Go ye into all the world.

A new direction!

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 11:21:17 +0800

Hey everyone who reads this blog! I decided to switch blog sites a few months ago, and totally forgot to post the new link on my original blog! The new link to my blog is:

http://atonceiknew.wordpress.com

I hope you all hop on over and follow my new blog! With wordpress you can easily have an update sent to your email when I post something new! Thank you and all and God Bless!

-Ash

Some prayer requests!

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 22:20:36 +0800

Hey everyone! So this past week I was thinking about how this blog is great, but mostly used to inform you on all the major things that are happening or coming up in my life. I really felt like God wanted me to open this up to you, and allow you all to know a bit more of the small stuff I deal with too. A lot of you who read this blog support me both financially and prayerfully so I decided that I was going to start posting some prayer requests as they come up! So here is a little list for all of you who are interested in lifting me up in prayer this week:

For my knees and back.

Ever since my soccer and softball days I have had constant issues with my knees and now because of that my back has been hurting almost daily. It’s incredibly uncomfortable, and now my knees have gotten to the point of consistently popping out or cracking when i sit down or stand up, it is not always comfortable. I would love it if you could pray for healing as it is something that messes with my day to day life here, seeing as I am constantly getting up and down and I walk everywhere.

For me in my new ministry.

These past two weeks I have been training in my new job in Development called Direct Mail which handles all of our base communication. It is an incredible opportunity and I feel so blessed to be a part of the ministry that makes sure over 15,000 people all over the world get to see what’s happening at our base. I would love for you to pray that I daily get a heart for this ministry and an excitement to do the work. It is primarily a desk job, which means a lot of routine emails and database work. I don’t ever want to fall into a cycle of just doing the job, and lose the heart for why we do it!

My laptop/ a new laptop!

So my most urgent prayer request would be for the purchase of a new laptop! My laptop that I have had for a little over 3 years is now broken, still functional but literally falling to pieces. It has been a constant struggle for me to actually bring it with me anywhere because the adapter is broken and the computer no longer charges. I am incredibly blessed to have it, but because of it’s lack of functionality I can’t travel with it, which then means it loses it’s main purpose, for me to use as a communication tool. I would love for you to pray for either some extra support for me to be able to purchase a new laptop, preferably a Mac which is lighter and more functional for the work I do, or for you to actually contribute financially to this need! I have been putting off looking into a new laptop for a long time, but really felt God speak about making this need known to all of you! :)

Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, like I always say I am so blessed to have people like you in my life! God bless!

Ash

London, London, London! SO many adventures, laughs and sights to...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:42:18 +0800

London, London, London! SO many adventures, laughs and sights to see! LOVED IT!

And now to the next thing...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:31:00 +0800

So here i am, back in the land down under, in beautiful Perth, loving our base and the people who live here with me. Some things that have been going on in my own personal life, that most of you may already know but i will share all the same, are: i am engaged! Yes, i am getting married next year to an incredible man of God, so this next year is a lot about me preparing myself for that next huge step. I am so excited to see what God will speak during this time, but i am definitely anxious about it as well and would love your prayer as i go through this next stage. We are both in different countries at the moment, which makes it even more challenging, but also incredible as we get to learn what it means to communicate, and to communicate well! This is something that i have always felt i needed to grow in and here God has put me in such a good position to learn and grow every day. Going along with this, i knew that God wasn’t calling me back to the youth ministry on base, but i wasn’t sure where he wanted me. When i came back to Perth i really felt God speak to me about leadership and being under good leaders in this next season, and felt really lead to join a ministry called Development which is run by two phenomenal leaders, Cliff and Cristine Weiner. I am now a part of this ministry, helping in a communication sphere called Direct Mail which handles a lot of the communication the base puts out there (over 15,000 people!). I LOVE it! I feel encouraged and joyful every single day, and even in the short time i have been a part of the ministry i can already see where God wants to grow me. I am also helping out at the cafe our base has recently opened called Cafe 9ine. I get to make coffees, fellowship with people coming in and out of the base on a regular basis and really just learn how to serve! It’s an incredible opportunity for me because i really felt at home doing cafe style ministry in Iceland during my DTS outreach last year and have really felt that God wants to use me in that avenue somehow in my future, so to be a part of this particular ministry is exciting! I can’t wait to see what God has for me during my time as a barista. :) Really in the next 6 months before the next YPDTS i feel that God wants to grow me even more personally. He wants to prepare me to be a wife, a leader and to grow more into the individual and unique person he has created me to be. Every day i feel more and more blessed to be able to live on a base where i am encouraged to grow and to embrace all those little passions God has placed on my heart!

