Jet Lagged

Jet lag is no fun for all of those who were wondering! I woke up this morning at 3:00!!!

North America!!!!

Yay!! We're back in north america now. It feels great knowing I'm on the same continent as you all now! Our flights went pretty smoothly. Well, other than the fact that half of our team wasn't booked on the first flight! It ended up working our though, they took a flight to Amsterdam and then met up with us in Zurich. I"m pretty jet lagged at the moment, I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night! This morning a couple of us went to to Wal-Mart, and whoa was that weird! There's so much stuff!! Honestly, is it really necessary to have 30 kinds of deodorant to choose from! Now that I"m gone from Africa I"m actually a little sad. Who knows when, if ever, I'll be back to Africa. I have tons of stories to share with all of you, but I"d like to do it in person, so I'll save them for when I get home! I'll see you all soon! God bless!

Hello

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this, that's why I've been slow to post anything. These past two weeks in Rwanda have been quite a challenge for me. First of all I've been sick basically the whole time we've been here and even had to go to the hospital. It's been difficult because the girls and guys on the team have to do separate ministry things sometimes, because us girls out on the street is just a big show. It slows down ministry because the girls can't go anywhere without getting hollered at and proposed to. I'll be VERY glad when we're out of this environment. Our schedule has changed slightly. We're no longer going to be going to the Widow's of Hope ministry. Brandon, our leader, got a very sketchy email from our contact there, and so he and our other leader prayed about it and we won't be going there anymore. Instead we'll be staying longer with the YWAM base here in Kigali. Last night was probably one of the funnest moments I've had since coming to Africa. All the pastors from the conference we were speaking at came to the compound we're staying at and we all danced and worshiped God for a couple hours. It was a very interesting experience and one which I'll probably never have again. Afterwards they all talked and thanked us multiple times for coming to speak to them. We also have invitations to stay with them if we are ever in there countries. So now I know that I'm welcome in Burundi, Uganda, and the Congo! It seems crazy that I'll be leaving in only 17 days. Overall this has been a good experience, but I"m definatly ready to go home!

Rwanda

Hello! We arrived safely in Rwanda yesterday, and it's so beautiful here! There's about 99% less garbage on the streets here and doesn't smell nearly as bad as Kenya! I think I'm going to like it here. I do think however that's it's going to be very emotionally draining. Yesterday as I was going through the city I saw soooo many people with either no hands, or missing legs, or with some body feature that was mangled. It really brings home the fact that there was such a major genocide here such a short time ago. It's hard when little kids run out to you, hands outstretched, asking for money, or a mother with 2 or 3 babies strapped to them ask you for money. We were told to not give money to anyone though because the children usually use it to buy glue, and we'd just be feeding their addiction. It's so hard to say no though! This afternoon we'll be taking a tour of some of the places we'll be ministering at, and I'll tell you more about it when I learn more. I'll talk to you all later! I love you!
Lauren

It's HOT here!

Hello everyone, I'm sorry for not posting in a while, things have been pretty crazy on this side of the world. The week after we were at the orphange we spent our time in Githurai, one of the large slums here. We did open air evangelism as well as door to door evangelism. It was a very difficult week for me as I was waaaay out of my comfort zone and had been dealing with a lot of homesickness and some other issues at the time. The only way to explain how I got through it was by God's strength. It really was the hardest week so far. God really did a lot through our team though and we got the opportunity to pray for quite a few people and saw many come to the Lord. Last saturday we took an 8 hour bus ride with very loud 90's music to Mombasa, one of the coastal cities in Kenya. We're staying at the Mombasa base which is quite nice and right beside the Indian Ocean. I'm still not adjusted to the hot temperatures. Our room on a 'cool' night is 27 degrees! I'm pretty proud of myself for not screaming like a little girl at all the huge bugs, geckos, lizards, rate, frogs, bats and disgusting millipedes. Oh yeah, someone saw 2 snakes, but I choose not to think about those! We did some door to door evangelism in Mombasa which went pretty well and also worked with a program called Kings Kids. The rest of our time was spent helping out around the base. They had been wanting the prayer room to be painted for about 2 years now, and so some people did that for them and painted a beautiful mural on one of the walls. Tomorrow (sunday) we bus back to Nairobi and spend the night there and then leave early on monday morning to catch our flight to Rwanda. I'm not to sure what to expect when I get to Rwanda, I'm just trying to take things one day at time. I could really use a lot of prayer right now. Africa is a lot harder than I thought it would be and am having a hard time adjusting to everything. Please pray that I make it through the next 33 days alright and that I don't tell myself lies about not being able to make it. I love you all and miss you. Please, please, please write me emails or leave a comment on my blog, I love hearing from you all!
Lauren

Update

Hello everyone! Today was our last day of working at the Imani orphanage. I'm really going to miss it there, the kids are all so special. Tomorrow is our day off and so I think we'll be going to the market, I'm looking forward to that. On saturday we'll start working in the slums. I'm pretty nervous about that because i don't really know what to expect. I could really use some more prayer for health, well actually the whole team could. One team member had to spend the day in the hospital from dehydration. Yesterday I was stuck in bed with a fever which was not very fun. I'm feeling better today, but still not the greatest. Life is a lot harder here than I expected, and I'm now fully aware of all the things i take for granted at home.

