Back from Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro was great, we are back safe and sound and ready to get back on campus again! It is late and our internet is in and out, so I can't write a lot tonight but I will try to write more my next time. It was great to get to see more of the country and learn more about it. I think we are all glad to be back "home" in Abidjan though and are ready to get back Cocody! We got to go to the world's tallest basilica which was beautiful. So out of place in the middle of a relatively small African city, but it was beautiful for sure. We are going to be able to have the talk that was postponed again tomorrow which will be good too. I will update again in a few days and will try again to load some pictures too! God bless!

~ Lauren

Weekly Update

So, I might not be able to update as much from here on out. The internet has been getting spotty and to make the best use of our time here we are limiting our time on the internet as well. Things have been going very well! Out of necessity, my French is improving which is good because we have been going to the dorms more instead of just at the English department and there are a lot fewer English speakers in the dorms. God has been doing some really great things. We were struggling to find girls who spoke English, or enough English to communicate and it was getting a little discouraging. Since Tuesday though I have met so many more girls who speak really good English and have been so excited to talk about their culture, life, and spiritual things. Yesterday three of us went to the girls dorm and ended up sitting in the hallway for nearly an hour talking with these four girls who were one of the girl's hair. We learned about Cote d'Ivoire culture, about what it's like at university, and we got to ask them about polygamy which is apparently a pretty common practice here, at least in the villages. It was just really eye opening. They said they were all Christians, so we asked them what they thought one needed to do to receive eternal life. They said one had to believe in Jesus and live a good life. Going off that, we asked if they were sure that they would go to heaven then if they were to die today. It was surprising, most of them said no or seemed uncertain because they had sinned too much that week or just didn't know. They had to leave soon after that, but some other friends and I got to go back today to talk to them further. Only one of the girls was there today, but she introduced us to her sister and we all talked for a while. We talked more with them about how we can have assurance of our salvation and read through some of 1 John to show them God's promises to us. We are meeting up again on Friday to begin a follow-up bible study with them. We had a big conference planned for today on Youth and Sexuality which is a big issue/topic here. But we had some unforeseen problems and had to postpone. So prayers that things would work out there and that we would just continue to rely on God and His plans. Flexibility has been a very important lesson here, but even though plans change, we just are continually reminded that God is never taken by surprise with these things. He has a plan, and His will always work out better than ours! We are going to another campus tomorrow to do the same conference at another school, but we will be back at Cocody on Friday. Then we leave Saturday for Yamoussoukro, the capital city, where we will be until Monday. They haven't given us a full itinerary here yet, but we will be going to the university there to help with different things and meet students and will also have a chance to do some sight seeing and see more of the country. It is a four hour drive, so I'm excited to be able to see more on our drive there and back. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! Much love!

In Christ,

~ Lauren

Life in Cote d'Ivoire

Some fun random things/differences:

- It turns out we are here during the rainy season, I don't think we've been here one day where it hasn't rained at least once. I've woken up in the middle of the night multiple times because the rain is so loud! We went out and played in it one day though, which was a lot of fun.

- The plants and animals are totally different. There are geckos everywhere, and we woke up this morning to a huge spider the size of my palm on our bathroom wall. There are chickens everywhere, even though it is a big city. They just walk around and go home to roost at night. The birds are so loud here, they often wake us up in the morning too.

- The fruit is amazing. We've had mangos for dessert nearly every night, and I think I could live off of just mangos. They are delicious! There is a papaya tree in our front yard and a coconut tree out back.

- They drive on the same side of the car and road as back home, but everything is much closer together. If our taxi wants to turn onto a main road, they don't just wait till it is clear, instead they just inch out and everyone else stops. I'm glad I don't have to do any driving, I don't know that I could do it!

- Time is not nearly as big of a value here as it is in America. We had a meeting today that was supposed to start at 9, but didn't end up starting till nearly 10:30! As someone who is very time and schedule oriented it has been a change. It is good for me though. Privacy is also not something as important. In Africa, what is yours is mine and mine is yours. It will take some getting used to, but it has its merits for sure!

- Julie, the student I wrote about in my last post has become my French teacher. I thought I knew French till I came here! I know phrases, but she has been helping me with my vocab and pronunciation. Most of the students here though speak pretty good English which helps.

