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Thursday, May 17, 2012

May Prayer Letter

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter.
You will need Adobe Reader to open the file. Click here to download free.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa
Attachment: May 2012.pdf

Friday, May 11, 2012

Prayer Update

This weekend is our young adult Oasis Camp! Please keep all aspects of this camp in your prayers, praying for Brad Hawkins and the other staff that will be running camp, the speaker, Pastor Matham, and for the young adults, that they are refreshed and renewed in the Word of God!
Pray, also, for the kids and I as we will be involved with the youth ministry at church tomorrow most of the day, and for the girls and I as we are still under the weather.
Thanks, again, for your prayers! We are so encouraged and blessed by them.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Satellite BattleZone Camp

Brad had the opportunity to take a team to Potchefstroom, about 1 1/2 hours away, to run a satellite BattleZone camp. Here is his report back!

"Thank you all who were praying for the BatttleZone Camp in Potch! We had a great time with the young people there. We were able to have 4 meetings and 4 breakout group meetings in the 2 days we were there. We challenge them to Evangelize their families, friends, and strangers. Then we equipped them to do it! Thanks again to all who were praying and all those who helped!
"

Prayer Update

Thank you for your prayers! We have had a wonderful, busy week filled with ministry in all different areas of life - but specifically A LOT of opportunity for discipleship! It has definitely been a blessing.
Please keep our upcoming Oasis Camp in your prayers! This is a camp for young adults, and runs May 11-13. Pray for the young adults to be challenged and encouraged, coming away with strengthened hearts and changed lives!
We are doing a lot of preparation for the months ahead, as they are going to be PACKED full of ministry! From the last week of May, I think we'll be on the run until at least mid-July! We are excited about all God has in store and we will fill you in on each and every detail as it gets closer.
Please keep the girls and I in your prayers, as we are all under the weather and suspect bronchitis is to blame.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Prayer Update

Since we started a group on Facebook, I have neglected our multiply blog a bit. Please forgive me! I will try to update here as often as I do there. I'll fill you in on some recent events!

We had a great time at BattleZone Camp with around 80 in attendance. This camp was held at a local church and the youth slept on the floors in classrooms and in the main hall, and Fran & I cooked for them with the help of the Discipleship Training Centre students. Brad and Mike spoke on relationships - "Building Bridges" was the theme. There were lessons on friendships with Christian and non-Christian friends, dating, and relationships with those in authority. It was exciting to see the kids avidly taking notes. The interest and response on how to deal with these relationships in a Biblical fashion was encouraging!
The picture about is one of the teams at camp preparing a team chant.

During camp we had our first Born Again to a Living Hope performance for the year. Most of the cast members are new. We had a great performance and are looking forward to seeing how God will use this ministry in the year ahead.

The Discipleship Training Centre (DTC) Students would appreciate your prayers, as their studies and ministry keep them on their toes, and they are striving to do their best for Christ!
To the left you will see a picture of the 5 girls in the DTC. I will list their names starting at the top and going clockwise: Aneesah, Ntombi, Thobile, Cremelda & Shiela. We also have 5 guy students, Stephen, Themba, Tsepho, Joshua and Thato.
Please pray for them to be faithful in their studies, excited about ministry and most of all, to stay close to God and desire to please Him in all that they do.

We shared in our prayer letter that T-Junction was quickly approaching.
We had around 150 in attendance and around 6 salvation decisions! It was an amazing day and fun was had by all. Thanks for your prayers! To read more about T-Junction, follow this link.

This update is already getting lengthy, so I will close for now. I will try to update you all on a more regular basis!

Thank you so much for your prayers. You're a vital part of our ministry!

Mary, for the fam
Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Text Only Prayer Letter....

For those of you that have shared with us that you struggle to access the pdf version of our prayer letter, here is a text version!

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.                 Ephesians 6:19-20

Join us in reaching S. Africa for Christ!
We are so grateful as we see God’s provision for our needs! We have seen a big increase in our support, but at the same time had an increase in our insurance costs. This leaves us at 80% of our needed support, or lacking $1000 a month. These extra funds would help in reaching youth with the gospel of Christ. If you feel led by God to be a part of our ministry, you can give by following this link: https://home.wol.org/giving/giveto/Brad+Hawkins+06109S

Have you ever found yourself the answer to your own prayers?