On a less spiritual level, i am also loving the fact that it is winter here in Perth! Meaning rain and lots of it, my favorite weather in case you were wondering. Personal goals for me this winter: learn how to make the perfect pancakes, discover a new coffee shop and become a frequent visitor, perfect my latte art (rosettes here i come!), read more then one book during my spare time, drink way too much tea, finally watch the movies in our house library, plan my wedding, and of course get a greater revelation of what God has for my life! I am so excited for all of it, and i will be keeping you more informed during these weeks! Thank you so much for reading the blog and supporting me through prayer or finances, you are incredible. :)

London Calling: Outreach Update//Part Deux!

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:09:00 +0800

Hello again! So this past week has been mighty crazy, with some new and exciting things that i will talk about in either this post (or another so as to not overwhelm your eyeballs)! I did spent a nice bit of time reflecting back on my time in London though and really felt to share with you all about what God did and how i grew.

So to start, leaving Bangladesh was something else. After being slightly uncomfortable almost everyday, whether it was the heat, the food the clothes we had to wear, there was definitely a level of anticipation for the Western world while we were in the Desh. So getting on the plane to Singapore was a breath of fresh air, and finally landing, taking a shower (in the airport hotel, best decision EVER), and finally putting on normal clothes and doing my hair was incredible! Yes, i am a missionary and YES i enjoy being comfortable when i can, thank you Jesus that i have that opportunity as well. Anyways, getting to London, to say the least, was absolutely amazing! I have been dreaming of going there for as long as i can remember and the history buff in me was freaking out when i finally touched down in the UK. Part of the ministry we did during this outreach went along with an already existing ministry run by YWAM Perth called Megacities, that focuses on one city, every 2 years, with a population of over a million people. This year it was London. Most DTS outreach teams have been sent there, including us, for 7 weeks, where we were split into different burroughs throughout the city. It was incredible to be able to experience a different side of London that not most get to see. My team was in a bourrough called Barking and Dagenham, located in the eastern part of London. It was not what i was expecting. Like i mentioned earlier in this post, i was so ready to be back in the Western world by the end of our time in Asia. I had subconsciously built up an expectation of London and the ministry before i had even got there, leaving very little room for God to do or say much of anything to me when it came to our team and our ministry. Yes, i was blessed with an incredible team (yet again, i’m pretty sure i hit the jackpot when it came to that), and an even more incredible co-leader, not to mention one of my best friends, Hannah. I allowed myself for a while to really get down on the fact that there wasn’t much happening, or the team wasn’t as enthusiastic as they should be, or our living situation wasn’t as nice as i had hoped for. It wasn’t a good first few weeks. Despite my attitude God was still opening doors, and making things happen for our team, even preparing opportunities and divine appointments for us! I finally came to a point of breaking down so God could build me back up and after that it was incredible! We saw so many things happening and when i started making that conscious effort to find joy in the Lord in EVERY circumstance, it didn’t matter if everything went off plan or against our schedule, we would end the day happy and full knowing that God used us just the way he wanted! We, as a team, had incredible opportunities to connect with many local churches, work with a youth club every Friday and eventually Tuesdays as well for our whole time there, lead evangelism seminars, plan borrough-wide youth events, participate in Diamond Jubilee events all over the borrough, give away free coffee and hot cocoa, as well as offer free prayer to our borrough, host incredible prayer and worship times and just awesome times of fellowship as a team and with our different contacts all over Barking and Dagenham. Every day was a new adventure, Hannah and i would try our best to plan things out but a lot of our best times of ministry were the unexpected and obviously God-inspired encounters. Our team was so ready to see God move that they allowed themselves to be used in any way possible. Yes, we had our struggles along the way but God grew us exponentially as we drew closer to him personally, and as a team! I was so encouraged by the different people i was able to lead, each one of them contributed something that was crucial to the dynamic of how we functioned in ministry times. I love how God just places things together in the best possible way, and then the awesome moment of revelation you get when you realize that he has it all under control. Leaving London was so hard for us as a team. We had devoted our whole heart to our borrough and we got to see the fruit of it, even near the end! The unity and openness of the church leaders and our main contacts was phenomenal, and leaving we had confidence that God was going to continue the work there through those people! They want to see Barking and Dagenham on fire for Jesus, and i have no doubt they will. Overall my time in London was one of the biggest challenges of my life, learning how to lean on God in whole new ways, growing closer to him every single day as i allowed my heart to be more and more open to what he had for me, becoming a better leader by learning how to be available to those i was leading, and just the incredible feeling of getting into ministry and seeing lives changed as God speaks through you to other people is something i can’t even fully explain! I absolutely LOVED my time as a leader, and honestly, i can’t wait for next year and another outreach!