So, I tried to post pictures, but the internet just is not cooperating. I will give it a try later though!

The problem of corruption

Had a wonderful time talking to students on campus yesterday. It was heart breaking too though. I got to talk to a student named Julie for a while. She is a Christian, but she was talking about how hard it is to be a Christian here, especially at the university. The corruption we experienced this past weekend with the police is just one area, it extends to the university as well. Julie was explaining that many professors expect bribes to pass students, even ones who have gotten good grades. One of her friends knew he had passed his class, but his professor refused to post his note (grade) until he gave him money. For girls, it is not uncommon for professors to expect sexual favors in order to pass them. This broke my heart, and she went on to say that they have no where they can go for help because those higher up in power are just as corrupt and do nothing to stop this. I was talking to Marcy, who has been serving as a missionary in Africa for the past 18 years, and she said this is common all over Africa. Many professors see it as a perk of their job and do not see anything wrong with it. How to you combat corruption and people taking advantage of others if they do not even see it as such? My prayer is that God would continue to move on these campuses, not only in the hearts of students, but with the faculty and administration as well. It is hard seeing this pain and feeling so powerless to do anything, but God is now powerless, and He has given us the amazing gift of prayer, which James 5:16 says is powerful and effective. As you pray for our team and the work God is doing in Cote d'Ivoire and Africa as a whole, please pray that God would change the hearts of those who are continuing this cycle of corruption. I also pray that God would reveal areas of corruption to me in my own heart and life back home. It is not something that is just here in Africa.

Also, as you pray please be lifting up our team leaders Craig and Bryn as well. Bryn haas not been feeling well the past two days, and they went to the hospital this morning. It turns out that she has appendicitis and she went for surgery and hour ago. Just prayers for a quick recovery and for peace for their hearts. Surgery is scary enough on its own, but it is even worse in an unfamiliar country with language barriers and everything. The Lord continues to be faithful though and takes us one day at a time! We are so grateful for you all and your prayers! In Christ,

~ Lauren

God is moving in Cote d'Ivoire!!!

We got to go to campus today for the first time of actually going out and talking to students!!! Previously we were going to meet with the English department and students there for a formal introduction, but this was the first time we got to go out on our own. And God did amazing things! We went around campus in groups of 2 or 3 and just started talking to students. I don't think I moved from my little 5 ft. area for the whole 2 plus hours we were there because we'd start talking to a group of students and more would just keep coming up. These students are so hungry to talk about God and to learn and hear more. We met such a wide range of students from those who had never heard the gospel to those who were clearly on fire for the Lord and wanted to talk to us about how they could share Jesus with their friends. We are going back tomorrow and my partner I was sharing with and I have made plans to meet with several students to talk again. We saw two people come to know the Lord in just our visit today, so I can only imagine what else God is going to do! And to clarify what I wrote earlier, we are the first international group to come work with Cote d'Ivoire in 10 years. The last group was some students from Canada, but since then the national staff has been on their own. The campus director for this university we are at is also heavily involved with his church and other areas, so it is really nice to come and be able to help him out and get things started again on this campus. There is a very obvious desire from the students to talk about spiritual things, they just need people to come and talk to them! I am learning so much too, just in strengthening my own understanding of what God has done for us and learning to share that in a clear and understandable way. I cannot wait to go back tomorrow! Cote d'Ivoire has their first match in the World Cup tomorrow too, so that should be fun. Go Elephants!!! Tomorrow is another early morning, so I'm off to bed. But I wanted to share with you all while it was fresh in my mind! Blessings!

~ Lauren

p.s. - oh, and also a clarification from my last post. we talked more about our encounter with the police last night and Tom, one of the missionaries we are working with who has been in Africa for a long time now, said that that was a very rare occurrence to be stopped that often and especially to have that many people asking for bribes. He felt that it was just spiritual opposition. He said he had never been stopped when they had missionary convoy signs on their cars, so although there is corruption and such it is not as common as it seemed at first. So mom and grandma, don't worry, we were not in danger and were being safe. : )

PSS Hey All!! Lauren is pretty saweet :) (that was my friend Shane, but I told him I wouldn't delete it. Our team is wonderful and it has been incredible getting to know all of them and serve along side them. They are such a blessing!)

