New Orleans

Missions 2011

Sorry about the late update! As most of you know, due to the violence in Guadalajara mission trip was changed to New Orleans.

New Orleans was amazing. We went with no connections to plow ground. God did amazing things. We got connected with a church in the area and we quickly learned the people of that church had hearts of gold; they were truly precious.

We did many amazing things. We were able to connect to help out the local pregnancy resource center and I had the honor to copy their records to send into the government to continue receiving funding. So, as I was copying I got to pray over every girl’s file and declare things over the lives of the women who visited the center in the last year. We also got to do a service for the local homeless mission right in the heart of the city. One of the coolest things we got to do was dream interpretation and Spiritual Reading booth right in the French Quarter. The atmosphere of the French Quarter was much like I would imagine Thailand or India to be.

God did so many amazing things in the city and though it was a last minute switch things fell together. We were all changed by the amazing things we got to be a part of what God did.

I have also included a video of our trip so please feel free to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiGu5S4Kmwk&feature=player_embedded

January 2011

Happy New Year everyone!

This is going to be an amazing year in the Lord. I look forward to all the amazing things this year will bring.

January was a good month. Personally, I got a 2nd job working part-time for my friend's small business, Kingdom Cleaning. For now I am just helping her with the administrative part of the business but we are hoping to have more work as the Lord blesses their business. I am very grateful for this opportunity and for my dear friendship with Debbie. P.S. If anyone needs window cleaning just let me know ;)

A lot was going on in the school this month. We read Just Courage which was so timely with our efforts as a school to raise awareness and prevent human trafficking during the super bowl. Our kids at Adopt-A-Block were happy to have us back after the long Christmas break! We also paired up with a church in Joshua to help them with their food bank. We prayed for hundreds of hurting people who just needed strength and encouragement in the Lord.

I hope you all had an amazing New Year and are looking forward to 2011! I pray the Lord's favor upon your households in the new season.

Many blessings and love,

Lauren Perry

December was an amazing month! I was beyond blessed to be able to visit my family in St. Louis for a few days. It was an awesome time of connection and rest.

As the end of the year approached I really just spent time with the Lord and thanked Him for the blessings and hardships in 2010. I can find reasons to be thankful for every event this year, even the difficult ones. Through all of the joys and battles the Lord is still FAITHFUL.

As this new year begins I'm really just seeking the Lord on my next step. I'm enjoying where I am right now, but also want to plan (as much as possible :) for what lies ahead!

I hope you all had a very blessed holiday full of the tangible, real presence of God. Many thanks to all who have prayed and supported me in any way this year. I'm so thankful for everyone of you and I pray the Lord's favor over you all!

Many abundant blessings :)

Sorry this is quite late! It has been a crazy, busy time the last several weeks!

November was an awesome month. We took our students to part 2 of the Randy Clark healing school in Abilene, TX. It was an amazing time. The Lord really took me through some deep things in my heart and brought healing to areas of wounded-ness that I never knew existed. The Lord is so faithful and kind to me.

Thanksgiving was awesome and though I was away from my family I did get to spend it with very special friends who are like family. I have a lot to be thankful for like the new job the Lord blessed me with!!! I now work at Central Market in the Bakery. I really like the job and it has great benefits!

Sadly, I still don't have a car. I'm hoping to get one out of the settlement money I will be getting soon. All things work together for good, though... I have been majorly humbled by having to depend on others for rides and also brought to a new level of trust in the Lord and others. Even in that God has been faithful to me by providing a close knit group of people that have tremendously helped me out.

I really love what I'm doing as an intern for the Transformations ministry. I know this is my calling in life and am looking into becoming more equipped and trained in this area. I am also really looking forward to this next semester of school! I was also really blessed to receive some mission support money on behalf of a very sweet woman, Lidia Ragan, who went home to be with the Lord earlier this fall.

I pray you all continue to grow in the Lord and that you are surrounded by His goodness and mercy in every area of your lives. If you all could, please continue to pray for the finalization of this lawsuit and also for mission support to come in.

Blessings to you all!

The Lord has been doing amazing things in the school this month! We are continuing to see greater levels of breakthrough in our local outreaches! We were blessed to add another student, Sergio, from Mozambique, Africa to our class! It has been so awesome to have him here, and it also makes me miss Mozambique!

This month has been really stretching for many, including myself! I’m so thankful for this because it is through being stretched that He molds me to be more like Himself. Everyday I learn more about what it means to “die to self” and I come a little closer to being fully alive in Him.

