Serving an AMAZING God!

For the past two summers, God has called me to work as an intern with CEFOntario. Some days it hasn't been easy to want to follow that call. With school loans and other expenses, money is tight and raising $8000 in support is no easy task. Last year God provided way beyond anything I ever could imagine.

This year was even harder to follow God to the mission field with no government grant to help with that support. But I knew I has to trust God to provide, even when most days it looked like there were going to be a lot of financial struggles ahead this fall when I got back to school. Money was always a worry in the back of my mind.

During Camp Good News, I finally gave up that worry and control I wanted over my finances to God. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it, so there was no need to worry beforehand.

So today when I went to church I wasn't expecting anything. I knew there were a couple smaller donations coming in soon, but nothing major. So when a lady I barely know came up to me and asked me about my support, I wasn't expecting more than $100. Yet, when I opened the envelope I had to look twice when I read the amount. But I read it right the first time! $2000! I was moved to the point of tears.

God definitely provides when we least expect it.

♥ Ash

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Let The Summer Begin!

My sincerest apologies to all my loyal blog followers...

As you can tell, internet availability over the past couple of weeks has been very limited. This was because of Summer Training Institute, the 2 week training period for over 40 young people who will serve as summer missionaries this year all over the province of Ontario.

Summer Training this year was a battle with the weather. Our first week was extremely cold and even wearing two sweaters the one day I still felt cold. The next week brought a lot of heat and humidity! But the summer missionaries pushed through it all without complaint, studying their lessons and memorizing the many skits that are a part of this year’s 5 day club.

A first at Summer Training Institute this year was bringing the inner-city LiT girls to come and check out what training and summer ministry is all about. Some of them had already expressed an interest in coming out with CEF for the summer sometime soon, so we figured that more exposure to it could really make that dream a reality for them. The girls were overwhelmed at first by the amount of studying and work that the summer missionaries do, but by the end of the day all of them expressed an interest in coming themselves one day. Two of the girls will be old enough next year, so please pray for them as they are really interested in becoming summer missionaries next summer and are already planning on applying.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for our staff and students during Summer Training Institute. Despite our summer director being very ill and unable to do much at camp this year, things went very smoothly and we all appreciate your prayers and support so much.

Now the teams are out in the field!! So here I am back in the city of Toronto once again... and busier than ever! Currently I am supervising 3 teams of youth (7 summer missionaries in total) and we have been working at Calvary Church, as well as in Thorncliffe Park. Our youth are in charge of the Bible teaching in the morning at the church and then the entire program minus the games in the afternoon at Thorncliffe. The team includes my brother Joshua and his partner Ian, another guys team with Alex, Daniel & Sam, and a girls team made up of Stephanie and Andrea. Next week we will add one more guys team into the mix as well.

Thorncliffe Park is one of the largest Muslim communities in North America with about 95% of the population being Muslim. The school we teach at is the largest elementary school in North America with over 2000 students. So obviously there are MANY kids in the area!

Our first day at Thorncliffe hit a bit of a bump when we realized that the wrong date was on the flyers and only 3 kids stayed for the entire club. We already were aware from the experience there last year that many parents would pull their kids out during the Bible teaching portion of the program, but with the lack of kids it seemed to be a discouragement to the team. They held it together though, even when it seemed like they were only teaching the 15 youth volunteering from Georgia. Day 2 was much better once the club was promoted more in the community and well over 25 kids attended. Today, which was the third day of club, brought closer to 40 children to the club. Word of mouth is the way that the club grows each day so we are expecting closer to 80 kids by the end of the week.

Please pray for unity between our CEF team and our volunteers as they work with the kids this week, especially at the Thorncliffe location. Also pray for strength for the teams because they are still very tired from the heat and humidity as well as the stress of the first week in the field.

Hopefully it won’t be too long until the next update!

♥ Ash

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To Stand Amazed...

O let my need for you remain
As real as the moment I was saved
I will always stand amazed
~ I Stand Amazed-Kate Simmonds

Sometimes you have no idea what is going on in a child's heart. Some kids will come right out and tell you what they feel God telling them or what God is doing in their heart, but others you can only guess at. Unfortunately, God doesn't tell us that He will reveal to us on this earth every person that we led to Him. We are commanded only to preach the Gospel and we are only to be faithful to that no matter the results that we see.

Today was one of those days when God did reveal what He has been doing in the lives of some of the Camp Good News kids. I received not one, but TWO emails today from kids saying that they accepted Christ last year while at camp. Praise God!

I have to admit that I have seen much growth in both of these kids over the past year, but they had never shared with me until now that they had accepted Christ. And I have to admit that I am not the least bit upset that they didn't share this with us until now because sometimes in the hype of camp I'm not sure we understand how much of a life change is happening. Seeing the life change happen and then hearing the good news of two more children who have chosen to follow God with their lives just seems so much more special. It leaves no question in my mind as I see how commited they are to honouring God in their lives and that they are now pursuing leadership opportunities as Sr. campers... with their servant hearts pushing them on to the possibility of serving as counselors one day in the near future.

