my last day in Haiti, a tropical country filled with a striking contrast of richness in beauty and poverty in nearly everything else.. 7/30/10

(so I finally got around to typing up these last 2 posts about my time in Haiti... lets just say I was building up your suspense for the best part haha. Enjoy!!)


Today was our last day in Haiti. This morning we did a clinic at a church in a village where we had to park the bus and walk through a banana tree forest! The clinic only lasted until 12 because the bus had to be back early to pick up another group at the airport. The crowd got pretty rowdy at this one. When we started packing up, people came up to the tables and kept asking for things. It's hard to have to turn people away! We gave out a LOT of baby food and toothbrushes this morning.

We came back to the compound and just lounged around til about 4. Then we went to the beach!!! My first Caribbean experience... I loved it. And I swam! Haha that was my first time ever swimming in the ocean. The water was clear, and blue, and absolutely gorgeous. And a beautiful mountain landscape was nestled behind us. Captivating, my God, You are captivating. Sam and I swam in this beautiful ocean for about half an hour, and we even jumped from the rocks! He (and everyone else for that matter) was absolutely shocked that I had never swam in the ocean before... especially after just returning from spending a year in Costa Rica. We then walked along the rocky beach and found some perfectly molded conch shells (which I hid in my laundry to bring home haha). Next was dinner in the restaurant there at Wahoo Bay Resort. I ordered Conch Creole, and it was actually quite delicious!! It was spicy and came with rice and beans, fries, and slaw. Yuuuummmmm. I was also forced to try the slaw in the middle of the table. It was like pure jalapeno juice. My mouth and throat burned for like 10 minutes haha.

When we got back to the compound (only 10 minutes down the road), it came a huge storm. It stormed for probably 2 hours and some of our stuff upstairs got wet from where the wind blew in the rain. Sam and I played with the kids one last time and took a bunch of pictures (which no one will ever see because Sam lost his camera on the plane on the way back home..) . I'm really gonna miss those kids!! They're wild, but beautiful. The ones I'll remember the most are Bebe, Benson, Ismael and some of the girls whose names I never could understand.

A most pleasant and fulfilling final day in the beautiful country of Haiti.


Benson


















Ismael (red), Bebe
(orange)

day 6 in another country that has stolen my heart--

Today we went in to another village close by. The pharmacy was out under a huge tree. it was quite cool for us today! We had over 400 come through and ended up having to close the gate to keep people out because we were running out of medicine and time. It was really sad to hear people banging on the gate wanting to come in, be seen, and get medicine. They hadn't had a medical group there in 8 years.
Something kinda awesome happened today as we were cleaning up!! A man came up to Sam and started talking to him in Spanish. After using the majority of Sam's Spanish knowledge in their salutation, the man starting rambling on about his son's cabeza (head).. at that Sam was like, uhh, hold on, and came and got me. So I finally got the opportunity to use my Spanish to help someone in HAITI!!!! I was stoked. haha. I got to translate between this man (who I am guessing is Dominican..) and Dr. Tracy. I felt very accomplished.


This evening we played with the kids (surprising, huh? haha) Then it started storming around us. There was a beautiful lightening show in the sky, and I sat at the side with no roof and watched it for a while. Then it got really windy, and we thought the storm was going to come right over us. So, we moved things away from the edges so they wouldn't get wet. It ended up never actually getting to us, but the generator cut off at like 9:30. Before we went to bed, Sam and I made some sweeeeeeet necklaces for some of the kids with bandanas and bottle caps. We got skilllll.
Another wonderful day!! :D

rockin it in haiti-- day 5-- 7/28/10

My verse to keep me sane for today is
Psalm 145:9-- The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.