These past 6 months have been the most challenging months of my life. I have gone through more life-changes in that amount of time then i ever have in all my years, and it has been awesome. God is always faithful, always strong and always there! The simple fact is that he will never leave me, he always wants to speak to me and he wants to renew my strength every single day. I am starting to see the fullness of the calling God has placed on my heart and it is incredible. God has so much for me, and i feel so blessed to serve such a faithful father! This outreach has stretched me and forced me to rely on God for a new kind of strength, and i am walking away from it a new person! A better person! God knew what he was doing when he told me to staff DTS, he knew what he was doing when he sent me on my own to lead a team in Bangladesh, he knew what he was doing when he put me in awkward situations in London, he KNEW what he was doing! That is my greatest and most comforting revelation. God knows what he is doing, so i don’t need to worry about it. How incredible to not have to dwell and stress on every little thing, but to lay it all down at the foot of the cross and know that God lovingly carries it for us? Oh i just love him. So that was my 6 months, and most recently the past 3 months. 2 fantastic countries and 2 totally different experiences. All in the grand plan that God has for my life, and so many more incredible adventures to come!

Our team and the many adventures we had; Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 23:03:51 +0800

Our team and the many adventures we had; Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Outreach Update//Part 1.

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:41:29 +0800

Hey everyone! So it has been a crazy, exciting and totally awesome past few months but i have failed to update you all on it and i apologize! I am now attempting the somewhat impossible in trying to summarize it all but i am going for it! To make it easier on your eyes and my hands i am going to split this update into 2 parts, starting with Bangladesh in this post and London in the next (that will be posted in the next few days). Here it is, the Desh!

Let’s go back to the end of March, getting ready for outreach, trusting God for thousands of dollars and seeing it all come in one day! Incredible! God is absolutely amazing and i am insanely blessed to serve him! I was able to co-lead, along with Quenton, Rachel and Romano a team of around 20 students to Bangladesh. It was such an adventure just getting there with a 2 day layover in Singapore. Lots of adventures, humidity and Chinese food! God was preparing me for some of the hottest days, spiciest food and unusual cultures i have ever been in. We arrived in the Desh, as we fondly began calling it, past midnight and had no idea what to expect when we woke up the next morning. We were definitely shocked when we got up and realized we were not in Australia anymore. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, there were people absolutely everywhere in the capital city of Dhaka. We couldn’t go a single place without being stared at, followed or asked for money (at least that’s what we assume since not many spoke English, and we knew limited Bangla). I have never seen some of the things i saw in those first days, and immediately could see the incredible heart God had for that place. The nation is almost 90% Muslim and us girls were required to wear the local dress in the near 100 degree weather with almost equal humidity. It was an adventure figuring out how to minister to an Islamic nation where first off most people think they already know God when they are actually serving their Allah, and for a woman like me you are usually overlooked or flat-out ignored by most. In the midst of these struggles nearly our whole team got sick, leaving us to 4 people to go out during the day! Those people were incredible! Busing to the university, hanging out at a local orphanage, prayer walking and checking out a few local churches. I unfortunately had the flu for near 5 days and was out for the count for a nice chunk of Dhaka. The day before we left for our second location in the Desh, when our 20 person team would be split into 2 teams of 10, my co-leader Romano had a family crisis and went home, leaving me with my team to lead alone. A definite shock after expecting and preparing to lead with another person, but i was sent off with an amazing support from my school leader Quenton and an absolutely incredible team and of course an even more amazing God that was there for me the entire time! All 9 of us, including a translator, got on that train not really knowing what to expect when we got to Sylhet, our second location. We were so blessed to have a great (and clean!) accommodation a ways out of the city with a staff that became friends to all of us! Our contacts were 2 families that had been called to planting churches in that part of Bangladesh. Sylhet was such a spiritual stronghold due to the fact that it was one of the original places that Muslim missionaries were sent. There are three huge temples that people went on pilgrimage from all over Bangladesh to pray, worship and offer sacrifices at. We had the incredible opportunity as a team to go to these places and prayer walk through them. All of us girls had to completely cover our heads and we weren’t to pray out loud so we wouldn’t draw anymore attention to ourselves then our skin already did. It was intense. We could feel the warfare around us, and walked out with a whole new understanding of what God wanted for that place. We realized that a huge part that we had to play in that place was fighting for it in the spiritual. When our contacts would take us out it would be to pray for local churches, visit hospitals and pray for the sick, walk through different houses and visit the local believers, and lots of fellowship and prayer. We as a team felt a similar calling for us there after we encountered a group of missionaries that had been there for almost 25 years primarily as a prayer team. They had incredible vision and hope for Sylhet that the Lord had given them over their years of interceding on the city’s behalf. We left our meeting with them so encouraged that God was working and we got to play a small but significant part in that! We also ran into a bit of trouble when their was some political unrest in the city and we were locked in our accommodation for almost 5 days! Like i said earlier, i had an absolutely phenomenal team that rolled with the punches as they came with smiles and joy! I was so blessed to lead them. During our time locked in we had amazing Bible studies, awesome times of prayer and worship getting words for the place and for the people we encountered and just great fellowship with each other. There were lots of movies watched, rounds of Phase 10 played, tea and cookies served and eaten, so much laughter and way too many videos and jokes to even remember! God blessed us with such joy and a genuine love for that place at the end of it all to the point where we were near tears saying goodbye to the 2 families that lead us around! God is awesome and truly showed me throughout this time that no matter the circumstance, no matter the expectation of others, he has a plan for us! We came across hardships, yet we walked out of Sylhet with so many incredible memories of God moving and showing us his heart for a nation where there is little hope for many. We left happy and full of the joy of the Lord, thank you Jesus!

