I am not sure how many continue to check this blog site, but I am now planning a new trip, and this one is not to the jungles of Panama, the deserts of Mexico, or the poverty of Colombia. No, this time, my heart has been called to Uganda. This summer, within the first week of May, I am heading out to Soroti, Uganda, to work with a Y.W.A.M. base in one of their projects called Amecet n'ainapakin, which means shelter of peace. I will be working with children both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Currently I am in the process of raising funds, and am excited to see how God is going to provide. He has never failed. The averaged price of this trip is $3,000 dollars. I will be living on the Y.W.A.M. base for two and a half months serving there. Please prayerfully consider walking beside me and supporting me as I take another leap of faith into the heart of Africa to love and care for these babies.
Blessings In Christ
In HIS hands,
Lauren Conrad
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Thursday, October 4, 2007
La Jungla: Embera Tribe
On Thursday, September 19th, our team went into the jungle to work with the embera, one of the many indigenous tribes here in Panama. The roots of the embera people venture back before the first pioneers in the Americas. Missionaries and people from the Peace Core have been making progress with this people for years and just recently, within the past year and a half, they have installed electricity and clean drinking water for the people. The people still live in huts that are constructed of wood and palm leaves. All of the houses are raised off the ground by about five to eight feet due to flooding and animals.
Thursday we gathered our things, planning to stay at the village for five days, and headed to a river about an hour and a half drive from the YWAM Panama base. Once we arrived at the river, we all got out of the van, covered our back-packs in plastic, and boarded boats that were similar to long canoes. The boat was powered by a motor and directed by two men by long rods. Panama is just entering its rainy season, and so the river is still shallow to some extent and often, with the weight of our luggage and our selves, we would jump out of the boat and push the boat upstream. (Quick side note: the man that was directing our boat was one of the characters in the movie “At the End of the Spear”). After an hour and a half in the boat, we finally arrived at the embera community. We were greeted by awkward looks and many, many children.
After arriving, we were all given a place to stay. The boys got their own hut to sleep in but the two girls, Erin and I, were sent to live with a family. According to tradition, the embera women bare their chest in public. At first this was a bit of a challenge, but God gave us grace and by the end of our time there it was more normal. The first day our team played with the children and got to know the village, but by the second day we began our work. The girls were given the job of preparing the palms to cover and make more roofing while the men of the team were sent to repair a path. The following day the men went on a two hour hike up a mountain and helped the embera men haul down a new canoe. The people had spent two weeks forming the canoe out of a large tree and without our help; the people said it can take up to four days to haul one canoe down the mountain side. These boats are huge and the guys were working on pushing this boat down for 12 hours. God really protected them and blessed their labor. The girls and I went to another near-by village and worked with the children.
The evening when the guys got back from hauling the boat, we had a meeting. The night before, on Friday, we came together for a time of intercession and we sought God’s heart and what he desired of us there in the embera community. So on Saturdays meeting, our leader brought us together to remind us of what God had shown us in visions three months before in intercession. God had given us a word and an image. The word spoke of the tremendous need for boats and the vision had been a boat without a sail. God reminded us of our purpose. The embera people were in great need of new boats and these boats didn’t have sails. So we decided to stay a day longer than scheduled and bring down the second boat.
We all rested most of Sunday. The work the guys had done opened the embera people to a new level with us, giving us an opportunity to speak about the love of God. So that Sunday we also had a program including worship, a testimony, dramas, and a message. The people were so open and we were able to pray over the children, the sick and the community as a whole.
After bringing down the second boat on Monday, we had a feast, and prepared to leave on Tuesday. Before we left, we bought some of the goods the women of the village made to sell. We loaded our things and right as we were boarding a huge rainstorm came and lasted the whole time we were on the water, but God was so faithful. He protected us and held us in the palm of his hand.
Thursday we gathered our things, planning to stay at the village for five days, and headed to a river about an hour and a half drive from the YWAM Panama base. Once we arrived at the river, we all got out of the van, covered our back-packs in plastic, and boarded boats that were similar to long canoes. The boat was powered by a motor and directed by two men by long rods. Panama is just entering its rainy season, and so the river is still shallow to some extent and often, with the weight of our luggage and our selves, we would jump out of the boat and push the boat upstream. (Quick side note: the man that was directing our boat was one of the characters in the movie “At the End of the Spear”). After an hour and a half in the boat, we finally arrived at the embera community. We were greeted by awkward looks and many, many children.
After arriving, we were all given a place to stay. The boys got their own hut to sleep in but the two girls, Erin and I, were sent to live with a family. According to tradition, the embera women bare their chest in public. At first this was a bit of a challenge, but God gave us grace and by the end of our time there it was more normal. The first day our team played with the children and got to know the village, but by the second day we began our work. The girls were given the job of preparing the palms to cover and make more roofing while the men of the team were sent to repair a path. The following day the men went on a two hour hike up a mountain and helped the embera men haul down a new canoe. The people had spent two weeks forming the canoe out of a large tree and without our help; the people said it can take up to four days to haul one canoe down the mountain side. These boats are huge and the guys were working on pushing this boat down for 12 hours. God really protected them and blessed their labor. The girls and I went to another near-by village and worked with the children.
