Final Week in Boston!

Hello my lovely friends!
I think of you often and hope that you are doing well!
It's almost time for us to pack up the vans for the first part of our outreach: East Coast Tour! But we still need financial support. We strongly believe that God has called us here for His purpose so we are trusting that He will provide just what we need. I'm asking you to please pray about financially or prayerfully supporting me in this Great Commission. I still need about $1,700. An enormous thanks goes out to all of you who have kept me in your prayers or have previously supported me financially!
If you would like to donate financially, checks can be made out to Lauren Erickson and mailed to:
1640 Bechelli Ln.
Redding, CA 96002
The money will then be deposited to my account to pay for my outreach fees.
Thanks again for your prayers!
Much love,
Lauren

Art For SALE!

My paintings are FOR SALE for donations in order to help pay for my remaining fees! Email me know if you're interested: lauren.erickson91@gmail.com

Or if you would just like to support me, checks can be made out to YWAM Boston with my name in the memo. Anything helps! Please mail the check to:

YWAM Boston

C/O Lauren Erickson

23 Emerson St.

Newton, MA 02458

We leave for outreach tour down the east coast in two weeks! All of us are excited but we also really need your help! A hand-full of us still need financial support. I personally need $1700. Please continue to pray that we reach our goal!

Thanks to those of you who have financially supported me and kept me in your prayers. You all have played a huge part in my being here and fulfilling the Great Commission described in Matthew 28:19-20. I love you all very much!

~Laur.

FIRST OFF

I am sorry that I have not been updating this blog as much as I had hoped I would. Free time is scarce here. But the time I have spent here is blessed all around!

OUTREACH

Thus far, we have held three outreach sessions. We went out to the street corners by Harvard Square and Copley Square in downtown Boston. Some leaders played music while we handed out free hot chocolate and offered prayer to people. For the second outreach, we went to an apartment complex in Waltham, the town where we live. Our team split into groups of three and went door to door to sing Christmas carols and pray for people. One girl rededicated her life to Christ and many people were blessed. After going to every door, we put on a show in the middle of the complex. A couple of our guys did crazy flips and tricks. Other team members did a few choreographed dances. We performed a skit about Jesus taking the blame for our sins. The kids loved it! A couple weeks later we returned to the neighborhood to follow up on the people and see how they were doing. They were so excited to see us again!

CHRISTMAS WITH THE MORGANS

I experienced my first white Christmas in Richmond, Virginia with one of our team member's family. There were 13 people in this family! They reminded me of my family haha. We arrived at the Boston bus station at 4:30am and 20 hours later tucked ourselves cozily in bed at the Morgan household in Richmond. Our days of travel were grueling but well worth it.

VALENTINE'S DAY AND BEYOND

Our team leaves for outreach down the East Coast on February 14^th. We will be performing a show called “Encounter” in several community churches as we tour along the East Coast. (Please pray that God will provide a reliable source of transportation for this trip.) The performance is a compilation of dance, music and a skit that tells the story of creation. During the tour we will also do urban outreach and go door to door. Our mission to the United Kingdom, specifically Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, will consist of the same type of community outreach. I am so excited to see what God has in store for both the East Coast and United Kingdom outreach!

GOD IS BIGGER

Thank you for all the prayer and financial support from you. I praise God for your faithful financial support that has provided for about two thirds of the total expenses of the YWAM training and outreach. There is a remaining financial need of $2,000 for me to complete the outreach. Please pray for my team as several of my team members are also in need of additional financial support to complete the outreach. While the total financial need for our team seems large, we know that God is bigger than financial mountains! Please prayerfully consider providing additional financial support for me so together we can help fulfill God’s will to preach the gospel to every person. I count it a privilege to partner with you through this ministry opportunity!

CHEERS

My love goes out to all of you! I hope your holidays were joyful and fulfilling! Until I write again, I bid you all the best of days to come!

Peace, Love and Doves

Lar Lar

Worship Night on Moody Street

Athens Pizza's sign is lit up across the street. Our small town condo porch steps are full of willing, full-spirited bodies. We are so immersed in the Lord by singing and praising His great and awesome name with every breath we take. Let it be a sweet sweet sound in Your ear, God.