African Adventures

Hi! I wanted to let everyone know that I made it to Africa in one piece. Aside from some missed flights, sprints through airports, and missing luggage I'm doing alright. I never knew that I could go for 4 and a half days with no shower, no deodorant and toothbrush, no pillow and blanket, and no clothes and still be alright. I think with having our entire team have no luggage taught us that it's ok to smell bad, life goes on! Thankfully though everyone but cindy our leader got their luggage back this afternoon.
Yesterday we went to one of the orphanages in the area, and the children were so adorable! One little boy ran straight to me when I got off of the bus and wrapped his little arms so tightly around my legs. It really was the best feeling in the world. I could really use some prayer right now though, I caught a cold on the flight and mixed with being jet lagged I am feeling quite run down. I really need some energy and comfort, I'm quite homesick at the moment.
We have been so blessed by the base we're staying at, the people hosting us are so incrdible and generous. The assinged a male and female to be with our team at all times, even sleeping in the same rooms as us so that they can take care of us in whatver way possible. They are so amazing! I really can't wait to see all of you again! I miss you!
Lauren

Miracles Do Happen!

I need to share this amazing story with all of you! On friday there was still 5 people that did not have all of there outreach money. The total of the 5 of them was $1, 830 that still needed to come. We as a base prayed and passed around an offering hat. God is so amazing and multiplied our offering and we ended up having $560 extra!! That is just so amazing! We'll now be able to use that left over money and bless the churches and orphanges we're working with with some of the financial things that they can't take care of. God is so incredible! I can hardly wait to see what other miracles happen during out trip! Today is our day off, but I still have quite a bit of work to do. Lots of laundry and packing left to do! The past couple days we've been working on dramas and little skits that we can do in some of the churches we'll be ministering at. It's actually been a lot of fun. We've also been getting some crafts and things like that together to do with the kids. I'm so excited to work with the kids! Last night I helped out at Jr. Adventures. It's a kids program once a month where kids can learn about a specific country in the world and get excited about missions. Last night was very fitting since the country highlited was Kenya. It was so incredible to hear the kids pray for Kenya and for the little children there. My favorite part was at the end when the kids prayed and asked God if He wanted any of them to go there in the future. Around 8 of them put up their hands and we got the chance to pray for them. I think it's so great how they're learning abotu missions at such a young age. The kids also did an offering for us, and it was so humbling to see them come to the front with their penny jars and give everything they had. We got $28 in change! It was so cute. The kids also prayed for us and our team that we would be brave while we were there. God really works through these little kids! Our itinerary is as follows: We will be workign with Calvary International Fellowship in Nairobi for 2.5 weeks. There we will be working with churches in the slums and the Imani Kids orphanage. From there we will be going to YWAM Mombassa for 1.5 weeks. At Mombassa we'll be working alot with the Arts and showing them how to incorportate all kinds of art into worship. Next we will be going to Rwanda and working in Kigali at the organization called Parental Care for Destitute Children. After that is the Widows of Hope group for 1 week. There we will be teaching them HIV education, Craft development and marketing and sanitation education. The last place we will be at is YWAM Rwanda for 1 week. I will do my best to keep you undated! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Lauren

Pictures

Hi everybody! I wanted to show you all some long overdue pictures. Africa is in only 9 days, and I'm feeling a lot better about it now than I was a couple days ago. I was in a total panic the other day, and was really dreading the trip. God's put some incredible people on my team though and I am doing much better now. I think other than one or two little things I have everything I need to leave now. This past weeks classes have been on Relationships. One thing that really stood out to me that our speaker said was " Two halves don't make a whole in a relationship, you need to be a whole first." I thought that that was pretty interesting. This coming week we only have three days of classes and then 2 days of outreach prep stuff. I think that somebody who's been to that aread quite a bit will be coming and talking to us about the culture and things like that. I'm really excited about that. I think that we'll also be working on some dramas and stuff during those two days. That's all I really have to say, I hope you enjoy the pictures! Please remember to pray for me and my team!
Love you! Lauren

