Lauren Paffenroth

My Story

I grew up in a single parent home with my mom who, by God’s grace, intentionally raised me in a home where God was the center of everything. She made sure that I knew that even though I didn’t have a father figure here on earth, I had a Heavenly Father that loves me better than any father ever could. So, as long as I can remember, I have believed in God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as our comforter and guide. At age 7, I raised my hand to receive Christ, but it wasn’t until my freshman year of college at Oklahoma State University (GO POKES) where my eyes were fully opened to my unrepentant, sinful behavior and how that was causing a strain on my intimacy with the Lord. I had cultivated this Pharisaical mindset that since I wasn’t struggling with the “big” and “obvious” sins that the world could see, I wasn’t “that bad.”

Freshman year, in His kindness, Christ drew me back to Him. Everything changed. I desired to be in His word, I was broken over all my sin, I craved community with other believers, and I wanted to be involved in a local ministry. God led me to join the college YoungLife team where I had the opportunity to get to know college students around my own age and open God’s word together.

Fast-forward to senior year, I heard about a program within Downline Ministries called the Emerging Leaders program. The Lord flew doors open for me to be a part of the 2015-2016 class, and it was there that my heart for Him, His word, theology, and discipleship deepened. It was in that year that chains of sin were broken and I found true freedom and security being in Christ. God has been unbelievably merciful and gracious to me throughout my whole life in some pretty heavy and hard seasons. I would love to expand on them with you if you want to hear more!

My husband and I met in October of 2020, and knew very quickly we wanted to be married. David pursued me intentionally for six months, proposed in April of 2021, and we were married four months later on August 14th. He is the greatest gift from the Lord apart from my salvation.

Currently, I am getting my Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in hopes that I can accurately point women to scripture in any and every season they may be walking through.

My Hope for Harvest:

My hope for Harvest is that as a body of believers, we remain rooted in scripture and never lose sight of Jesus. I pray that we would have a passion for His glory alone and that passion would propel us to lay down our lives so that people will hear the good news of the gospel within our city and around the world.