Best $1.20 investment

I feel like my faith is growing so much stronger. Abbey has been really sick the past week with Bali belly. As I shared in my last blog, the Lord healed my ear and it was a fast result. However, I have been praying for Abbey and my eye and I was realizing that I was getting annoyed that they weren't healed yet. I was like "God you healed my ear right away, can't you just heal my eye and abbeys tummy now?" THEN I realized WOW I am not being patient with the Lord at all. So many times I can remember praying for something and being so impatient with God. I know the Lord will heal our physical problems, but it is not in my timing but Gods timing, for he makes everything perfect in his own time. I believe God healed my ear for that one time for me to remember to have faith in God that even though he may not respond right away it doesn't mean He isn't going to do it. We must pursue continual faith in the Lord in all circumstances.

Today was pretty awesome. Staying in Bali has kind of turned into just a typical day. I was feeling like I was just living here. I was realized that daily we need to remember our mission statement "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," - Matthew 28:19 This is what we are supposed to do daily. Serving God and making disciples. It was so crazy how easily that started to slip away even in a place like Bali. You would think that this would be in your continual conscience. However, it is easy to get in the lifestyle wherever you are at, you forget your focus.

I woke up today praying to God that would keep me focused. I went to Kuta to surf with the kids at the Kuta orphanage. When we were done Abbey and I went to the mini mart to go get some crackers and water. I got these crackers that I was really looking forward to eating when i took a bite of a cracker it was really stale and I found out it was expired. I was so agitated I went to the cashier and complained and it didn't really help much. It was actually really good that Abbey came with me or else I wouldn't have noticed but she explained to me how that was rude and that this cracker proboably took about a year to get here. That the people around saw my character by the way I acted. I started feeling bad but it was so true what she was telling me.

I went to the car and drove with the kids back to the orphanage. On the car ride there I passed out the stale crackers and the kids didn't complain once about what the cracker tasted like. They were just stoked to get anything. Then I was thinking like WOW I am a complainer and that these kids appreciate so much and what they have. God totally showed me this today. Just learning more and more about my surroundings. That we need to be more aware of what we do and how we are portraying ourselves to others.

The ORU team is leaving on Monday, please pray for a safe flight home for them. Also please pray for Abbey and her health as well as my eye it is still infected. Please pray for the safety and protection of the Body of Christ here. Thank you love you all!

Lauren

update

Hi friends and family! Thank you so much for your support and prayers! This week the ORU worship team, Abbey and I went to the orphanage and did an assembly for the Christian school here. This week we did the 1-5th graders instead of kindergarten and preschoolers. We played games and did worship. The people at the school are so hospitable. They were so nice they provided us thank you bracelets and food this morning. Most of the people I have talked to here are nice and really interesting to talk to.

Praise God for safety and casting out fear and thank you again so much for your prayers. The Lord is teaching me so much and this is such an amazing growing experience. It is really interesting because normally around kids I tend to gravitate to the younger children but I find myself gravitating more toward the older ones. Maybe it is because of Younglife and I do miss my girls so much! I definetely feel like God is refining my call and I am so excited!

God is teaching me so much about faith. This WEEK WAS AMAZING. I went to church this Sunday and I had an ear infection. When I got to church this man wanted to pray for healing on my ear. As he was praying I was thinking how much faith this man had. This is the faith that we should have. I found myself doubting when he was praying for me. When the worship came on, the Holy Spirit just flooded through me. The song Mighty to Save was playing and it hit me! GOD CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAINS BECAUSE HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE! I was putting God in a box with Bali. I was thinking this place is so spiritually dark that there was not much hope. BUT IREALIZED at that moment that GOD CHOSE HIS PEOPLE BEFOREHAND and that GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE HE CAN SAVE THIS PLACE!