For many years now we have been praying for missionaries to start Word of Life in other areas of South Africa, and specifically, in Durban. We as a staff in South Africa recently started praying regarding the possibility that Mary and I might be the answer to this prayer!
Durban is approximately 7 hours from Johannesburg, where we are currently located.   It is the largest city in the South African province of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. Durban’s population is approximately 3.5 million.
Word of Life is already working with 5 local churches in Durban. John Page and I travelled to Durban this past week for conferences and training, and to meet with many more churches that are interested in using Word of Life. We were asked more than once, “When are you sending a Word of Life Missionary to our area?” It was exciting for us to be able to answer, “Soon!”
We are still praying for God’s wisdom regarding His timing, but are anticipating this to happen around October or November 2012. Please join us in prayer as we seek God for guidance regarding every aspect of this.
We will need to raise approximately $3500 toward expenses that we will incur with this move. If you feel God wants you to help, you can use this link https://home.wol.org/giving/giveto/Brad+Hawkins+06109S and write “move” in the comment section.

Discipleship Training Centre

Mid-January was the opening of our Discipleship Training Centre (DTC) in South Africa for our second year. We welcomed 10 students into the program for 2012!
Students live at Word of Life Headquarters from Monday to Friday and attend classes at Berean Bible Institute of South Africa (BBISA) held at Sandton Bible Church in Douglasdale. They are also trained in ministry with Word of Life and have responsibilities around the office and home. The students are discipled by Word of Life staff members throughout the year, and Mary and I each have the privilege of discipling 2 students this year.
Students return home for the weekends and school holidays to spend time with their families and minister in their local churches.

Micro F-1

God has been using the Micro F-1 ministry (known in the US as FasCar) in a mighty way already this year!
A Micro F-1 is an evangelistic event for children that is hosted by local churches. We bring along a 32 ft. racetrack for hot wheels/matchbox cars and a crew ready for action. After a few rounds of races, we pause the fun for a meeting to share the gospel message. Statistics tell us that us that better than 75 percent of people who receive Christ as Savior do so as children!
We have had 3 Micro F-1’s this year to help kick off the clubs for the new year, and have shared the gospel with almost 200 children as well as many parents, seeing more than 30 children trust Christ as Savior!
Please pray for upcoming Micro F-1 events, that God would prepare the hearts of these children to hear the gospel. Please pray, also, for the children that have responded to the gospel already this year and for the youth leaders that will be teaching and guiding them.

Upcoming Events

T-Junction is fast approaching! On March 10, we are hosting a day of fun for teens and young adults at Wild Waters, a local water park. While this is a “fun” event, designed to attract unsaved youth, this event is more importantly designed to bring students to a “T” in the road of life, causing them to choose between turning toward God or turning and going their own way.
Please pray for this event to run smoothly, that many attend and that lives are changed for Christ!

Also coming up is BattleZone Camp from April 2-4! The express purpose of BattleZone Camp is to prepare Christian youth with the tools necessary to fight the daily battle of the Christian walk.
This camp will be held in a local church to help keep the cost down, opening the doors to more campers. Please pray for us as we plan, and pray for the students that will attend, that God begins to prepare their hearts even now for the lessons He wants them to learn at camp.

Here are some testimonies from our summer camp in December. Thank you for your gifts and prayers!

“Thank you very much for the opportunity of coming to camp. I really enjoyed every minute of it. I have learned many, many things. I don't regret coming. One of the many things I learned is when I pray I should expect 3 answers from God, i.e. ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ and ‘Wait’. And that I should never stop waiting on God. Thank you very much. God bless you!” Dieketseng

“Thank you very much for the gift that made it possible for me to be at camp. May God richly bless you. I had an awesome, fantastic time here. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have learnt a lot and my life has been impacted by all the messages. The campfire service made me look at my Christian walk in a different way. I was blessed and challenged at the same time. God bless!” Nthabiseng

“I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here. I really appreciate all the love you have shown me. It was wonderful to be with Christians every day here at Word of Life Camp. To me it was important to be here because in my family I am the one and only Christian. It was nice to have so many people I can talk to and share the Word of God with. I have learned a lot and my life has changed thanks to you. I have taken out the idols I was struggling with that I learned about at camp and I have put on new good things in my life. Thanks!” Busi

“The camp was fantastic. I am not a church attending person, but now I know that I am saved. The games were fantastic, I learnt a lot from the seminars and I am happy that I was given the opportunity to know Christ and understand His way. Thank you for letting us experience the wonderful Word of God.” Sphamandla

February Prayer Letter - Exciting News!

Here is a copy of our most recent prayer letter.
You will need Adobe Reader to open the file. Click here to download free.

Brad, Mary, Brandon, Marissa & Mya
Word of Life South Africa
Attachment: Feb 2012.pdf