A New Season

 To see the unreached reached. To see young people turn to Christ and His kingdom. To share my passion for the Bible with others and together seek to learn more. To see people fall in love with Jesus more and more. To walk alongside others in their spiritual journey. To continually point others to Christ and see His beauty and character displayed. To encourage and edify the body of Christ. To be a disciple of Jesus. See the Bible translated into even the smallest languages. To deny my flesh and fleshly desires to live a life in the uncomfortability of the unknown. To walk in faith trusting that the Lord is my provider. This is what I am passionate about, and this is my vision and heart behind giving up my life to follow Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 28:16-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." The Great Commission. We all have a role to play in this, and for me it looks like returning to the beautiful state of Montana to partner with YWAM Lakeside to "train, send, support, and be a missionary." This comes with a cost, but God has shown me that He is worthy of this sacrifice. I count it as joy to suffer for Christ. He reminds us in verse 16- "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." God is bringing me into this, and I can say without a doubt that I know that He will go with me as I embark on this journey. 

Growing up I always imagined myself getting a job, raising a family, and living this life where I don't have to worry about whether I will be able to provide for my family and have the finances I needed. When God first called me into missions, I kept making excuses because I refused to give up the comfortability of making my own money. However, in DTS God showed me that the implications of not stepping out in faith of what He is calling me into, is too costly for me to say no. There are 3.4 billion unreached people who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. How will they believe if they have not heard? How will they hear if we don't go? (Romans 10: 11-15) I can't just go back to my comfortability because I am fearful about money.  All throughout the Bible, God talks about money and how it's the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10) and He continually reminds us that He is our provider. If I choose comfortability over following the call on my life, when will I learn to fully trust and rely on the Lord? If I just strive to do everything myself, when will I need to just say, "God, I need You, I can't do this on my own." This season is teaching me a lot about faith. There's still tears, discouragement, and hardship, but in the end, I know and have seen that God's still got this. 

Finances are not my goal. I don't even need that much. I just need enough to get me to where God is calling me. If that means eating rice and beans everyday, I will learn how to make (and eat) rice and beans everyday. My goal is to see people fall more in love with Jesus and see people and nations turn their heart to Him. I ask that you would please join me in prayer through all of this. Not only that God would provide the finances, but for the people coming into the schools and the people we meet overseas or locally. 

Thank you for reading. May God bless you all and shine His face upon you. 

Blessings, Ashley