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!