week 2

Hello from Africa,

As I sit here writing this I feel humbled and just... aware, I guess is the word to use.  This week as I’ve been studying Acts it has become very evident that the early church spent tons of time together in prayer, studying the Word, fellowship, and worship; most of which was done in homes around the town. Honestly, I feel  like that has been the theme of this past week here in South Africa. Bare with me as I try to unfold my experiences…

This was our first full week on campus and doing ministry and overall it went well! My ministry partner Sarah and I challenged ourselves to meet girls on the 3^rd and 4^th floors of Panorama (a girls’ dorm).  These are 2 floors where Nammy (CO Staff girl) has been unable to get touches with any girls all year. Thankfully, we were able to meet first year students on those floors which was a win and some of those girls even attended our Bible Study that we held on Thursday night. We studied John 8 about the Adulterous woman and shared the bridge diagram with about 10 girls. After the Study, a girl named Tato, who has been on my heart, pulled me away  and told me how she was really needed time to process what she had just heard and wanted to talk with me and Sarah soon about how to study Scripture and apply what she had just heard!!! Finally, someone who is SPIRITUALLY INTERESTED! We had a long chat last Sunday during our ministry training about the difference between “exposed and “spiritually interested” individuals. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to go in depth about each of those but know that Tato is an answered prayer already!

 I was really surprised coming to South Africa and finding about that about 75% of this country proclaims to be Christian. However, most of that percentage has yet to enter into a personal relationship with Christ . This information takes me back to the statistics in the States;  most of America would say that they know Christ and are Christians. Who knows, they might be, but if we think about this statement maybe it will change your mind about those who proclaim to be Christians around you… “If you truly believe what you say you believe, then your life will reflect it”. There is a price to following Christ and many people aren’t willing to forsake all of the things of this world to follow Christ.  In Christ there is FULL satisfaction- the things of this world will NOT satisfy no matter how appealing they are.

An another note,  when we come back from campus each night we have “Family Time” During family time we share how our time was on campus and go over logistics for the next day. This past Thursday after sharing how all of our Bible Studies went Doug said he had something to share with our team that wasn’t so good news…

By the time you are reading this, you might have seen news coverage about a guy named Matt Hill. Matt is from Charlotte, NC and is on staff with Campus Outreach in Washington, DC. On Tuesday morning he went missing after dropping a student off in Chinatown. There is no word yet about where he is or what has happened. I URGE you to be in prayer for him, his family, the search party, legal aspects, friends, and staff team! I am trusting and believing that the Lord is sovereign and as Romans 8:28 states “ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  If you have any connections in the DC area please contact me so I can get that information to the staff in DC so that we can #findmatthill.

Also this week, several of the girls had extreme nightmares, Noa (Doug & Kait’s daughter) got the flu, and our vehicle was stolen from in front our house during the middle of the day within a 45 minute time span. We got word that the tracker unit was found (device inside of our car) but that our car was not found. So, as of right now we are carless and are relying on the COJ staff team for transport.

I mentioned earlier in my post that I feel “aware”.  I am aware of the Sovereignty of God. I am aware of how I  am not in control of my life. I am aware that I can’t convert someone to Christ, but that I must be faithful to share and give my life away.  I am aware that as a believer I am under attack and spiritual warfare is present. In all of this, I am believing that Christ has overcome the world.  

Personally, I am kind of in a rut. I’m not sure what it is. I think I am needing some alone time- ha! But seriously…

Tomorrow is our Sabbath, so be praying that I will truly be able to rest in the Lord and that He would continue to reveal more of His promises to me.

 The Lord has really began to build unity within our team this past week too through studying Acts, worship, ministry, living together, and prayer. We have spent a lot of time in prayer over the things have just mentioned and I would love to invite you into that as well.

Prayer Requests:

1)      Matt Hill

2)      Tato- figuring out where she is spiritually

3)      Recruitment to the JWC

4)      My personal time with the Lord

5)      Ministry in general

6)      CCP team unity

7)      SBP- the students arrived in Myrtle Beach this past week. Be praying for them this summer!

HELLO FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Hey Everyone!!!! 

I'm sitting at in internet cafe, so I don't have much time but I definitely wanted to give you a quick update about everything going on so far in South Africa!!

Just wanted to let you know that my team and I arrived safely in Johannesburg, South Africa after a VERY LONG 21 hour flight on Tuesday, May 17th!  Thankfully, ALL of our luggage arrived WITH us and we were welcomed with a very warm greeting by the Campus Outreach –Johannesburg (COJ)  Staff who drove us safely to our little bungalow called The Butterfly.

