Back to camp life....

Sorry that I have not updated at all this summer. Usually the words just flow as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard, but this summer they just have not. I want to thank each one of you for your faithfulness in prayer and encouragement. I truly have been blessed this summer by you all. I currently have an overflowing support account for camp and I have been so relaxed and unstressed this summer compared to the past few summers.

I'm not going to share an update on Haiti right now because I think it's more important to update you on the current ministry I'm in, and my time is very limited with the internet at the moment. I do have lots of stories and pictures to share with you all very very very soon.

Currently, I am serving on the leadership "BASE team" at Camp Good News, a part of the Urban Slingshot Ministries at CEFOntario (Child Evangelism Fellowship of Ontario). This year my job has been a lot more relaxed then the previous two years, and I have had the opportunity to work with an AMAZING staff.

Two weeks ago we had our Leaders in Training Build Week. Our focus was on preparing the LiTS mentally for camp, while also preparing things for the upcoming four weeks of camp. The LiTs blew us AWAY! We actually gave many of them extra weeks of camp because they reached and surpassed the bar we had set for them. To watch them grow and change, seek the Lord, and serve the kids has been my biggest highlight so far this summer. The past two summers I have also directed the LiT team and we have pushed through a lot of struggles and trials. After completely rebuilding the team this spring, I wasn't sure that I could expect as much growth as we saw last summer, but these girls and guys have blown me away. Most are only 12 years old yet they have stepped it up and even in some situations surpassed counselors in their maturity and willingness to serve. Please pray for these 11 young people.

Last week was Jr. Camp, which marked the start of 4 intense weeks of camp. We wondered what God was doing the first day when so many of the kids didn't even show up to the bus stop. But with these extra spots open, we were able to invite another girl last minute to join us for the week. She ended up being in the cabin I was supervising for the week. At first I just had a really hard time connecting with her, but as the week progressed she started to open up more and more. On the last night, an invitation to accept God as their father and believe in Jesus as their Saviour. She came back and just started to cry with me and two of the LiTs for a few minutes. Eventually, I was able to get her to talk and she shared some things about her home life. We explained to her that God was the ultimate father and answered some other questions she had. At the end of the conversation, she asked God to become her father and to forgive her sins. Me and the two LiTs just sat there for a few minutes hugging her, completely amazed at what God had done. I'm not sure about the exact numbers but of the 26ish kids between the ages of 6-10 last week, about 10 of them accepted Jesus as their Saviour. Praise God!!!!

This week is Sr. Girls' Camp. It's the first time we have split up the girls and guys for camp and so far it is going really well. The theme is created with love and the girls really experience God last night in worship. It was truly awesome! Me and my friend Miriam had the chance to share our testimonies so far and they both have impacted the girls greatly. God has been so good to us this week. Especially in the face of such trial to start our week. We learned on Sunday morning just before the kids arrived that one of our CEF summer missionaries had a terrible accident the night before and had not survived her injuries. Needless to say, it shook our team pretty badly, but in the end everyone felt a greater purpose to stay and reach the kids with the Gospel.

I have to go but I will update again soon!

Thank you all!!!!

<3 Ash

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Safely in Haiti

Hi everyone!

First of all thanks for all your prayers so far. My first flights from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale were not very pleasant. :( I ended up being very sick and lost count of how many times I was sick. God provided for me though when I met up earlier than expected with the rest of the team in Charlotte during my layover.

My flight today to Haiti was much much much better! We are now safely here. The time difference from most of you is about 1 hour earlier because of Haiti not having day light savings. Even though the pictures show Haiti as it is, seeing it in person makes it so much more real. We have a busy schedule this week and will actually be going to some schools after all. Please pray for us, especially that we are able to communicate with our translators well. They will be translating into Creole for us (a mixture of French, Spanish, African and English). I am surprisingly understanding a lot of the French. French class was good for something :)

<3 Ash

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Obsessed with Jesus

Ever since I first found out I was going to Haiti, I have heard the same things over and over again. "Aren't you scared?" "That's so dangerous" or something along those lines inferring that I should reconsider.

