Hello friends, family and supporters!
I know it’s been a while since I last updated and I must apologize for that. The last two months have been extremely busy and immensely fruitful. I’ve also been trying to remain fully present with my squad and this journey as I face the reality of being home and away from this family in less than two months. But more on that in the next update!!
Let’s talk about Georgia (the country!):
This was my last month with team Spring and boy was it beautiful!! Our time in Georgia began with the beauty of reaching my last fundraising goal and realizing I was going to be able to stay out on the field with my squad!! I feel so loved and supported by everyone’s financial sacrifice and constant prayers because you moved mountains for me!! Our last full week together was spent trekking through the Georgian mountains from the town of Mestia all the way to Ushguli. This was an almost 40-mile, 4 day, a mountain-a-day hike that we were endeavoring to accomplish with tents, food and sleeping bags on our backs. I will never forget the beauty of relying on the Lord’s strength to accomplish such a daunting task. My asthma flared up, my feet hurt, my shoulders were sore, and it was a beautiful experience. I’ve climbed from the valleys to the tops of mountains. I’ve learned to stop at springs to hydrate, I’ve eaten my lunch next to cows that are grazing, I’ve led a stray, starving dog into town in hopes that it can find life. It was hard but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Our next thing in Georgia was our 2nd to last debrief. This was a wonderful time talking with the whole squad, our mentor, and coaches about what the last 3 months had held for our team and ourselves personally. I learned more about the Lord and started looking at my life with Him in a different way. It was also during this time that I got to celebrate turning 26! My squad loved me so well and they threw me a surprise party a couple days before. I truly was not expecting it and their intentionality and love had me in tears. I am beyond blessed by this family God has given me. My actual birthday was a very full day but mixed with tons of love and the gift of having lunch with my mom!!! Which leads me into the next thing…
PVT!! Parent Vision Trip. My mom was able to fly across the world to spend a week with my squad and their parents, seeing what we do every day on the race. It was an incredible experience to teach and share with our parents how we live a Holy Spirit led life where, every day we are doing ministry in our normal lives. We got to share stories, see healing happen, and see our parents go deeper with the Lord and in relationship with us!
Now Armenia!!
I made my way into this new country with my new team, Ohana!! One of the things we did to kickoff our last 3 months is that we fasted for 3 days and read aloud the New Testament. This was such a cool experience because God showed us so many connections through the gospels and epistles that I hadn’t noticed before. It reminded us of the truth, hope and power there is in knowing Jesus Christ. We had an “Ask The Lord” month there which meant building relationships with the people we encountered on a daily basis! One night while exploring town the Lord highlighted a homeless woman to me and I got to show her unconditional, unexpecting love. Languages may not be universal, but love is!
Lebanon!
We have arrived in our second to last country =’(
I will not be able to post very much about this month since we are working with refugees. Let me tell you though, it’s only been a week and meeting with families, working with kids and going to all kinds of church services here is incredible. My group personally met with 2 families this week that had never heard of Jesus before. Laying that foundation of hope is such an honor and an incredible experience. Please be praying for our time here because there is so much to be done with the Lord. Since it is refugees though, it is also very heavy on my heart so please pray for my reliance on the Lord emotionally!!
I love you all and I can’t wait to share about more of the little stories that make up this life called the World Race!
See you soon, Ash
