eLauren

Friday, March 31, 2006 I have encountered the mighty beast March 30, 2006 Hey, sorry, I know it’s been another week and I still haven’t posted anything but I really tries last weekend but I couldn’t because the internet was out at the café. However, this weekend I think I am going to Nicole and Pedro’s in La Vega, so I should be able to use the internet there. Well, that’s see…this week….I know really think anything that exciting happened. Our topic for lecture this week was Spiritual Warfare. That was pretty cool. I learned a lot. It a good thing we are having this class now too because that is a big problem in Haiti especially with all the Voodoo and stuff. I’ve heard some pretty crazy stories about Haiti. Oh, and there was something else that I wanted to mention. Please be praying for me and my team in Haiti. I was talking to people who have grow up there as missionary kids (Americans) and they said that they wouldn’t go into Haiti. There has been a lot of kidnappings and it is a very dangerous place. Now, don’t worry too much. We have many connections and I’m sure our leaders know they are doing, but that doesn’t mean that we are exempted from danger and as American, we have big targets on our backs. So…uhh…just pray. March 31, 2006 Well, I am here at the home of Pedro and Nicole where I will finally be able to use the internet, and use it a lot. However, right now, I don't really have anything to say. Let's see...I told you about Haiti...the class this week...umm....well, it rained a lot. One day I when swimming in the rain (well, I went swimming in the pool while it was raining) that was pretty fun. OH! last sunday I FINALLY got to make guacamoli, in fact I made it for everyone. I almost forgot how much I missed it. And there was one night, I can't remeber which night, but Carry was staying with us (me is married so she usually stays with the husband, for some reason) and we took out all my candy and had a girls night. So look at the picture, there is proof, yes Bill, I AM sharing the candy. It was a really fun night. Well that's all I really have for now. I think tomorrow we are going to the beach so that should be fun. Well I'm out for tonight. However, before I go. I will live you with one terrifying image. The monster the the Domincan. It's screaching cries can be heard throughout the night, stricking fear into the hearts of all who hear it and know it's formilliar call. It's beedy eyes pierce through the darkness like crystals illuminating a fearsome cave. It may come out of nowhere and dissapear into the darkness just as fast. No one is safe and no one can hide. Behold! The monster of the Dominican! Behold it! Fear it! And for the love of God, don't mess with it! (Unless of course your not a panzy Dominican, in which case you can pick it up, be perfectly fine and everyone will still freak out).

Hey, I know it’s been a couple of weeks but it’s really hard to find the time to write. Let’s see, what happened since the last time I wrote…well, Bill was here, wow that seems like a long time ago. It was a really busy week and we all had a lot of work to do but I think Bill had a good time. We went to the waterfall again. I went ahead of the group a little because I knew the way (and they were going kinda slow) and in this time, by myself, hiking up a mountain to get to this waterfall, in the Dominican jungle…I don’t know, would you call it a jungle? There were palm trees and stuff. It seemed pretty junglish to me. But anyway, I took this time to get in touch with my inner Amazon Women. Pretty tough looking, isn’t she? I wouldn’t want to mess with that. Anyway, it was another really good time. On Friday, we had a going away banquet for the West Pointers. That was pretty cool. We got a chance to dress up a little bit. It was outside and at the end of the banquet we were singing and it started to rain. It was a really cool time of singing to God and with each other. So that was last week. Oh yeah, something pretty important that I should probably tell everyone: I’m not going to Guyana anymore. There were just too many things going wrong with it. I for one wasn’t feeling too good about it and I guess one of our leaders had pulled put because she didn’t feel too good about it either, two students had also pulled out. Also the lady that was our contact there said that she really wasn’t feeling peace about us coming, and also the lady that was supposed to receive us broke her leg. Finally, the one student who everyone though was really set on going had just called a meeting where he was going to tell us that he didn’t feel good about it either. Now, I’m not quiet sure, but I think God might be trying to tell me something here. I mean, it’s a little fuzzy but I’m thinking that maybe I’m not supposed to go to Guyana. But its actually pretty cool because I was really going back and forth between Guyana and Haiti but I just thought that I would just pick one and that if God didn’t want me to go there something, would happen. So, I’m going to Haiti and I’m SO excited. I really like the team I’m going with and so glad that I get to return to Haiti. Also, it’s quite a bit cheaper. It’s only going to be about $850 instead of over $2,000. And the best thing about it is that now I know that this is where I am supposed to go. Now for this week, the main thing that stuck out this week was what we did Friday night. We had a concert in the street in Jarabacoa. We did some dramas (which were really cool by the way, I videoed them all and I’ll have to show them to you all when I get home, remind me) and then Logico did a rap concert (I also just want to mention that this was a rough neighborhood and they told us that before