Some fun and random times for us in Sylhet included so many fun and terrifying rides in tuk-tuks, nightly lightening storms that shook that building, OREOS AND PEANUT BUTTER, getting to step across the border into India just for a few minutes, hilarious communication barriers, searches for the non-existent Pizza Hut, dance parties with no power, THE HUNGER GAMES, so much laughter over apparently nothing, just amazing times with an amazing team that was ready for whatever God had for them!

Outreach!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:20:27 +0800

Tomorrow is the deadline for my outreach fees and i am still trusting for around $1,400 AUD! I saw some money come in these past few days which is such a blessing but it is getting down to the wire and i still need a significant amount before Wednesday. I am so excited to see how God provides in the next few days, but continue to pray that things happen! I am so blessed by the support that has already been given and thank you so much for your prayers! If you feel led to give financially here are some quick and easy steps to make sure it goes directly into my YWAM Perth account:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

Love you all and God Bless!

Ash

Outreach Outreach Outreach!

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:07:21 +0800

This past week has been a pretty big week for me, the deadline for my outreach fees to be in is this upcoming Wednesday! So close! We also had an amazing teaching on spiritual warfare from Peter Warren and it really opened my eyes to fighting in the spiritual for the things in the physical. I really felt a heaviness about my finances this week, and everyday it seemed to get a little worse. I know that the enemy is trying his hardest to bring me down during this time, but i am putting my hope and faith in Jesus to bring this money in! I know that these past few weeks i have been asking for your help in making this outreach possible by supporting me financially, but i would really like for you to lift me up in prayer as well. These next few weeks are going to be some of the most challenging weeks of the whole school for me, and i know that prayer is effective. Prayer for peace, strength, and continued finances would be amazing! At this point it is still looking like i need around $2,100 AUD before the deadline. This deadline ensures that i will be able to get the best flight price possible! I know i say this quite a bit, but i have to say that i am so blessed by all of you! Your support has truly been the reason why i am where i am today. I would just ask again that you would pray for me during this time and seek God about donating towards this next part of my life. Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog, e-mail me at ashdg91@yahoo.com if you have any questions!

God Bless,

Ash

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS MY OUTREACH FINANCES:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

A Quick Update!

