Happy 4th of July

So i celebrated the 4th of July in Mexico and it was an interesting experience.Haha. We spent the day preparing for our next group of mission trip participants to arrive. Then tonight we had dinner and shot off fireworks. A GFM tradition is to sing the Star Spangled Banner with a mouthful of pop rocks. Im not sure why, but we had close to 60-70 white "gringos" singing our national anthem proudly tonight. IT was a fun memory. It wasnt quite the same as celebrating in the states but oh well! Im in mexico!
I had some free time to get on the computer so i figured i would write a quick update.Its not much, but i will put more up later. Pray for me as the next 10 days my schedule will be jammed packed.
Thinking of you all!
Ashley

God is working in Oaxaca!

So my first week of outreach is officially over! I cant believe its July 1st already! I only have 38 more days until im back in the good ole USA. Anyways the past 8 days have been crazy and packed full.We had missions teams from the states come in and we had 2 English classes and 1 medical clinic. Our Medical clinic was a huge hit with the city. The president of Tlaxiaco came and gave an inaugural address for its opening. Throughout the 5 days they were able to treat over 350 patients and give out medicine. Mexican people are so grateful for medicine such as ibuprofen as this is something they do not have. I was given the priviledge of teaching English in a neighborhood of Tlaxiaco called San Nicolas. THis is a very poor area and is outside of the city. We had a long taxi ride to get there, but the view was absolutley beautiful as we were surrounded by the mountains. The children at our English camp were awesome. We had about 20-25 kids ranging from ages 3 -16. They were so excited to learn English and it was an amazing feeling when they finally understood and could get it on their own. One day after we had finished class we gave them some free time to play by themselves. When we came out to play with them they were practicing their English all by themselves. It was exciting. The Kids especially like singing the Hokey Pokey!!
Yesterday was our last day of teaching. I had been sick all day with a fever and headache, but i really felt that God had wanted me to go teach anyways so I went. As class was ending, one of the little boys named Miguel came up to me and gave me a big hug. I was kind of stunned. I knelt down beside him and tears were streaming down his face. I asked him if he was okay and he said no. I asked him what was going on, but he didnt want to tell me. He just kept hugging me. I did what i could and just hugged him back. I really felt like God was using me to show this little boy the greatness of Christs love. I just wanted him to know that somebody does care about him. I know that most of the children in our English class are poor and do not have good family conditions, but the God of the United States is the same God of Oaxaca and He loves everyone the same. I feel honored to be able to show that love to the people here.

I have the next couple days off to relax and rest up and then on the 4th of July our next team comes in again. I will be teaching English again on July 7 -july 11. Please continue to pray for me and the other staff members down here. There has been alot of sicknesses on our base. We really feel like we are under attack for doing Gods work.Also please pray for Dan Farr and his family. Dan is one of the missionaries down here, and the director of my internship program. His father is dying of bone cancer and Dan and his family had to leave on Sunday to go back to Minnesota to be with him. He is an awesome man of God and really needs alot of prayer!

Thanks for all your prayers, God Bless,
Ashley

Let the fun begin!

Hola! So i have officially been in Tlaxiaco for 2 weeks now, however it still feels like much longer!! Tomorrow our first mission group from the states arrives and the fun begins. For the next 8 or 9 days i will be crazy busy trying to help organize these mission trip participants. This week i was assigned to teach English classes! Im pretty excited about that. My group will be teaching mexican children their colors, numbers, family members, time, action words and lots of other things in English. We will have 5 days of this ministry outreach while the other days are training participants and special services. On July 1st the teams leave and i have 3 days to recover before the next trip arrived on July 4. We are supposed to have a big fireworks show that night, so that should be fun!

THis week has been fun. On thursday we went to a lake in Boqueron. Where we were able to go swimming surrounded by mountains. Also there were wild donkeys, bulls and sheep near the water which was a really cool sight to see. We also had 3 baptisms. 2 of the missionary children and one of our interns were baptized in the river. That was a blessing to witness! God is working in Tlaxiaco!