hand) Now I just want to tell you a little bit about Logico; he is an amazing young man with an amazing story. Now he is a professional rapper and he uses that as his ministry. His turn around is amazing. I’ve been getting the opportunity to get to know him better lately and it has been SO great. I mean, this guy has gone into neighborhoods that the police wouldn’t even go into so that he could share with them what God had done in his life and those people really relate to him and lives have been changed because of him. But seriously, his music is awesome. I love it. I have his CD, that’s right he has a CD! Bill has it, so if you want to listen to it, you should talk to Bill, or, better yet, if you want to buy it, you can let me know. It’s $10 and it’s seriously worth it. Also, it would help him raise his outreach money. (He’s going to Africa so it’s going to be over $2,500 for him) But truly, seriously, it’s a really good CD so just let me know if you want one. Can I just say something? God is really cool, you know. I mean seriously. It’s amazing when you look at someone like Logico (his real name is Carlos, Logico is like his “rapper name”) and just see what God has done. I feel like a lot of times this “God” that everyone is looking for gets lost in the United States. We go to church (some of us) and we think that that’s it, that that’s God. We are so wrong. There is so much more, SO much more. I mean, do you have any idea? The things I’ve seen, I’ve done. I can’t describe it, but it’s God. For those who really know me, you know the things that I’ve dealt with and you know were I was. Do you know how many things I tried to make those things better? But they all failed one after other until I tried God. Now I’m not talking about the “church God” the God on the stain glass windows of the Catholic Churches or the Baptists churches, or ANY churches for that matter. But the real God, God who sent his son to die for us, not so that we could go be board a church every Sunday but who wants nothing more that to just have a relationship with us, to make things better for us, to save us, to free us from anything and everything. Anything and everything, maybe not every one knows what it’s like to be a slave to something, but I do. But I’m free now. Now I understand that probably some of you are a little lost. Drop me an email. I’d be glad to talk to you. Some of you might also be thinking, “Wow, yep, I’m pretty sure they brain washed her, doesn’t she know that’s she’s kind of making a fool of herself?” Well, one) I don’t care, two) those of you who know me know how I get when I’m passionate about something, this one of those times and three) those of you reading this, chances are that I love you and care a lot about you and if I found something that worked for me, I mean really worked, I want to share it with you. I mean think about it for a second, why is it so hard to believe? So I just want to challenge you, think about what I am saying. Think about a God who is real and who really doesn’t care if you go to church because more importantly he just wants you first. Just try to think about it. Why am I saying all of this all of a sudden? Well, what kind of a person would I be if I devoted my life to being a missionary and helping people and I never stopped to help those who are most important to me? and because why? Because I was ashamed, embarrassed…uncomfortable? That would be horrible, you guys are worth more to me then that and I just want you to know it. Yes, you are more important to me then what you think about me. So just think about what I’ve said, take it to heart and I’m just sorry that I was too scared to share with you sooner. God Bless and I love you! (Dude, I have such a big smile, just, like, plastered on my face right now:) Oh yeah, and I caught a lizzard -->

Sunday, March 12, 2006 Hey, ummm this is going to be kind of a sloppy entry because one) I want to make it quick and two) I didn't write anything before. So, let's see, what happened this week. Well, Bill's here. That's pretty cool, I guess ;p Well, this week we've mostly just been working hard to get everything ready for the WestPoint team. There is about 40 students here from West Point that came here to work and we had to get the place that they are going to stay ready, so we were cleaning out a lot of place that were used for storage for them to sleep in. It was a very dirty job, and dusty (hance the masks). There is also another team that came in today from the states. So it's kind of weird around here because most of the Dominicans went to the capital this weekend and now I'm sorrounded my Americans. And Having Bill here too, I think I'm experiencing reverce Culturen shock. Seriously, it's been hard. But Bill has gotten me into trouble already. Last night, his first night here I might add, he was showing me a swing dance move and he was flipping me around and my foot hit the light and it fell and shattered. Sandra, Pedro and Nicole were there too and we all were laughing really hard. But we felt really bad. It was only a bulb really so we offered to pay for it but they said that it won't be a problem, we just felt stupid. On a sadder (more sad?) note, my braids were starting to fall out so I took them all out. I'm still pretty depressed about it. I didn't even really want to take them out, I just started to and then about half way through I'm like "WHAT AM I DOING?!" but...by then, the damage was too great and they could not be recovered. but anyway, I miss them a lot. I'm definatly going to do them again before I go home and I might do them for my outreach too. So, well I think that's going to be it for now, I miss and love you all very much!

