Ashley's Updates

 I just recently turned 31, and as I was praying about what would this year look like, and what does the Lord have for me in this year, I felt him explain to me that this past year had been inward; all about me: recovering from living overseas long-term, getting settled and rooted in a new place, and healing and growing. This year is going to be marked by going outward. It's very cool, because I've already seen how the Lord has started opening new doors for me to be able to serve the community in Kona as well as the ministry overseas, and I am even feeling like I have a greater capacity for giving than I did just a month ago.  The exciting news, however, is that I will get to go on outreach this year! Our medical department is putting on a medical seminar from August 21-25, as a way to invite medical professionals to come and be in a missions environment, to learn about key concepts of medical missions, and potentially get launched into medical missions. We are offering an opt...

 I can't believe it's already March! This year is already flying by, and I think it's because we've been so busy getting ready for our 2023 outreaches to start! Our first medical outreach begins next week! Our first volunteers of the year will be arriving in Madang on Monday, and they'll begin our first clinics of the year on the 13th.  Sending my lovely friend Alexis off to Papua New Guinea! I've been working hard to prepare the volunteers for what to expect and collecting their documents, answering all their questions, and getting them excited. I've also been helping our clinic leader in Madang prepare the supplies and equipment she'll need to run the clinics this year. We have twelve volunteers who have already booked their flights to png this year, and many more who are in the works! Last month I had the privilege of travelling to Houston, Texas to attend the M3 Medical Missions conference at Lakewood Church! We were exhibiting at our booth, sharing ...

 Merry Christmas! I can't believe it has been another year already. I just thought I'd send out a little note to summarize everything that the Lord did this year, and where he's headed in the next year! The Fleet Support Team! In my personal life, the Lord got me settled in Hawaii! I have a permanent home with amazing roommates, a work that I love, a visa to be able to work part-time and maintain my nursing license, a car, and the most amazing and supportive community. God has been so good and faithful this year! Through all the unknowns, what I know to be true remained consistent: God's blessings will always look completely different and be way better than you could imagine for yourself. If you have a word from the Lord for your life, say yes, be obedient, stay open, and watch God work! In my ministry life, we saw more provision and breakthrough in 2022 than we ever have! From somehow raising $8.2 million to secure a permanent training facility in Kona, to receiving th...

 This year we have seen so much momentum start to build. Finances coming in, volunteers going to Madang to serve, important partnerships being made. It has all been culminating to the massive breakthrough that we had this week!  To start off with, our medical team in Madang travelled safely up to Mount Hagen in the Highlands, where we are partnering with the local hospital and doing cataract surgeries! This is the first eye surgery outreach we have been able to do since I was there in 2019. It took so much effort and planning and coordinating for it to happen, and we are so grateful to God that he opened the doors for that! The Liberty is going into the dry dock TODAY. We have been praying, planning, and working towards this for two and a half years, and now it is finally happening! I can hardly believe it; it doesn't seem real. I am so grateful to God, and how he taught me to persevere, and that now I get to see the fruits of that labour. We are hopeful that the ship will lan...

 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...