So, China, whatchya think?

I'm back.

Over a month ago, I couldn't have dreamt up half of what took place the month I spent in China. It was fun, and scary, and incredible, and difficult, and energizing yet exhausting. Altogether, it's truthfully indescribable, though I keep trying to find better words to use.

 

I'll pictures do most of the speaking. All I can really say is that I am so, SO thankful!

 

This is a picture from Hong Kong.

We spent just two days in Hong Kong, before going to mainland China.

The city lights on the water looked even better in person.

The church Lottie Moon originally served in, from so long ago, is still standing.
(Penglai, China)



The lights where unbelievable. Every city we went to was like it's own light show.


We met so many people in China! They were all so welcoming and friendly.



And made so many new friends!

That's a jump photo, btw. The bottom got cut out. =P

My sisters are so beautiful, I was so blessed to be with them both for this trip.

This is my granddad teaching, and a beautiful young lady, Willow, translating.

We experienced a part of Chinese culture everywhere we went.

Left to Right: Grandad, Me, (the back of) my older sister

We got to practice Chinese water color. We had never used paper of brushes like that.

We drank a lot of tea (so happy!!) and even found out people went to school to learn to prepare tea 'professionally'!

 

 

This friend took us to a tea shop to taste tea professionally made. One black tea we tasted was from 1926!

 

We saw lots of dragons... =)

 

Huge cities, with buildings, buildings, buildings, and people, people, people everywhere!

That's me!

We even got to learn to make real Chinese food, not 'American Chinese food'. They taste nothing alike!

 

Obviously, over 33 days, there were hundreds of pictures to choose from. It was very difficult to just choose a few, and I'm sure there were much better pictures I could have put in place of some of these. But I hope you enjoyed the little glimpse. I may share some actual stories of things we did in China at a later date. But for now, I'm just trying to catch up with life at home, and find a way to remember everything we did myself. =)

 

Many people have asked, "so what did you think?" about China. I kind of wonder, what did China think about us...

10 Days . . .

I have ten days left . . .
and then,

CNA & Caregiver classes are over.

I have ten days left . . .
and then,

I'm on an airplane headed half way across the world.
To China.
For 33 days.                                (Some days, the thought can't even fit
                                                    into my mind, it's that big.)

I've already passed my State Board exam to become a certified nursing assistant. (woot!) Soon I'll take my State Board test to become a licensed caregiver. (hollah!)

I can honestly say, if I never use either of those certifications, this last year has been amazing. There were plenty of days I would NOT call my CNA classes amazing. Most days, actually. But I've grown more than I thought I could in one year.

I've met some wonderful people through this. From the elderly widower with incredible stories of his faith and his love and his life, to some beautiful classmates who have never failed to share their smiles.

I've also gone through stress, and relationship... strains. Some days I cried out in the pain, 'God, I can't take this if You don't take it with me!' I have even been mocked and out-right insulted for my faith and my life-style, but by God's grace I was able to look back into the eyes of those mocked me with love and forgiveness. And in the end, I was able to share my faith with those who scorned it. And I wouldn't take back the scorn for the opportunities, and I so thankful.

I hope when people saw me, they didn't see a brown eyed girl, with purple streaks in her hair, that was basically like anyone else. I hope they saw a girl that was in love with God, and wanted nothing more than to have joy in Jesus alone, her Savior.

I hope I showed them love.

Honestly, if I had the chance, I would talk with each one of my classmates individually, and tell them how much God loves them. Because He does. He loves you so much, that He longs after your heart. Longing that you would spend time in His love, getting to know Who He Is.

Seek Him.

Only in Him, is true, unending, unconditional love. His love is not based on what you do or if you love Him or even care about His love. He loves you because He is love. Because He created you, and He wants you to find purpose and joy and LIFE in Him.

If only you could see how much I want you know this. How my heart aches for His love. I long for His love to grow greater in me, and be increased in others! I wish I could tell you HOW WONDERFUL it is. There is nothing good in my life, that didn't come from my God! My life is an adventure with my Savior. He gave me joy, where there was once only bitterness. And the unknown in my future doesn't have me worrying, because I know, He knows how my future will play out. To Him it is no different than my past, and my present: in His hands.

You. Are. Loved. He loves you. 

You.

Are.

Loved.

