Update

Well I think it's about time for an update.

To be honest it has all been kind of a blur. With only 2 weeks left down here I have been trying to enjoy enjoy and enjoy what God has allowed me to live here every day. This week with the students we have just been learning and having fun together. I love how this new curriculum focuses so much on Biblical principles. We just finished the story about "Jesus and the disciples". After the previous week of sharing things about my grandmother and the Gospel...I was able to find some good little booklets to pass out to the kids who accepted Christ into their hearts.  Be praying that the words written about Christ really connect to their hearts and they grow a hunger to KNOW the Lord. It has been such a privilege knowing these precious ones and teaching them a second language that can greatly help them. Although we have some wonderful short term missionaries to help keep this English ministry going, we are really in need for a long-term person to be able to take over the ministry. I know that God WILL provide someone for this beautiful ministry and will help it to grow and flourish for the LORD.

As far as the Soccer School...we have been preparing for an all-nighter pijama party. It will be a fun and great opportunity to get all the kids in the soccer school and their families together. We are planning to do a whole bunch of activities all throughout the night.  It is a wonderful blessing to provide the kids and their families with an activity which will be free of charge to them. Things such as these are able to happen by YOUR financial support and prayers. I look forward to posting many photos of this wonderful event.

Please be praying for my health and energy this weekend. I will be up all night on friday...have a few hours to sleep  then run a 5K on Saturday, then go to worship band practice, then wake up Sunday early for church. Just a lot packed into one small weekend.

We all look forward to having missionary David tonight. He has served here in El Salvador for many months before, 3 months when I was here as well, and will be here for 2 months again.

Thank you so much for your prayers! If you have never noticed...Prayer is POWERFUL!!!

With much love that the Lord has given me,
Lauren

more praises..

Thank you to all who prayed so diligently for me! I arrived safely to El Salvador on Wednesday and was able to go directly to my afternoon class. The opportunity was once again there to share with these kids about my grandma's death. After we prayed 13 kids and 1 mom made the decision to live a life with Christ in it, believing in all He did for us and knowing there is a place for them in heaven. What an awesome blessing to come back to !

Everyone here in El Salv and there in the US has been SO incredibly gracious and kind during this time and I feel so very encouraged and blessed. I have come back with a peace about my Grandma and also filled up with the love of my family and friends.

Saturday I was able to relax after all the traveling and head to the beach to rest and have some down time. 

I will keep you all updated soon!

With much much love,

Lauren

God moves

God moves...in areas we don't expect...in the timing that may not have been what we thought...and in ways that just blow my mind! I praise that Lord for His blessings that come even out of difficult times!

As I shared with you all before, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to share with my students my faith and how they too can choose to have the Lord live inside their hearts and follow Him. As I shared with my morning class on Friday about my grandmother passing away..they were all very compassionate and listening with full focus. God opened up a beautiful moment to share why I could be happy even though my grandma had just died. I shared the reasons why I KNEW she was in heaven...and explained how each and every one of them could know as well. After God so graciously bestowed me with the words to speak...4 kids and 1 mom raised their hands, saying that they prayed in their heart to live a life with Jesus and also believed in all that He did for us. What a great moment to see those precious hands raised up. I cannot begin to describe to you my feelings, after knowing each and every one of those 5 so well. To see them come to English class day in and day out, knowing their personalities...and now seeing their desire to be forgiven and want to walk a life with God...it is simply unexplainable!

Thank you so much for your prayers and I ask that you continue to be praying as I hope to have the opportunity to do the same with my afternoon class on Wednesday. Also that God would provide ways to follow up with every person who took Christ into their hearts.

As many of you may know...right now I am at home in Ohio to be with family and attend my grandmas viewing/funeral which will be on Tuesday. I will go back to El Salvador on Wednesday and finish my service there. Hallelujah for having a wonderful father who works and travels so hard which afforded him miles to fly me home and back for free! I am truly grateful!

God certainly has been working in ways that make me praise Him and appreciate who He is, and also all He does. The Lord works in so many ways and I wonder about all the things He does that you and I don't even moment.