One of them shared how awesome it was to see a girl who was an atheist come to know God a few months after they did and the joy that they felt in their heart to see the same life changes happening in her, as she chose to follow God with her life. It brought them back to the day that they accept Christ as Lord and Saviour of their life.... just as we should every time we hear of a person being made brand new!

What a privilege to constantly stand amazed at what God has done in our own lives... and also see what He is doing in the lives of others.

♥ Ash

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Here I am to Worship...

It was during that song on Slingshot last Saturday that God gave me a special moment. It had been a pretty discouraging morning, with not enough drivers to pick up all the kids in a reasonable time span, so I was already wiped from about two hours of pickups and kids in my car. But as I sat beside one of the younger girls, God showed me something special. This girl and her brother and sister had not been able to come to Slingshot for many months because they had moved to a new area with no pickup. This past weekend we had finally been able to have them as part of a new stop in the Jane & Finch area. She's not the easiest girl to handle sometimes and not many are willing to spend the time with her to gain her trust and respect. I admit that I have even had my moments where I didn't know what to do with her anymore. But as we were singing Here I am to Worship... there she was singing her heart out... knowing every word. There is just something so beautiful about a child worshipping God. And needless to say the hours of driving were forgotten.

Please pray for me and the rest of the CEF staff over the next week and a half as we finish up the last minute preparations for summer. I actually won't have any time left to do administration work after next week because I will be in the field full-time for the rest of the summer. Please pray that I am able to finish off the LiT curriculum for camp, as well as have a good start on camp preparations and lessons for the two weeks at Calvary Church/Thorncliffe Park/Flemington Park. From here everything just goes crazy, so please bear with me as I try to get updates out as often as I can. (It's sad that during the part that I have the most to write about... I have the least amount of time to write!) Also pray for me as I try and get a fair way into my summer courses over the next week so I don't have to try and fit them in later in the summer.

♥ Ash

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I'm Lovin' It!

After a discouraging couple of days both personally and within the ministry, today brought some excitement into my life again for what God is doing and about to do.

This morning we had a meeting to discuss Thorncliffe Park and I am SO pumped! The first week of summer ministry, I will be providing leadership to the CEF team at Thorncliffe and also the second week nearby in a place called Flemington Park. Those two innercity areas will be our target in the afternoon, while in the morning we will be working with Calvary Church at their day camp. I will have the opportunity to teach the Bible stories the 2nd week at the church, which I am really looking forward too! Now I just can't wait to find out who the teams will be that I am working with!!! :)

Then tonight was just a really good night with my girls. They really opened up with us about some of the things that they struggle with in their lives and as hard as it was to hear... it was amazing to see how God has protected them and how He is working in their lives. Some of you may remember me taking them to a teen's conference a few months ago. One of the girls told me tonight that she was so convicted by the things that she learned at that conference that she went home and broke up with her boyfriend. If you've never heard Brett Ullman speak... check him out! God has given him an amazing talent for talking to teens about media and dating... and the impact on my girls lives has been incredible after just hearing him speak once! God is really working in these girls hearts and they are trying their best to learn what He wants for them and applying it to their lives.

Though I'm pumped... the busyness is starting to turn into tiredness. Please pray that God will continue to give me energy and strength over the next couple of weeks as I finish administration work and go into summer training and work in the field, as well as finish my book report for Worldviews this weekend! :)

♥ Ash

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Prayer Request!

We really need prayer!

Currently we don't have enough drivers for Slingshot this Saturday! Please pray that we will find a way to get the kids there.

♥ Ash

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Scheduling Craziness!

The first thing I want to do is apologize for not updating in almost a week. The first reason for that is that nothing really has happened. And the other reason is that I was actually very ill last week and have been recovering ever since. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me over the past week as I've struggled with some sort of flu bug.

This week is going to be really busy as we only have 3 weeks left until Summer Training Institute! That means I only really have 3 weeks left to do all the admin work and prep that I need to do for the rest of the summer. :S So you have an idea of what you can be praying for in the next few weeks... here is my schedule for the rest of the summer!

June 12
Slingshot Saturday

June 27-July 7
Summer Training Institute in Fergus

July 8-10
CYIA Summer Missions Team Retreat in Mount Forest

July 12-16
Week One at Thorncliffe Park

July 17
Slingshot Saturday

July 19-23
Week Two at Thorncliffe Park

August 2-6
Jr. Camp Good News & Leaders in Training (I'll be leading the LiT program) near Milton

August 9-13
Sr. Camp Good News near Chesley

August 20-21
Welcome Home for our summer missions team!


And then SUMMER WILL BE OVER!!!!!

I am overwhelmed by the amount of encouragement and support that I have received this summer already. I never dreamed that so many people would be reading this blog but I hear of someone new almost everyday! Thank you all so much!