End of Week One

One week since I've left, but it feels so much longer! Going to campus on Friday was great. We got to meet so many students and start building relationships. We are going back tomorrow, and we had a bunch of students who told us they were planning on coming. We are working through the English department, so that is where we will be centered on campus. I am so excited to get to go back tomorrow!!! Saturday we got a chance to see more of the city and it was rather eye opening. It was a one hour drive there and back, and we got pulled over four times that day. There is so much corruption, police pull people over for the smallest thing and expect bribes before they let you go. I couldn't understand all the French, so I don't know quite what they said. But it was a little intimidating with their big guns right there with them! We are sure to be careful though and are in the Lords hands, so there is nothing to fear. We got to go to an Ivorian church service today, which was neat. They were kind enough to translate most of it for us. My favorite part was the worship though, it was so free and joyful! There was even a congo line of people dancing down the isles at one point, just singing to Jesus. It was so neat to be able to worship with them! It is nearly dinner time, then we have more training before we head back to Cocody (correct spelling now!) tomorrow. I will write more again as soon as I can! Thanks for your continued prayers! Blessings!

~ Lauren

Welcome to Cote d'Ivoire!

Je suis ici!!! We arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on Monday evening, around 6 pm (we are 4 hours ahead of Virginia, so 5 ahead of Oklahoma). Since our leaders, Craig and Brynn and their two children Keenan (2) and Elliot (3 months) are moving here for the next few years we had a lot of bags to find and get to our housing. We found them all though and got here safe! We are staying at what used to be housing for a mission organization, but they all left 8 years ago due to civil unrest if I understood correctly. Either way, it's nice! We can't drink the water and we all learned how to light the heating system if we need hot water to wash dishes or take a shower, but its good! It's an adventure that's for sure. We've had quite a bit of rain, so we haven't gotten to go out a ton. We are learning to live on Africa time! Things move at a different pace here, so we never know our schedule very far in advance. The past two days we have been doing cultural training and learning how to share the gospel and our testimonies. We've also had time bonding as a team which has been really wonderful. There are 12 of us, 7 girls and 5 guys. I am so excited to get to serve alongside these people for the next 6 weeks. It really seems like we've known each other for so much more than 6 days. We got to go to a high school today to teach English to students because they have an oral english exam coming up to get in to university. We got a chance to learn more about their culture and also got to talk to them about Jesus through it too which was great! After that we got to meet the national Campus Crusade for Christ staff for Cote d'Ivoire. It has been 10 years since they have had any student helpers here, so they are very excited for this summer as well. We get to go to the university for the first time tomorrow. It is called Cocodi (not sure of spelling) and has 60,000 students. We will be going to the university Monday through Thursday to build relationships with the students and share the gospel with them through that, and then on Fridays we will be doing outreach to orphanages, prisons, and wherever else the Lord directs us. We will be taking students from the university with us on Fridays to continue to build those relationships and show them the love of Christ in action. Please continue to pray for us! I will write again as soon as I get the chance! Much love to all of you!!!

~ Lauren

Getting Ready!

Only three more full days at home! I fly out Saturday morning to Denver, CO for briefing with my team before we fly to the Ivory Coast. Thanks again to everyone who has made this possible through your prayers and generous donations. I am so incredibly grateful and humbled by the amazing support and love you all have shown me in this, so thank you! I am currently in the process of packing and doing laundry (prayers that I can stay under my baggage weight and that I don't forget anything) and getting prepared spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. So thank you for your continued prayers! You can also be praying for the rest of my team and that God would be preparing us for the work He has for us and that we would be sensitive to His voice and calling.

God has blessed me with a great couple of weeks at home for which I am very thankful. I have gotten time to spend with both family and friends which has been so refreshing and relaxing. It will be sad to say goodbye for the next two months, but at the same time I know this is where I need to go and I am excited to take this next part of the journey! I will be sure to keep you all updated as I head out and we begin briefing. After that, we should have internet access at least once a week, so I will be writing as often as I can!

Blessings!

~ Lauren