Sunday, March 05, 2006 I Need Your help As you know, I will be going to Guyana on my international outreach. The final cost is still unsure, but I expect it will be about $1,500-$2,000. If you would like to help or have any ideas on how I can get this money, please let me know. Also, The Dominicans here need to somehow raise their outreach money too. Many of them have no idea how they are going to do this. It is amazing that many of them were even able to pay for the lecture phase. If you would like to help you can talk to my parents or get ahold of me (by email or however) you can give the money to my parents, but if you want it to be tax deductable you need to send it to YWAM. I'm not really sure how to do that yet but I will let my parents know and they can get the word out. Also, and more importantly I could use your support through prayer. Here and in Guyana, we have a will be facing many challenges then are pretty unformilliar to us in the US. If you are not a regular prayer or don't pray, I suggest that this is a good time to start:) well that's it for now. I LOVE YOU ALL! DIOS TE BENDIGA!! posted by Lauren @ 9:15 AM 2 comments March 1, 2006 Sorry that I haven’t posted anything in a while. It’s pretty hard when we have to use the Internet café, especially to post pictures, but nevertheless, I will still try. So, let’s see, the last two weeks…well, the week days are pretty much the same. I stayed at the base again last weekend. It was pretty nice. They took us out for pizza Friday night, (luckily everyone gave me their crust so it was all good). Then Saturday was awesome! Saturday four of us went to this waterfall. It was close enough that we could walk to it. We went to the regular touristy part and saw that waterfall and it was okay, but then we found this other pretty rough looking trail that apparently led to another waterfall so we, me, Adave, and Jeremy (Jeremy is this guy from Chicago who was in the Dominican with a Prophetic missions team and when this team when home, he just decided to stay a little longer) went up this trail. Adave, poor Adave, was the only Spanish speaker with us but he is so cool. He drew the map of how to get there on his hand and we just followed him, and he didn’t fail us. When we finally got there, there was this beautiful waterfall falling into this small pool and we went swimming. It was so amazing, it looked like the places you see pictures of all the time and always wish you could go there. There were also a bunch of big rocks to climb around on and explore. It was so much fun. Jeremy is a climber and Adave is just and crazy little monkey man, so with there help, we pretty much explored most of the area up there. Also, you can climb down threw these little holes in the rock into these cave-like things. It was so amazing. I just kept thinking, I can’t believe I’m here. Well we pretty much stayed there all day. Sunday, we went to church and then went in to town for a little while. I went with Nicole, Pedro, and Sandra. We call ourselves the Fantastic Four (or Los Cuatro Fantastico). We always have so much fun. We had a little picnic in town and then went to the Internet Café. So that was pretty much my weekend, it was pretty good, I would have to say. All right, now, as for this week: well it’s only Wednesday, and nothing exciting usually happens on the weekdays so I don’t really have much to say yet. This week’s class is on "World Missions." OH! And one pretty exciting things is that I should be getting my package tomorrow! I’m pretty happy about that. Oh, and this also reminds me that if you want to send me anything (packages, letters, CHOCOLATE, whatever…) you have to send it to this address: YWAM DR/DTS Attn; Lauren McConkey PO Box 24770 West Palm Beach, FL 33416 They’re pretty picky about this and chances are that I probably would get it if its not labeled correctly, but send me mail. Please, I really like getting it. PRAYER REQUEST: · That me and the rest of the students here, especially the Dominican who don’t have any many resources, would be able to raise all of our outreach money. · SPANISH, SPANISH, SPANISH! · Patience with people. There some people here (especially one person in particular) are a little bit harder to love then the others · Patience the rules and authority. I have been having a frustrating