“field of dreams”

today we spent time doing our only physical project of the week.  we moved rocks from a field so that it can be turned into a sports field at a high school called “sophumelela secondary school.” it was in the browns farm area of cape town – a second world area. the missionaries working in the school – or “skool” in afrikaan – had only visited it once.  immediately the administration was open to having work done on the school – a process that usually takes five or six visits. the Lord was so gracious to give us such a quick opening into the school.  this is also their first high school to work in – another answer to prayer.

we spent all day digging & picking up rocks from the “field of dreams” as it is lovingly called – to the glory of God! we considered it taking dominion over the earth. it has been a running theme throughout the trip. as motivation, the Lord provided the most beautiful double rainbow over the school while we were organizing our efforts that morning. what a beautiful reminder of God’s presence with us & with those high schoolers! He could not have spoken more clearly!

after several hours of work, we had the opportunity to spend time with the students during their lunch break.  hundreds of students poured out of the school buildings when the bell rang mid-morning.  some had nothing to eat, some could buy a few

packets of crisps (chips), others had some meals.  as we set among them, we began conversations, shared lunches, and even helped provide for some to graduate. what a different culture. they didn’t have a cafeteria or lunch provided. they cannot take their meals for granted. the apple i didn’t want went to one boy that had nothing to eat at all. one girl came up to one of our girls to ask for a drink of water because she had none. yet, they were still high schoolers amidst their social situation.  sounds of laughter filled the school yard. a group of boys played keep away to pass the time.  girls & guys talked and joked.  they let us in their conversations after a while. we had opportunities to explain why we were here & what the Lord was doing.  i had the opportunity to share with a few students about why i was in seminary & what the Lord has called me to do.

on a humorous note, one of the girls thought Travis, a guy on our team, was cute! you should have seen her blush! so, whether here or back in america, high school girls will always be high school girls!

after we finished at lunch, we returned to the field. we did some more work & got it in shape to at least play a simple game of soccer. bruce & sherri, the missionaries at the school, told us that the teachers were already noticing a difference & wondering why we would spend time doing this! to the glory of God, we gave bruce & sherri a platform to work at the school! through this “field of dreams” they will be able to host soccer clubs, christian union meetings, & share the gospel faithfully.  yes, if we build it (or help build it), they will come!

later that night we experienced the waterfront! we had dinner at a wonderful restaurant called the cape town fish market.  i had a delicious, dense fish called kingklip – a specialty of south africa! oh how i wish we had it in the states!

all in all, we are having an incredible time! i am so thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness. seeds are being planted, lives are beginning to be changed. please keep praying for our team: for unity, strength, safety, open hearts, bold & willing spirits, & a faithfulness to share the gospel! together we can reach the nations for the glory of God!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

a lesson in worship

sunday – the Lord’s day. a day to worship & remember what the Lord has done for us. and did we ever do that! as one of our team members said, “we had CHURCH!” we had the opportunity to worship with a Xhosa (pronounced “k-osa) congregation in the township of Phillipi. it is a sunday that i will forever remember. our sunday morning service lasted more than two hours – not your typical southern baptist service to say the least.  great singing & dancing filled the room every few minutes. it didn’t have to be some elaborate song or have fourteen verse.  a simple chorus repeated over & over that declared the truth of God was all they needed to worship. it wasn’t a fancy room or a big building. it was a simple one room church with some curtains, a small stage, & a simple sound system that took them years to purchase. but still, it was such a sweet time of worship! their love for the Lord is so clearly exhibited both to Lord & towards each other. truly, they will know us by our LOVE! i’m not sure that they realized that they blessed us far more than we probably blessed them.

we had the opportunity to lead a few songs in worship including one in their language. needless to say, they had to help us out! then, dr. reid preached faithfully about our need for the Gospel in our lives each day. it was so beautiful to hear him preach in english & then for the translator, brian, to repeat it in Xhosa.

after the service they had tea & coffee for us. it’s a very south african thing to drink tea & coffee after any gather. i think we should adopt that practice! it’s quite delicious & of course, a sweet time of fellowship. some of the young adults like the way that i tried to dance. if only i had as much rhythm as them!