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:06:15 +0800

Hey everyone! So today marks one week until my outreach finances are due! Right now it is looking like i need around $2,355 AUD before the due date. I am trusting that God is going to bring this in before it’s due so our team can make the best flight arrangements possible. This week we started meeting in our outreach teams and it is looking like our team is going to be loads of fun! We also found out that our team will split into two smaller teams after 10 days in Dhaka, I along with Romano will be leading a team of 8 students to another city in Bangladesh for 2 weeks. We are all so excited to get to Bangladesh and dive into ministry! As well we are looking ahead to London where we will be spending the majority of our outreach. We still haven’t found out who will be on those teams, but we are learning more and more about the need in that city and can’t wait to get there!

Last week i challenged you to really pray about being able to support me in any way financially. Thank you again for your continued prayer and support! I am so blessed by all of you and can’t wait to tell you all about the miracles that God will no doubt be doing in the next few days! Have a great rest of the week and God bless!

-Ash

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS MY OUTREACH FINANCES:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

KONY 2012; An amazing campaign that i truly believe will make a...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:44:29 +0800

KONY 2012; An amazing campaign that i truly believe will make a change, we just need to do our part! I know this isn’t about Bangladesh, London or the YP but i feel this is an issue that all of us can and should be a part of. Do your part, watch this video and share it with anyone you can think of! Let’s put an end to the atrocity that is the LRA!

Happy Sunday!

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:43:27 +0800

Good morning/evening/afternoon depending on where you are! This week has been a good one, the school’s topic was evangelism which has always been a hard one for me but one that i am constantly working to improve so i enjoyed the teaching. Our speaker Paul Childers is a phenomenal speaker who has some great stories of God using him all over the world, he was really an inspiration to the students and to me as well! We got to go out on Friday night and do evangelism in the city, we all had a great time putting into action the things we learned this week. This week also marked my last small group with the 6 girls that Tirza, my co-leader, and i have been with. Next week begins full-on outreach prep! So exciting! We will be meeting in the teams we will be with for the first 4 weeks, and then shortly after be spending time with our London teams (which have yet to be determined). But we still have 4 weeks of lectures before we all embark to our separate countries, starting with a teaching on spiritual warfare with Peter Warren! I am excited to see what else God has for this school before we head off to see what he has for us in the nations!

One of the main points that Paul was talking about this week was the area of faith. Faith isn’t an emotion but an action that we take in obedience to the things that God has been speaking. This really stuck out to me, especially now as i am trusting God for finances for outreach. God has everything under control, we just have to be obedient to what he is telling us! I have full faith that he is going to provide during this time, in whatever way he feels is necessary! I can sometimes be an impatient person, and to still have around $2,700 to go and only a week and a half for it to come in i can find myself getting a bit anxious! This week really reminded me of all the things that God has done for me in the past year, especially with my finances and i have seen him move in miraculous ways. What seems impossible to us, is completely possible with God. I know this money is going to come, and i am walking out in the little things that God has been speaking when it comes to my fundraising! After looking at what i need and doing some math i realized that if 54 people donate $50 towards my outreach i will be set! I have over 595 friends on Facebook, that is a bit over 50 last i checked! I would love to challenge my Facebook friends today, really pray and ask God if there is any way that you could partner with me in this next adventure! I would be so blessed by any donation you have the means to give!

As it gets closer i am getting such a heart for these nations, and i know that God has something incredible in store for these people! I feel so blessed to follow a God who wants to use me to do his work among the nations! What a privilege! I would continue to encourage you to pray for me and my team as we prepare for our outreach, and for me as i am still raising funds! Any support, be it prayer or finance is such a blessing! Thank you all for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your prayers!

God Bless,

Ash

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS MY OUTREACH FINANCES:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

Some photos of Bangladesh, Bengali children and the capital city...

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:41:13 +0800

Some photos of Bangladesh, Bengali children and the capital city Dhaka!

Nomaashkaar! Asalaam Alaykum!

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:04:00 +0800

Hello Everyone! So it’s been another week of hard hitting truth, this time all about relationships! Such a good topic, and especially living in such a huge community, it’s something that i am faced with every single day. God really opened my eyes to a lot of things and i am walking away yet again with some awesome new revelations! We are about 3 weeks away from finances being due and i am still in need of around $3,300 AUD! I have full faith that God is going to pull a miracle and provide these finances! Please continue to pray that they all come in on time and quickly so we, as a whole team, can get the best flights possible! The quicker the bookings are made, the less expensive it is. So i will continue to encourage you to pray, pray, pray that finances come in for me and my whole team, that we can find great deals on flights and that God would give me strength during this time of fundraising.