The evening when the guys got back from hauling the boat, we had a meeting. The night before, on Friday, we came together for a time of intercession and we sought God’s heart and what he desired of us there in the embera community. So on Saturdays meeting, our leader brought us together to remind us of what God had shown us in visions three months before in intercession. God had given us a word and an image. The word spoke of the tremendous need for boats and the vision had been a boat without a sail. God reminded us of our purpose. The embera people were in great need of new boats and these boats didn’t have sails. So we decided to stay a day longer than scheduled and bring down the second boat.
We all rested most of Sunday. The work the guys had done opened the embera people to a new level with us, giving us an opportunity to speak about the love of God. So that Sunday we also had a program including worship, a testimony, dramas, and a message. The people were so open and we were able to pray over the children, the sick and the community as a whole.
After bringing down the second boat on Monday, we had a feast, and prepared to leave on Tuesday. Before we left, we bought some of the goods the women of the village made to sell. We loaded our things and right as we were boarding a huge rainstorm came and lasted the whole time we were on the water, but God was so faithful. He protected us and held us in the palm of his hand.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Well, here I am having just finished our first phase in outreach to Tecate, Mexico, and I can honestly say that we saw the hand of God at work. We stayed in Tecate for two weeks and began pioneering a new base for Youth With a Mission. Before we left on outreach, our team had a week filled with intercession prayer for our outreach in Tecate, Panama, and Colombia. In our times of intercession one of our team mates mentioned that there were several satanic camps that were working both in the city and in the out skirts of Tecate. Having this information, our team entered Tecate prepared for spiritual warfare. The stronghold that Satan had in Tecate was visible, and when we entered the city, it was as if light and darkness collided.
Our first week in Tecate was spent sleeping in a church, working with youth along with intercity evangelism. It was amazing how quickly the youth and our team bonded. We were really blessed to have formed such strong relationships with them. Our intercity evangelism consisted of going to hospitals, parks, and other public places where we would share our testimonies, do dramas, and share the hope of Christ to the surrounding communities. Everytime we had one of these evangelistic outreaches in the city, there were always people watching and waiting to hear what we had to say. Often the people would ask for prayer, and it was beautiful to see the team work in untiy as we were able to cover them, their families, and their concerns in prayer.
Towards the end of our first week in Tecate we led a program for three nights with the church we were staying with. We picked a specific park where we would lead worship, play with children, present the gospel and do dramas three nights in a row. God showed up, but not without Satan wanting to destroy things as well. One of the nights we had such a massive turn out of children, but we also had every type of technical problem. First the lights went out and we were only functioning on flashlights. We decided to start the program in faith and the church began to lead worship. I heard so clearly from the Lord that I was to go out into the dark and start dancing, proclaiming light into the city of Tecate. So I went and before I knew it there were at least 40 children dancing by my side, and within 10 minutes, the lights came on. Then we had trouble with music for our dramas, our team came together and started praying with passion and declaring God's truth, resisting Satan and declaring that he must flee. The sound began to work. We covered everything that night in prayer and God really showed up, bringing an even greater multitude the following night.
These are the things we saw and light was brought into the city of Tecate. There are many other stories from my team mates as to how God worked. Please continue praying for our team as we head out on Sunday to Panama. I will do my best to keep you all updated, seeing as there very few opportunites to get on the computer. God bless
Prayer Requests:
1. Unity
2. God's preparation for the people we come in contact with
3. HEALTH
4. safety
5. a deep passion for Christ to grow within each of us.
Our first week in Tecate was spent sleeping in a church, working with youth along with intercity evangelism. It was amazing how quickly the youth and our team bonded. We were really blessed to have formed such strong relationships with them. Our intercity evangelism consisted of going to hospitals, parks, and other public places where we would share our testimonies, do dramas, and share the hope of Christ to the surrounding communities. Everytime we had one of these evangelistic outreaches in the city, there were always people watching and waiting to hear what we had to say. Often the people would ask for prayer, and it was beautiful to see the team work in untiy as we were able to cover them, their families, and their concerns in prayer.
Towards the end of our first week in Tecate we led a program for three nights with the church we were staying with. We picked a specific park where we would lead worship, play with children, present the gospel and do dramas three nights in a row. God showed up, but not without Satan wanting to destroy things as well. One of the nights we had such a massive turn out of children, but we also had every type of technical problem. First the lights went out and we were only functioning on flashlights. We decided to start the program in faith and the church began to lead worship. I heard so clearly from the Lord that I was to go out into the dark and start dancing, proclaiming light into the city of Tecate. So I went and before I knew it there were at least 40 children dancing by my side, and within 10 minutes, the lights came on. Then we had trouble with music for our dramas, our team came together and started praying with passion and declaring God's truth, resisting Satan and declaring that he must flee. The sound began to work. We covered everything that night in prayer and God really showed up, bringing an even greater multitude the following night.
These are the things we saw and light was brought into the city of Tecate. There are many other stories from my team mates as to how God worked. Please continue praying for our team as we head out on Sunday to Panama. I will do my best to keep you all updated, seeing as there very few opportunites to get on the computer. God bless
Prayer Requests:
1. Unity
2. God's preparation for the people we come in contact with
3. HEALTH
4. safety
5. a deep passion for Christ to grow within each of us.
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