Two lovely views at two lovely weekends

A few weeks ago I had the amazing privilege of waking up to 2 amazing views and these are my favourite photos from each. From countryside to seaside in a week (not forgetting I then went back to the valleys a week later!) sometimes I'm just reminded to step back and thank God for this crazy life he's given me!

Two residentials in as many weekends! First I took my Romania team to Carrowmena, just a short drive south of here. The team has come together amazingly, after lots of fuss and both gaining and losing members. Just that weekend we were welcoming yet another member into our team and the lovely Nicole fitted right in and completed our little puzzle. We now have 8 girls and 1 guy on the team and we're all really excited for what the next 4 months will bring! We took them away on residential to get to know each other better and spend some time hanging out and having fun. It was so great to just be in the middle of the countryside where there was a lovely sense of peace over the team, and we were really fortunate with the weather so got to go out on a walk. We had a great weekend full of banter, laughs, sunshine and God and it started to feel like we're a family :)
The following weekend I went to a conference for teenage girls in Whitepark Bay. It's called Beautiful weekend and is run by an organisation called The Big House who specialise in helping teenagers with self-esteem problems, eating disorders, depression, self-harm etc. I took 2 girls along (1 from youth club, 1 from church) as it seemed like a really good chance for them to really find out who they are in God, that He made them beautiful and loves them unconditionally. It was a fabulous weekend in an absolutely gorgeous spot right next to the beach! The views were perfect for admiring God's great creation and letting His presence move among us. The team were fantastic, openly sharing their testimonies with the girls and using practical things to help them release the negative thoughts and feelings. I was so grateful for the ways in which they poured into my girls and showed them so much love and I'm so happy to say they both got a lot out of it! One had been struggling a lot recently with feeling unworthy of God's love and had a great breakthrough where she let Him back in and accepted His mercy and grace, and the other made a decision to follow God for the first time and told me she felt like she'd been lost but was now found!

Weekends like these remind me of how lucky I am and how thankful I should be for the privilege of pouring into young people's lives. My prayer for the next few months is that God would continue to use me and I'd see more young people come to know God, to know who they really are to God and to deepen their relationship with him further. I pray that God would give me the words, boldness and love for the people I meet, and I ask that you would join with me in prayer :)

My big plans!

Soooo… some of you may have been wondering what I’m doing for the next year of my life now that I’ve graduated, and some of you may not care (in which case, stop reading now!). Well now that it’s official I can tell you…

On 1st September 2011 I will be moving to Northern Ireland to join the Pais Project for the 11/12 school year!

The Pais Project is an international youth and schools missionary organisation. I will spend the weekdays going into schools with my team, teaching students about God through assemblies, lessons, workshops and lunchtime and after-school clubs. I will also be partnered with a church where I will attend and serve at several meetings a week.

The Pais Project started in 1992 in Manchester, with Northern Ireland being the first team to be planted outside of Britain in 2000. It has now grown and in 2011 there are teams in 8 nations! These are Great Britain, Northern Ireland, USA, Germany, Canada, Ghana, Poland and Eire, and it is continuing to expand. It is estimated to have reached over 8000 pupils this year in Northern Ireland’s North Coast Triangle alone! When I first heard about Pais in 2008 it was like a seed was planted and over the years of growing in my relationship with God I have felt my path being led increasingly to becoming a part of this movement.

I am so excited about this opportunity to reach young people in local schools and see them integrated into local churches. I think it’s going to be an amazing year and an unforgettable experience.

But in order to make it happen I need your help! My accommodation, food, transport and training is provided which is incredible. However, in order for me to be a part of this exciting opportunity, I need to raise financial support for myself over the year. It’s suggested that I aim to raise £100 per month. I trust that God will help me do this, and perhaps you can be a part of His provision for me. If you feel that you are able to support me financially at all please email me (address below), it will be much appreciated!

If you’re unable to support me financially, then please do support me with your prayers. Please pray that I, along with the other Pais missionaries, will be able to raise the needed support and that we will be a blessing to the communities that we’re based in. I will also be sending out email updates throughout the year with news of what’s been happening and how God’s been using myself and the team in the schools and churches and with things we need prayer for. If you would like to receive these updates please send me your email address so I can add you to my mailing list.

Thank you for reading this note and being a part of my life! It’s going to a challenging but amazing year and I’m grateful for all your support!

Love, Lauren x

laurenfry@hotmail.co.uk

To find out more about the Pais Project please visit www.paisproject.com