Here's some numbers updates :)

~ I have travelled over 2,000km in the last 3 weeks!
~ I have approx. 35% of my support

♥ Ash

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Sunshine & Water Fights

If you live in Ontario, hopefully you've been enjoying the sunshine and warmth because I most definitely have! The first day of this heat wave I didn't even realize that it was warm outside when I went out in the evening so I brought a sweater along. haha... my body almost went into shock after being in a cool basement all day!
Over the past week I've actually had the opportunity to connect with some kids who are not LiTs! (Though I do love my LiTs A LOT! It's just good to see more of my kids too!) On Saturday, I made the trip down to downtown Toronto to visit KidsChurch. KidsChurch is a ministry that happens bi-weekly on Saturdays in a housing co-op. Many of the kids there have been in camp before so it was awesome to see many kids that I haven't seen in a year... and in some cases TWO YEARS!!!!

Thank you to everyone who prayed that the kids would come out because there was SO many kids there! We had over 20 kids out and most of them were very interested in camp. Some of the ones that weren't quite old enough tried to win me over with tears to be allowed to come :( I brought 50 forms down with me and left with ZERO! Please pray that many of these kids will be allowed to come to camp with us this summer.

Monday was a day at the provincial office. For those of you who are not already aware, CEFOntario has moved to Brantford, where we are currently renting space at the camp that CEF will OWN on October 1! If you want to see pictures and hear more about how God has brought about this change for the ministry check out the CEFOntario website... http://www.cefontario.org/NewFiles/news_and_events_01.html After working in the office almost every day last summer, it has been very different not being there at all. So despite the 2 hour drive, it was a welcome change for the day.

Today was another chance to connect with some kids. Since the weather was so hot today we took the kids outside for some fun with the sprinkler, water guns, water balloons, and lots and lots of water! Probably not the most relaxing way to cool off when you have kids spraying water in your face... but I find that times like these are when I am able to connect with the kids that most. Today was definitely the start of new relationships with some of the kids, which will be great to build on at camp this summer. Plus, who doesn't like acting like a kid again for the afternoon???

♥ Ash

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Break My Heart For What Breaks Yours...

The thing that I've struggled with the most this summer has been where I live. Now don't go thinking that this has anything to do with my living conditions or my host family... because that is completely untrue! I couldn't ask for better!

The real struggle I face is the driving. Almost everyday I drive past these extravagent, massive and unnecessary houses with BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes cars parked in the driveways. Yet my destination is quite the opposite. Now the people in these houses probably don't even consider themselves welloff (which I have heard directly from some of them), but to the kids I work with... the only word they have for these people is "rich."

It just doesn't feel right to be living in this nice safe area, while it's dangerous sometimes for my kids to even be out by themselves in the day time. It's completely crazy! When people ask me how I can work in these areas I wonder sometimes why they even ask. What right do I have to put my life as more valuable than these kids? If they go to school, hangout, live, and sleep in these places, what right do I have to think that I am above going to where they are?

This is something I wrote in my journal in the fall after an amazing day with my kids... and the night that God clearly showed me the gift of passion that He has given me for these kids.

How do you walk away knowing that you might or probably are leaving a child in pain? That's how I feel most of the time when I drop off my kids or say goodbye to them again. There's no guarantees that I'll see them again. No guarantees that harm won't come to them. Violence is so present and happening right where they play, yet there's nothing I can do.

All they long for is love... and that's all I have to offer. But even my own love is not enough. God's love is the only thing that can keep these kids from being empty. Why do I wish that I could offer them more? A life that had guarantees of success, a future, and someone who cares. I feel like some days the only love they receive or listening ear they have is me talking to them on FB or MSN. How pathetic is that? And what happens when I don't have the time... or don't take the time? It just seems so unjust!!

The simplest things mean so much to them. Just sharing the story of Christ's birth was such a gift today.... yet how many days do I take knowing it for granted? They just soak it up! Anything and everything you give them they take. God has given me such a gift in knowing them and calling them my friends, my little brothers and sisters, and my kids. I would give up so much for them. I feel like they are my own. Yet, everytime I am forced again to say goodbye...

My heart breaks so much for these kids... and yet God's heart breaks even more! Please pray for these kids today. Most of you don't know their names, their stories, or even what they look like... but God knows them so completely inside and out.
Pray especially for the LiT girls tomorrow as we begin to look at Psalm 139 over the next few weeks... and how God knows them inside and out and has a special purpose and plan for their lives.

♥ Ash

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Psalm 62

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 62:5-6

I've come back to this psalm so many times over the past year as I've struggled to find rest in the midst of chaos and few days of true rest. There's been many things I've discovered over that time period about grace, God's strength and most importantly where my rest is found. No matter how many days off that I have or hours of sleep... the real rest that I need in order to not be burnt out at the end of this summer is found only in the presence of God.

So as I take a few days of rest this weekend and am able to escape work, ministry and the hustle and bustle of the city, all I really want is to escape into the arms of God. God's strength and grace is the only reason I could come back this summer... it's the only reason that I am able to be a part of these kids lives... and it's the only reason that I am alive.

And I will be forever thankful that whatever happens in my life, whether this summer or in the months and years ahead, in God's arms I will not be shaken!

♥ Ash

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Theology & Inner-City Kids... Two Things Not Usually Found in the Same Sentence

Wow... my mind is going ballistic!! Thank you for everyone who prayed for the LiT small group. I just got home and I am seriously bursting with just how God used those prayers.