The clouds cover us like a blanket trapping in the warmth that the sun lavished on us today. Passersby encounter God without even realizing it. Ah, God is so good! He brought fellow brothers and sisters to us who were just out to eat some pizza. The Lord's praises caught their attention and they quickly began worshiping and praying with us. The Lord stirred up our hearts, stirred up peoples desires, stirred up the city. Freedom and peace were proclaimed. Protection and guidance were anointed upon us. Once again, God is so good!

First Week in Boston

Hello Everyone!

It’s pretty chilly here in Boston with crisp autumn breezes and nippy air. Thankfully my wonderful mother mailed me some cozy socks that keep my toes very warm.

There are about 20 students; roughly 12 girls and 8 guys. Nine of the girls (including me) live in a big apartment on Moody Street- appropriate, huh? Haha. The guys live in the apartment next to the girls. The rest of the girls stay at another house. We make a triangle every day by driving from one place to the other. Everything is roughly Our classes and lectures are held at a BEAUTIFUL old Catholic church which was purchased by a very neat Haitian church! They are so generous to let us use their gorgeous room with chandeliers! The YWAM Base is where we eat our lunch and dinner and indulge in WiFi because it’s the only place we are able to get it.

The team here is amazing! Each and every person is so wonderful and we all get along super well. It’s incredible how quickly we became tightly unified. Everyone is so talented and we fit together perfectly just like the Body of Christ.

Last week was orientation. Friday afternoon we went on a scavenger hunt in the Boston Commons in Downtown Boston. We were told to dress like old people as a lesson to teach us to express ourselves without caring what others think about us. It was hilarious!

Saturday we visited a couple who very much involved in YWAM. They hosted dinner and a bonfire for us at their lovely house in New Hampshire. It was very cold but so much fun.

Sunday we visited a gorgeous Baptist church in Downtown Boston. Their gospel choir sounded incredible.

This week a woman name Jill Bills is our speaker. She is teaching on how to recognize the voice of the Lord. It is so incredible and interesting! God is revealing himself to all of us in amazing ways. I cannot wait to see what He has for the rest of the DTS and Outreach.

I hope all of you are doing well! I miss everyone! Shoot me an email if you’d like lauren.erickson91@gmail.com

Much love,

Lauren

Plans to Give You HOPE and a Future

Last week I felt my hope dissolving. I was afraid that I wasn't going to get the funding I needed to make this trip real. Suddenly, I realized how stupid my thoughts were. Who am I to put God in a box? Who am I to decide whether or not I will have enough money to go on my mission? That is not in my hands. God called me to this season of life and I am going to push through with all the strength that he gives me. He will make his will known!

Last night at church, Pastor Chad talked about the promises that God makes to us. He holds himself true to each and every promise in the Bible. Not only did he keep his promises then, but he keeps them now. I have proof of that.

While I was feeling my hope getting thin, I nervously typed out an email to YWAM Boston explaining my situation. I had been anticipating their reply for a few days. I woke up this morning to an empty inbox. I felt a little disappointed but I returned to Facebook and posted a status that read,

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved Jesus very, very much. She decided to serve him in any way possible, so he told her to go on a mission trip. He said, "trust me." Today she continues to trust him, but she is still in need of prayer and supplication for her trip next month. He can move mountains! :)"

Literally, not 5 minutes after I posted that status I received an email from the DTS explaining how excited they are to have me on their team and that they have received my $500 room deposit- $500 room deposit?? Now, I had no idea they needed a room deposit. I have no idea how they received $500. I have no idea who sent that $500. But I do know one thing, God held true to his promise and he is supplying everything that is needed along the way. Praise the Lord!

I opened my Bible right before I started this blog and turned right to a passage I feel is fitting for this blog.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" Jeremiah 29:11-13

UPDATE: So far, I have nearly $1,600 thanks to the help of the loved ones who have been obedient to the calling of the Lord. And thanks to the many prayers that are lifted up each day by all of you who believe this is possible. Words cannot express my gratitude to each and every one of you. My love will go on forever.

Blessings,

Lauren