Let this truth shatter every other lie that is fighting for a place in your head and life at this moment. I could write on forever, about how I'm so not perfect and life is hard.
But when my words cease, may you walk away with the thought that I am like you and we are loved beyond the pain.
It's that simple.
Beyond all else,  you are loved. He loves you.

A Poem

The night I first saw you
You were
Scared
       Hurt
              Angry
                     Lost
You wouldn’t look into my eyes
Your gaze was fixed
Downcast
You wouldn’t trust me
Wouldn’t dare
To think that I might last
Any longer in your life
Than those who scarred your past
I loved you, held you,
Gave you a piece of my heart
Gave it up forever,
Though I knew we might part
But you didn’t want
My love
Afraid it was an act
You refused it
Pushed me back
The words I spoke to you for healing
You fought like an attack
You were angry
I don’t blame you
I was angry for you too
Your hurt was deep
Your pain was vast
I didn’t know what I could do
But the God Who made
And loved
You
Is the God
Who’d see us through
With time
You came to trust me
Your numb, closed heart
Began to feel
And it was beautiful
When you smiled
God would whisper, “Spirit, heal”
But then, too soon
Came the fateful day
When we had to say
Goodbye
Yet that could not take my love away
I’ll know your name
I’ll see your face
I’ll love you still
Until I die

"Veil of Tears" Film Release

Gospel For Asia is opening a film this week in theaters across the U.S., Veil of Tears. Please check for information regarding theater locations, remaining simulcast options, or more information about "Veil of Tears."

Yes, this film does talk about a wieghty subject. It is uncomfortable to hear of a real life tradgedy being lived out along side you in this world. It is easier to ignore, or forget. And though this film is about Asia's most mistreated, it's still described by the Dove Foundation as a film "that will cement your belief in the possibility of hope."

This film will be showing for only one week, starting tomorrow. I hope you are all able to go see it. But if you are not, please pray that God would use this film to bless and move those who do go see it to serve as the Body of Christ should.

What Others Are Saying About "Veil of Tears"

"When I saw it, I knew I would never—could never—be the same. 'Veil of Tears' has taught me how to pray, to give, and to make a difference for Christ." - Joni Eareckson Tada "'Veil of Tears' was so moving and informative. I want everyone to watch it and join us in making a difference in the lives of these women." - Francis Chan

"A well-produced, powerful and shocking exposé. 'Veil of Tears' will have you in tears." - Ray Comfort, Living Waters "A powerful, riveting film . . . that grabs at the heart and won't let go!" - American Family Association

"'Veil of Tears' asks the question, 'Do we care?' Now it's up to us to answer." - John Schlitt, PETRA (Lead Vocalist) "This factual account of the oppression of millions of women in Asia must be told. Though the story begins with tears, the Good News is that help is on the way through the ministry of compassion seen here." - Robert Coleman

Read This...

http://daddystractor.com/2014/02/24/the-heartbreak-of-foster-care/

So true.

Genius - The Movie

I don't know if you have heard of The Way of the Master, but it is a great outreach ministry that is worth taking the time to visit. If you've ever seen any of their videos you have than you know how they can make you stop and really think about some things. Their movies can start up quite a bit of deep discussion too, if you watch them with a group.

If you haven't seen their new movie, Genius. Here it is:


These will be a well spent 30 minutes!

Let me know what you think; about the video, the ministry, anything, and it might just start up another conversation!

Blessings,
Ashlin

World Leprosy Day

This day is a great reminder for us to reach out and give to, or get on our knees and pray for "the least of these". (Matthew 25)

Leprosy is a chronic bacterial disease that is not highly contagious, contrary to popular belief, and is treatable with the right resources. Unfortunately, many people in developing countries do not have access to treatment and are shunned by society.

World Leprosy Day is held to increase awareness and to reach those affected by leprosy. For this day, Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries will be ministering at many leprosy colonies, spreading the love of Christ through practical gifts to bless the leprosy patients and their families.

Please pray for the various ministries that will take place on this day—that the Lord's love for the leprosy patients would be evident through the believers' actions. See ways you can pray.

(information from gfa.org)

God bless you this Sunday,

Ashlin

Olympic Resolve in Prayer Life

We see the passion and determination in the faces of athletes taking part in the Olympics; they give their all to do their very best.

