2018 S.M.A.S.H. in Review

Marissa's Missions Trip

Dear Friends & Family,

I would like to share with you the opportunity the Lord has given me to serve in Kokstad during my school break on a short-term mission trip! I 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!

My trip to Kokstad will be from 30 September – 6 October. I will have a few meetings before my trip for training. Along with the rest of my team, I will learn how to share the Gospel clearly, effectively share my personal testimony, 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 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!

I am writing to invite you to be a part of what God is going to do through this team in Kokstad. I am 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 me, both as I prepare for the trip and while I am in Kokstad? In addition to prayer support, I need to raise $150 for trip expenses (food, lodging, transportation, ministry funds, etc.). Will you consider joining my financial team by giving a special gift toward my goal? Thank you for prayerfully considering how you can be part of what God is doing through SMASH Kokstad!

In case you are interested in being a part of my team to reach youth in Kokstad, I have included details below for giving. Please let me know the amount if you give so that I can keep track of my progress toward my goal. I am excited to see how the Lord will lead me through this experience and opportunity!

Gratefully,
Marissa Hawkins

For Online Giving - go to https://give.wol.org/06113c and put Marissa SMASH in the summary to be sure it’s credited toward my trip
OR
Give by Mail, by sending a check along with a note indicating that the gift is for Brad Hawkins South Africa Project 06113C to Word of Life, PO Box 600, Schroon Lake, NY 12870
OR
Here are the banking details to give in South Africa - Word of Life South Africa FNB Clearwater Branch code: 254-005 Account # 62009024093 and use SMASH Marissa Hawkins as a reference

August Hawkins' Headlines

Thank you for continuing to pray for our ministry! We have been busy with day to day ministry life. Brad has been visiting our existing Word of Life (WOL) youth groups, encouraging youth leaders, and even training leaders to start youth in Newtown Baptist Church!

You’ll notice a couple of new “family” members in our family photo above. Lawrence (left) and William (right) are young South African men that have been living with us since December 2017. William left last month to study at the WOL Bible Institute in Uganda. He is planning to return to Durban as an intern with WOL after graduation in August 2019. Lawrence is still here with us, and is a big help and an encouragement.

Brandon has finished his year of studies as a freshman at the WOL Bible Institute, and completed 8 weeks of counseling at camp in FL. He is currently spending a week with Brad’s parents in PA before he heads back to NY for the last 2 weeks of camp at WOL. He will then spend a few weeks working at another camp before starting his sophomore year at WOL in September.

Holiday Bible Club (VBS) was a blast at our South African home church, Grace Baptist Church in Durban. We are so grateful to Community Baptist Church in PA for donating several years of curriculum! We were able to touch 110 children with the gospel message and had many children make the decision to trust Christ!










We recently had a wonderful visit from Ken Dady, a missionary ministering for over 38 years with WOL Local Church Ministries. His visit was an encouragement to us, as well as our local youth leaders!
Ken arrived in Durban on Friday and we hit the road running with a STORM event at Bethany Baptist Church, an outreach event for local churches. We had a fun-filled evening and Ken shared the gospel message through his testimony.
Saturday morning, we had a Leadership Conference to encourage and equip our local church youth leaders to lead from the front. Not at the front of the room but in front of their lives, teaching them how to interactively challenge the youth to a passionate walk in the Lord that they might “lead their friends from the front” as well!

Upcoming Events

Coming up is BattleZone Camp, August 9-11. This is a camp to prepare our youth for the every day battle of the Christian walk. The emphasis of this camp will be to equip teens to share the gospel and will also have a focus on the persecuted church. Please pray for the youth that attend to grow in their walk with Christ.
Also quickly approaching is our annual SMASH missions trip (Students Ministering And Serving Him). This gives young people from around Durban the opportunity to minister in South Africa for a week. We will be heading to Kokstad, around 3 hours from Durban, and working alongside the First Baptist Church of Kokstad, running Holiday Bible Club in the morning, and doing various types of outreach ministries as well as work around the church. Please pray for us as we plan and prepare.

February Hawkins’ Headlines

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Ministry Update

Update from South Africa!

The Hawkins family is back in South Africa! We are settling into a new house, and back into the full swing of ministry.

In our family photo above, you'll notice an extra person! William Mohapi is a student at Word of Life South Africa's Discipleship Training Centre (DTC) in Johannesburg. He has spent the holiday season with us, helping us move. He has one term left to finish at the DTC, and in April he is hoping to join us in Durban for an internship. Please pray for him that to finish well!

January brings with it a new year, and in South Africa it also brings a new school year! Saturday is our annual Leaders' Kick Off. Please pray for us as we meet with the youth leaders from our local churches to encourage them and train them for the year to come. Mary & I will both be teaching sessions. Please pray for wisdom as we prepare and for the morning to run smoothly.

Thank you for your prayers!
Serving Him,
Brad & Mary Hawkins

September Hawkins' Headlines

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Train Trips, Chicago & Visas

We are headed to Chicago on the train today. As an American, you can travel to South Africa for up to 90 days without applying for a visa, but in order to stay longer, we have to submit applications to the South African Consulate, and the one for our region is in Chicago. A visa application involves a lot of supporting documents, and it can be stressful to acquire everything necessary and anticipate what else they might ask for. It includes things like medical reports, radiological reports, marriage certificate, proof of insurance, bank statements and much, much more!

We will go to the consulate tomorrow morning, submit our applications, and hope and pray for approval. We are requesting a 3-year visa, as the application process is tedious and the less often we have to renew, the better! But, if they approve our application, they can give us any amount of time up to 3 years. Please pray with us that all goes smoothly!

We are making this trip as a family, minus Brandon. He doesn't need to apply for a new visa at this time. We are feeling a little incomplete, leaving him out our temporary home in Michigan while we are in Chicago, and in 2 weeks, we will be moving Brandon into his dorm at the Word of Life Bible Institute in upstate New York. He will study there for one year. I suppose this is just the beginning of our transition! Please pray for each of us as we process this change in our lives.