The Lord has really been working on my heart in various areas this last month. Most days I find the only words I have to say are, “Lord, HELP.” Of course, the Lord has been completely faithful to answer my cries and though the this journey is not over I know that by the end of the process I will have a heart fully awakened to the Lord.

This month I have had breakthrough and also some unexpected “set backs.” I am very excited to have found a great job! I also got a call from my lawyer who is ready to place a demand on the insurance co in my auto injury case. Sadly, I have had some problems with my car, and I am trusting the Lord to work it all together for good!

This month please pray for continued breakthrough! The Lord is giving me keys for my future but I am also being tested so please pray for strength.

Many blessings and love to you all! J

***Below is a video of our City of Worship outreach. Feel free to watch!

City of Worship

September 2010

***From now on I will not be sending out monthly newsletters. I will be updating this blog site monthly and will send you links to the blog instead. The newsletters are nice, but they take a lot of time J

I’m Back J

WOW, it’s hard to believe it’s October already! School started back at the end of Aug and it has been incredible! Every day we reach new levels in the Lord. This is an accelerated season and the Lord brought the best of the best students to us this year! Every one of them desire to reach the fullness God created them for and have laid down their lives to pick up His. What an honor to be a part of what God is doing right now!

Generally Speaking

This month has mainly been getting to know everyone and getting into the groove of how things work. We started out getting all the basics down: core values, mission information, outreach info and of course vision for the year! We started our outreaches this Wed where groups of our students will be going into the city to worship, impoverished neighborhoods to love, the sex trade businesses to shed light in the darkness and the public schools to mentor. Of course our main goal in all of these outreaches is to LOVE with the supernatural love of Christ and to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting, desperate community.

I am working on the adopt-a-block outreach this year where we go into an impoverished neighborhood to love on the kids. The very first year of school the Ft. Worth police department came to convergence and told them to work in this neighborhood. They have experience a lot of breakthrough these last 2 years and we look forward to building on their foundation! Many of these kids are from single parent homes and often are left alone. On Wednesdays we get to minister to them in the park in front of the school. They come to be loved, encouraged and equipped as sons and daughters of the Lord. Our heart is to see this community change and become radical lovers and world changers for the Kingdom.

This year for missions our school will be going to Guadalajara, Mexico, Pattaya, Thailand and Kenya, Africa near the end of March! I will be going back to Mexico where we will work at an orphanage serving them in whatever they need, minister to those who live on the streets and are addicted to drugs and minister in prisons to offer the hope of Christ. In Thailand they will minister to those who are caught in prostitution or other sexually oriented businesses, worship in the streets to bring freedom and work with Tamar center who pulls girls out of prostitution. In Africa they will be putting on a pastor’s conference where they will teach, encourage, prophesy and serve. The interns also have the opportunity to go to Israel with our leaders! I am totally pumped for this; we will be going the week of Passover and will be working with some people Matt and Sonja know. Missions is my absolute favorite part of the school year so I’m really excited!

Personal Matters

There have been MANY changes in my life over the summer! I am so privileged to be back at Convergence as one of nine amazing interns this year! I have been chosen by the Lord to run with some of the most amazing leaders I’ve ever seen. Their passion and pursuit of the Lord is an inspiration and I one day aspire to a person of high integrity like they all are! Our leaders have laid down their lives to help bring others into the fullness God created for them and to see His glory cover the earth. I am interning with the Transformations Inner Healing and Deliverance ministers at Convergence. Tom and Wendy are amazing people who have a lot of wisdom to impart, and I get to SOAK it up! I have a great passion in this area and look forward to what God will be doing in and through me this year! I was blessed to be able to move to Fort Worth in an apartment not far from school with my amazing roommate, Sam. It will be a huge blessing to not live 45 minutes away from school anymore, though I do miss the family I was staying with. The Lord also made a way for me to get a car and I am SO thankful for that. I am in awe of the faithfulness of God in my life! He rocks my world J!

For now I am basking in the new levels of peace and rest! Currently I am praying for the right job for this year and also praying into my future. I am hoping to plan a trip back to STL for one of the holidays and also may be there at the end of this month… we’ll see about that one! I want to thank all of you who have supported, loved and prayed for me! You are all SO appreciated and dearly loved. I pray the Lord’s blessings over you and look forward to hearing what the Lord is doing in your lives! Miss you all (those back in STL) and I send many hugs!