“You already know the answer to that…’
Yeah, I sure do, and I’m beyond excited about it! : )
As I’m sitting here in Chile, coffee in hand, wishing you were sitting right across from me, I want to share something with you…
I love when God interrupts my life. If He hadn’t interrupted my life, I wouldn’t be in Chile, missing your face, able to share any of this with you, and I definitely wouldn’t be heading down this path.
Something I have loved learning throughout this journey, since last spring when I first said ‘yes’, is how beautiful it is to just be following Jesus along the journey. I love it. I don’t have to stress about anything. I don’t have to worry over every little detail. I don’t have to have all of the answers. I just have to keep moving one foot after the other, listening to His voice. I have come to love the freedom that comes with just following Jesus, the peace that comes even though I don’t have all of the answers, the joy that comes during the hard times…
Patrick spoke this over me back during our Panama LDW: The end of the World Race doesn’t mark the end of your journey. The World Race marks the beginning, the training wheels of your journey, of all of the amazing missionary things you will do in your life.
He was right.
I thought I knew that.
God definitely knew that.
Patrick somehow knew that.
When he spoke that over me, he didn’t know that I had been longing to hear those words spoken over me, reaffirming what I already knew in my heart. When he spoke that over me, he didn’t know that I was under attack spiritually and in desperate need of the slightest shred of truth to keep me moving, one step after the other. He had no idea how much those words would be used to penetrate my heart and fight back the darkness clouding around. Throughout the year, one thing I have loved is seeing how our community openly fights for each other—whether we pray over each other or share a word that God has given us for each other, or write a note of encouragement…whatever it may be. We fight for each other.
Patrick was right:
The World Race doesn’t mark the end of a journey, but rather the end of the beginning of a journey.
So, what happens after the beginning?
Well, I’m going to keep walking with Jesus, of course. : ) My feet will be touching that good ole’ NC soil in November, and I’ll get to spend about 2 months with my gems there. I’ll get all of the hugs I’ve been wishing for the past 11 months. I’ll get to take as much time as I can get with each of you. I’ll get to hear stories of what God has been doing in your lives. I’ll get to share stories of what He has been doing in mine. I’ll get to soak up all of the BGBC praise team goodness that I can. I’ll get to cry a few bittersweet tears. Who am I kidding? A few? I’ll be cryin’ a river of bittersweet tears.
Because in January, I’ll be taking another step in this journey. I’ll be saying another “See ya later”.
But, I am so excited about this next step! I’ll be moving to Georgia for the year, going through another program AIM offers! We can just name this step CGA. CGA stands for: Center for Global Action.
What exactly is CGA about? Well, let’s check it out together (I snagged this little beauty from the welcome packet they emailed me)…
“This season is set apart to help you assimilate the things you learned on the Race into life back home while guiding you toward your calling. It will require intentionality, hard work, risk, and the willingness to fail. If you’re like the rest of us, you’ve already started down this path and realized it’s worth it.”
So, CGA is a post-race program—a year of community, discipleship, and apprenticeship. This will be another year spent in 24/7 community. This will be a year of intentional discipleship. This will be a year of gaining skills in the area God is calling me, and getting to put them into practice with AIM.
What will the year actually look like? Well, CGA has 3 semesters. During these 3 semesters, I will get to focus on three different tracks: worship, leadership, and discipleship in long-term missions. Why these tracks? Worship, because it is a time set in intentionally seeking the heart of the Lord and leading others in worship. Leadership, because it is a time to gain experience in an area the Lord is asking me to grow in. Discipleship in long-term missions, because it is a time to be taught and poured into in the passion God put in my heart when I was seven years old. I will also have the opportunity to do an internship with AIM, throughout the year, to put into practice the things I am learning.
In saying “yes” to CGA, I am also stepping into an in-between journey. Fundraising! 🙂 No, I didn’t sarcastically try to sound excited about that. I am actually VERY excited to start fundraising again. Fundraising for the World Race last year was one of my favorite experiences in life so far. God used that time to grow my relationship with Him on so many levels. I got to watch in awe as He swept me of my feet, reassuring me every step of the way. I went into fundraising thinking that I could just do what I did last time—without much thought and prayer, I sent letters to the same people I did last time expecting the money to come rolling right in. Nothing. It scared me at first. During this time, I had also just finished telling my church family about what God was calling me to. I remember standing in complete shock as I watched my church rally around me and join me in this journey—praying for me, planning benefit dinners to raise support, being excited about this with me and wanting updates faster than I could get them myself 🙂 , praying over me before I even left for training camp, sending me encouraging messages, supporting me in crazy-awesome financial ways, buying my “house” (tent) for me, coming to my house the last morning to send me off, walking alongside me every step of the way…
The way God brought us all together was beautiful, and I can’t wait to watch Him do it again. I’m excited to see who else He wants me to journey with this times, and I’m excited to see the relationships He has in store to begin, and to strengthen, in this time.
So, with all of this being said, I have about $11,00 to raise for this next step. My prayer, and goal, is to have all of that raised by January 29th. You might be thinking that is a massive goal. Well, God provided $14,250 (98% of which was given between September and December of last year), an amazing support system to walk the journey with me, and relationships that will last a lifetime, all within a matter of a few months. He delights in our delight in Him. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see what He has planned for this. 🙂
AND, I WANT YOU, YES YOU, TO COME ALONG WITH ME! WHAT DO YA THINK? LET’S DO THIS THING. 🙂
With love,
Ash