The weather here is really nice during the day but very chilly in the early morning and evening. It has been really interesting getting accustomed to driving on the opposite side of the road, the Rand (their form of money), the 6 hour time difference, the food, and the new lingo ! We have already had some interesting encounters driving on the streets…I’m not going to share the details, but let’s just say I’ve been somewhat scared! Ha! You can pray for Wil & Casey (2 of my friends on the CCP) who are driving us around in a 10 passenger Quantum. (This is training wheels for our 14 passenger vehicle we should be getting soon. ) Also, I learned to play Rugby with the rest of the CCP team which was a lot of fun and good exercise!

During the past 3 days we have been gettting oriented to UJ-Bunting and to the culture of South Africa by the COJ Staff, which has been extremely helpful!!! I am so thankful that we haven’t wasted any time getting on the campus of UJ-Bunting! We have already become great friends with the campus security guard, Simon (which is a HUGE answer to prayer) However, some of us girls have struggled getting into Panorama (a women’s dorm).  On Wednesday,  we spent time with the student leaders in praying for the campus; they are very young believers themselves, yet their passion for the Gospel to go forth on their campus is so challenging!  Wednesday night we also went to the CO weekly meeting called “LeLife” which was surprisingly  successful! Having stepped onto the campus only  two hours before, we were able to meet tons of girls who came with us! My ministry partner’s name is Sarah- she goes to Virginia Tech and is amazing! We have the privilege of serving on the first 5 floors of Panorama and on Thursday night we  hosted our first Bible Study where 18 girls showed up! These women are so hungry and are searching everywhere  for something to satisfy! There is one student named Lucia, who openly admits that she is not a Christian, but who wants us to host the Bible study in her room from now on!  THAT IS CRAZY!

 It’s only been about 3 days here and I am already seeing how BIG God REALLY is compared to my small view of the power of God. God is moving at UJ-Bunting!  I am beginning to gain an understanding for what it means for ministry to be food. (John 4:34)  

On another note,  there are 11+ official languages in South Africa and these students  speak 5+ languages fluently! For example, when a group of them are conversing they will each be speaking a different language and understand every single word, no joke. Ha! Also, their names are VERY difficult to say much less remember. I really want these women to know how much I care for them, so please pray for grace to remember their names.

Things to Pray for:

1.       Panorama & Horison (2 Women’s res) & Majuba (Men’s Res) and the students that are in them. Please pray for receptive hearts & boldness to share the Gospel.

2.       1 Corinthians 2:2 – that I would know nothing except Christ Jesus and him crucified.

3.       Living with 15 other people can propose its challenges, so pray for unity among our team and that I would personally sacrifice for my team and grow in service to others.

4.       The women that I will be ministering to in Panorama- pray that these girls would open up and that they would be willing to go deeper, beyond surface level “chit chat” as I desire to share my life with them.  Pray that they would come to the Fountain of LIVING WATER, the only One who can satisfy and give life! (John 10:10, John 4:13-14)

5.       Sarah & Me- our ministry partnership.  Remembering the names of these girls!

LOVE & MISS YOU.

-Lauren

It's TOMORROW!

I'm currently sitting at the Holiday Inn in Lynchburg, VA with my precious family and am just thinking about the fact that umm I will be on a plane to AFRICA TOMORROW! We traveled to Lynchburg this afternoon for a "send off and commission" at Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church tonight, which was awesome! Afterwards the family and I went out on a little adventure to find some AMERICAN food :) We ended up at the really great restaurant called the Depot Grill, SO GOOD!

Can I just tell you that...I can't believe that IT'S TOMORROW!

I literally will be getting up and heading to the airport to embark on one of the greatest adventures and completely life changing experiences of my life! 

Thank you to all of my friends, family, supporters, and church family that have given so generously the advancing the Kingdom of God! 

I encourage you to please follow my blog and to check it frequently for weekly updates (hopefully!) :)

LOVE YOU!!!!
-L

Counting Down

It's crunch time with finals. 7 down, 1 to go!
This weekend I will be busy packing and spending time with some family members before leaving North Carolina on Sunday afternoon where my dad and I will travel to Lynchburg, VA for our team send off. Our team will then travel to Washington, DC around 10 am to board our 5:55pm flight at Dulles Airport via KLM airlines on Monday.

I also want to take this time to give a BIG THANK YOU to my church family at Hickory Grove. Their support throughout this whole process of support raising and preparing for Africa has been unbelievable!! Two Weeks ago hundreds of women from HGBC gathered around Morgan, Kim, and myself and prayed over us. Last Sunday the College & Career Sunday School Class did the same thing! Such a great picture of The Church!  I have never felt so loved and cared for by a church family in my life. To GOD be the Glory, I am so blessed to be part of this local church body.

