November Hawkins' Headlines

 

Sawubona and greetings from South Africa! We are now 237 days into lockdown due to Covid19, but have transitioned into Level 1, the lowest level of lockdown. We are still required to wear masks and social distance, but the church is allowed to meet at 50% capacity, and international travel has reopened. While we have started our high school youth group meetings at our local church, our Word of Life ministry is still primarily virtual. Despite lockdown, it has been a privilege to have an intern working with us for the last few months. Ailton Pedro is an Angolan living in South Africa and is a youth leader at Bethany Baptist Church. While he has been doing discipleship with Brad for a while, he has recently begun shadowing Brad one day a week to see what it means to be a Word of Life missionary. It is a blessing to have him working with us!

Before After Property Update: We were able to repair the kitchen floor, as well build a much needed retaining wall with the special project funds that came in. THANK YOU! There are several long term projects that need done, as well, but we will continue with the urgent needs, and work on projects as funds become available.  The next big project we would like to tackle is to renovate the guest cottage to be able to use not only for guests visiting WOL from other areas, but also for pastors and their wives to utilize as a retreat.  We will post more pictures here on our blog so you can follow the progress! If you would like to give to this project, you can do so here https://give.wol.org/SouthAfricaPropertyProject and send us a note  to let us know so that the funds are allocated to our projects in Durban. It is exciting to envision the potential of this property to impact those in our community with the gospel. Thank you for your prayers and giving!

Community Outreach

What a great outreach with our church family this afternoon! Thank you to all those who donated clothing, toys, chocolate, and time to show love to those in our community.

I Am the Light of the World

 Today is Diwali, a festival of lights mainly celebrated by Hindus. During Diwali, people wear their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes, perform worship ceremonies of the goddess of prosperity and wealth, light fireworks, and partake in family feasts, where sweets and gifts are shared. As I sit at home surrounded by the sound of fireworks tonight in my community, I pray for those in my community to find the one true God. Please pray for boldness and opportunity to reach out. 

Tomorrow, we have an outreach opportunity in our community through our local church. We will be handing out homemade chocolates, reading books to children, and playing soccer. We are looking forward to the opportunity to care for others, and to make connections that will give an opportunity to share the Word.

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'"

How Can I Fear with Jesus?

Our Women of Worth team has been publishing bi-weekly videos to encourage the women we minister to during lockdown. Here is my video that was published this morning:

 

WOLZA Durban Property Update We shared with you in the past about purchasing a Word of Life Property in Durban, and through the generous gifts of people like you, that dream came to fruition. It has been a blessing to have this property, and it is used to minister to those in our community. We love having the youth come and go from the property daily, allowing them to live life alongside us and us to disciple them. While we have been unable to have youth come and go during lockdown, we have 3 extra young adults currently staying here with us full time.  2020 has looked much different than any of us have expected. We were planning to spend a portion of the year in the US on furlough, but lockdown and travel restrictions changed our plans. Since we will be in South Africa for all of 2020, we would like to begin working on some of the projects that need to be done around the Word of Life property here in Durban. The property is about an acre in size. There are many projects that we have planned, but we will start with the most urgent ones. Just this week we decided to tackle some repairs to our kitchen floor, as it could wait no longer. We opened up the floor because of water damage from an old leak but didn't realize the extent of the damage until it was opened up. Some of the joists under the sink were completely rotted through. These repairs are temporary, as there are plans to renovate the kitchen eventually, but we were worried about something or someone falling through the floor! As I type, the tiles are being relaid. We also need to work on some retaining walls. The property is basically split into three levels on a hillside. The urgency is that the bank below the pool is slowly starting to slide away. We would like to have this project well under way before the rainy season comes. There are other projects, as well, and we will work on them in order of priority as funds become available. If you would like to help with the property renovations, you can give by following this link: https://give.wol.org/SouthAfricaPropertyProject, and send us a note to let us know you gave so that the funds are allocated to our projects in Durban.

August Hawkins' Headlines

 

Sawubona and greetings from South Africa!  We are now 144 days into lockdown due to Covid19, and South Africa is transitioning into level 2 of lockdown tomorrow. Level 5 of lockdown being the most restrictive, and going down from there. There are still many cases, but the economy is suffering, so we are advised to proceed carefully.  We were scheduled to be on furlough in the US right now, but due to travel restrictions and unknowns with Covid19, we have opted to postpone until June/July 2021. Marissa has also decided to wait until 2021 to attend the Word of Life Bible Institute so we can all travel together and help settle her in. Ministry continues despite the restrictions! Since our last prayer letter, we have continued to produce video lessons each week so that our churches can share them with their youth. We also held a virtual Mid-Year Leader’s Conference. I had the privilege to be one of the featured speakers at the conference, which was focused on connection - to God, to your leadership team, and connecting your youth to the church. Lockdown and the Coronavirus have created a challenge for some of the churches that we work with. The South African school year runs Jan–Dec, and churches ordered, received, and distributed their 2020 Quiet Times and curriculum for their youth at the beginning of the year, paying for them as the funds come in. With the unstable economy, many of the parents are not working, and the churches don’t have the funds to cover payment, either. Would you pray about the possibility of adopting a youth, or possibly even a youth group, by paying for their Quiet Times? The cost to cover one Quiet Time would be approximately $9. You can give by going to this link: https://give.wol.org/06114C. Thank you for your support and prayers for our ministry! Serving Him, Brad & Mary Hawkins

Congratulations, Marissa, Class of 2020!

We are thrilled to announce the graduation of our daughter, Marissa! Her plans to attend the Word of Life Bible Institute have been delayed until August 2021. In the meantime, she will continue her studies while living at home in South Africa.