I have it written on my wrist to remind me all day.
Today we did a clinic in a very poor village just down the road from where we're staying. The homes are made from like this homemade concrete/rock material and the roofs were like palm branches. They placed a tarp in an opening between a few of the houses and we held the clinic under it. We saw over 400 people in this tiny little area today. I saw a few little kids runnin around naked lol. Sadly we have already run out of vitamins; we are going through this medicine!! We came home absolutely worn out. We ate dinner and played with the kids some more... another great day with God and Haiti!! amen.

haiti... day 4-- 7/27/10

Today was our second day in clinic. I got to work in pharmacy since we ran out of glasses. I really enjoy working in pharmacy!! Its just so organized, and I've found that I enjoy doing things where there is more or less a pattern and monotony.. and no real brain work involved haha... at least for a few days. Though I did miss getting to greet the people who came by (bonjou, bonswa, mesi, padekwa...). I didn't use the bathroom all day. I just couldn't bring myself to do it this time haha. After dinner back at the compound, Sam and I played with the kids till pretty late. They're starting to ware me out!!
This morning Charlie (our head translating/helper guy) got a call about a wreck just down the street. We stopped there on our way to the clinic to see if there was anything we could do to help. A truck had taken out 7 pedestrians before pinning a little girl between the truck and a tree. She was decapitated.... Very sad.... and not a good way to start the day. But God is in control and continues to show Himself every day.

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

day 3 in haiti! 7/26/10

I am so blessed to be here. Today was our first day in the clinic. We were at a church that was 2 hours (or more) away. There were 3 rooms on the side (Sunday school rooms) that we used and the open sanctuary was used as a waiting room. This church was actually being rebuilt because it had been completely destroyed by the earthquake. My job for today was handing out glasses. All of the lower strength glasses were gone before we were even done for the day. I think half the people wanted glasses because they thought they looked cool... It was a looooooong day. We didn't leave until about 4. I'm pooped, but it was well worth it! When the glasses ran out, I went outside and smiled and waved and talked (or at least tried to) with the kids. All of the kids are absolutely precious!! Here at the compound (which houses an orphanage) I have fallen in love with these kids. Sam and I play with them all evening. Bebe follows us (mainly Sam haha) around. I think I'm gonna be takin me home some Haitian babies. They've stolen my heart! Oh!! Yesterday, I played soccer with Sam and the kids. Though I utterly sucked (and the kids on my team probably wished I wasn't playing), it was really fun!! I pray that God will use me to show some motherly tenderness and love to these orphans.
What a day!! Thank you God for bringing me here.


Psalm 145:14
The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

When we BOW before the Lord, He will lift us up!!! amen.

Bebe :)

day 2 in haiti! 7/25/10

Psalm 145:10-12
¹⁰ All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
your saints will extol you.

¹¹ They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,

¹² so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

I could live here forever. In this exact spot on top of this building. Your beauty, O God, is astounding. I'm captivated. I've been meditating on Psalm 145 for the past few days and every time I read it, God reveals something new to me. Today, Sunday, we went to church. It was HOT haha. It actually reminded me a lot of Costa Rica. A lot here reminds me of Costa Rica, and makes me miss it even more. I keep wanting to speak spanish to the Haitian people. I want to be able to communicate with them so badly!! I didn't understand any of the songs or really anything that anyone said haha (though I did pick out 'Daveet'--David-- and 'Goleeat'--Goliath-- in the sermon!!) but it was beautiful. I saw clearly God's love and His Holy Spirit poured out in that church. Throughout this day I have been continuously singing 'God of this City' by Chris Tomlin. It is my theme song for this trip and these people...

You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people, You're the Lord of this nation, You are.......... For greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city!!!!!! Can I get an AMEN???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC44K0xQLE

day 1 in Haiti--- 7/23/10

During my week in Haiti I journaled everyday so I could share my experience with everyone!

ENJOY!!!
there are some pics mixed in to help describe what i'm writing.. i have many more on my facebook, so check those out too!!

⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."^e]">[e] ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."^f]">[f]

¹⁴How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"^g]">[g]

^{Romans 10:9-15}

^{Today, and for the next week, I am in Haiti. God totally worked it out for me to come. He first gave me the desire to come and then He provided EVERYTHING for me to get here. The airport in Port au Prince is like a warehouse. Definitely different from what we see in the states. After we got our bags (minus 2 that never came..) we went outside and were bombarded with Haitians wanting to help us load and move baggage (so we would pay them of course...) To be honest.. I was kinda scared at this point. These guys were a lot stronger than me. One guy forcefully took the already hard to manage cart that I was trying to maneuver to our spot. I kept my hand on the cart and very ungracefully ran along beside him. We all ended up over at the side and waited for nearly and hour for a bus to come pick us up (they had forgotten we were coming haha).}