During the service, the message was about faith without works is pointless and it got me thinking a lot. The Lord is teaching me so much about my spiritual gifts and intercession being one of them. This message got me thinking that I NEED TO HAVE FAITH when praying. "I tell you the truth, if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." -Matthew 17:20 This is my gift God has given me and if I have faith as small as a mustard seed God will answer.

After the service and realizing this, the same guy came up to me and asked if my ear was better . I said no and he wanted to pray for my ear again. This time we prayed I had faith. I had more faith than I ever had in the Lord. Not just about my ear but in the Lord in general. That night my ear was healed. It was such an amazing thing to know that GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE and how powerful "In the name of Jesus Christ" truly is. God healed me and my sickness. God can save the people here and heal them!

Prayer requests:

*Abbey got Bali Belly and please pray that the Lord heals her
*One of the girls from the children's home put her hands on my eyes and I got an eye infection. Please pray that the Lord heals it. It's not that bad!
* Safety for the body of Christ here in Bali; ORU TEAM, Global church, the people here in Bali
*Please pray for my heart and that I can be more patient and a listener.

Thank you so much love you all!

lauren

This week!

Hi everyone! This week has been really busy but so fun! Its hard to keep track of the days here I feel like I am in a time warp. This week I went to this Christian school in Bali and taught english to the preschoolers and kindergardeners. It was really encouraging to see the body of Christ especially in Bali being grown at such a young age. I also got to go to another orphanage on the Bukit. This orphanage is a lot nicer than the other orphanage that I went to in Kuta. These kids are funded by an organization called Hopes of Hands. The ORU team went to teach music to these kids. I played the tamborine haha. I don't know if I helped much other than the beat of the song.

I realized that the Holy Spirit moves so fast among Christians here in Bali. It isn't necessarily like home where everyone is practically Christian. Most of the community here is either Hindu or Muslim. It is mostly Hindu. I talked to some people who became believers here in Bali and I realized that the Holy spirit moved so quickly through them. I think this is why the enemy is upset when believers are building the body of Christ here.

I feel like the Lord is teaching me so much about overcoming fear and I the Lord told me why I am here the other day. Before I came on this trip, I wasnt aware of the extreme poverty here. This place didn't really exist in my mind. When I got here the spiritual warefare became so real to me. It is great to make relationships with kids and help out as much BUT the Lord brought me here to open my eyes to the need of prayer in Bali. I feel like God is teaching me a lot about my spiritual gifts and using them to love others and use prayer to its full extent. I guess I never realized how powerful prayer was and what gift God has given me. I was reading Romans 13 :8 the other day which says, "Owe nothing to anyone except for your obligation to love one another."

I realized at that moment that the best thing I can do is love others but with the gifts God has given me. He is teaching me to use my spiritual gifts to love others. I am here to encourage the body of Christ, be an evangelist and pray pray pray for the light of the Lord to shine through this dark place.

God is also teaching me so much about rest and leadership At home I am constantly busy, but coming here I am busy but I am living my life daily. I don't know what is going to happen the next day normally until the night before. This is how we are supposed to live daily not looking at what will happen tomorrow but by what God is providing for you on a daily basis. I don't need to worry about tomorrow.

"Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

If I am constantly busy, I am not allowing the Lord to work through all of it. I need his place of rest for my replenishment to be a quality leader. I am learning to give my life daily to the Lord and not base my day around my plans. Also to know and understand my surroundings that what I do and what I say is effective to others.

The Lord has been so faithful. I am so blessed to have God guiding me on this trip. I am feeling so much better just about the whole fear issue. God has totally helped me overcome some of my fears here. Just being afraid of the enemy and how dark it is here in Bali is something God has gotten me through.

Praise God for my replenishment! ALSO please pray for:

*Protection of the body of Christ here in Bali

*Replenishment for the Bali Surf House, Global Church and the ORU team.

*All the children that have Christ in them, that they can grow to be God fearing men and women of God that the Lord will protect them during persecution. These children are under a lot of persecution due to the strong culture. Please Pray for them! THIS IS THE FUTURE OF BALI!