To understand an LiT small group... you basically have to take away any formal structure of a Bible study that you have in your mind. At LiT we make our own rules... and we go with the flow! Interruptions happen every 30 seconds, so you have to be ready for the unexpected. We still look at the Bible and I still teach, but I teach by facilitation, which means discussion questions that we talk about as a group. My job is just to keep them on topic (NOT AN EASY TASK!) These girls have their own agenda and things that they want to learn. We can be talking about something and a question will come from left field that has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about. And they're not silly questions either! They are deep theological questions about the end times, what happens after we die, hell, heaven, the trinity and the list goes on! And those are just the things they wanted to know about tonight!!

One question really got to me though. "Why do the LiT leaders teach in a way that I can understand, but then I go to church and try to listen and can't even follow what the pastor is saying no matter how hard I try?" This is still breaking my heart.

The obvious answer is because at LiT we are teaching aimed at the girls and where they are at and in the church they're not. But as the body of Christ are we not suppose to be aiming our teaching at the church?!?! Why are children always left out? Sure we have programs for them to go to... but why aren't we teaching in a way that they can't understand? Are they not a part of the body of Christ as much as the adults? There is so much "Christianese" and ridiculous words that almost no one can define that a Bible college student like me can barely understand it sometimes... let alone a 13 or 14 year old from the inner-city. Just something to think about. I could probably rant for hours, but I'll let you think about it on your own.

These girls are ready to dig deep and we all need you because you're our prayer team! Please pray for me, Steph & Patience as we prayerfully try to answer all their questions and understand the Bible in a way that we are able to articulate what they want to know so they can understand. After an hour and a half tonight, these girls did not want to stop! God has put such a strong desire in their hearts to learn and He has put a passion in our lives to reach out and build relationships with them. Please pray that God would also show me, Steph and Patience how we can continue to be a part of their lives once the summer is over.

♥ Ash

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Technology = Frustrating!!

So our commenting does work... though some of you are still having trouble with it. To comment on a blog post: click on the "comments" link under the blog title... write your comment... click publish... it is going to ask you to verify by typing a word... to move this box down to be able to type the word you'll need to push tab key (the key is located directly above the Caps Lock key). Then verify and you should be good to go!!!!

If you're still having trouble... Let me know!

♥ Ash

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1+1=???

We've all heard the math teacher say, "You'll need to know this at some point in your life!" But who ever believed them??? Seriously??? Well considering that this intern had no plans of pursuing anything math or science related, I definitely laughed every time I heard this ridiculous statement.

Well it's come back to haunt me. Who knew that you would need to remember things from Grade 8 math class when working in children's ministry. Some of you might be scratching your heads by now... so I'll drag this out longer!


Math was definitely my weakest subject in school. I wasn't terrible at it... but I also wasn't so crazy about it either. I could take it or leave it. Actually I would just leave it. I didn't even have the attention span or long-term memory capacity to help my younger siblings sometimes.

So imagine my surprise when today I found myself driving to tutor someone for Grade 8 math! Ok! Ok! I did have a few days notice... but still, the shock hadn't quite worn off yet. I was so worried that I would have forgotten everything that I had been taught and practiced, so I prayed all the way there that God would bring the things back to my memory so that I could help her understand and apply the math in a way that she would remember.

One look at the sheet and equations that I haven't seen in YEARS seemed as familiar as yesterday! Praise God! Now we just have to wait and see what the tests and report cards bring. :)

Please pray for me as I continue to tutor this young lady for math every Wednesday afternoon.

♥ Ash

P.S. It's funny how the only reason I need to know math is for another math teacher... some things never change!!!!

FUN MATH UPDATE!
KM Count = approx. 1100km travelled so far this summer
39 days until Summer Training Institute!
75 days until Leaders in Training (LiT) & Jr. Camp!
81 days until Sr. Camp!
94 more days of work!
And only 102 days until I move back to Heritage to start my 3rd year of my undergrad!!!!

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A Piece of Something Bigger...

Sometimes it's hard to see the big picture. It's so easy to get caught up in the little details of day to day ministry and not see the big picture of what God is doing in the lives of the people around us.

That was the wake up call I got this weekend. All I could do was sit there with tears streaming down my face as a friend of mine who grew up in the urban ministry of CEF told her story. I've heard most of it before having served alongside her at camp, but it was like I was hearing it for the first time again. All of her struggles, the things she has seen... and then the incredible impact of Camp Good News and her decision to follow Christ. It's been almost 10 years since that decision to put her trust in Jesus Christ and through those times she has had such little support from home... until this past week when her mom accepted Christ!

It was really neat because God had really put her on my heart last week and I ended up inviting her out with one of my LiTs to hangout for the evening. For one so young she has such a deep faith and trust in God. It's amazing to see and I am always thanking God for her life and how it just shines Christ in everything. And that shining showed her mom for ten years just how awesome God is to the point that she couldn't deny Him anymore.

This ministry is NOT babysitting kids and giving them a good time, with a little Bible teaching on the side. This IS leading kids to the throne of God and allowing them to make a decision to follow Him and then challenging them to make a difference in this world for God. A difference in their communities... a difference in their schools... and a difference in their homes. And that's exactly what happening!!! God's picture is so much bigger than ours... to Him be the glory!!!