16 More Days!!

Hi all, I just wanted to give you all a little update. God really is the greatest thing ever! A member of our team (Matt R.) only had 800 dollars of his tution fee on monday and the staff said that if he didn't come up with the remaning 2200 by friday he would have to go home, but God is such a great provider and he managed to get the money by friday! Yay! I'm so glad he didn't have to leave, it just wouldn't be right if someone from our team wasn't able to stay. So Matt's staying but he still doesn't have his outreach money ($ 3,400) I would really really appreciate it if you could pray for this situation. We can't let Matt go home!! We are counting down till Africa, only 16 sleeps guys! I'll admit it, I'm kinda freaking out here. I dont' really feel prepared but I know that it's not in my hands, it's in God's. Our team dynamics are really great though and I couldn't have asked for a better 'family' to be with during this time. For the past two weeks our speakers have been talking about following your dreams and stuff like that. There messages really challenged me and I realized that it's only me who's standing in the way of accomplishing them. After these past two weeks I feel very empowered in my faith!
i love you and miss you all like crazy!
Lauren :)

San Fran/Modesto

Hi guys! I'm in Modesto at the moment. We just got back from having a BBQ for the homeless people in the community. It was a really great experience. My favorite memory was when we were praying at the end and this little girl, Antoinette, prayed and thanked God that there was people who came and played with her today. It was such a sweet and sincere prayer. Up until we left for the BBQ we were busy planiting a community garden on the church property. The vegetables they get from it will go out to the people on the streets to help feed them. It's such a great idea I think! San Francisco was pretty crazy. The base we stayed at is right in the heart of the ghetto. There's a ton of honmeless people that sleep on the street right in front of the building. The smells were sometimes overwhelming! One of the nights we were there a couple of us joined the prostitute ministry. We had a prayer walk and handed out hot chocolate to the prostitutes there. One of the first people we met was this homeless man who was asking for money to buy a small coffee. We didn't have any money so we gave him some of our hot chocolate. It was so sad because he only had one shoe. God really overtook for me and completley eliminated all fear I had going into this. My heart really breaks for these people and it hurts me to know all the stigmas that are attached to being homeless. The people i met are some of the nicest and politest people I have ever met. It was incredible!

Update

Hello hello! I just wanted to give you all a little update of my time in California. This past weeks classes have truly been amazing. We learned about what it really lookes like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. My favorite part of this week was when we got to take an hour and go by ourselves and ask God what cross He was asking us to pick up and carry. The next day we met and prayed for one another regarding that issue. It was so great to be able to corprately pray for each other. Tomorrow (Sunday) we will be traveling to San Francisco to join up with the YWAM base there. We will be taking classes with the DTS group that is there for a week and will be joining them for some ministry opportunities. The ministry I will be working with is the prostitute ministry. I would really appreciate prayer for myself during that time as it will most likely be very challenging. From San Francisco we will be going to the YWAM base in Modesto and spending the weekend there. I think we will be doing mostly homeless ministry type things there. I'm really looking forward it! I found out on friday that we are for sure going to be leaving for Africa on April 3rd and returing to California on May31st. Our flights will be from San Louis Obispo to Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to Zurich, Switerland, and finally to Nairobi, Kenya. It will be a very packed day of traveling! I'm getting so excited about going now, it's starting to actually sink in that I'M GOING TO AFRICA!!!! Everyday I start to feel God's presence more and more, this really is an amazing time. I've started to seek God's plan for me after DTS, it's confusing but very exciting. It's such an amazing feeling to give your plans over to God. I know that my future is completly secure as long as I'm trusting in Him. Continue to keep me in your prayers, I love you all!

Good Times

Hello everybody! It is yet again a beautiful day in California! This week we learned about the 'Fear of the Lord'. It really was an interesting week. I don't think I ever really knew what fear of the Lord actually was so it was really neat to learn about it so in depth. Together as a group we are growing a lot closer and have really become like a family. We have started brain storming to put together some dramas to take to Africa with us. I would really love if you could pray for us that we would be able to think of dances and dramas that would impact the people. Another personal prayer request would be for me when I have to get all my needles. I'll be getting either four or five and then luckily I am able to get two of my needles in pill form. I'm really quite nervous them. I attached some pictures of some sketches from my drawing classes as well as a picture from "Flannel Friday". Yes, it's sad but true, every friday the guys here plus one or two girls dress up in their flannel finest.

Hellloooo

Matt R. and I

Katrina and I


Zach, Chris, and Kara



Me and my 2 roomates, Beth and Rhiannon

Hi guys! Just a little update on our outreach prep. We will be flying into the capital city of Kenya on either April 2,3, or 4th. We will spend one month there and then will either fly or take a bus to Rwanda. We'll spend another month in Rwanda and then fly back to Kenya to fly back to California. We should be back here around the 1st of June. While we're in Rwanda we're going to be working with a group called 'Widow's of Hope'. It's a group of women left without their husbands after the genocide who have adopted several orphaned children each. I'm really looking forward to helping them out and blessing them in any way possible. I'm sure that they will be the strongest women I'll ever meet!
On Tuesday we spent the day at one of the beautiful state parks here for 'Silence and Solitude'. We were alone for 5 hours to just give ourselves time to just be with God. It was a really great experience. Some of the students went hiking and stuff but I just stayed in the same spot on the beach because I was scared of rattlesnakes lol. Some of the pictures attached were from the park and some of them are from our Valentines Day love feast last night. Hope you enjoy! Take care, love you!!

