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)

Updates Cont'd

** this blog is quite sloppy, just warning you! Just a couple of quick updates for those of you who have been praying for me!

The future is drawing ever nearer and now, thankfully, a bit clearer(rhyme?). In June, the 14th to be exact, I will be flying into Nairobi Kenya, and from there I will be taking a 6 hour van ride to a rural village called Chomin. I still have to get my shots for that trip, yes! We will be going during the rainy season. There are 16 of us on the team, and I believe I am one of the youngest to go on the trip. While there, we will be working in the orphanage, school, and hospital. Yesterday was our first official team meeting, and in the middle of the meeting, it hit me. I am traveling to Kenya. Africa. it is for real. More on Kenya later.

I am going to Elon University this fall. In fact, in a couple of weeks I will be at freshman orientation!I am waiting on the air force Scholarship (4-17-09) to let me know. I still don't know what I want to do. But I mean, What an answer to prayer all of this has been! Thank you so much for praying for me, it is so encouraging to see the power of prayer throughout this entire process! Well, more on this later too.

As for what's been going on in the present, this semester has been such a blessing. It has been a pretty easy load. I am in a musical this spring, Once upon a mattress. and it's about the old nursery rhyme the princess and the pea. I am the evil queen aggravain. Ha! you should come-it is May 14, 15,16th at the high school. Come and see me being an evil scheming diva.
I am reading Matthew. I am in chapter 3 now, and I am learning about John the baptist. I am recertifying my CPR so I can be a lifeguard this summer.

and that is all for now. More details to come, I promise:)