I want to start this blog off with a praise!! WE EXPERIENCED 44 SALVATIONS JUST THIS WEEK!!! GOD IS ALIVE AND MOVING IN THE HEARTS OF SOUTH AFRICA! I’ve got to witness God’s tangible presence firsthand, and it has been so life changing! From evangelizing door to door in the flats, in every Uber, every classroom no matter the age, and USING EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THE GOSPEL BECAUSE WHY NOT? I am living proof that the Good News of Jesus is life changing! Why wouldn’t I want to share?! I’ve learned so much just in making the Gospel a part of my everyday life. Have you ever thought about the fact that the Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand it, but so intricate that an adult can spend their entire life studying it, but never fully grasp just how glorious and miraculous and life changing it is? That in itself is crazy. This is the life of Jesus. It blows my mind.
As I lay here in the sun on our last day in South Africa, I’m reminded of all the incredible memories I’ve made here. Night swimming, morning runs, dancing and singing in the kitchen with my friends, evangelizing and meeting the sweetest people, stargazing at the brightest stars I’ve ever seen and praying to the God who created them, eating octopus, worshipping Jesus in the simpleness of sitting in the living room, monkeys (yes, there are actual monkeys that you have to chase out of the house sometimes), waking up to the beach, praying over Muslims, coconuts in palm trees, jet lagged conversations at 3am, and so many I won’t be able to name! South Africa has been so refining! In my last blog, I wrote about Transhaven and Liv Village. Now I get to tell you guys all about Kloof!! Kloof is the third and final place my team has traveled to in South Africa, and I have LOVED it here. We are currently staying at a home that is used for Circuit Rider teams while they do ministry! Circuit Riders is the ministry we partnered with during our time here! This home is beautiful, and I feel so blessed that my team was able to stay here. One thing I didn’t realize I’d miss so much being on the World Race is just the feeling of being in a home. With a living room, a carpeted bedroom with bunkbeds, a kitchen, and a table we can all gather around. Taking naps on the carpet in my room is definitely one thing I didn’t realize I took for granted! The places my team has stayed have been very nice, just doesn’t feel like a home. That being said, I have felt so blessed to be able to stay at this beautiful home in Kloof, South Africa!
This place will always hold a special spot in my heart. Our ministry has been INCREDIBLE. The people of South Africa are on fire for Jesus, and it’s so obvious. Our ministry in Kloof has looked different everyday. The beginning of our time here, we went to nursing homes to pray over and just hang out with the residents! The first home we went to, we were giving an introduction and opened it up for questions after. The first question was asked with so much enthusiasm and excitement, “Can you sing the star spangled banner for us?!” So, of course, we sang them the national anthem. They sat there so intently listening to our voice cracks and off key singing😂 I was laughing so hard! It was so sweet how little it took to impress them. That moment definitely makes one of the top ten funniest moments of my life.
My team and I have done a lot of door to door evangelism and house visits! Which has been incredible, but also very heavy. You never know what you’re going to walk into physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Some people welcome you with open arms and praise God that you’ve “Come all the way from America to pray for them!” Others stand at the doorway and laugh in your face. Every encounter is so different, every encounter is an opportunity to share the Gospel, and every encounter is an opening to pray for them. Like I said above, Jesus has changed my life. Why wouldn’t I want to share about it? Why would I let others words or actions dictate how much I talk about my Father? I have been radically made new by His love for me, and I’m not letting anything stand above that! While evangelizing door to door, I’ve witnessed salvations upon salvations, people getting healed, hearts visibly being turned from speaking the name of Jesus, ears that have never even heard of the Gospel, and so many other unexplainable experiences.
Our last week of ministry in Kloof has been my favorite. Mainly because I got to share the Gospel with a classroom full of about forty, 5th grade students! My team was split in pairs of two, and went to every classroom at a local primary school! I didn’t know we were speaking in the classrooms, I thought we were just going to hang out individually with the students during their free time. (This is yet another testimony of how God works through the unexpected). My teammate Maggie Claire, and I, walk into this classroom and the teacher says, “Now be very quiet and listen to what these girls have to say! It’s very important!” I make eye contact with Maggie Claire for about two seconds thinking, Uh I have no idea what to say. I didn’t prepare anything! Then I quickly remembered how incredible it is that the Son of God gave His life for me because He loves me and I figured I should share that with the kids! I excitedly greet the children and tell them why this strange blonde girl is here, and why she is so excited to tell them about this man named Jesus! It was so fun as I enthusiastically jump up and down saying, “AND HE DEFEATED DEATH AND ROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND HE DID THAT ALL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!” All the students and even the teacher was listening to what I had to say! Which really wasn’t my words, I was just the vessel;) After we left that school, two of my other teammates tell us so excitedly that THEIR ENTIRE CLASSROOM OF 38 STUDENTS GAVE THEIR LIFE TO JESUS. We all were so excited and just in awe of how good God is!
To end this blog, I want to ask for your prayer as my squad and I leave early tomorrow morning to drive to Eswatini! During our time in Eswatini, we will be meeting up with the other teams on our squad, and staying at an Adventures in Missions base! I don’t know a lot about what our ministry will look like, but I know we will be doing a lot of kids ministry, and working with the different care points near the base! I also won’t have a lot of service there, so I will get a blog to you as soon as I’m able to! During the last week in February, we will be having something called Parent Vision Trip! It is a specific time that we are able to invite our parents to come work with us on the mission field for a week! My dad gets to come, and IM SO EXCITED! I already know God has so much in store for him, and keep him in your prayers as he travels all the way to Eswatini at the end of February!
Lastly, I would like to personally thank all of you so much! I AM OFFICIALLY FULLY FUNDED FOR THE WORLD RACE! This trip has changed my life drastically, and I couldn’t have made this happen if it weren’t for your support! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
I love you guys so much, until next time 🙂
Ashley