P.S. Lindsay Lohan is filming a new movie at Cal Poly the giant university here only 20 minutes away!!

Pictures!

This week has really been amazing for me. Our classes on grace have really opened my eyes to what grace really is. They really went into depth on how God doesn't just cover my sins he wipes them out. They're not anything that can come back up again. There's nothing I can ever do to make God love me more or less! Another amazing thing from this week was that in the past two days we as a group have spent 7 hours praying together for one another. It totally built up our team unity. Today we're doing another day of prayer for my roomate Rhiannon who was in a really bad car accident two years ago and has a lot of pain from it. We sign up for an hour of prayer so that for 24 hours straight there's always someone praying for her. God has really been doing amazing things here. One of the girls here cut her long hair off because she realized that she was finding to much of her strength in it and needed to rely on God for that instead. She also fasted for over three days to find some clarification from God. My other roomate Bethany is isolating herself for 24 hours to fast and really connect with God. It's so incrdible to see how God is moving through our group. Please pray that this lasts and that we can continue to build up one another through prayer.








80's volleyball, hence the leg warmers




This is the house I live on! See what I mean about it being a pain to walk up!



A kiss from God



Bethany, one of my roomates, and I



This is Cat holding Alleyah, one of our staff members kids. She's a major cutie!



The girls turn at air band



This is the guys rocking out to their sweet air band performance to Queen.



This was one of the most incredible sunsets I've seen since I've been here. This pictures was taken off of our balcony.



This is Elijah, our leader and his wife's baby. He is the cutest little guy ever and such a flirt!

Hello everybody! Sorry it's been a while since the last time I"ve posted. Nothing out of the oridnary has really happened lately. My roomates and me moved into a MUCH bigger room which is so nice. We're no longer cramped into a tiny space. Another perk of our room is that it has it's own bathroom. Pretty sweet if you ask me! Last weeks teachings were on evangelism and I have to say I was a little disappointed. It really wasn't what I was expecting. I'm really looking forward to this weeks lessons though, they're on grace. We had our first class today and it was really good. Today for evangelism Cat, Amy and I bought a dozen cookies at subway and went around giving them to people. Some people were a little creeped out lol but other people were really receptive of it. We had a fun little sing along with some guy who was playing guitar on some bench. Today was the first day I actually felt comfortable talking to people. Talk to you all later!

Creative Evangelism

Hi everybody! I wanted to share some pictures of my creative evangelism time last monday. So every monday we go downtown just to talk to people and build relationships with them in hopes of sharing the gospel with them. However, last monday we were supposed to bring a creative tool (camera, sketch pad, etc.) as a way to start a conversation with people. Sort of as an ice breaker. Amy and I were feeling discouraged and didn't really know what to do so we started writing in the sand. We wrote out all of john 3:16 and did some other bible verses and stuff. While we were doing that Chris came and started helping us. It was alot of fun. Even though we didn't get the opportunity to talk to anyone I'm sure our art put some thoughts into peoples minds.

Thanks

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is praying for and supporting me. This isn't exactly the easiest time for me, but it make it alot easier to be here when I remember that I have so much support back home.
Starting tomorrow, Susan Gaddis will be our speaker for the week. She will be teaching on 'hearing the voice of God' I'm really looking forward to this weeks sessions. I'll do my best to keep you all posted. Love you all!

Hello!

Hello everybody! Just wanted to let you know what's going on around here. I had my first art lesson yesterday. My drawing teacher is very nice, his name is William. I think this class will be very beneficial for me as an artist. Our speaker for this week's classes is John Hunter. He's a potter and uses his potters wheel during his lectures. It's very interesting how he relates what he's doing on the wheel to what he's speaking about. Please continue to pray for me as I'm finding some things difficult here. I know it's all for a reason though and that God has everything in control. Please pray for peace. After all these days of posting no pictures I finally get to, so here they are!

Location

Hi guys! I'm sorry I haven't been able to post any pictures yet, but it's kind of difficult when you can't use your own computer! But anyways, I just wanted to let you all know that after a lot of prayer our group has decided to go to Rwanda and Kenya! I would really appreciate it if you could all pray that I would make it through my needles without freaking out and wanting to back out of the trip! Email me! Love you :)