Mya's Missions Trip

Greetings,

I would like to share with you the opportunity the Lord has given me to serve in Port Shepstone 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 Port Shepstone will be from 3-9 July. I will meet with my team 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 Port Shepstone.

While in Port Shepstone, we will work alongside Port Shepstone Baptist Church together with Word of Life Missionaries, ministering in a variety of ways in order to share the Gospel with those we meet. We will help with Holiday Bible Club and have various opportunities to serve and share Christ in the community. 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 Port Shepstone. I am currently putting together a team of people who will support 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 Port Shepstone? In addition to prayer support, I need to raise $130 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 Port Shepstone SMASH!

In case you are interested in being a part of my team to reach youth in Port Shepstone, I have included banking details below. Please use my name and SMASH as a reference. I am excited to see how the Lord will lead me through this experience and opportunity!

Gratefully,

Mya Hawkins 

Give in US: https://give.wol.org/06113c (write Mya SMASH in summary)

Give in South Africa: Word of Life South Africa FNB Clearwater Branch code: 254-005 
Account # 62009024093
(Use Mya SMASH as a reference)

June Hawkins' Headlines

We landed in the US for furlough on June 5. Our time leading up to our departure was super busy and we have been seeing God do some amazing things!

Our ministry during COVID had taken on a new look for a little while, as it was mostly virtual, but as restrictions eased up, there were more and more opportunities, including some meetings to train churches to work with their youth.

In May, I had the opportunity to join some of our staff from Johannesburg and travel to Empangeni, which is about 2 hours north of Word of Life Durban. It was a quick overnight trip, but they were able to squeeze in several training sessions while they were there. 

Brad with WOL Associate Thobile Leeu, 

Pastor Sipho & his wife, and WOL missionaries, 

Diana & S’bu Nyawo

Also in May, I had the privilege to run a training right in Durban! We have had a long-standing relationship with Pastor Didi, as he is a car guard at our grocery store. We were excited to be able to train and encourage the leadership at his church to work with their children and youth!

And one more of the recent events that we wanted to share with you is that we were able to have our annual SMASH (Students Ministering And Serving Him) missions camp. We were unable to do overnight due to COVID restrictions, so we ran a day camp. We had Bible sessions each morning, and then in the afternoon, we split up for work projects, both at our local church and the WOL property. Due to a generous donation from a church, we were able to renovate the inside of the cottage on the property. Check out this blog post for photos!

Here is a tentative (flexible) schedule of our for the beginning of our time here in the US. We would love to see YOU, so please contact us if we are going to be in your area or passing through as we drive from one area to the next!

6/5-7/9 Montoursville, PA

7/10-8/1    Grand Blanc, MI 

8/2-7          Montoursville, PA

8/7           Lynchburg, VA

8/8-14        Houschton, GA

8/15-18      Denver, NC

8/18-22      Word of Life, FL

8/22        Sebring, FL

8/22-27      Jacksonville, FL

8/27-29      Word of Life, FL

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. 

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

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

Durban SMASH 2017

Brad at the Opening Session

Thank you for your prayers for our recent SMASH Camp (Students Ministering and Serving Him). We had a total of 29 youth and leaders involved, and we had an amazing week, both in ministry, and sitting under the teaching of our country director, John Page.

Quillan, William & John Page

It is so exciting to see the faith of the teens and young adults grow as they raise their support, come away from the world to focus on the Word of God speaking into their lives, and step out of their comfort zones to serve others.
We had the opportunity to volunteer at a local home for mentally challenged residents, Horizon Farm. We also spent some time doing work projects on the property for the church that hosted us, Grace Baptist Church, Queensburgh. They worked hard, ministering to the residents, and serving there and at the church. A lot of physical work and it was HOT!

A small part of our team prepared songs, lessons and crafts and interacted directly with the residents at Horizon Farms. What a blessing to see our youth learning from them as the residents served each other happily, despite whatever physical or mental limitations they might have. We learned so much from them!

The students also had the opportunity to learn how to share the Gospel clearly, and how to effectively share their personal testimony. These sessions were taught by John Page and some of the young adult leaders in our group.

Brandon teaching about Evangelism

On Saturday, we joined up with the children from Grace Baptist Church, Queensburgh, and headed over to Flame Lily, a local retirement village. We were able to had out chocolate covered marshmallow Easter eggs and invitations to the Good Friday service. We sang to the residents, and were able to interact with the residents, giving hugs and smiles, and hopefully brightening a few people's days.