*I met this girl at the orphanage yesterday that has boils on her back. Please pray that the Lord heals her. Also 3 of the other girls at the home has Dengay fever. Please pray for the health of all these children that the Lord can heal them!

THANK YOU!!!

Orphanage

hey everyone! Yesterday I got to go to the orphanage in Kuta. The home has about 22 kids in there various ages from 2-12. All the kids learn english there and just want to be loved. I met this one boy who was so loving he hugged me 3 times right when I got there, he doesnt speak much english but I found out he was from a village and when they found him he didnt know how to speak. He looks like he is the size of a 6 year old but he is really 10. Super cute! Another girl I met was awesome! She reminded me of one of my young life girls. She is 12 and she loves miley cirus so we had some common ground to talk about. haha. I met these two girls that are living there for a month and they ended up being from Tustin. The three of us took all the kids to the playground. When they told me a playground I was thinking a park but no it was a KFC indoor playground with a merry go round inside. It was random but the kids loved it. After leaving, I realized that I am so blessed to be staying where I am staying at. Even where I live, it is so much different in Bali than it is in California.

Today is Sunday, we are going to church in a little and having quality fellowship time. Hopefully I can update next week! Thank you so much for your prayers I am feeling so much better. I am adjusting alright to the food and the way of living. Please keep praying love you all!

Lauren

BALI I AM HERE!

Hello friends and family! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! I am so sorry that I havent been able to update my blog or reply to your individual emails. It has been really hard for me to get internet or phone service out here so my time is quite minimal for the internet.

Abbey and I got to Bali safely. It is actually working out super well because the ORU (Oral Roberts Universtity) Worship team is here as well! The day after we flew in we went to Lembongan Island. The first day we got there, we went to the village and did worship with the children. The children were so excited to just play and sing! It was really awesome because I was taking photos of all the children (can't show it to you now I cant upload photos) and they never seen a digital camera before so they were so excited to see a picture of themselves. My eyes were open at that village. These people live in huts and literally no bathroom or anything. The people's jobs were to clean seaweed all day. It broke my heart I started thinking that it wasn't fair that it was like this. But I realized who am I to say what is fair and what is not. These people are the poorest of the poor. I couldn't even believe it. But it was so amazing to see how happy the children were just to sing and dance. They loved it!

That night we showed a movie on Joseph. The government on Lembongan island wouldn't let us show a Jesus film so we showed a movie on Joseph. That night was so crazy because there were so many people that came to see this movie in the middle of the jungle! But the whole entire time I was praying. I was feeling the darkest presence at that movie. Even when I landed I can feel the spiritual warefare. It is soooo spiritually dark here I was so scared the first 3 nights. I am still scared but the Lord is definetly working through me and teaching me so much and I have only been here for 3 days.

I was reading today in Romans 8:31 "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" God is bigger than all. God is for me and even if the enemy is against me, GOD IS BIGGER. Then my train of thought went to 1 John 4:16 "God is love and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgement, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in the world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." What really spoke out to me was perfect love casts out fear and only GODS LOVE IS PERFECT. God loves me and HIS perfect love casts out all fear. and yes I am scared and afraid because of my selfish physical self. I am scared of getting sick, BUT MOSTLY scared of the reality of the spiritual warefare and the enemy. But God is with me and his love.

I recieved an email from one of my young life girls and she metioned this verse: John 8:12 "I am the light of the world, If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." Light is considered a pilar of fire, which represents Gods presence, protection and guidance. God is with me protecting me and guiding me. His presence in my life is becoming more real as I am here. It is crazy but also having faith that God is protecting me and guiding me. I was thinking more on the word follow me which led me to Mark 8:34 "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news, you will save it." WOW the Lord totally spoke to me.

