Joburg SMASH 2019

Here is a quick video from our SMASH trip last week! 

We will write an update to go with it soon. Watch this space!

September Hawkins Headlines

Sanbonani - Hello! Here’s a quick email to let you know what we are up to here in South Africa. God has been doing some amazing things, we will just highlight a few of them for you.

It has been a great year for our Local Church Ministries, supporting and training the churches that are using our material with their ministries. We have 4 more churches ready to start training to use Word of Life, with the potential of others by the new year!

Mary had the chance to speak at a WOL Women of Worth Ladies’ Conference at Port Shepstone Baptist Church, about 1 1/2 hours south of Durban. The theme was Legacy of the Redeemed, focusing on the women in the line of Christ. We had a great turnout with over 60 women. It was a beautiful day!

Many of you will remember that we had an intern last year, William Mohapi. He left to study for a year at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Uganda. He graduated and is back in Durban living with us and shadowing Brad. He is in the picture above with the family. We so appreciate one more set of hands to work! We have plenty of work for more. If you would be interested in joining us, contact us for more information!

Marissa had the opportunity to join the Word of Life Student Fusion team in Johannesburg earlier this year on a missions trip. The short term missions team came in from the the US. She flew on her own to meet them and did ministry with the team for 2 weeks, reaching out to many schools and churches doing a variety of ministries.

We are preparing for our annual S.M.A.S.H. (Students Ministering And Serving Him) missions trip. This years team will be 21 people, comprised of young adults and students from South Africa, including Marissa. This trip will run from 21-29 September. We will be serving in Johannesburg doing a variety of ministries, including running Holiday Bible Club (VBS), doing children’s ministries with some other local churches, and doing work projects at the Word of Life property. We require the youth to raise their support for this trip, as any missionary would. It is exciting to see their faith grow as God provides. Marissa is looking for prayer and financial partners for this trip - contact us if you would like to know more about how to get involved. Please pray for all the aspects of this trip, including planning, safety in travel, and all the logistics involved.  Brandon has finished and graduated from his second year at the Word of Life Bible Institute. He has applied to study distance learning through Calvary University, where Mary has already started classes. He is planning to come to South Africa to join Brad’s home church on a missions trip to help us with a work project on the property in Durban. Since he is in a transition period, he will stay in South Africa a bit longer than the rest of the team to help us out with the ministry. Thank you so much for your continued prayers for our ministry! Serving Him, Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya Hawkins Word of Life South Africa

March Hawkins' Headlines

Here's a quick update from WOL Durban! We are surviving a hot, humid summer and enjoying being busy in ministry.

Brad has been busy preaching and teaching in local churches. He has had quite a few opportunities to fill the pulpit for local pastors. Also, he has just started training the youth leaders from a church new to Word of Life and there are two other churches almost ready to start training. Between training new churches and keeping up with discipleship of those using Word of Life materials, it keeps him on his toes!

Our Timothy Discipleship Program has been moving along nicely, meeting once a month with 3 young men. We now have a group of young ladies ready to start! It is so thrilling to see young people serious about growing in their faith and becoming more Christ-like.

Excitingly, the property project is moving along nicely, with all of the progress being paperwork. We are ready to see some visible changes to the property, but we know that having plans engineered and submitted properly are an important foundation! The building plans will be submitted at the end of this month, and hopefully, they will be approved quickly so that as soon as funds are available we can start on the first building project. Please contact us if you would like to give toward this project. We will post pictures on our blog, as well as on Facebook.

Mary has just finished teaching a term of Ladies' Bible Study at church on Spiritual Gifts. It is always a pleasure to teach the Word of God. She continues to homeschool Marissa (Grade 11) & Mya (Grade 6), as well as running the children’s youth at church, and serving on the worship team. Recently, Mary has applied to Calvary University to complete her Bachelor's Degree in Biblical Counseling! Please pray for wisdom and time management. We have seen such a need for Biblical Counseling in our ministry here in South Africa, and she is so excited at the opportunity to help meet this need.

Currently Brandon is on spring break from his sophomore year at the Word of Life Bible Institute (WOLBI). He has the privilege of going to Taiwan on a 10 day missions trip with his classmates from April 18-28. You can find more details at http://give.wol.org/bhawkins. He will finish his academic studies at WOLBI in May. During the summer, he will spend 8 weeks in ministry at the Word of Life Camp in Florida.

In South Africa, coming up next on our calendar is BattleZone Camp March 28-30 - a short camp to prepare our teens for the battle of living for Christ in their daily lives. Subsequently, on 11 May, we have Kids’ Fun Day. This is a great evangelistic opportunity that we run for our churches to bring children and their unsaved friends. Please pray that both of these events run smoothly and God is glorified.

Word of Life Durban Property

As promised, here are a few more photos of the new Word of Life Durban Property!

 

November Hawkins' Headlines

Thank you for your prayers for our ministry! We want to update you on what God has been doing here in Durban. There is so much happening - here are just a few highlights!

We had an amazing BattleZone Camp (Aug. 9-11) — the second one this year! The focus of our camp was Evangelism and the persecuted church. The teens learned and practiced several methods that they can use to share Christ with their friends. And most excitingly, one of the students decided to follow Christ! It is amazing to see the youth excited to reach their world with the gospel.

We want to share with you about a new aspect of our ministry, the Timothy Discipleship Project. We are meeting with a few teens and young adults on a regular basis in a more formal setting, doing Bible training and life on life discipleship. We are thrilled to be pouring into their lives, getting to know them better and challenging them to know the Word and live their faith.

Brandon started his second year at the Word of Life Bible Institute in New York in September,  and he is enjoying spending another year learning the Word and developing ministry skills. It's hard to believe it's already been almost a year since we have seen him. We are so proud of him and missing him so. We are ecstatic that we were able to purchase tickets for him to come home for Christmas Dec 9 - Jan 1!

We asked you to pray for our S.M.A.S.H. trip in October. There were 20 of us on the team and we traveled about 3 hours to work alongside First Baptist Church of Kokstad, running Holiday Bible Club (VBS) for 108 kids and ministering in a variety of ways in order to share the Gospel with those we met. It was exciting to see the faith of our youth grow as they relied on God to meet their needs of financial support and come to know Him as their provider! Even more exciting was the fact that we saw 53 people come to know Christ as their personal Saviour. Thank you for your prayers!

In September, 20 years ago, Word of Life South Africa was established and we were raising support to join the team. It’s amazing to look back on all that God has done and the blessings that we have experienced over those 20 years. One of the most recent blessings we have seen God provide is a Word of Life Property in Durban! There is a photo of the main house at the top of this letter. It is a large property (just under an acre) in the suburb we were living in previously, just minutes from our South African home church. We are amazed at how God supplied the funds for the property so quickly, overwhelming us with His faithfulness. The purchase was finalized last month. We have quite a bit of renovating to do to be able to meet the ministry’s needs, but we are confident that God will provide in His perfect timing. The first renovation on the list will be to replace the 30+ year old asbestus roofs on three of the buildings. We will share more photos on another blogpost. If you would like to be involved in giving toward the property project, you can do so online by going to this link or contact us directly and we can give you more information.

 

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