"Something bigger, something greater...For the glory of Your splendor"

♥Ash


CYIA Prep Weekend 2010

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A Passion For Your Name...

Week 2 is almost complete... craziness to think it hasn't even been two weeks yet!! So not a lot has really happened... just getting into the paperwork and planning for summer. :)

Last weekend we had our CYIA prep weekend... where we got to hang out with some super cool people and start preparing for summer. It was really awesome to see the passion that God has placed on these youth to do ministry with us this summer. They wanted STI (summer training institute) to start right then... but unfortunately we still have another 44 days to go! It will go by fast I'm sure... but they are so ready to start right now and that was really neat to see.

This weekend is going to be a busy one of travelling for me... tonight I'm going out with a few of my LiT girls to celebrate one of their birthdays at Vaughan Mills shopping mall. If you've never been to Vaughan Mills... you would probably be overwhelmed by it's size... it honestly has everything... except for Wal-mart...lol

Then tomorrow is Slingshot Saturday!!! If you don't know what that means... here's a brief crash course. Slingshot Saturday is a once a month program for urban kids... the majority coming from our innercity clubs and Camp Good News. We hang out, play some games, hear from God's Word, have some pizza, and just build relationships with the kids. We have over 20 kids coming this week and arranging rides was a bit tricky. What a blessing to actually struggle to find rides because sooooo many kids want to come! Please pray for this ministry... as we often have trouble with having enough volunteers, especially for transporting the kids to and from Slingshot.

After Slingshot I'll be heading to Heritage (my school in Cambridge) for the weekend to see some friends and go to an RA reunion that our former Rez directors are holding.

Some Prayer Requests!
- safety in travel
- wisdom in preparing for LiT and Camp Good News
- the start of an LiT small group which is scheduled to start next week!
- the kids from our urban programs and that they would really feel God's presence in their lives this week

Praise Report!
- I have my parents' new truck for the summer = less chance of car troubles
- the growth we've been seeing in the LiT program
- the CYIAs passion to be in the field this summer... and the number of youth that want to serve with us this summer (about 40ish now!)

Hopefully I'll have some pictures up this weekend!

♥ Ash

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You can comment now!

For all of you who have been waiting to be able to comment... you now CAN!!!! Just click comments under the title of each post to be able to comment.

Peace out! From the Brantford office! :)

♥ Ash

P.S. you may have to press TAB to scroll down the comment box after you hit publish in order to get to the place where you acan verify that you are a "real" person! :)

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So This Is... Ummm... A Video Blog: Take 2

So here's the video blog from a few days ago...

Video Blog 1: Dorm

♥ Ash

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And She'll Have Fun! Fun! Fun! Until Her Parents Take The Ranger Away...

Ok... it's not that dramatic! But today gave me quite a bit of deja-vu from last summer. If you followed me last summer you might remember the troubles my little Ford Ranger gave me. This 2002 Ranger Edge has about 541,000km and counting on it... and I can't wait to put thousands more on it this summer! ;)

So anyways... back to the story! This morning I was driving and all of a sudden there is a huge squealing noise coming from the passenger side. After much investigation and my parents help... we concluded that there was a rock wedged somewhere in the brake system... AGAIN!!!!! This happened to me last summer as well. Luckily we knew what to do this time and after driving it on the highway for several minutes, the rock decided that it would rather be free than stuck in my car.

So with that dramatic event over, I went with my mom to do some errands... only to come out of the store into the parking lot and find a puddle under my truck. I guessed rad fluid. My dad checked it out and sure enough. This also happened last summer too!! Luckily, the truck was already scheduled to be serviced tomorrow.

Please pray for safety this summer as I travel. Especially with this repeat of events... that means the next event should be a huge plastic bag wrapped around my muffler! hahahahahaha. Pray for safety for the rest of our team also as we travel to many different parts of the province this summer!

♥ Ash

1 day down... 110 to go!

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Life is Full of Changes

Life is always full of changes. The changes to the layout of this webpage are going to surprise Liz the next time she logs on. The main reasons for the change this time are: #1 this was a super cool layout and #2 the commenting now works on posts!! Ok...maybe the real reason was just the second one... but the beautiful flowers were a plus :)

So tomorrow we start. I get to work from home. Liz gets to go to a super-fun, exciting, amazing staff meeting. You can decide who got the better end of that deal. Months of prayer and preparation have brought us to this moment and we're excited that you have decided to partner with us.

We know that God is going to work in amazing ways this summer. Whether that is personally breaking us to become who He wants us to be in His plan or bringing kids closer to Him, He will be glorified. And that makes us excited!

The following is a song that I've been listening to non-stop in my car, in my dorm room, and in my head. It's called Something Big by John Waller.