PLEASE PLEASE PRAY that I can learn to give up my life for Christ that this fear will be expelled for GOD LOVES ME and I am so blessed for this opportunity to serve him and grow. Also please pray for the rest of the ORU team and our safety and protection, spiritual replenishment and encouragement. We are all the body of Christ and it is so encouraging to be in fellowship with them. Also pray that bugs don't keep attacking me! haha.

Thank you so much for your prayers and please keep on praying. I love you all and I will try to update once a week. Its really difficult for me to reply to individual emails it is easier if you commented my blog. Thank you so much!

Love, Lauren

ONE DAY!

Hello everyone! Tomorrow is the day we leave! I can't believe things have gone by so fast! Here are some praises:

*All things are packed and ready to go

*Took all my finals before I left (still keep praying that I pass all of them!)

*Got everything squared away with my Young Life girls.

*I am getting loads better I am not as sick anymore :)

*All funds were provided

Its so wild how tomorrow I am leaving. I honestly don't even feel like I am leaving. I guess it's really hard for me to imagine that Bali even exists because I haven't gone there before. I know it is going to be a huge surprise when I get there.

I got this email this morning saying on WEDNESDAY I WILL BE GOING ON A Mini MIssion Trip to Lembongan:

We're going to be taking a ferry (old bargy thing actually) across one of the deepest channels in the world (so I hear :) to the island of Nusa Lembongan. We'll be getting up around 6am to get to 8am departure out of the Sanur harbor.

The Bali Surf House has the ORU worship team there and they're going to be working with Samia, who does a lot of ministry over there. We'll be working with the team in the villages, playing with the kids, hopefully surfing and then putting on a night of worship and viewing of some sort of Jesus film to the locals on Thursday night. Should be a good time. It is very spiritually dark so please pray for the teams safety and that the Glory of the Lord will be shown there.

It is so crazy how right when I land I am going the next day to Lembongan! Please keep myself and the team at the Bali surf house in your prayers:

*Safety for the flight

*Mission to Lembongan

*Spiritual Encouragement

I am so blessed to have all of you to be praying for me. I love you all and I will be checking my email HOPEFULLY once a week, but please keep updated on the blog! Thanks!

-Lauren

6 DAYS

Hello Friends and family! I am leaving in 6 DAYS! Crazy how time flys by so fast! I am half way packed and almost ready to go! I am feeling like it is all coming to reality for me. I am actually leaving. Things are getting packed, days pass by faster. I am feeling great about going. I feel like spiritually I am almost ready. I feel like I need to spend some solitude time with the Lord before I leave. Please pray that time will be provided without distractions. One thing that I read today that was really encouraging was 1 Corinthians 15: 10 "But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me and not without results. For I have worked harder than any other of the other apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working though me by his grace."

What really stuck out to me in this verse was whatever I am now. I have grown so much this past year with the Lord and sometimes I tend to forget how much God is working in my life. But I was really thinking about this today and God has provided so much for me and is continually doing that. God is working in my life for His glory. Sometimes I can get caught up in being in control of all aspects of my life. BUT these results or accomplishments in my life are not by what I have done or do but it is Gods glory and because GOD has poured his favor on me.

Some things I am going to be in continual prayer throughout this trip are:

Refinement on my call- Is my call in ministry?

Learn to be selfless. What does it really mean to deny oneself, give up your selfish ambition, carry your cross and follow Christ?

Please also pray for:

-Safety

-A building relationship with the Team I will be with

-God will use me where there is a need

-TESTS MY FINALS ARE WEDNESDAY!!!! Praise God I got them all scheduled before my flight. Please pray that I pass my HRM class!!!! I am barely passing... not even passing at the moment BUT LETS PRAY I DO!!!

-Younglife girls- I am just so blessed that God provided me these amazing girls this year. I truly feel like God is giving me them to focus on. Pray that they stay accountable and just nourishment on this trip to move forward to feed them the word.

- encouragement and motivation on the overall trip in general

- protection from the enemy and all his tactics and attacks.

- my health, I got sick yesterday!!!

I love you all thank you so much!