Family and Friends!
I am so sorry not to have written in such a long time. Once I found out that Uganda was for sure, studies really started hitting me along with preparation for the trip and now, three days before I leave, I am writing you!
I have a couple AMAZING stories to share in which God really blessed me in one of the most complex parts of my trip: travel. As many of you know and have been experiencing gas prices have gone up....exponentially. I am a little overwhelmed as I am sure you are along with our fellow friends in the airline business. Needless to say: the ticket costs a fortune. That is taking up most of the $3000 that I was raising. Problem number two: whether the price of the ticket was expensive or not, I would have been traveling alone for a very long time as a single white woman, and that was not the safest thing... (lets just say my parents weren't to keen on the idea).
So our amazing God decided to just put his hand in as an intervention and provide radically for me. First HE PROVIDED THE FUNDS!!!! Then, to top it off, there was a team from Covenant College, led by Dr. Krabbendam, that was going to Uganda at the same time I was. So, after a fifteen minute meeting with Dr. Krabbendam and an exciting phone call with my mom, I decided to travel with the team headed to Uganda. I was still needing to somehow drive north about 6 hours after the flight, and Dr. Krabbendam knew an individual from the town I am going to and asked them to come pick me up and take me. This is not some small task - this is a HUGE miracle.
These are just a couple of ways in which God has provided a way and is pushing me toward Uganda. I know and have been made aware of the many dangers I face, but I KNOW that my God has brought me this far, and He will NEVER leave me. He will NEVER let me down. He is my PROTECTION and SHIELD and I am trusting in Him.
Please, please, please, please be in prayer as I head out. I know I am going to need these prayers. Remember that the prayer of a righteous man is both POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE. Your prayers are powerful and effective and I know that as the body of Christ, we can reach out and touch the heart of God as we intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ. So PLEASE, add me to your prayer list this summer.
I will be doing my best to keep you all up to date with pictures of the little babies I will be working with and with stories of how amazing our God is!!! I am SOOO excited to be able to go. Thankyou for coming along side of me and supporting me through your words, through your money and through your prayers.
God bless,
Standing in HIS grace,
Conquered by HIS love,
Lauren Conrad
Friday, May 2, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Destination: Soroti, Uganda
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
Blessings In Christ
In HIS hands,
Lauren Conrad
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.
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