after we had lunch, we joined another service that had just started up recently. it was held at a high school in the township.  again, this worship was so wonderful. what really spoke to me was what the woman leading said.  she reminded us that we come before the Lord and in His presence we are transformed to His likeness. so, because of what He has done for us, we are to give Him all that we have in worship.  it doesn’t matter what we look like or what we do as long as it glorifies the Lord & edifies His people & His name.  such freedom they had to worship the Lord. it was so contagious. i am so thankful that the family of God is truly the family of God everywhere in the world.

let me encourage you to lose your inhibitions and truly worship the Lord in word, deed, & song.  He is waiting for us to surrender ourselves at the Cross & give all that we have.  this begins with a decision – a step towards true freedom.  LOVE the Lord God with all of your heart, your min, & your soul. seek Him with your whole heart.

continue to pray for our team – for safety, unity, boldness, open hearts, etc.  the Lord is doing a mighty work that i am so privileged to be a part of! together we can reach the nations for the glory of God!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

creation declares His glory

we have officially been in cape town, south africa for two days! i cannot say enough wonderful things about this incredible city! it is beautiful! the people are wonderful & so sweet! we had the opportunity to go sightseeing on saturday.  i cannot begin describe the wonder of creation. only pictures can give a small glimpse of the beauty that surround us.  you stand on the coast with the wind whipping your hair while looking at the incredible waves that are so powerful. then you turn your head to see majestic mountains jutting out of the earth, reaching to the sky. it’s absolutely glorious!

driving home, we took the route over the mountain. after turning a bend, the entire metropolitan area of cape town stretched out before us. the sky was so expansive and the city so vast.  it took your breath away to see god’s creation reaching out before you.  but amidst all of the beauty, extreme poverty lines the streets and highways.  shantytowns filled with those who have next to nothing.  these are shacks made out of tin and scrap metal. for those who are considered fortune, they have access to electricity provided by the government. others are not so blessed to have that privilege. according to their laws, if someone occupies any land for more than two months, the government has to provide electricity. this is why you see miles of these shantytowns dotted with electric poles and wires reaching down to each shack. Those that have electricity are considered second world; those without – first world.  all that separates these two drastically different living conditions is a road, or a few stop signs.

all exist together here – white, colored, african. it’s a city filled with acceptance because of the brutal history that has so deeply scared them. yet, even still they have hope & joy. the motto branded on a secondary (high) school crest read – “Rise  For You Have Hope.”  it’s incredible to see their amount of faith  in the future, but even more so, the believers faith in Jesus Christ.

i am so thankful for the opportunity to serve here. even though we are from a different country and a different race, it is still so natural to be here among God’s people, serving side by side. scripture tells us that if we fail to praise His, even the rocks & mountains will cry out to praise Him. there is no need for the rocks to speak today! we were set in awe of God’s creation that declared His glory boldly! we had no other response but to praise Him for His majesty!

continue to pray for us as we work among the people throughout the week. pray for team unity, strength, boldness, humility, good attitudes, open hearts, to listen well and to represent the Savior well. together we can reach the nations for His glory!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

dependent, not defenseless.

continuing in the same spirit of my last post, this one addresses full dependence on the Lord that only comes from waiting and listening. but, i can’t take credit for any of these thoughts.  the following text comes from a revised-edition of Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. most definitely my favoriate daily devotional.  while flying from raleigh to washington, d.c., i opened up my devotional & began reading yesterday’s devotion because i didn’t have a chance to look at it yet.  here is the text from the following july 20th entry:

“There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person— “. . . John . . . looking at Jesus as He walked. . . said, ’Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:35-36). There is nothing abstract or obscure in the Bible; everything is vivid and real. God does not say, “Be spiritual,” but He says, “Walk before Me. . .” (Genesis 17:1).

When we are in an unhealthy condition either physically or emotionally, we always look for thrills in life. In our physical life this leads to our efforts to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit; in our emotional life it leads to obsessions and to the destruction of our morality; and in our spiritual life, if we insist on pursuing only thrills, on mounting up “with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), it will result in the destruction of our spirituality.

Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually. Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence. The experience the psalmist speaks of— “We will not fear, even though . . .” (Psalm 46:2)— will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God’s presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it. Then we will exclaim, “He has been here all the time!” At critical moments in our lives it is necessary to ask God for guidance, but it should be unnecessary to be constantly saying, “Oh, Lord, direct me in this, and in that.” Of course He will, and in fact, He is doing it already! If our everyday decisions are not according to His will, He will press through them, bringing restraint to our spirit. Then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.”

reading this post, i knew that the Lord had provided it both as an instruction and an encouragement. first, that it is necessary that i be wholly dependent upon Him – and not just for this trip, but in all things, continually. i forget this so often, but the Lord does bring restraint and correction because He loves us and chooses to discipline us as sons & daughters. second, He does love us enough to push us to the point where we will be fully dependent upon Him & wait for His presence. we are not defenseless & weak when we reach that point. instead we have the full power of the one & only God and King of the universe moving with in us to will & work for His good pleasure. and He is constantly orchestrating our lives to bring us to that point where He will receive all of the glory as He should, and we receive the by-product of that – eternal life, salvation, & a joy that passes all other.

i pray that this trip will allow me to see this demonstrated within me and the rest of the team. i pray that we are fully dependent upon the Lord allowing Him to be most glorified in us and us be most fullfilled in Him.

that’s all for now! time to board! on to johannesburg and then cape town! together we can reach the nations for the glory of God!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

ready and willing.

well, many hours & many errands later i am officially fully packed. i can proudly say that my checked bag only weighs 37 lbs. i feel as if that is a small accomplishment. many thanks to all those who helped in the mad scramble to get everything ready. it was quite crazy.

 

yesterday, amidst the hurry and rush, the Lord was very pointed in providing a peace & grace.  after meeting a dear friend at starbucks early in the morning, i had conversations with two different people about mission trips to Africa.  it was so incredible to have two different people that had been or had family members who had gone who then offered encouragement and some travel tips.  the one woman i talked to told me a story of how the Lord was very clear to have her understand that He was in control.  this didn’t come moment too soon for me.  my prayer throughout preparation has been that i may listen to the Lord fully – that i may be dependent upon His direction.  this interaction with this woman was nothing short of the Lord beginning to answer this prayer.

i was also so blessed to have wonderful friends help my finish organizing my house from my recent move. now, the awesome “pet sitters” (you know who you are) that are watching my dog donnie have a clean house in which to relax! this took so much stress off of my shoulders.  look at this sweet face that i am leaving for 12 days! i am so thankful for those who are watching him during the course of the trip.

the Lord also provided more funding for the trip. last week i owed $1350, as of today i only owe $455. it was my hope that i would have less than $500 remaining before i left.  the Lord is so good, faithful, & full of grace.

the Lord was so good to provide a way for everything needed to be finished to be completed. each thing crossed off my list was one more thing that could no longer prohibit me from listening well. so now i am ready & willing to give my all. may my works not be driven by good intentions, but instead by the Lord’s direction and spurring. He has already begun to speak, may i continue to listen well and be sensitive to how the Lord would lead us to share, speak, act, move, and pray.

thank you for your continued support & prayers. they are greatly apprecaited and needed! together we can reach the nations for the glory of God!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

t-minus 24 hours.

we are twenty-four hours from the first leg of our journey – RDU to Dulles in D.C.  once we begin our journey tomorrow morning, we will travel for almost 36 straight hours.  your prayers for strength, patience, & a good attitude are greatly appreciated.

i wanted to put up a post with our team members so that you can pray for us by name:

• dr. alvin reid (team leader)
• hannah reid
• emily eaton
• shelly jeffcoat
• jesse gordon
• jon bell
• gia gandolfo
• tessa going
• jonathan going
• pam hyatt
• jeremy hyatt
• marlana branning
• travis smith
• blake everett
• and myself

we had the opportunity to serve together as a team this past sunday when we hosted a car wash for our community.  we have a great opportunity to minister to several different people and even share the gospel with some different folks.  if this is but a small measure for how we will work together, i think that we will have a wonderful team that serves well.  please continue to pray that our hearts may be readied for what the Lord has in store.  pray that we may listen to Him well and be obedient to what He has set before us.

by God’s grace & continued faithfulness, i only have $550 of funding needed for the trip.  this is has gone down from $1350 in the matter of a week.  any last-minute gifts are greatly appreciated!  you can give online through the school – visit http://sebts.edu/cgcs/miss​ion-trips/default.aspx & click on the “Click Here to Give” button, then input my name & select “Cape Town, South Africa” in the drop down menu. thank you for your support!

together we can reach the nations for the glory of God!  stay tuned for updates!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh

learn to pack from a master.

in honor of my current packing predicament, here is a video freshly made by Dr. Alvin Reid who will be leading our trip to cape town, south africa.  hope you enjoy!

my love to you in Christ Jesus,

ashleigh