^{After this eventful, tiring experience I was praying that the rest of this trip wouldnt be like that. I was exhausted and had felt extremely in danger. During the hour and a half bus ride (on roads only sometimes paved..) to the compound God showed me through His beauty that He has everything under control. The beaches and mountains we passed were beautiful. I wish you could see the view that I currently have.. On top of the building at the compound where we are staying, I am enjoying the beach in front of me and the mountains blanketed out to my right. Aaaaah its gorgeous!! God, thank you for this beautiful scene!!!!!}

Psalm 145:18-20

¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰ The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

amen.

blessed in ways other than my own.. (HAITI!)

so while I was in costa rica a few months ago, one of the students in our group felt lead to put together a mission trip to Haiti. Now, I have NEVER felt called to go on a hard core mission trip that involves me sleeping on the ground and not showering for a week.. thats just not really me lol. I love helping people and going on mission trips, but only to a certain extent.. but God placed in my heart the desire to go on this mission trip to Haiti.. (I knew it was God, because I would have ever come up with the idea on my own to go and do this haha) anyways, so this trip never worked.. there were financial issues and a few other hindrances..

so throughout all of that I continued to pray about it, and I wondered why God would have placed that on my heart and then not worked it out for me to go. While sitting in church a couple Sundays after returning home from CR, I discovered that a couple from my church would be going on a medical mission trip to Haiti with some other doctors and nurses. With Haiti still on my heart, I volunteered to help them in any way I could. I ended up going every wednesday for about 3 weeks to help pack the medical supplies. Last week, I said to the guy in charge (not expecting anything to come out of this..) that I wished I could go with them.. He told me, "Ashley, if you get the money for the plane ticket, you can come with us. We have enough room."
The money, however, was my problem in the first place. So I told him I would pray about it and see if I could get any money donated. So I began to pray....

The next day this guy informed me that the church this trip is going through had talked and voted and had to decided to provide me with part of the money for the trip!! So I continued praying and I spoke with some family members and people from my church and 2 days later... I HAVE ALL THE MONEY I NEED TO GO!!!

God has completely worked it all out. He answered my prayers about Haiti. He really was the One who put the desire in my heart.. I guess I just had to have a little faith in Him to work it all out. It all happened not at all the way I had anticipated. God is teaching me that He WILL place desires in my heart.. but then I have to look to Him to fulfill them and to provide and guide me.

GOD IS GOOD... all the time... AND ALL THE TIME.. God is good.

amen.

jumping out of the box

When I ventured off to Costa Rica, I left behind a job. I trained a friend (also my brother's girlfriend lol) to replace me. So coming back home.. that meant I had no job. Q triste (how sad..)
I had been praying, for about 2 months before I returned, that God would provide for me a job when i got back to motown. I needed a job in order to start saving up for college.. and to have gas and other spending money. I prayed that God would provide me a job where I could either do some sort of ministry or be able to practice spanish.. and whatever the job may happen to be, that I would still have time to do ministry things within the community.

When I returned home (about a month ago), I quickly found that there were ZERO jobs to be had in our good ole town. So I kept prayin.. Last week I started getting myself more involved in my church. And I've jumped out of the box. I'm not doing things with the youth. Instead, I have started going to a pastor lead Bible study, an intercessory prayer group, and a women's Bible study.. all lead at the church I attend. I have also been blessed with the opportunity to start a young women's Bible study with my bff, Jennie :) and that awesome chick, Heather :)

Last week I realized that God had given me a job for this summer. That job was to take all of this free time that He had given me..... to LOVE and SERVE HIM!!! and you know what??? He's even been paying me for it!! He has blessed me with money randomly given to me by family members, brothers and sisters in Christ, and even churches! It is CRAZY how God works. And it just goes to show that He is completely unpredictable!! and He doesn't always answer our prayers in the ways we are anticipating. But His ways are so much better (and way more thought out) than ours!!