As i said in my last blog post, i wanted to let you all know more about the countries that we are visiting, starting with the amazing nation of Bangladesh! You may have been wondering what those two strange phrases were in my title, well that would be the traditional Hindu and Muslim greetings in Bengali! The YWAM base in Bangladesh sent our team a really awesome paper with all of the greetings and common phrases in Bengali for us to learn beforehand which is so helpful! While we are in Bangladesh the girls will have to wear the traditional dress wherever we are, the outfit is called a Salwar Kameez. We are all very excited to get to dive into this beautiful culture! Some helpful facts about Bangladesh and the people there:

It is bordered by India from the North, East and West and Myanmar from the South
Capital city is Dhaka
The population is 118 Million people
The main religions are Muslim and Hindu with a small percentage of Buddhists and Christians
One of the largest Muslim countries in the world
Was originally a part of Pakistan until they became an independent nation in 1971; Previously known as East Pakistan

This still developing nation has such a need to hear the gospel and be radically transformed by the love of Christ! As a team we are incredibly excited to be able to play a small part in the plan God has for the people there. If you have a free moment we would all appreciate your prayer while we are preparing for this trip! We want to be able to communicate and share God to these people in the most effective way possible, and that starts here! Pray for team unity, a growing passion for the people of Bangladesh, FINANCES, and for safety and health when we finally arrive in the nation!

Thank you so much again for your support, even in taking the time to read my blog! I am thinking of you all and praying for you here in Perth!

Love and Blessings,

Ash

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS MY OUTREACH FINANCES:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

Thank you so much again!

Bangladesh.

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:20:10 +0800

Bangladesh.

Some new and oh so exciting things!

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:09:14 +0800

This week has been such a great one! The school had an amazing teaching on Lordship, and i definitely got a lot out of it as well. Learning how to truly lay down your WHOLE life is incredibly scary and exciting! I am loving Perth life, getting to know more people around base, getting into the groove of business and having a blast with all of these amazing students. I’m loving one-on-one’s, small groups, intercession times, school bbq’s, evangelism and clusters! God has given me so much grace and strength these past few weeks, it’s been amazing. I have learned so much just by going through everyday, listening to the teaching and opening myself up to hear God’s voice, it’s been incredible the things he’s speaking! Summer has been pretty mild here, definitely some hot days, but a lot more breezy ones, and i’m loving it! Summer has never been my favorite, but Australia has been very kind to us this year. :)

Other exciting news, we are FINALLY moving into our new base! It is such an amazing testimony of God’s provision and blessing! YWAM Perth has been praying into these buildings for the last 27 years, and it is so incredible that i get to be here during such a crucial part of their vision as a base. The building itself is beautiful, we all can’t wait until it is fully up and running! It is a daily reminder of how big our God is! I love it!

The next steps for me are leading towards outreach! SO excited! I along with Quenton, Romano and Rachel will be leading a team of 17 students to Bangladesh for 4 weeks before heading off to London and getting all mixed up and spread into 6 separate teams throughout the city. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 86.9% of the population being Muslim and less then .05% being Christian. I thank God that he is sending me to a place that is so ready to hear his Word! In the next few weeks i plan on informing you all more on the status of the countries i am visiting, starting with Bangladesh, to give you more of an idea of the ministry we will be participating in while there.

Lastly, i would love to encourage you all to continue to pray into my finances! I will need to raise around $4,500 AUD for outreach in the next 4 weeks! God is bigger then any dollar amount (as you can see by our amazing new base), so i would love to have you partner along side me in prayer or if you feel lead, financial support! The word that God keeps giving me during this stage in my life is in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” I believe that God has something amazing planned for the next few months and all i need to do is wait on him, be expectant and have faith that he will provide! Take heart! God has it under control! Thank you all so much again for your support, both in prayer and finance. You are a continual blessing and i know that i wouldn’t be where i am now without your prayers.

I love you all!

Ash

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TOWARDS MY OUTREACH FINANCES:

Use this link:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/007/payonline.asp

-Fill in your contact information

-Select donation

-For a staffmember

-For someone else

-Fill in Ashlee Gaston

-and in the “More Information” box below write For Outreach Fees

Thank you so much again!

