“I’m totally going to trust God. No matter how many no’s I’m going to get, there’s always going to be a happy ending,” says Lauren Poppy, recalling how she felt moved at LCC’s high school retreat to invite her friends to church. 

“Whenever I would start to pray, these two names would pop into my head. It was very consistent. It never stopped … like every single time I prayed,” she said.

Believing God’s calling, Lauren began to ask her friends to join her at LCC student events. “I just told them about Celebration Night, and that’s how I got them interested. It wasn’t long until she received a SnapChat from one friend saying that she wanted to visit Celebration Night with her. “I told her that I would give her a ride, and I invited my other friend too. My first friend was so nervous,” says Lauren. “She kept asking about what she should expect. I told her, ‘Just wait, you’re going to love it.’” 

Upon arriving at the church, Lauren introduced her friends to other students, and they went into the student auditorium for worship and to hear the guest speaker. “One of my friends I had on my left and the other on my right, and we started saying the same prayer. The speaker asked for people to raise their hands if they committed their life,” Lauren recalls. “Afterwards, we all opened our eyes and my friend tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘I just prayed that prayer.’ Then I looked to my right and my other friend was just sobbing, and that’s when it hit me … people’s lives are changing because of this.” 

Since then, two additional friends of Lauren’s have also given their lives to Jesus. “This is so God,” says Lauren. “I’m just a vessel placed on this earth—placed in Bluffton, S.C., at LowCountry Community Church. He’s doing all these things through me, which is just the craziest part.”