Leadership Development Conference - Thriving Through Change

6 July was our Mid-Year Leadership Conference, a special time of fellowship and encouragement with the local church leaders in Durban with sessions taught by John Page and Brad & Mary Hawkins. Our theme was thriving through change. It is amazing that while the world is constantly changing, our God is never changing.

PLACE Training

It was great to get a week-long visit with Word of Life Regional Directors, John & Christy Page at the beginning of July! John spoke at our Leadership Conference and Christy spent some time teaching Brad & I to facilitate PLACE ministry training. Every PLACE course Is designed to help believers discover how God has created you and others to fulfill His purpose in relationships, career, and ministry by understanding your unique combination of personality, spiritual gifts, abilities, passions and experiences. This is another ministry tool added to our belt to help encourage and build up WOL Local Church Ministries throughout Africa and the Middle East. We are excited to see how God will allow this to be used for His glory!

Core Fifty1 Youth Ministry Training

Brad, Joshua, & Ngcebo have been doing weekly Fifty1 youth ministry training with the youth leaders at Lambert Road Baptist Church. We are excited about the impact that they will have on the teens in their area!

GBC Holiday Bible Club

Last week we ran Holiday Bible Club (VBS) at our South African home church. Our theme was Mystery Island, "Tracking Down the One True God." We had close to 100 children in attendance each day and reached over 125 children throughout the week. We also had close to 50 teen and adult helpers! Please pray for the children that the seeds of God's Word that were planted will grow. Thank you!

A New Granddaughter!

Sarah Dianne Hawkins was born to Brandon & Brianna at 9:43 AM on June 6th weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces. She’s healthy, happy, and loved. So excited to see her grow!

Kids' Fun Day!!!

Yesterday we had a Kids’ Fun Day in Durban, South Africa! We invite the local churches to bring their children to participate and their high schoolers to volunteer, creating an evangelistic opportunity as well as an opportunity for Christian service. The kids play games to win prizes, but most importantly, we take a break during the day to share the gospel message! We had 70 children in attendance and around 27 decisions for Christ!

 

April Hawkins' Headlines

Sanibonani from South Africa!

We are excited to share with you a little of our ministry over the past few months and a glimpse into a few opportunities that are to come!

BattleZone Camp was in March. There were 50 people with staff and students. Our theme was Bible Origins, and we were excited to have guest speaker, executive director of Voice of the Martyrs South Africa Ashley Illman. We were reminded how special the Word of God is, but also how privileged we are to be able to have a copy, the ability to use it in the open, and to worship freely. Here is a testimony from one of the campers:

The impact that BattleZone Camp had in my life was quite profound. It made me realize how privileged we are to have access to the Bible, because so many people do not. I also found it amazing how despite the persecution Christians face in so many countries, they are still so eager to use every opportunity they get to meet together and grow in their faith, even though this may result in death. This caused me to do some self evaluation and I'd say, I've really learnt to not take the privilege of being able to go to church and having the Bible for granted, as well as the importance of praying for the persecuted Christians.
Sfeziwe Buthelezi, age 15


Over the last few months, I have had various opportunities to fill the pulpit in local churches as well as teach the students at Durban Bible College. It is a privilege to teach both about the Word of God and the importance of youth ministry in the local church!

Kids’ Fun Day is happening on 18 May! This is an evangelistic event that provides the opportunity for local churches to reach out and invite other children to come together for a day of fun, games, and food as an avenue to share the gospel. This event requires over 20 teen and adult volunteers to help the day run smoothly. Please pray that everything falls into place and the weather cooperates for this outside event.