Fly Away.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:53:12 +0800

So this past week the staff were told where they would be leading teams on outreach, and i am beyond excited to say the least. I can’t wait to lead a team to Bangladesh and London! It’s going to be an amazing 3 months and i can’t wait to be used by God in these amazing nations. So an obvious part of outreach is finances to get there, which is what this post is all about. In the next 6 weeks i need to raise around $5,000 AUD. Yes that seems like an impossible amount, but i have God on my side and nothing is impossible with him. I have FULL faith that this money will come in no problem! I am writing this so you can prayerfully consider donating any money at all towards this outreach! Also, any prayer for my team and for my fundraising in general are much appreciated. This is such an amazing opportunity for me to learn how to lead a team cross-culturally, and to grow in God in the process. I have been so blessed here at YWAM Perth to have my staff fees covered every single month, and now that i am staffing a school i get to see God work again in the area of finances! I am so excited to see how he provides these next few weeks, the quicker the money comes the better the flight deals are! So pray, pray, pray that these fees come in smoothly and quickly. :)

Also, be praying as the students wait on God to see which team they should be a part of for the outreach portion of their DTS. We all want them to truly hear from God and i am confident that he will speak! Pray for open ears and hearts! They are such an amazing group of students, and i am so blessed to be a part of their lives these 6 months. God has already done some incredible things, even in the first 5 weeks, i can’t even imagine what he has in store for the weeks to come. Thank you all again for your continued support, whether it be through prayer or finances (or both), you are all amazing! If you have any more questions about my outreach, or what exactly is happening around Perth shoot me an e-mail at ashdg91@yahoo.com. I would love to hear from you!

Blessings,

Ash

PS:

If you would like to donate online at ywamperth.org.au scroll down to the donate/pay link

fill in your contact info, select donation, for a staffmember, select for someone else, fill in my name and in the more information box write “Outreach Fees”.

This will make sure that all of your money goes directly into that fund! Thank you so much again! :)

Long overdue.

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:42:29 +0800

It has been a good long while since i have last updated my blog, and i am very sorry for that. I am officially in the full swing of YPDTS craziness! LOVING it! We have 50 amazing students this year, totally pumped on Jesus and ready to experience him in a new way. So far it’s been a lot of scheduling, early mornings, coffee, and all around fun times just chilling with the students. I have the awesome opportunity to live in 228 which is the girls dorm this quarter, and have been able to really spend some quality time with all of them! I love it! Not to mention it is one of the air-conditioned properties at YWAM Perth, which is awesome considering that it has been over 100 degrees these past few days. God has already been doing some awesome things on the school and it is only the 3rd week! I am loving going through lectures again, and getting whole new revelation on certain areas and growing, growing, growing in others. This has definitely been a time of stretching for me, getting out of my comfort zone and learning how to do new things. There have been a few scary moments, but God has given me so much grace and i am starting to really get the hang of things. The staff have all started to gel pretty well and i look forward to our early morning staff/prayer meetings! I feel like i am so blessed to start my days interceding for the students, i already love them all! I am also really starting to see why God has placed me here, and it is so amazing. I have truly grown so much already in the short few months that i have been at base, and i get so excited thinking about the months to come! God is so amazing, and he knows exactly what is going on, and what i need to work on, even when i don’t fully see it. Speaking of the next few months, i have the stellar opportunity to go on outreach with my school in April-June! We will definitely be spending 7 weeks in London, England doing inner-city ministry through Megacities, and then another 4 weeks in a yet-to-be-known country. I am beyond excited to go, London has been a place i have wanted to go to since i was a little girl, and i can’t believe i get to bring Jesus to this city in my first visit! I know that God is going to do incredible things, i just have to get there first! Within the next few weeks i will need to start fundraising for my outreach, which should cost around $5,000 AUD. I have absolute faith that God is going to provide every cent! I really saw God do a miracle in getting me to Perth, and i know he will do it again for this outreach! I am typing all of this up to ask you to prayerfully consider supporting me as i will be leading a team to London and one other amazing country! I am so blessed by your prayer support as well, and would love some prayers as i take off on this next adventure in fundraising. Thank you all so much for your continued support, and if you have any questions about my funds or how i am doing send me an email at:

ashdg91@yahoo.com

Thank you so much again, i am SO blessed by you!

-Ashlee

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Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:19:03 +0800

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Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:12:39 +0800