Go ye into all the world.

Some new and oh so exciting things!

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! 

2012; Let the adventure begin.

So i know that i am about 2 weeks late on my update, but it was Christmas and the festivities took over for a bit. These past 2 weeks have been event-filled that is for sure. Base worked really hard to make sure everyone felt the Christmas spirit, but i definitely spent a good  chunk of time just missing my family, which i knew would happen. The day ended up being successful, and i really felt the love of all my housemates and friends here, not to mention my family back home who i got to Skype about 4 times Christmas weekend! The week leading up to Christmas was a bit long, with a lot of Nexwave prep and the anticipation of staffing the YP i was starting to feel the pressure, but God is awesome and he got me through it! I was able to get in a few days of rest, and had some time to organize my life before Quenton (My school leader) got back from Holidays, and YP things began. Last week was a bit of a jumble, with one of our buildings being approved (thank you Jesus!), lots and lots of cleaning, the October quarter being sent out on outreach, getting the finer details of YP duties sorted out and just finally being able to have a meeting with all of the staff! So good, so hectic, but so good. I am a very task-oriented person and i need to be busy in order to be organized, so finally having duties and schedules is so good for me! I feel a bit more in control of my surroundings, which is just fantastic. I was also given the news last week that i will be moving into 228, which is our main base dormitory, to be living with the students! I am so excited to be able to live with the students and get to know them on a different level then i would if i was living in my staff house. I love it when God presents me with a new challenge, and this will definitely be one of them. 

This next week starts our staff training and also the fine tuning of all the last minute details of accommodation, school dinners, fun nights, and the excitement of lecture phase! I still can’t even believe that i get to be a part of such an amazing school that completely changed my life only a year ago! I know how much the staff really motivated and encouraged me to seek God and grow in him as i was here, and i can’t wait to be that encouragement to another student or students! So as i’m sitting here in my living room on New Year’s Day, with a nice vanilla candle and my new schedule i feel incredibly blessed. Blessed by my supporters for allowing me to be here, blessed by my friends/housemates who are nothing but loving, my boyfriend who is a constant encouragement to me, the Young People’s DTS for changing my life, YWAM for being such an amazing outlet to bring God to the nations, my family for never giving up on me, and God for speaking to me everyday and giving me my dreams and passions. I would not be here today if i hadn’t listened to the still, small voice of God when i was in Junior High that told me missions was my future. I can truly say that i love my life. It is adventurous and challenging, fun an exciting and never the same from day to day! It’s everything that i dreamed about as a kid and prayed for as a teen. 2011 was a year of revelation and growth for me. I learned who i was in Christ and how amazing and unfathomable his plan is for me. Why on earth would i ever stray from it? To say it was a great year would be a huge understatement. And to tell you the truth, i get even more excited thinking about this year because i know it is only going to get better. 

Life is good, God is great, and there is so much in my life i am thankful for. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog for being a part of this last year. You are all a part of this amazing journey i am on, and i wouldn’t have it any other way. Have a blessed 2012, be checking back to see where my year takes me! 

God Bless,

Ashlee 

Hi! Hello!

So it’s been quite a bit since i’ve updated my blog, and i am so sorry about that! My last month or so at home was pure craziness and now i am here in Perth and the craziness continues! I saw God move in some amazing ways while i was still at home, providing all of my finances plus some. It was such a testament to his faithfulness to his promises. I also saw some amazing support come from my church and my youth group, which was so great! I was able to have my bunco fundraiser and share what i’m doing with quite a few people, and see some donations come in as well. Over-all my last month in the states were just great, and i am so glad to have been able to spend some amazing time with my family as well. God has blessed me with an amazing support system back at home, and i just wanted all of you to know that you are so great! 