Well i hope all is well in the good ole USA..Please continue to pray for me as i have been battling with homesickness and physical sickness as well!
Love to all
Ashley

i made it

so i have made it to tlaxiaco oaxaca mexico! ive been here a week and 1 day now, and it feels like much longer!! yes i have been quite homesick but im praying that it will get better. i have met several people and made alot of friends from all over the united states. Our base is right in the middle of the mountains which is absolutely beautiful. it is actually quite chilly and rainy here since it is there rainy season. so far i have mainly been in staff training. learning all about the culture and outreach projects. Tlaxiaco is a fabulous city..its about 30,000 people and i love the culture here. we eat ALOT!! lots of authentic mexican food but im really enjoying it, and i havent gotten tooo sick yet..we were able to go visit ruins in a nearby village and they were amazing, and over 2400 years old. i took lots of pics which i will post when i get home...next monday the mission trip groups will come in and my time will be reallly busy.. but please check globalfrontiermissions.com as they will be posting new videos of the work that we are doing each day. also please please please continue to pray for me as i need it soo much...

my time is over for the internet, so until then
i love you all
ashley

Im leaving in 5 hours and i alrready have problems!

So its 12:30 and i just recieved a call telling me my 6am flight to Chicago was canceled. I spent the last half and hour talking to representatives, and they have officially moved my flight from United to American and keeping me with the same times. Everything so far is now working out, but that was a major scare as they tried to reschedule me for sunday!
I feel as though this was an attempt by the devil to try to hinder me from serving Christ this summer. My parents and I were praying hard, and the Lord has come through. Onward to Mexico! I better sleep now, since i have to be up in 3 and a half hours....whew....gonna be a LONG day of traveling! But i am sooooooooo excited!

Not sure when the next blog post will be, but until then, GOD BLESS!

~Ashley~ Isaiah 12:2

My contact info

I thought I would post my contact info in case anyone would like to drop me a line this summer..
My address is
Commission to Every Nation
Ashley Ballard
Apdo 14
Tlaxiaco Oaxaca C.P 69800
Mexico

It takes 1 month for mail to get to Oaxaca from the U.S. so send it early.. Im leaving Mexico on August 9.

Also you can email me at ashyb86@yahoo.com.. I will be checking it hopefully once a week or so..

Voy a Mexico!!!!

Soo this Saturday June 7 i leave for Tlaxiaco Oaxaca Mexico to be an intern for Global Frontier Missions. I cant believe it is almost here. This past March I was contemplating my plans for after graduation and i really felt God calling me to serve him full time . I was a spanish minor and knew i needed more practice before into the workforce and conversing with hispanics. So I went on the internet and googled Summer Missions Internships in Mexico and God led me straight to Global Frontier Missions (GFM). GFM's website blew me away as they have such a passion for the lost souls in Mexico and all over the world. I applied for a summer internship with them and began to pray about if that was God's will or not. I got accepted within a few weeks and realilzed right away that God was calling me to Oaxaca (wa-ha-ca) for the entire summer.


A little about what I will be doing......
I will be doing an internship called Global Adventures. My 1st 2 weeks in Mexico will include training about everything i need to know...I will meet the 20 or so other college interns and we will get the rundown on the culture, how to use transportation, spanish classes, ect. After those 2 weeks, church groups from the US will come down every week to help out and minister as well. As a member of the staff I will get to direct and assist w/ the sessions and training of the church groups.
The goals of GFM and my job are to 1)mobilize participants to greater mission involvement by teaching about God’s heart for all nations, by giving statistics and profiles and sharing about the need for mission work, and by sharing testimonies of people all around the world
#2) We train participants by giving them the tools and preparation they need to be effective in ministry. This includes thorough cultural orientation through skits, demonstrations, stories, and anecdotes, and giving them tools to help them practice Spanish with the locals.
#3) We go and reach out to the Upper Mixtec region of Oaxaca. Most outreaches take place in our market town of Tlaxiaco where we live, though an occasional outreach may involve some work in a village

There are many outreach opportunites that include: Well drilling, water filtration, English camps, Kids Health Programs, Medical and Dental Clinics ect....

I am soo exciteed for this oportunity but also nervous as well. I have never been out of the states before, heck i've never even been away from home for more than 2 weeks. There will be alot of friends and family I will miss, but I truly believe this is God's will for my life right now, and that brings a great peace to me as I leave on Sat. Please continue to pray for me this summer and that God will use GFM for his glory and that many will come to know HIM.

I will continue to update my blog through the use of internet cafes about once a week or so... Until then....
God Bless!