year coming closer, churches are preparing their youth for the camp scholarship exams.  We are very excited at the number of people who have been faithful in the Word of Life club program this year that will be taking the end of year verse quiz - they will be quizzed on all the verses that they have been learning throughout the whole year.  Anyone who meets all of the requirements will be able to attend camp for free!  If you are willing to help cover the cost for these campers, or for any campers that would like to attend but don't have the financial means, please contact us.

Prayer Requests:

1.      Leader's Fun Day, Saturday, Nov. 7

2.   Planning for Youth Camp, Dec 3-7

3.   Planning for our first Children's Camp, Dec 7-9

4.   Editing and printing of material for new year

Praise Items:

1.      We are officially Mya's foster parents.

2.   Our meetings in Polokwane went well, and we were refreshed and encouraged while visiting with Pastor Desmond, Sharon, and Youth Leaders Malcolm & Jacqui.

In His Service,
Brad Hawkins
Word of Life South Africa

We are foster parents!

Mya is now officially in our foster care! Join us in a prayer of thanks to God. Now we start the paperwork and filing for adoption....  We are thrilled that things seem to be moving swiftly and smoothly!