Outreach Update//Part 1.
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!
Happy Sunday!
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
Nomaashkaar! Asalaam Alaykum!
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!
Fly Away.
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! :)