But ever since I found out I was going I have had a sincere sense of peace about it. Who am I to say that where God is calling me is too dangerous? His children live there everyday. Who am I to question whether He will take care of me and use me for His glory? He promises to be with me wherever I go.

In the fall I was reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I was hit by what he said. "People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress."

Just a thought for your own life. How obsessed are you? Are you willing to endure hardship, trial, or possibly even death for your King?

♥ Ash

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And the adventure begins...

So the day has finally come! Tomorrow I will get up bright and early and head to Pearson Airport. My first flight will leave at noon with a layover in Charlotte, NC before reaching Fort Lauderdale, FL at approx. 6pm. I would really appreciate prayer during my flight because it's my first time flying and just prayer that the transfer would go smoothly and I would meet up safely with the rest of the team in Florida.

We will be staying in Florida until Saturday doing some final preparations and getting to know each other before flying to Haiti. In Haiti, we will be sharing the Gospel with many children. Unfortunately our previous plan to share in the schools has changed as the children have exams during the two weeks we are there. However, we now have the opportunity to share in orphanages and do 5 day clubs. Please pray for this change and the children that we will meet.

I am sorry that I don't have much more to share right now. We really do need your prayers though.

Please pray for:

-our team (Jerry, Brenda, Chioma and myself)

-the national CEF staff in Haiti

-the children that we will meet

-favour as we enter the orphanages and any other places we might teach

-safety as we travel

-the approx. $200 I have left to raise

I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have if any at all. If I can update you I will... but otherwise I'll be sure to post some of my pictures and journal entries as soon as I get back. :)

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

♥ Ash

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How it happened....

Over the past couple of years, God has provided me with many new and stretching experiences in ministry and life. Last summer I had the opportunity to intern in the urban ministry of CEFOntario, developing the ministry and experiencing leadership in ministry in a new way. I returned to Heritage in the fall for my 3rd year of my degree and had the opportunity to be the Resident Assistance (RA) of 10 girls, which has been a great blessing.

During this time, I began to feel God calling me to consider overseas ministry. I had never before felt called to do anything ministry wise overseas, whether it was short-term or long-term and so I spent a lot of time praying and seeking wisdom from mentors in my life. As time progressed I felt a deep peace that this was where God was potentially leading me and in light of this, I changed my program at Heritage slightly, adding another major in intercultural studies, and began to pray for God to open doors for direction. As the months past, more and more doors seemed to be shutting and I felt that God was just opening me up to the possibility of going in the future and that for the present I was going to be staying in Ontario and working this summer. About a week after I had come to this conclusion, I followed up with a contact that I had been put in touch with by a mentor and found out that in my surrendering of it over to God, He had been working in a way I never thought.

In June, I will be travelling with a team of four people from CEF Canada to Haiti. As you probably are aware, Haiti is a country that has been devastated over the past year. While the rebuilding process has begun, there is still little hope for people who have yet to begin that process. Roman Catholicism is widely practiced throughout the country, but voodoo is also wide spread and there are many who do not know the hope that comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

I will be flying from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, FL on June 1st and then 3 days laster flying on to Haiti. We will spend just over two weeks there sharing the gospel with children through a school ministry in the morning and 5-day clubs in the afternoon. The schools have been very open in Haiti to the CEF ministry and we will have the opportunity to teach Bible lessons to many children. In the afternoon, the children will be out of school and that's when we will be holding 5 day clubs in the neighbourhoods. Though I have experienced a lot of CEF ministry before, the context and culture are quite different in Haiti and it is sure to be stretching in many ways, but also exciting as God has been opening the doors for many ministry opportunities in the country.

Please pray for me and the team as well as the children from this still hurting and struggling country.

♥ Ash

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To Haiti in June!

Just a quick update to let you know that I will be travelling to Haiti for two weeks in June with CEF Canada. There we will be teaching clubs in the schools and also a 5 day club in the afternoon. Haiti is still a very broken country with many hurting kids.

Will you commit to praying for me and the team and the kids that we will present the gospel to this summer?

♥ Ash

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Lots of changes...

God has been presenting lots of new opportunities and challenges in front of me lately. Hopefully I'll be able to update you all very soon on what's happening :)

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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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