Friday, June 26, 2009

Update Coming soon!

For the Lord is good
I will lift Him higher
Everywhere I go I will
Lift Him Higher
Higher Higher Higher...
Higher...
Everywhere I go I will
Lift Him up Higher

-African Hymn I learned in Kenya

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Oe last update

SO you all know about my preparations for my trip to Kenya. I leave on Sunday, June 14th. I get back on the 25th. By the 30th I will post pictures and a journal I kept while there. I am taking this time to let you in on other parts of my life, as there are a few things you might not know.

I received a 4-year type two Air Force ROTC Scholarship. Praise the Lord! What that means is, The Air Force is giving me $87,000 to pay for classes, tuition, etc. It does not cover room and board, however, Elon has agreed to pay for it because I got the scholarship. I will also get a monthly stipend of $350 starting in October. On Thursdays I will commute to NC A&T to take a military science class to fulfill my duties to maintain the scholarship. After I graduate, I owe four years of service to the Air Force. In my opinion, that's a fair trade. God is so great, He has really provided for me. He is so faithful and true, I definitely do NOT deserve His grace.

Graduation is tomorrow! I almost forgot to include that bit of information. High School has flown by for me, and I can hardly believe I will never Step foot on CHS as a student again.

I finally found a summer job. I am the smoothie girl at Woodall's Fitness off of Highway 42E. I start after I return From Africa. Come by and buy a smoothie from me:)

I move in to Elon on August 28th, and classes begin on the 1st. I am still undecided on a major, but that's OK, this means I can explore!I find out my rooming assignment as well as who my roommate is on July 1st. Pray that we will be able to have a good relationship and that God will be Glorified in it. I don't know who she is, so she could be a christian, or perhaps she is not. Either way, I will share my faith with her so pray for courage.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! I can't wait to tell you all about Africa and how these next few months work out.

I couldn't resist

I was mainly using this blog to update you on kenya and things, but I could help myself, this is just too cute to pass up!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Some last minute money came in and so my real total is

$2,653

In one week I will be in Kenya!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Final Preparations

My total financial support is:

$2, 353!

Praise the Lord! My original goal was about $2,000. After flight plans changed, it got raised to $2,400. I am heading to Colonial Baptist Church to pay the remaining $47 on Wednesday. God has really answered my prayer on this. I didn't expect to get nearly this much support, Praise The Lord! and a BIG thank you to all of you for you prayers and support! I am so thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you to Cornerstone Faith Fellowship and The Underground, for praying for me and allowing me to share with you guys! To my family and Friends: Thank you so much for everything, all of your prayers, wishes, and thoughts. I love you! To my Colonial Family: thank you for always asking about how the trip is going and how you can help! you guys are so dear to my heart, and I love you guys!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Preparations for Kenya are going well. Praie the Lord! I have almost all of my financial support, hopefully I can give you an estimate by Tuesday. Thank you so much for your prayers. I have faith that God will answer them. I want to give you a little more insight into what we are going to be doing while we are over there. (I will give exact flight times hopefully be Monday) We will be flying out of raliegh on the 14th. from RDU we will stop in Dulles in Washington, DC. We will then head across theAtlantic and land in London. we will have a 12 hour layover there, and we will get to travel into the city and explore for a bit! That evening we will be heading out to Nairobi, where we will take a 6 hour van ride to Choimim. Origionally, we were going to spend the night in Nairobi. However, due to the Flight change, we will not be staying in Nairobi.

We will be doing many things in Choimim. Our trip leader, Damon davenport, will have us in several schools doing different activities for the children. we will be doing story telling, games, soccer, and dancing. I will be helping out with soccer games, ad I am helping with the dancing team as well. I will get to work with the choir there, and teach them dancing movements to songs. I am so excited about that. Of all people, I never imagined me teaching through dance! When we will not be working with the kids, we will be painting, taking shifts at the hospital and orphanage, and visiting with the locals.

I cant believe I am only two weeks away from leaving! Please pray that my passport and visa come in. Those have been obstacles lately, and I need them in soon! Pray that my team is safe while we are there, and pray for the people we come into contact with while on the trip. God is so mighty, I just know that great things are going to happen! Thank you for everything you are doing, Praise the Lord!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Kenya!

OK, so I promised I would give some details about Kenya, so here goes...

Facts about Kenya: Kenya is located in Eastern Africa, and It borders 5 countries, including Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, and Tanzania. It also stretches out to the coast of the Indian Ocean. Kenya was liberated from The British in 1963, and it hosts 39 million people and over 46 tribal groups, each with their own language/dialect. However, sice it was a british colony, most people in Kenya do speak English. It has big cities and small rural villages, not unlike here. In Nairobi, you can find buildings, eat at restaurants, and even buy diamond rings. However, most of the Country is rural. Chomin, the place where we are staying, as a small village, and everyone lives in small huts. A major "crop" is tea, and i hear it is very good, if served hot. I forgot to mention that i will onlly be allowed to bring a small bookbag with everything for the trip. Damon, our team leader, is going to teach us the fine art of washing cloths the old fashioned way:)

While there, I will be working in the school, in the orphanage, and in the hospital. Along with painting and other needed jobs, i will be working a lot with the kids. This is probably my favorite part of anticipating the trip. It will be so cool to interact with these kids, to play soccer with them ( I have a feeling they are going to kick my butt) , to sing and dance with them, and just serve them.

You may be thinking, Well, Ashton this is all great, but why in the world do you want to go to africa and do all of this? The biggest reason is Matthew 28:19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father and The Son and of The Holy Spirit."
God command us to GO! and now He has given me a divine oppurtunityto go and to make disciples in Kenya. Praise the Lord! Also, this will be a great time to see if perhaps, this is the kind of place God wants me to be someday. And maybe I will go and He will reveal a different path for me to take for the rest of my life. But maybe Africa really is where He wants me someday. I have surrendered it completely to Him.

I am going to need a lot of prayer before as well as during the trip. Your prayers are vital to the success of this trip. Pray for my team and I. Pray that The Lord will prepare our hearts and minds as we embark on the trip. Pray for the people we will be ministering to, That God will soften their hearts and that we will be able to connect with them. Most importantly, Pray for God's will to be done. There are many practical needs for this trip. First, I have to raise about $2,000 to go. Pray that the funds will come in. Please pray for our safety and our health as well. I know it is kind of an obvious need that you might not think about, but please, do pray for that. We will be much more effective if we are healthy.

As our training continues, I will put updates on here, as well as any praise repots or prayer requests. thank you so much for your prayers!you guys are vital to our success.

"! tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain..."
(Mark 11:23)