So the World Race is over and I am back in America!
But not for long…
Everyone has been asking me, what’s next?! Even before I left for the World Race last September people wanted to know what it was that I would be doing when I got back to America, and back then I didn’t have an answer. Honestly, until just a few months ago I had no idea what the Lord had for me after the World Race. I figured that God has provided for the past year of my life and He would continue to provide for the next and the next, and that’s just what He’s done.
In October 2015 I will be moving to Mijas, Spain for 6 months!!
Why? Because I want to follow Jesus for the rest of my life and this is where He is opening a door for me right now, and this, this is how it’s happened:
In April, which was the seventh month of my World Race, I asked the Lord what the next season, after the World Race was going to look like for me. I acknowledged that the World Race was more than halfway over and the end of one season meant the start of another. But what was it? What would my post-Race season look like? I had a few ideas of my own, some things I wanted to do but I also thought, who better to ask than the One who actually knows? And so I did. I asked Him and He was faithful. Not clear and direct at first, but faithful.
Discipleship. Leadership. Community. Growth. Maturity. Identity.
These were the words that He gave me when I asked. So I sat there with these words and nothing else. I didn’t know what to do with them or really what to make of them. Essentially, I had a name without a face and the faith to trust that He would bring to me the full picture, in time. Just a couple days later a guy named Freddy came to talk to us about The G42 Leadership Academy, and that’s when I knew why God gave me only those few words without a full picture.
“The G42 Leadership Academy is a six month program created for discipling, inspiring and equipping young men and women to locate their passion – whether in business, the non-profit realm, church planting or the arts – and to develop a strategy to use that passion to bring Kingdom to the earth.”
The G42 Leadership Academy focuses and desires for its students what the Lord highlighted to me just a few days prior. He made clear to me what I needed in my next step of my journey with Him, what He wants for me to grow in and receive in this time. After giving me the ‘name’ through those words, He showed me the face of what He has for me, what I get to do with Him, and that is The G42 Leadership Academy!!
G42 stands for the 42nd Generation of Christ and it is a 6-month program that is designed to develop leadership skills, build character, and continue to challenge and grow the work that began in me on the World Race. We will learn to look like and be like Jesus in the world and we will be inspired, supported and encouraged to take our passions, whatever they may be, and turn them to Kingdom work, to funnel those efforts and desires to bring God’s Kingdom to earth.
“Practical classroom teachings (business, art, leadership) are combined with weeks of biblical and spiritual lessons (the Church, Grace, Spiritual Realities) from leaders around the globe. However, learning in the classroom can only go so far, which is why we believe relationships are essential for true discipleship.”
In addition to classroom learning, relational discipleship is an important component of G42, so while living in Mijas, Spain, I will be living in community with other believers who are in this program, and who will also attend class with me Monday-Friday. Each week throughout the semester we will learn a different subject from professionals in their field. The classroom aspect of G42 focuses on information as well as impartation of the wisdom and knowledge of the teacher for each week.
Now that you know about the school itself and what it offers, let me tell you why I am going to The G42 Leadership Academy and how my heart is burning with passion for Christ.
This past year, I learned the value of dreaming with the Lord and not thinking that my dreams are too big. I’ve also learned the importance of allowing Him to take me on a journey that I couldn’t plan or imagine for myself (because He tends to do that) and often and always His plans are greater than mine. However, my heart has been broken for and drawn to vulnerable populations, women and children specifically, who have been trafficked or are enslaved in the sex trade. I know that my dream is to see freedom for those who are bound in trafficking, my dream is to see justice, and my dream is to see healing in the lives of these women and children. I am passionate about the hearts of these people, about loving them and knowing them. I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t know right now what that looks like for me long term but G42 is the first active step in making that a reality. I don’t want to dream and just sit around waiting for these dreams to come true; I am dreaming with God and taking steps towards that dream. I would love to spend these next six months at G42 casting vision and a path for what this could mean for me in the future.
I want to continue to receive what God has for me, I want to seek more of Him and His inheritance for me, I want to be discipled and disciple others, I want to live in a community that will push and encourage me to be the one that I was created to be, I want my passions to be sparked with a greater fire. I want to continue to be out of my comfort zone because that is when God moves, stretches me and teaches me the most.
The Lord has some big things prepared for me in this next season and I’m excited to follow Him. Will you help me? Will you partner with me and God to make these things a reality and bring God’s Kingdom to earth?!
For this journey to be possible, I’ll need some help and partners:
- The full 6 months will cost $6,300. That covers the cost of tuition, all coursework, room and board, and books for the full term. In order to attend and complete this school I will need help and support financially, if you are able to give. I would love for you to partner with me!
- I will need your prayers. Prayer is huge and I can never receive too much of it. I have learned and experienced the power of prayer this past year and having your prayers means so much to me!!
- Pray that I will be open to change and growth, that I will be stretched and made uncomfortable for God to move in me.
- Pray that funding will come in. Fundraising has been one of the most humbling and encouraging things that I have done and I have seen God show up in big ways. So pray with me that I will be fully funded.
- Pray that I will be willing to be bold and passionate for Christ and for the things that He has given me a heart for, for the people that I’ll be surrounded by, and for the country that I’ll be living in.
So, if you would like to partner with me and support me financially you can email me:
OR you can directly donate to my G42 donation page:
http://www.g42leadershipacademy.org/donate
(To submit a donation click on the above link, find the “Leadership Academy Intern” tab, type my name (Allison Ashforth) in the “Appealed By” section, and then click on the “Leadership Academy Intern” tab!)
**I need to have $3,000 raised by October 1, 2015**
I would love for you to check out the G42 site for yourself, if you’re interested, to learn even more about the program! http://www.g42leadershipacademy.org/start
I am beyond excited to get started in October and continue to grow into the woman God has created me to be. Thank you in advanced for your prayers, your love and your support!
All My Love,
Allison Ashforth
If you are interested in hearing more about my year on the World Race or more about my next season at The G42 Leadership Academy, I would love to meet with you! Just shoot me an email, I’ll be available most of September!
