Ashley's Updates

     What does it mean to persevere? I’ve been pondering on that a lot lately. I think often, we consider it to mean holding on, white knuckled, doing everything we can to stay with something, no matter how painful it is: just get through it. I know I’ve been guilty of that. My 2021 experience of living on the YWAM Liberty in Papua New Guinea has been exactly that. It has not lived up to any of my expectations, and has basically been exactly the same experience as last year, except with maybe a bit of a healthier environment. Everything I feared would happen before I came is exactly what has happened, and now I’m stuck here and trying to reconcile that. I traveled to PNG because I felt the Lord prompting me to do so. I was afraid I would get stuck on the ship not going anywhere and filling all the admin roles, and had to trust that God had a bigger plan and was going to come through and I’d get to do some nursing. Yet here I am, living out my greatest fear.  Is God s...

  It’s been a while since I put out an update, or really posted anything in general. That’s honestly because nothing very interesting has been going on, and that’s a reality of being in missions. Not every moment is leading the charge, intense stories, or groundbreaking moments. Sometimes it’s administrative work, buying provisions, or cooking for the whole ship; but just because these tasks aren’t necessarily what I signed up for, or even related to my role as Chief Medical Administrator, it doesn’t mean they are any less valuable or essential to reaching the vision. I am part of something that is greater than myself, and it’s not about me getting good stories or recognition, it’s about God getting the glory and pushing the entire ministry forward so that more people can be impacted by God’s love. Jesus called us to be servants, and that means to help out where I’m needed, even if it’s not necessarily where I want to be. Just because I’m not doing exactly what I want, doesn’t mean...