Update #4

 Hello Everyone! 

I hope you all are doing well! I miss you guys, and Lancaster! 

I'm sitting here reflecting on the weeks since last time I wrote an update, and I am just filled with so much joy and thankfulness for everything that has been happening out here. 

Outreach is right around the corner! We leave December 5th which is in just 2 weeks!! The two Taiwan groups leave on the 2nd and 3rd. It is so sad having lasts already because it feels like we just got here! We had our last small group this past week, and we have to say goodbye to a couple of our teammates and friends. It is also so sad thinking about how we will not be seeing most of the school for 2 months after we all got so close these past few months. 

I do feel so blessed by the fact that some of my closest friends are also going to Cambodia, so I am excited to see how those relationships grow and flourish, as well as getting close with the rest of the team. 

Outreach is becoming so real, and there is a lot of excitement stirring up within our whole team. The summer DTS came home last week, and they were in Cambodia for their outreach, so it was super cool hearing all of their stories and learning more about the country and what to expect. 

In the EBPN elective, we have also been doing a lot of preparation for outreach. We have been learning about how to take the Bible to the countries we are headed to, and we also gathered tools for giving the Bible to them. For Cambodia, we downloaded the Bible on solar audio players so that we can audibly share the Bible with the Khmer people, and we also downloaded the Jesus film, Bible app, and audio Bible on SD cards to hand out to people there. The people can then put these SD cards in their phones and download the Bible onto their devices which is so cool!! We as an elective also have had so much fun playing games like Korean hop scotch, red light green light, and lots of trivia/guessing games!

The past few weeks of lecture has been about Lordship, relationships, and spiritual warfare. Lordship was such a powerful week, but it was also a really special time for all of us. I really liked relationship week because the speaker was so much fun and we had a lot of good conversations! It was not as heavy as some of the other weeks which was nice, and the speaker gave a lot of practicals for all types of relationships that we will have. 

This past week we had a fun night called Cafe night when all the different electives (music, sports, EBPN, and dance) shared a little bit of what they have been doing in their electives over the past few weeks.  Dance performed two dances they learned, and it was so beautiful! It was so cool to see how much everyone grew especially those who wouldn't have expected to end up in that elective. They all looked like they were having the time of their life on stage dancing! Music also did so good! Everyone is just so talented and they have such beautiful voices. EBPN chose to do a skit, and we decided to do it on the book of Jonah. This was so much fun to do! We only practiced about 3 times before that night, but we made it a lot of fun even with forgetting some lines. 

It was a lot of fun hanging out with the summer DTS this past week. Turns out I actually knew one of the girls on the team. She is from Lancaster, and we had a lot of crazy connections. It was also crazy because while we were hanging out the one night, we realized that we remember being introduced to each other back in Lancaster at one of the Unrestricted events!! 

The campus volleyball league has come to an end, and although my team did not win, we had a good run and it was a lot of fun to be part of. We continue to play a lot of basketball in our free time here which has definitely been a highlight for me! I also play a lot of pool here in my free time, and I have definitely improved from when I first got here! I can finally win games against people who have been playing much longer!

Flight Update: I finally booked a flight home! It already got changed again, but as of right now, I have a flight home for February 10th!!

Prayer requests: 

- Preparing our hearts for outreach

- Against sickness

- Safety for those traveling home for Thanksgiving and those staying here away from family

Blessings to you all!! Thanks again for all your prayers and reaching out! 

~Ashley :)

For our last small group, we went out for lunch at Chick-fil-A which was such a fun and special time!

The Fall DTS

Our EBPN team before performing our Jonah skit at Cafe night...Yes, I had the honor of playing the fish! 

This is Lauren. She has been a huge blessing! She will be going to Cambodia with me, and our friendship is so special to me. 

The one night, a few of us went out to Whitefish to Big Mountain then stoped at the Whitefish beach where the one guy grew up going to.

This was at Whitefish beach. All three of us are from Lancaster, and the girl on the right, Aleah, is from the summer DTS. 

This is beautiful Montana on the way to church! 

It was a flannel type of day...

On Aleah's last day in Montana, she treated a few of us to dinner, then we hung out in Kalispell before she left to go back home.

These are the micro SD cards that we will be taking on outreach. It was so cool to be able to download the Bible on these for the Khmer people!