I wanna see something I've not seen
Something so big
I wanna be a part of something great
Greater than me

It's time to dream big dreams
To see Your vision
Become reality
‘Cause it’s for You, by You, those who
Love You wanna do

Something so big
It’s destined to fail without You, Lord
It’s gonna fail without You, Lord
Something so great
It takes a miracle to do
We, Your children
Wanna do something big for You

We, yes, we are gonna sing a brand new song
Something so strong
We will be the sound that wakes the dawn
Something so loud

It’s time for breaking through
‘Cause there are no limits
For he who holds the truth
When it’s for You, and by You, and those who
Love You wanna do

Something bigger, something greater
For the glory of Your splendor
Something bigger, something greater
Tell the story of Your wondrous love
Your wondrous love
Those who love You wanna do

As long as we live, let us do something so big for You

That's what we want to do. Something big that only God can do for His glory. That is our prayer for this summer.

♥ Ash

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So this is... ummm... a video blog!

Technical problems!

Coming soon!!

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Two Hundred Fifty-Three

That would be the number of days since I left my position as intern last summer. In some ways those have been a long 253 days but in other ways they have been very short. So much has happened and I can't wait to see how God is going to use those experiences for His glory this summer.

It's crazy to think that I almost threw in the towel in the fall. I almost completely gave it up. For what? Nothing that would be worth anything in God's sight. It wasn't because I lost my love for "my kids" or even because I was frustrated with the ministry. But when you let the things of the world and other people eat away at your passion instead of allowing God to nurture it then the passion is not so visible anymore.

I was just meditating on Colossians 3:23-34... "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (I am aware of the context of this verse... this was just what I was thinking at the time) God is who I am serving with my life... and so when other people's opinions and views on what I should be doing with God's call overcome that focus on serving there is definitely a problem. I do not feel called to serve "in" the church. The passion God has given me does not rest there.

The people that surround me right now are so supportive of this passion that God has given me. The passion is really a gift. There's no words to describe just how strong it is in my being. I think that sometimes my friends make me talk about "my kids" just so they can hear it. haha. But I'm okay with that.

So my goal this summer is to just allow God to use this gift of passion that He has given me to shine His light on these kids and all the people that I come in contact with. Because this is all for His glory anyways.

♥ Ash

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One week to go...

So here comes what we have been waiting for all year! In just one week Liz and I officially start summer ministry with CEFOntario. I will be working at home for the first week to take a rest from an incredibly stressful year both academically and personally, and also to tend to some appointments in Mount Forest. We're hoping that this strategy will help with burnout management later in the summer.

Thankfully there will be no shortage of work because I dislike being bored. My work with CEF is very easy to take anywhere and so I tended to be a girl on the move last summer. This summer is going to be a little bit different however! I just found out last week that I will be living in the same host home ALL summer, except for summer training and Camp Good News of course. This is such a blessing after moving my stuff literally 20 times last summer, including trips home for the weekend and moving out and then back into dorm.

The blessings keep coming with over 20% of my support in and more pledged. God has truly been good to me in so many ways. I have never struggled financially during my time at school, and that has been a blessing in so many ways. The other blessing is the amount of prayer support that I have. I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and encouragement so far. It makes taking this leap of faith feel more like taking a step. I am so thankful for each one of you, and I will probably say thank you one hundred more times this summer. haha

Just a prayer update.
- I have two exams this week... Monday and Tuesday... so prayer for focus in studying and in the exams as well... sometimes I tend to lose it right in the middle of the exam.
- I have a dietician appointment next week and hopefully it will confirm that I am lactose intolerant... or lead us on a path to actually discovering what has been effecting my health.
- for the CYIAs as they prepare for upcoming summer ministry (especially May 7-9 when they have their retreat)
- for the CEF staff as they prepare summer ministry and training classes, and also as they lead the CYIAs this summer.
- That God would be glorified in everything we do this summer.

This is Ashley signing off.
♥

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TWO MORE WEEKS!!!

Yes you read that right... just TWO more weeks until the official start of the post-secondary team's summer ministry. Liz and I are both excitedly anticipating the start of summer and we can't believe that it's almost here.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Missionfest Toronto to promote CEFOntario and hang out with my LiT girls a bit too. It was an amazing time and I got to connect with many other missionaries, plus meet at least one that will be coming out with us this sumemr! It was exciting to meet so many people who are excited to see the gospel be taught to children and to have so many strangers encouraging us in what we believe so strongly in.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because I forgot my camera. :( But as I mentioned before I did bring the LiT girls to Missionfest and they enjoyed it so much. Three of them had never been exposed to what missions was before and it was neat to see their expressions as different missionaries explained how their organizations spread the love of Jesus. At least one of the girls thinks that God might be calling her to go at least on a short-term missions trip at some point. Please pray for the LiT and that they would be listening for God's voice as He directs their lives and that their purpose would be to glorify Him in everything that they do.

Just one more research paper, an assignment and 5 exams and then it's over. YEAR 2 is almost complete. I can't believe it actually. God has blessed me so much over my time at Heritage and I can't wait to see what else He does with my life in the next two years.

♥ Ash

P.S. Liz has updated her about me section... and she will be posting a blog in the near future! :)

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I'm Gonna Soak Up the Sun

It's a beautiful day on the Heritage hill overlooking the city of Cambridge. If you've never been to Heritage, the college is situated on a hill surrounded largely behind by forest, but the front of the school allows for students to overlook the city and wonder what actually happens outside of our Heritage bubble. Students can often be caught wondering this in class as they stare absently out the window at the cars racing down the 401 and the activities in the Smart Centre plaza not that far away.

