Ashley's Updates

 Last year when I was visiting Kona for six months, the Lord gave me a clear word that He wanted me to move to Kona, and that he wanted me to get rooted here. It seemed easy enough at first, I would start the visa process. It was only until I started looking into it more that I realized just how much was involved in being truly rooted in a place. Suddenly this exciting word seemed like a terrifying undertaking. I chipped away at it bit by bit, and I have been absolutely astounded over the last couple months with how the Lord has fulfilled every aspect of his word to me. When I first was preparing to come here, I was thinking "where will I work and how will that balance with my work with YWAM, where will I live, where will I go to church, how will I get around", and so many more questions. All I had to go on was God's promise that he was going to establish me in this land, and to pursue solutions with that simple fact in mind. Fast forward several months, and God has answe...

It has been WAY too long since I have updated you on what's going on in my life. It feels like it has been a whirlwind! Between having friends visiting and hosting potential volunteers, planning medical outreaches, and the busyness of the ship preparing for the dry dock, life has been crazy!  Recruiting at the U of N Showcase! Yes, you heard right, the ship is preparing for dry dock! Finally, the only thing between us and the dry dock is waiting for our dates! As soon as the dry dock company gives us dates of when we will be able to go up, we can start coordinating and lining up all of the things that need to happen while we are there. A lot of different companies and surveyors need to arrive in-country and do work while we are up, and if things aren't lined up well or there is a delay, it can be extremely expensive. Please pray for wisdom and provision as we try to communicate to all of our vendors. Commissioning the PNG DTS outreach team  That said, the office has been a rea...

Yep, that's right, I just turned thirty last week! If I'm going on theme from the iconic film '13 Going on 30', when I think back to when I was 13 years old, and imagined how my life might be when I'm 30 years old, there is no way I would have come up with what my life looks like now, never in my wildest dreams! I am so grateful for the Lord, and how his plans are so much greater than mine. If the direction of my life had been all my own ideas, it would have been so much more boring! God is so good, and I am so grateful and excited to start a new decade with him by my side! Easter Sunday! It's been a good while since I posted an update, and that's because there has been a lot and also very little going on all at the same time. At the start of April I had the privilege of moving into a house with a couple I'm very good friends with, while their regular roommate is on outreach for the next five months. It has been such a blessing to have extra space, a pla...

 It's been two months, and I finally feel like I'm settling into my place here. I've got all my logistical visa/documents/etc sorted out, and I feel like I've settled into a routine and a role and purpose here.  The Lord has been so patiently teaching me to trust and wait on him during this season. At first everything wasn't how I expected it to be, and it was chaotic and I was stressed out; but as soon as I learned to be patient, not to worry about tomorrow, but to trust in the Lord's promises, everything started to fall into place. It doesn't look how I thought it was going to look, in fact it's even better!  He is encouraging me to step into areas that are unknown, and I don't know all the variables, but I'm trusting that things will come through, because I'm being obedient to His leading.  Life in the office has been great, I am so thankful for the incredible team of people I work with. There is always lots of laughter and coffee and snac...

 I once had someone tell me that their first impression of me was "this girl has her crap together", and honestly I was quite flattered. I do pride myself in being able to present an image of security and consistency, and I think it comes from my nursing experience and wanting people who need to rely on me (patients, etc) to have confidence in my abilities. That said, this past month I have never felt LESS like I have my crap together. We spent a morning promoting the ship at the U of N! Moving to a new country is really hard, even when it's a similar culture and you already know people there. There's so many moving parts and details, appointments and logistical things to consider. I came with a plan of how I was going to tackle all these things, and all of it has fallen apart. That's not to say things aren't going well, there was one week that was chaotic as all heck, but the Lord is re-arranging everything in ways that I never expected, and it is shaping up ...

Since it's been over two months since I last sent out an update, it's high time I let you all know what's going on in my life. I returned to Canada at the beginning of December after an amazing and successful medical outreach in Madang, PNG. Since then, I've been resting, hanging out with family and friends, celebrating the holidays, and getting my documentation in order to move to Hawaii! I'm very excited to announce that everything is in order, and at the end of the month I'll be moving my permanent address to Kona, Hawaii! I'm making a transition to spending more time in the office in Hawaii and spending a few months out of the year on the ship in PNG, rather than being there all the time.  Ships were never meant to be a permanent living space for humans, and living on the ship does take its toll. Having a constantly rotating community makes it difficult to build lasting deep-rooted relationships, and not to mention the complicated hassle of having no per...

  Pioneering is not easy, and it’s rarely comfortable or glamorous. You don’t always get to see the fruit of your labour, and there’s a guarantee that the enemy is going to come against you because you’re trying to take ground; but when I look back at what we’ve accomplished and how many opportunities the Lord has opened up, I’m not surprised at all that the enemy has been attacking us so relentlessly!   When we arrived in Madang five weeks ago, I had about three contacts for medical ministry, churches, transport, etc., and now I have almost twenty! We have been able to make connections with officials high up in the Provincial Health Authority, and they are eager to work with us to reach the remote areas of Madang Province. We’ve connected with pastors, healthcare workers, other ministries, village and business leaders. It is absolutely mind-blowing what the Lord has done! As I write this, we’ve got two weeks left in our outreach. Our primary ministry on this trip has been vol...