Take a moment to stop....listen....then praise Him for all He has done in your life, is doing right now, and will do. Thank Him for the things we see and also for the unseen.

Thank you for taking part in this journey of life with me :)
I am eternally grateful!

In the warm, tender love of Jesus,
Lauren

Sometimes..only the Lord knows why...

There are times in our lives when things happen that we really just don't understand. These past couple of days have been a time where I just sit and say..."Hmm..why now Lord?". This Tuesday night I received a facebook message from my older brother telling me to pray immediately because our Grandma was care flighted to a hospital. This news came out of nowhere and really left me in shock. I really didn't know all the details until today when I was finally able to talk to my parents on Skype.

Long story short...my Grandma had an artery burst in her brain and was on life support until today. Where our entire family decided it was best to take her off of it since there was no brain activity and she would remain just with a beating heart. All of this happened in a flash and left me wondering..Why? Why now when I'm in El Salvador. Why now when my grandmother was in fairly good health? Why now when our cousin just a baby boy? Why now, before I am married and she could see me walk down the aisle? But I've come to realize that there are things that happen in our life without knowing the "why's". This is where complete faith and trust in God come in. There are things that only the Lords knows and He does them for the better. My favorite verse is in Romans 8:28 where it says, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those, who love him; who have been called according to His purpose." In ALL things...God works for our good. In death, in life, in sorrow, in happiness....God is always working for our GOOD, because He LOVES us. I truly believe this and choose to trust in His perfect Will.

I can already see a blessing through this hard time. Praise the Lord that my grandma was one of the most faithful servants of Jesus that I know. She was a TRUE example of a obedient, selfless, woman of Christ. Because of this I can rejoice knowing that our Heavenly Father is so thrilled to finally embrace her in His arms. It has also allowed me a wonderful opportunity and window to share this with my students. It is the perfect way to explain why I KNOW my grandma is in Heaven right now. I am so pleased and blessed to honor the Lord and my grandma in her passing, but sharing the love of the Savior to these precious Salvadoreans. 

My family has been so blessed to have a loving father who works so hard for his family and travels very often. In saying this, he continually earns traveling miles and has enough to send me home tomorrow and also to bring me back to El Salvador to finish my service down here. I will leave El Salvador tomorrow at 12:40 pm and return around Wednesday in the afternoon. Please be in prayer for travel mercies and for the funeral on Saturday. Pray especially for my mother and her siblings as it is their mother who has passes. Would you also please keep my students in your prayers. That tomorrow and Wednesday their hearts will be open to the power of Christ and my words (in Spanish) will be from the Lord. I pray that God does a mighty work in their souls and they make the decision to live for Him and Him alone.

Have I told you all before how much I truly appreciate and love you all? Thank you, sincerely, for who you are and what you do!

In the love of Jesus Christ,

Lauren :)

Greater things are yet to come...

Time sure does fly by fast doesn't it? Already I've spent 2 weeks here in El Salvador. I'm happy to report that life back in El Salvador has been an easy adjustment and I feel right back at home. Of course I really do miss my family a lot, and friends as well.

My schedule has been pretty much the same as last week..English classes 3 days a week and church activities. But this week in church was a little different. All through the week there was some sort of service which all focused on family. I absolutely love learning about this topic because it better prepares me for the type of family I wish to have in the future. One thing that a Pastor said in church was that when a husband and wife have Christ as the center of their hearts and their relationship...then it's like they have an umbrella over top of them...covering and protecting. It does not meant there will be not storms, but it does mean that you will be protected. Not only are the man and wife covered...but also the children and covered under this Godly protection. The service went into more detail but I really enjoyed the analogy.

I am excited to share that this Friday I believe I will have the opportunity to specifically share Christ with my students in the English classes. Please be praying for their hearts to be open, and for the words the flow through me..in Spanish! I will also be able to sing again this Sunday for church and am very excited for that as well!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and care! I will be better about taking pictures and try to post some up!
In the love of Christ,
Lauren