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!