Durban S.M.A.S.H. 2021

As COVID lockdown levels were down, we decided it was time to have our annual S.M.A.S.H. (Students Ministering And Serving Him) missions trip in April. Yes, it would look different this time, but that's a sign of the times. We were excited to reconnect with our youth and challenge them, both in the Word of God and in their service for Him. While we were unable to travel or to stay overnight, we could have "day camp" and would serve right where we are, redecorating the youth room at church and renovating and serving at the Word of Life Durban property.

Every morning we had meetings and were challenged in the Word of God with messages from Dwight Hostetler. small group time for personal application, and of course some songs & games. Then, after lunch, we spent the afternoons serving. 

We painted, cleaned, and reorganized the youth room at Grace Baptist Church and did a few small projects around the property.

We had a generous donation from a supporting church and some help from some friends that run a business doing renovating, and we were able to remodel the interior of the cottage on the WOL Durban property! We are super grateful to Miccol Renovating Services for setting aside other work and travelling from Joburg to help with this project! Thanks, Michael & Eric. Below are some before and after pics.

Before

And After

They repaired and renovated the shower in the main house, built a new set of steps down to the cottage, and they also did some odd jobs around the Word of Life property. 

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!

 

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.

Hawkins' Headlines 2/2020

Sanibonani! Greetings from South Africa! 2019 has quickly come to an end, and 2020 lies before us. We are looking forward with anticipation as to what God has in store for us and our ministry in the upcoming year! Project team, left to right: Back: Levi, Brandon, Marissa, Brad & Lonnie Front: Lawrence, Byron, William, Lois, Mya & Mary

We recently hosted a work team in from Community Baptist Church in Montoursville, Pennsylvania and we are so grateful for all that they were able to accomplish! They were able to renovate a storage building into a classroom with tile, insulation, paint, etc., as well as complete many other projects around the property, including a fence on the property border. Visit our blog to see a video update of the renovation.

We were also grateful that Brad’s brother, Lonnie, and Brandon decided not only to join the work team, but also to arrive a couple of weeks early so that we could have some extra time together. It was such a blessing to have them here! It was Lonnie’s first visit to Africa, and it was so good to see Brandon after almost a year apart. They left, along with the team, on the 22 of November.

2020 holds much in store! The connections in ministry have been exciting and it is exciting to see God working! In the near future, we have Leader’s Kick-Off in our new classroom on February 8. We are starting Word of Life training in 6 new church youth groups, as well! The ministry is keeping us busy. Please pray for an intern or another missionary to join us, as the work is quickly becoming more than we can handle on our own. If you or someone you know might be interested in serving in Durban with us, whether for a few weeks, a few years, or longer, let us know!

2020 brings much change for our family. Mary & Brandon are studying online at Calvary University. Brandon is serving in Taiwan as a short-term missionary with WOL until May, when he returns to the US to work at WOL Florida for the summer camping season. Marissa is in her senior year of school, and will graduate and attend the WOL Bible Institute in Florida starting in August. Mya has just started her Grade 7 year of school and has ALMOST passed her mom in height.

Ngiyabonga! Thank you for praying for our family and our ministry.  Love, the Hawkins Fam

Classroom Renovation

The team from the US has been gone a week now and I still can't believe all they accomplished! Tonight we will be using the classroom for a Jr Youth meeting, first of many we pray. Here is a video of all they were able to get done. If you and your church want to come and visit we are ready and willing. Next project is the cottage!

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!