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