All of this was really just to say that God has really been blessing me lately. I don't deserve it at all... and its awesome. I have been so blessed by the women of my church. There are a handful of wonderfully amazing ladies who are older and so so much more wise and spiritually mature than I. I am so excited about all the things I am going to learn from them, and all the encouragement that they've already given me!!! Oh! and I joined a Sunday School class that includes these beautiful women. My heart has been so blessed... I've gone to this church for my entire life.. but over the past year my heart has really grown away from the congregation... Now when I go off to school, I am really going to miss this church. I'm gonna miss these ladies who have blessed me. It is SOOO good to be around those who are older than us! They have so much to teach! They have had much more experience, they've studied the Word longer..

So... I encourage you to get yourself involved with some of the 'older' crowd in your church. 1. They love it when young people show interest in learning from them. 2. You're going to grow and be encouraged and gain so much knowledge and wisdom from them!

So thats all for today.. be blessed!!
Ash.

p.s. I'm not saying you should quit your job in order to serve God.. haha this is just a way He has blessed me.. and i do plan on getting a job at college..

amen and the end.

Romance me.

As I write this, I am listening to the beautiful music of Michael Buble.. If ever you are in a romantic mood, or want to create a romantic mood, Mr. Buble knows how to get it done!

Over the years I've experienced that bubbly feeling that goes with a new crush, a new love interest. I've had the satisfaction of being pursued. I've been heartbroken. I've laughed. I've cried. Laughed some more. Thought a lot. Cried some more. Thought a lot more. I've prayed. I've read. I've prayed.
I've always had a 'picture' of my perfect guy (as most girls do..) Over the years, and a lot over the past year, I've thought a lot about the kind of guy I want to be with, who I want to marry, spend the rest of my life with, the qualities I want, the qualities I NEED.

We all (or at least the majority of us) like being liked. We love being loved. We want that special someone who thinks the world of us, that someone who gives us goosebumps and butterflies. Someone who will care for us, love us unconditionally. Someone we can be real with, have fun with, cry with. More than a 'significant other', someone who is also a companion, a best friend. The one we can connect with, the one who knows everything about us.

Women. We like being pursued. We like being told we're beautiful. Women, you know what I mean... whether you show it or not, when someone earnestly tells you that you look beautiful today, how does it make you feel? (especially on one of those woke up late, didn't shower, no makeup, haven't done laundry in a week so i'm gonna have to wear sweats days.) This is how we are, how we were made to be.

I'm excited to announce with the blogging world that... I have found my True Love. my Prince. He's perfect. He's compassionate. He's wild. He's gorgeous. He loves me for me. He loves me when I'm in a bad mood. He loves me when I'm angry. He holds me when I'm sad. He helps me when I'm sick. He tells me I'm beautiful when I look my worst. He's an artist. He's honest. He's encouraging. He makes me confident. He loves children. He always has time for me. He lets me talk to Him all the time. He's completely giving and unselfish. He's not controlling. We even dance together! He's absolutely perfect....

He's planning our wedding.

He's preparing a home for us.



He's God.



That's right.... I'm in love.

I'm being romanced. My Bridegroom is romancing me. Our kisses: sunsets, beautiful landscapes. Our romantic music: the ocean breeze, the birds chirping.

And I'm not scared. I don't fear rejection. I know that this One is gonna love me forever. I know He isn't going to leave me for something more exciting. He LOVES me!! He is deeply passionate for me. It's the real deal. I'm captivated in love.

"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete."
John 3:29

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness."
Jeremiah 31:3

"How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves."
"You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes..."
Song of Songs 1:15, 4:9

"He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her."
"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master'."
"I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion."
Hosea 2:14,16,19

¹"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' ⁷"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' ⁹" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' ¹⁰"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Matthew 25:1-10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1WhcLDEEDQ

Let God romance you. <3

The start of something new--- not just the name of a HSM song

hello world, ashley here--
Well, Jen talked (more like pressured.... haha) me into it. I've started a blog. I can't wait to share with you what God is doing in my life and some encouragement and truth about what He wants to do in yours.


Thought for today--

Did you know that God actually LIKES blessing us? Yeah! He loves you, you're His child.. He actually WANTS to bless you with good things. All you need to do, is claim those blessings!! Ask Him to bless you. Love Him with your life and start being blessed!!

Psalm 115:12-15 (NIV)

¹² The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,

¹³ he will bless those who fear the LORD—
small and great alike.

¹⁴ May the LORD make you increase,
both you and your children.

¹⁵ May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

With love from Above-- ash.