Heritage students long to be outside and free of the confines of the classrooms and dorm, so at this time of year many can be found outside "doing homework" which often turns into spontaneous singing when a guitar is brought out. Sunglasses hide whether the book in front of students is being read or if the student really just wanted to take a nap. There are no limits as couches, food and music are brought outdoors. Some other popular activities include walking to Tim Hortons, McDonanlds, the local grocery stores and even casually through the area of Hespeler we live in. With so many things to do out in the sun, homework can cease to exist in the mind of a student.

Thankfully, the bit of a cold spell this past week sent me running to the warmth of the library where I finished a great deal of work. Now I just have 2 papers, 2 book reports, and a few smaller assignments to do before my 5 exams... Yikes! And on top of that... exactly 3 weeks from today is my official start date with CEF!

As of yesterday, my support total is at 11%. God has been so good already and I truly feel blessed by all of you who are praying and supporting me both financially and with encouragement. I'm really excited to be serving God in this ministry this summer and I can't wait to be sharing all the adventures with you.

Please pray for this coming weekend and Missionsfest Toronto, as we share with thousands of people that attend the importance of sharing the Gospel with children. And also pray for the LiT that will be attending and that their minds will be awakened to the things that are happening in the world. Some of them have expressed an interest in missions and CEF summer missions before, so please pray that God would show them how they could possibly be used in this world to serve Him, whether it's here at home or overseas.

Here I go for another crazy week!!!

Blessings,
♥Ash

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So Much To Do... So Little Time

So I decided to take a break from my mountain of homework, assignments, presentations and major papers to blog because basically I've been failing at updating this lately.

There are only 28 days to go before our start date of May 3 and there is still SO MUCH to do! Right now I still have 2 papers, 2 book reports, 4 reading responses, 5 assignments, 1 presentation, 5 exams and a whole bunch more homework and reading to go! This semester has flown by and I'm sure the next few weeks will too. But I only have about 23 more days to complete all this work in... so I would really appreciate your prayers for strength, rest and especially FOCUS over these next few weeks.

On top of all that I still have a few other responsibilities too! Next Saturday is Slingshot, where I'll be working with the LiT girls again. We will hopefully be working through some questions that have come up around prayer as well as looking at the death and resurrection of Christ.
The next weekend is Missionsfest Toronto. I will be in the city all weekend. Friday and Sunday I will be at the CEFOntario booth promoting the ministry and on Saturday I will be going to get the LiT girls to bring them to see Missionsfest. Some of them have had some questions about overseas missions, especially after seeing the film End of the Spear. This will be the first time that most of them have had any interaction with missionaries or even informed of what is happening overseas to present the Gospel to the nations.

So that's life right now... one crazy month of chaos to go until a whole summer filled with different situations of chaos! :)

♥ Ash

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I Will Put My Trust In Him...

Support raising is definitely my least favourite part of ministry. This is when my shyness comes in full force. It's definitely about character building and not enjoyment. Trusting God with my finances was so hard last summer. I had no idea what He would provide, but He provided abundantly. It still bewilders me to why He would bless me so much, and not only financially, but also in prayers and encouragement. I was completely overwhelmed by it all.

And I here I go again... trust is all I can do... and as always He is providing for my every need. Strength to get through the day and week and the ever present homework insanity. And almost 3% of my support raised in one day! All I can do is praise Him for He has been truly good to me. This year has definitely been the hardest of my life in both good ways and bad ways... but He has been continually teaching me trust because He has plans to do something with my life that are bigger than my understanding right now... so I just have to wait and see what tomorrow holds and trust Him every minute.

♥ Ash

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What Does This Girl Actually Do?!?!?!

So apparently a lot of people don't know what I do with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship of Ontario). And it's kind of hard to give an answer to that question... and it is not because I don't do anything. The truth is that I do so many different things that I can't really keep track of them all sometimes! :)

I'm going to try and give an answer to this very important question! ;) At least for the school year side of my role!

My main role with CEF is in the innercity ministry with Camp Good News. This includes attending monthly Slingshot Saturdays for the kids. There we just get to know the kids a bit better and provide Christian teaching and mentorship. We also have a lot of fun!! One of our most recent adventures was a photo scavenger hunt where the kids had a blast!


My second role is to mentor a small group out of these kids called LiTs or Leaders in Training. These are a group of older kids that we saw leadership potential in and so invited to a special camp week during the Jr. camp this summer. Recently we had an LiT retreat where we able to reconnect with them and dig deeper into God's Word to learn who we are in Him. I recently got to take a few of them to a teen's conference called Today's Teens, which was a blast and really challenged the girls in thinking about media, culture and dating.

I also help to run an LiT facebook group, which we post discussions and devos on. This just helps us to connect more and disciple and teach the girls because it's very difficult to connect with them any other way. They all live in different areas of Toronto and to get them together is almost impossible so this is the next best thing. Surprisingly, for a facebook group, I've had some pretty positive feedback so far!