But now onto my new life over in Perth, which is amazing! I have arrived in the midst of a base being built, summer approaching, and just chaos all around. It definitely looks different then it did this past January but it is still YWAM Perth, and i love every bit of it! Right now we don’t have a main meeting place since there isn’t a completed building yet, so we have been meeting in clusters of houses. Making dinner, meeting new people and building relationships in a more casual setting is such an awesome way to start my 2 years here. I’ve already been on bread runs, helped out at Hospo, cooked dinner with my house, and am now a part of the Nexwave high school ministry! All in my first week, and let me tell you it is as crazy as it sounds! I have been so blessed to actually participate in a ministry so soon after arriving, especially Nexwave, a ministry that allows us to go into high schools (Government and Christian) and teach seminars about “Kingdom Prinicples” and then have the opportunity to possibly share your story with teenagers. I was supposed to just observe this week, but i was thrown straight in and have already participated in skits, lead small groups and shared a bit of my testimony with the students! It was so amazing! I am having a blast with the Nexwave team, and am really excited to do more things with them in the future. 

On another note, i was given word this week that i am officially a part of the YPDTS 2012 staff! Which means i will be busy from January-June staffing the same school that i was a part of this past January. Also this next year is all about Megacities London, which means i will be spending 8 weeks of my outreach in April-June in London! I am so excited because as much of you know i have wanted to go to London ever since i was little, and what better way to go then with the love of Christ! I am so excited to finally meet all of the students, and get to know them the same way the staff on my school got to know me, and hopefully help them reach their full potential in Christ! It is going to be an exciting time, not only for me, but for YWAM Perth as we may be without the building during that time as well! Yay for new adventures in Christ! :)

So i am loving my new house, my housemates, getting to see some of my DTS friends and settling into my role here at YWAM Perth! I’m even looking forward to the summer and some awesome beach days, i know, such a shocker! Be praying that i don’t get too sunburnt! Also be praying for me and my strength, as i have already felt the exhaustion of being a part of a ministry plus the duties i have as a staffmember, and i know it is only going to get crazier and crazier! I am so excited to see where God takes me in the next 2 years, and especially in this upcoming year! I plan on updating my blog every week on Sunday so be looking for my post! Thank you all again for your prayer and support, i am extremely blessed to have you! 

-Ash

ps,

some of you were asking about my address over here, so here it is: 

Ashlee Gaston

PO Box 8501 Perth Business Centre, Western Australia

6849 Australia

 i love letters and packages! :)

I am beyond blessed.

Even though i may not have everything together at the moment, and there are days where it seems gloomy and impossible, i still feel blessed. I have an amazing support system at home and around the world that keeps me going every single day, I have an amazing God on my side that i know has an amazing plan for my life, and even though not much is happening i still get the most amazing revelations every single day! I love that God is teaching me lessons and helping me to grow during this time! It is such an encouragement to me! Today i was able to talk to my best friend Emily for a long time after not seeing her for almost 9 months. It was so amazing to share with someone who hadn’t heard yet what God has done in my life this past year. How can i begin to imagine an ordinary life for myself when i serve such an extraordinary God? He wants so much more for me then i can even imagine and i can’t stop trusting that he will provide! I know that as a person when the money isn’t there and everything isn’t planned out perfectly we can doubt if it is the right thing, but i know that God made me a promise and i have complete faith he will follow through. I just really wanted to share with everyone that i know i will be heading back to Australia in 2 months, and i know that the support will come. It’s not my job to worry about it, it’s Gods and he has it all under control. Back when i was in Perth i was given this verse during a hard time,

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I am so excited to see the miracles that are going to happen during this time. Thank you all for your continued prayer for me, i can feel it and i am so grateful to have it!

God Bless, 

Ash

An Update of sorts.

So things have been looking up lately, more people have been committing to supporting me long-term, which is AMAZING. I have been getting a few more job offers (babysitting and things like that), and that always helps. It’s all going great, except there are a few expenses that i need to pay soon, as in the next 2 weeks, that i still don’t have the money for. I need $900 for my health insurance, and then around $500 for my student visa, not to mention my plane ticket, when the time comes to buy one. What i am saying is now i need some immediate support! I am so blessed to have people in my life who can and will support me monthly while i am away, but i would also love one-time supporters as well! I am so grateful for any kind of donation that is given. :)

If you would like to donate now, or even still monthly, you can donate to YWAM Perth directly using this link and following the steps provided for a donation to Ashlee Gaston:

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

And if a check is easier for you please make it out to Ashlee Gaston and send it here:

2307 Aladdin Way 

Lodi, CA 95242

Thank you so much for continuing to check my blog and follow me on this journey! You are all amazing, and i am blessed to know you. 

-Ash