Together as the Body of Christ, we can stand in the gap and pray for the nations with the same fervency and purpose as athletes who compete for a heavenly prize.

The first Friday of every month from 7:30 to 9:30pm, CST you can pray with the GFA family via live streaming services. @: gfa.org/prayer This Friday night, let's believe the Lord will do miracles in the lives of those who have no hope throughout Asia.

Intercede for one another, cry out for the lost, ask God to meet the needs of the helpless and weak. Just like the speaker says in the video above, sometimes it is uncomfortable to know what is going on, we don't always like to hear about those in dire circumstances with great need of our prayer, but what a privilege it is to take on the burdens of others and bring them before the throne of God. "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" -Gal:6:2

"Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God's delight in being God. "

"To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him."

"Go, send, or disobey"
-John Piper

Let's Be Mobilizers!

2 Corinthians 10:16a- "preach the gospel in the regions beyond you"

Isaiah 12:4 — “Make known among the nations what He has done”

We were given the command "Go"! I am not saying you must go unto the uttermost parts of the earth necessarily in body, but will you go to the ends of the world in your gifts, prayer and influence? As J. Hudson Taylor said, "You must go forward on your knees."

"Someone must sound the rallying call. Those who desire to see others trained, prepared and released to ministry are known as mobilizers. Mobilizers stir other Christians to active concern for reaching the world. They coordinate efforts between senders, the local churches, sending agencies, and missionaries on the field. Mobilizers are essential. To understand the role of mobilizers, think of World War II as a parallel. Only 10% of the American population went to the war. Of those, only 1% were actually on the firing lines. However, for them to be successful in their mission, the entire country had to be mobilized!" -Phil Parshall


Here are some ways to be a Mobilizers:

1. Pray!
I believe there is no better way to fight for His Kingdom than through prayer. You can sign up to receive prayer requests via e-mail from Gospel for Asia, International Mission Board, HeartCry, Compassion

2. Donate
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”- Jim Elliot
Gospel For Asia Help them by equipping missionaries, sponsoring widows and children and those most in need, fund a well, church building, flood relief and more.
Compassion Compassion is known most for sponsoring children, but through them you may also give disaster relief, education needs, and health and medical needs.
International Mission Board Giving to IMB you can help in the funding of missionaries, human needs, and Lottie Moon Challenge projects.
HeartCry Through HeartCry your gift can be used for building churches, missionary and staff support, church construction, bibles and evangelistic tools.
CP Sapling Help children in China with disabilities and their families.

3. Go!
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer
Pray and see if God is calling you to go and be a missionary. Maybe start out with a short-term mission trip or volunteer work with S.O.S. Ministries or Child Evangelism Fellowship

Please share any other ways you know to be mobilizers.

Acts 13:47, "For so the Lord has commanded us:
      ‘ I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'"

Ways To Give

Looking for ways to give to great causes without spending a penny of your own?

I recently joined GoodSearch.com – and now every time I shop online and search the internet, a donation is made to my Gospel for Asia. It’s easy, doesn’t cost me a thing, and has turned my every day actions of searching and shopping into ways to help further the gospel and save souls!

Oh…and even better…GoodSearch.com provides over 100,000 of the most up-to-date coupons so not only can you do good, but you can save money too!

Please help me support Gospel for Asia or choose your own favorite cause and start making a difference today! Click for instructions.

Ever shop at Tom Thumb, Randalls, Kroger, or Albertsons? To find out how they will donate to GFA because of you, or other cost-free ways to give check out www.gfa.org/costfree/

Another way to give, maybe the most important way of all, would be by signing a petition.



callformercy.com

People, Problems, Prayer

I was gone for a while. Let me say, there are a lot of pros to not having the internet! I’ve had a lot of time to think and pray. And I’m not to sure if this blog post I’m writing will in anyway further your walk with Christ, though I hope it will. I think this is more of a vent for me at the moment. To tell the truth, the main reason for this blog was simply to write out things I hope to learn and am going through.

Now, enough sprawling thoughts, onto the post: People, Problems, Prayer.