My last role is the confusing one! haha. I do a lot of administration type work for the ministry as well. This includes birthday cards for all the camp kids, making flyers, posters and brochures and organizing events. Basically whatever comes up I do. lol. If that makes any sense at all...

I also do a lot of informal things like connecting with the kids frequently over MSN and Facebook. Basically just encouraging them and letting them know that I'm there if they ever need to talk or whatever. I get to know a lot of them better through this and have built some pretty amazing relationships with some of them over the past couple of years just by remaining in contact with them through the school year.

I'm sure that something else will come to me later...lol. But for now that's all... until summer at least. That's when the job description gets about 100x more complicated. And I'm not exaggerating even a little bit!! :)

♥ Ash

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Just Something To Ponder...

This is a quote that I've come back to often in the last year... and so I thought I would share it with you today. This is what I'm definitely feeling coming into ministry this summer.

"Ministry is giving when you feel like keeping,
praying for others when you need to be prayed for,
feeding others when your own soul is hungry,
living truth before people even when you cannot see the results,
hurting with other people even when your own hurt cannot be spoken,
keeping your word even when it is not convenient,
being faithful when your flesh wants to run."

♥ Ash

*40 days to go!

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Why The Change???

Some of you may be wondering why the change of layout.

The basic answer is that this layout is way easier to update and maintain compared to the old one. HTML is pretty tricky sometimes and I feel like we can have more information posted on this layout. Less time wasted on HTML = more productiveness and potentially more posts. PLUS you can now post comments and follow the blog! I think those are some pretty cool positives.

Everything from the old page is here... and actually some of it has been updated too! Thanks for following us! :)

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Just A Taste...

So today was one of those days when I got just enough of a taste of CEF that I can't wait for summer. It was the last day of March Break Camp, so what better to do then show up and surprise everyone! It was wonderful to see some of the kids that I haven't seen since camp last summer. They seriously do grow up so fast... I barely even recognize some of them.

The thing that I will never get over when they see me after all this time is the light that comes into their eyes and the smile that spreads across their face... that's when you truly know that you have made an impact in their life, even though it was small, but enough of an impact to be something special to them. There were a couple of them that almost had me in tears today with an unexpected hug. It makes me want to do more... to show more love... to be the hands and feet of Jesus even more to them.

It was also cool to surprise my LiT and just hang out with them and talk. Today I noticed something that I haven't seen in them very often. There was a passion in their voices as they talked about the skit (Everything by Lifehouse) and it was clear that God is doing something special in their hearts. It's been and still is a long process, but they are learning more and more each time I see them. They are such beautiful young women of God and I truly feel privileged to be able to mentor them and just be a friend to them. I can't wait for the day when they have a post-secondary education, are married and serving God with everything and can look back on right now and see just how God was working in every conversation and every moment... it's going to be awesome!

♥ Ash


These are my gorgeous ladies... and Ivhan too! haha

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COUNTDOWN!

48 more days... and we are EXCITED!!!!!

♥ Ash & Liz

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Way Back In The Day...

Last summer I realized that when I was a young tot... ok not quite that young!... I attended a 5-day club. This realization only came after a former staff member heard where I was from and informed me that she had done a club in Mount Forest when she was a teenager. Good thing I didn't know then that I would be leading a club not too far into the distant future. ;) I might have run in the opposite direction!

The crazy thing is that she actually started the ministry at Lakeshore and was part of forming Camp Good News. Now I have the privilege of working with the kids that she built relationships with and brought to camp. Pretty small world!

Who would have ever known that this is where God would have led us both today?

♥ Ash

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Hmmmm...

Could there be a member #3 added to the team? Stay tuned to find out! ;)

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Introducing...

Elizabeth Berthelet!

This is Liz's 3rd year with CEF, but first as an intern! The past two summers, Liz has been in Northwestern Ontario, the GTA, and Camp Good News as a summer missionary with CEFOntario. She is excited to be the summer co-ordinator this summer and experience ministry in a new way! :)


♥ Ash & Liz

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On A Roll!

So for the past couple of days I have been on a roll with getting caught up on CEF stuff. Yesterday I had a huge amount of inspiration for brainstorming for LiT and it was really cool. I haven't really had much time to really think through where I want to see the program go this summer until now. Plus I was able to catch up on some minor administrative updates for CGN.
Now today I will attempt to finish my application, a brochure for Camp Good News and my support letter!
Can it be done?!?!?! I hope so!

♥ Ash

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Pray

If there is one thing that I took away from last summer, it's the importance of having a team behind you supporting you in prayer. There were a lot of days when I truly was so tired that I just wanted to give up... take a break... rest. But having those prayer partners there praying, encouraging and supporting me definitely gave me strength. I can't even describe the joy you, my prayer partners, have given me! THANK YOU!!
And without any further comment... here's the prayer card for summer 2010! If you would like one, let me know and I'll make sure you get one once they are printed!
♥ Ash

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Ashley's Summer 2009

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And so it begins...

Stay tuned as summer ministry approaches and more details come... :)

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