Prayer Requests:
1) Focus for this LAST exam
2) Pray that I would find REST and meet intimately with the Lord!  Right now I am extremely anxious. Anxious about packing up my dorm, unpacking at my house, re-packing for Africa. I am anxious about the fact that my to-do list is more than a mile long, spending last minute time with family and friends, about traveling 21 hours, about going to AFRICA! Pray that I would cast all my burdens and cares on the Lord and find my rest in Him!
3) Safe Travel- to Lynchburg, VA and then to Africa. I will get to Africa at 3:20pm (our time) on Tuesday May 17th, which will be 9:20pm South African time.
4) Jet Lag and ENERGY!

It's REALLY Happening!

I'm going to AFRICA!!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT!

<3 L

Check out this link!

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CCP Video

Here is a neat clip about the CCP. ENJOY!

Shouts of Joy

Hey Everyone,
  Just wanted to give you all a quick update about life, nursing school, and the CCP!
I spent this past weekend at CO's annual Summer Leader's Retreat in Matthews, NC! It is probably one of my favorite retreats each year (this is only my 2nd one) Ha! BUT still... It was awesome getting to be with the SBP, CSP, GSP, and CCP in one place, together for the Gospel.
I sat in on 3 extremely challenging talks by Andrew Holbrook, Zach Fulginiti, and Bill Moore. I am still chewing on the Word that was brought from those talks...maybe I will blog about those once I have had a chance to process through them. All I know is that there is a Gospel gap and I want/need to embrace the power of the gospel for change RIGHT NOW rather than thinking of the past or the future<-- so, I will be meditating on that for... well...probably the rest of my life.

  This weekend the CCP team was reunited again, at last! This team feels so much like family it is crazy! Unfortunately Phil & Wil had to leave Friday night and Casey wasn't able to be there most of Saturday so that left Doug chillin' with the ladies all day Saturday :) Friday night we found out some more details about our trip.

Here are some Updates:
1)  Since our last meeting, Noa  (Doug & Kait's 1 yo daughter) has learned to walk!
2) We are on campus at University of Johannesburg-Bunting
3) There is going to be awesome training packages this summer- led by the COJ staff and Doug.
4) We are staying in a super RAD guest house called... THE BUTTERFLY! (Our little Architect Becca has great talent, she drew us a blueprint of our little home) For our safety, there is a wall and gate in front of the house and a fake ADT security signs outside of the hosue..rest assured.
5) Wil Sessions is in charge of driving our Manual 12 passenger vehicle (Ummm....not sure how I feel about that one yet!)
6) We aren't sure where we are flying out of  yet- either ATL, NY, or DC. The plan is to leave on May 16th and arrive in Johannesburg on the 17th.
7) We have learned to Click :)
8) The girls will have to purchase hairdryers and straighteners in Africa
9)  God is so So SO FAITHFUL and GOOD-  For some reason God has poured out His favor upon our team and has supplied us with over $30,000 of support (with $30,000+ to go)!
10) Our team is BODLY praying that our goal would be complete by April 29th, 2011! Less than 4 weeks away! Come join our team prayerfully & financially!

  This whole process of support raising has been challenging with the demands of nursing school, ministry, and life in general but that's what has made this process so amazing! At the end of the day, I can't say that I did anything..because I didn't! God DID, He is so good.

 The sanctification process doesn't start when I step off that plane, but it actually began way back in January when I was wrestling over the reasons why God would call me to go to Africa for 2 months. In March I cried my heart out, because Doug and I both weren't satisfied with the progress that I was making with support. And when I thought about it afterwards I realized that I had been trying to do all of the work by myself without FAITH that the Lord would be true to His character as PROVIDER. My heart wasn't believing in the POWER and PROVISION of GOD to supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

Psalm 126:5 says "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!"  I truly believe even now as I am standing here in "crunch time" of support raising that I am reaping already with shouts of joy, because I am seeing just how Faithful the Lord is to His children and how He loves to carry out His plans just the way HE wants it to be done.


Prayer Requests:
-I truly believe the Lord is calling me to serve His kingdom as a nurse so be praying as I try to rely on His power to finish this difficult semester out strong!
- Please be praying for Hannah and Brittany, two girls that are in a Bible study with me on Thursday nights. Hannah is serving on a mission trip with her church this summer and Brittany is going to the Summer Beach Project.  So, be praying for there summers and the support that they will have to raise as well.
-Next weekend my Dad is throwing a Benefit Dinner for me to raise support for South Africa, so be praying for the heart of more supporters and for my family as they rally around what God is going to do in Africa this summer.
-Most of all, please be praying for my personal time with the Lord.

THANK YOU!

-L