The reason I haven’t had internet access is because I’ve been traveling. Albeit, I see strangers every day, seeing the many different people from all different places made me hurt. I hurt because I thought of the many souls who were lost and didn’t know what (or for Whom) they were searching, and the many more people who thought they had found the answers yet were just as lost as the others. It made me think of my cousins, friends, and others relatives who do not know Jesus as their Savior and Lord, going down a path that only brings them closer and closer to destruction.

All too often I come to loss. And I begin to wonder “Should I have started up a conversation with that person?”, “I could have shared the gospel with them. Why didn’t I?” “Why have the seeds I’ve planted never brought forth fruit?”

I know that God cares for each and every one of the sparrows, and He cares for each person abundantly more than any sparrow. The Spirit reminds me that no matter how much or how little I share ultimately it makes no difference, I am only a tool. It is His Spirit that draws people to Him, not me. If He uses me, praise the Lord.

However if I continue to obey the commission given to us (‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations’) I can believe He will be faithful to perform His promises.

"He continually goes forth bearing seed seed for sowing shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his with him". Ps 126:6 "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much" Lk 16:10 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Mt 7:7
"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Gal 6:9

The words like 'faithful' and 'continually' pop out at me. I remember once, listening to a sermon, I heard something that made me think. The pastor said, 'Bareness is the soil in which God grows desperation and a sense of need.' A while ago I posted this video because it was such a wonderful reminder to me to never lose heart. If I sow and another reaps do they get the greater job? Certainly not! If another sows and I reap still I have done nothing, but the Lord works mightily through our weaknesses!

 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

Bareness can be such a gift! It is like 'the gift of tears', the gift of drawing us closer the the feet of our mighty God sitting on His high thrown!

Praise God for giving us the powerful gift of prayer! The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much! (James 5:16b)

A Must Read

I want to lend this book to everyone, and yet I want to keep it so that I can re-read it.

It's written by K. P. Yohannan, one of my favorite speakers, so I knew I would like it... But I didn't know I how much would love it!

Excluding the Bible, I don't think I've ever been moved by a book so much! It is convicting, inspiring, and God glorifying. I'm telling you: you have to order this book right now.

You can get your free copy of REVOLUTION IN WORLD MISSIONS. I'm positive you will not regret it. It will convict, challenge, and change you.

If you prefer, get the PDF or MP3 downloads.

I've been wanting to post quotes from the book here on my blog, but I end up wanting to do whole pages, then the entire chapter, then I just wanted to post the whole book chapter by chapter. It's that good!

But you don't have to take my word for it.



What are you waiting for? Get your book today, and be prepared to be challenged!

Amen!

I have prayed that every one who comes to my blog and finds this video will be convicted by the Holy Spirit and understand the Truth. Please watch the entire sermon. It is well worth it. God Bless you! -Ashlin

Eternal Perspective

"Some of you never think of dying, and yet you should. You say you may live long. You may and you may not. If there were a great number of loaves upon this table, and you were to eat one every day; if you were told that one of those loaves had poison in it, I think you would begin every one with great caution; and knowing that one of them would be your death, you would take each up with silent dread. Now you have so many days, and in one of these days, there is the poison of death. I do not know which one. It may be tomorrow; it may not be until many a day has gone. But I think you ought to handle all your days with holy jealousy." -Charles Spurgeon

How often I forget. How often I live my life in a nonchalant and careless manner. I wish to live one hundred percent surrendered to Jesus, dead to the world and my flesh -or so I say. But when I choose to sleep in for a few extra minutes rather than beginning my day drawing nearer to my Saviour (Ps 63:1), when I do not stop to pray for the lost and the hurting instead thinking of the tasks "must" complete today (Heb 13:3), when I do not seek for opportunities to do good to those brothers and sisters in Christ I am blessed to know and instead waste my time watching movies or reading books (Gal 6:10, Ps 119:37), my life does not tell of the greatness of the Love I know and am given, but it does say through my actions 'I know nothing of the love and the grace given to me by God through Christ'

"Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)

If I were to taste the "poison of death" today, what would my life show? Would it show a life glorifying Christ in all that I do, or would it simply be a life of few kind things I'd done but mostly centered around me?

Thousands of people die every day without Christ. Forever; eternal separation. It will be too late for us to tell them the Good News.

"Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD;" (Lamentations 3:40)

"The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him." -Henry Varley

Live today with the intent to glorify God in all that you do. (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17)Oh how great a difference it could make!