time, lately, with some things that have been going on. · Just that all of us here are safe and health, there has been a bit of a cold going around. · My Mexico children. I MISS THEM SOO MUCH! Well something very hard happened today. I chewed my last piece of gum. This is when I start to see what I’m really made of. Well, I don’t think I really have anything else to say for now. You can call me! It is very hard for me to call out, very very hard HOWEVER, if you want to, you can call me. You can get the number from my dad and you can call me anytime between 5-7:30 on weekdays and pretty much any time on the weekend. I must warn you however, that the calls would probably have to be pretty short but I would still like them all the same. Now, here are some random facts about the Dominican: · You generally greet someone with a kiss on one side. (Usually the guys actually kissed your cheek and the girls just go cheek to cheek but I don’t think guys do this to each other, they just usually hug or shake hands) · Here and it most part of The Dominican the plumbing isn’t so good, so you can’t flush the toilet paper down the toilet (if you’ve ever been to Mexico, it’s the same thing) · Most Dominicans are very afraid of frogs, I don’t really know why, but a frog was in our classroom one time and everyone freak out and me and Sandra were just like "we don’t get it." I thought I maybe heard something about frogs being related to some kind of evil thing, I’m not really sure. · Santa Domingo in the Capital · Haiti and the Dominican have had a long history of conflict, many times The Dominicans will look down on the Haitians (I heard it said that Haiti to The Dominican is kind of like how Mexico is to the United States) · For the most part, the bigger cities are pretty modern (I went to a Movies in a mall in Santiago and it was just like a mall you would see in the States) · They eat a lot of rice and chicken and, of course, PLANTIANS! We have rice with our meals probably 5 or 6 times a week. · They use, I guess want we would just think of as bananas, they have Ginaos, (sp?) which would be like our regular yellow bananas but they rarely eat them the way we do. They usually boil them when they are really green still. They are kind of similar to a baked potato. Then they also have platinos (or plantains) which they eat all the time in many different ways. The ways I’ve had them are as tostidos (which are pretty much like the fried bananas I would make) and mongu, (MON-GOO) which is boiled and then mashed, very similar to mashed potatoes. All of this just reminded me of all the different foods I’ve eaten here so here I go with another list: · Fried Egg plants (which is really good, I can’t even really describe it) · Queso Frito or Fried Cheese (which is also amazing but doesn’t it just sound horrible for you?) · This thing that’s kind of like a fried corn bread balls, I forgot want it’s called but it’s one of my favorite things here. · I had an Empenada, it’s kind of like a Fried taco and it can have all different kinds of stuffing but the one I had had cheese and bacon in it · They also have these chips that are made from plantains that taste just like potato chips but a little better I think that’s about it. Overall I would have to say that I like Dominican food pretty well, but as you’ve probably notice almost everything comes fried, which can’t be too good for you. March 3, 2006 Well, I guess for the first time in a long time sense I’ve been hear, I kind of feel alone. The Fantastic Four have split. Sandra went to the capital with her small group leader and Nicole and Pedro went home, they (Nicole and Pedro) asked me if I wanted to go with but I decided to stay. I went to bed at 8:30 last night! It was really nice through because I got, like, twelve hours of sleep. Today went and helped with the clinic. There was a group of doctors and nurses that came in for a week or so and I went with to help. I didn’t really do much. However, they did need me to translate a couple times so that was pretty cool. I also played with the kids some. That was nice. I don’t really know what all I have planned for the rest of this weekend. It’s kind of weird being without Sandra, Nicole and Pedro. I think tomorrow I’m going to go into town with one people and then to the waterfall again.