Update on life

Ah wow! So I haven't blogged for such a long time! sorry.. There have been so many changes since my last post and so I thought I would enlighten you all. This past winter I was accepted to the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California. I will be moving down there this week!!! It's been quite surreal to me; I honestly never ever pictured myself living in California! God has just surprised me so much this year with new things! After graduating in July of 2010 from DLA I went back home and started working full-time again. Along with my job I was a leader of my youth group again, joined Chi Alpha, a women's bible study, AND another small group on top of that!! Talk about a crazy schedule! Well, I really had to take a step back because it was all very good, but too much at once. I knew I had to drop a couple things in order to avoid spiritual burn-out and to have that personal time with Jesus. Decisions had to be made about my schedule so I dropped two of the college groups and continued with the youth group and the small group associated with my church. All I can say is that God knew what He was doing when He showed me which groups to stick with!! God moved in mighty ways this year in the youth group and the young adult group I went to. We had some really intense nights of worship and breakthrough with the youth along with the 'drunken Glory shing-dings' (as I like to call them). At the young adult group, after God had set apart the ones who were really committed, we have been seeing multiple healings every week! That's saying a lot since our group consisted of only 7-12 people each week. When the body of Christ comes together with one thing in mind, stuff happens! God shows up!

Multiple Bethel teams have come through Nebraska these past couple of years and have been able to minister to many churches all of which have greatly benefited from their anointing to preach, share God's love, and see healing! If you have never been to Bethel or one of their outreach meetings, you need to go!!! I personally have never been to their church, but after seeing what all of them carry, I know that God's hand is upon their ministry and I'm so excited and honored to be a part of it this year!

I know this is a lot to take in for one blog, but if you have any questions at all feel free to ask!

Blessings,

Ashley

Hey guys! So it's been a long time since I have blogged and maybe no one reads this, but that's ok(haha). Well, we had our June desperation conference a few weeks ago and it was awesome! I believe a lot of the people who went really experienced breakthrough and there were definately salvations!!! Praise God! Our July conference starts in three days and we're expecting more people and I know God's going to prove himself faithful in revealing his love. I had such a great time at conference. I have regularly been going to these conferences since I was in high school, but this year is different since I am working behind the scenes. It's so great to be a part of something I know impacts the kingdom in a huge way. It's so rewarding seeing all those kids come and enjoy their time here, but more importantly ENCOUNTER GOD! It's something else to be with them worshipping and knowing that there are youth out there who want more of God and enjoy being in His presence. If these kids who are on fire for God, keep moving in the direction they're going we're going to see revival in this nation and a love that cannot be quenched. I'm so excited for my generation and the time that we're in. I know there are crazy things happening in the world, but at the same time, GREAT things! We need to keep praying for this generation so that we can go further than where other generations have gone. So, lets pray hard, fast regularly, love authentically, and seek diligently!

For His Reward,
Ashley
Desperation Leadership Academy

'Van on Fire' and Solitude

This weekend DLA and Furnace went on a fasting retreat on Friday and Saturday in Breckenridge. On the way up, my van had a pretty awesome time. We were called the Mafia van (we love this game), but later it turned into the 'van on fire (not literally haha).' One of the core leaders twisted her ankle pretty badly right before we took off. Later on she was in a lot of pain and the ankle was swelling up, so she asked for us all to pray for her. People were climbing over seats and laying on the top of them to reach her. After praying for a few minutes, Gabby asked her if any of the pain had gone down since we started praying for her and it went down from a 7-8 to a 4! We just kept on praying for her and she went all the way down to a one right before we left the van. As we prayed for Aubree's ankle, Peyton said that her sinuses all cleared up and we prayed for her headache which also went away. She told us on the way back home that she didn't have any other headaches for the rest of the retreat which was a big deal since she usually gets them while fasting. Chad's hand was in pain so we prayed for him and most of his pain was gone. While we were sitting in the parking garage, one of the band members came up because people were hearing what was going on and he was healed of a headache he had. Isn't God so good? We were all just so pumped up and excited that we didn't want to leave the van and just stay in that mode. Everyone realized though we didn't need to stay there, God isn't confined to certain areas. He can go where ever He wants and there is nothing special about that van. We just happened to be riding in it when God started healing people. I think that when we're not used to outpourings of the Holy Spirit like this, we tend to think that whatever's happening is only going to happen in that certain place and if we move to another location, the anointing will not be with us anymore. We need to let go of this fear and myth and trust in God and know that He moves!
On Saturday, we were able to have a time of solitude with God. We drove into town, split up into groups of 2 or 3 and found places where we could journal, listen, worship, be silent and enjoy the presence of the Lord. For me, God revealed how we just need to live in awe of Him everyday and not take anything for granted. When we got there, I just fell in love with the beauty that surrounded us. I don't know if any of you have been to Breckenridge, but there is so much to look at and to take in. Not only was nature so beautiful, but also the little shops and buildings all around were cheerful and quaint. They were all colorful and it looked so fun and homely. I was sitting with Peyton and Amanda in a little local coffee shop and right accross the street from us was an Irish pub. I have never been in one and probably never will, but I love Ireland and it was just cool to see it. When I fast, all the little things in life seem to stick out to me more than before and I was soaking it all in. God was showing me how much He loved me through it all. I usually don't journal, but as I was sitting there in that little shop listening to my Irish music that I was inclined to listen to, He showed me a picture of our love. It wasn't just His, it was our love story. I will post it up in another blog because of it's length, but it was so beautiful. When it was time to leave, we were all waiting for everone to get back to our meeting spot in a courtyard. God showed me again just how much He loved me through the weather and my surroundings. It was the most perfect, beautiful snow I had ever seen. It was sunny and there was light, fuzzy snow falling. I stood there with my eyes closed facing the sun letting my face soak up it's warmth as the snow fell ever so gently on my back. Kids were having fun on the nearby playground, interns were enjoying each other's company with light laughter, a couple was playing with their puppy and birds were chirping while bouncing around on the rocks by the small river. It was one of those moments where I wanted to never leave. I realized how caught up people can get day to day and forget how to be still, listen, watch, and enjoy life. The little things really do matter. They're all a part of one big story and without them, I think I would blow up. How could one go about life having to deal with big events all the time? Also think about this... God loved us so much that he would make small moments like this happen. He definately had our best interests in mind when He created it all. When was the last time you had a day of solitude? Have you been stressed out and weary? Maybe you haven't taken the time to soak up the little things in life. I challenge you to take a day and sit in God's presence and let Him speak to you through those moments. At least 3 or 4 hours and see what He shows you. Read the word, journal, put on some worship music and let Him romance you. You never know what will happen. You're just going to have to find out!

He's doing a new thing...

Well hello everyone! So recently, there have been a lot of great things happening here at New Life and all over! DLA went to the Dream Centers a few weeks ago and had an awesome time connecting with the people who live there, hearing their stories, and serving them in any way they needed us. My eyes were opened to what goes on in some people's lives and it showed me how blessed I truly am and encouraged me with how much they love God no matter what they have gone through and presently dealing with. For a while now, God has been really laying it on our hearts to pray for revival and it's in progress! The Lord has been moving on the hearts of many and is revealing Himself in new ways to us. A lot of joy has been poured out in prayer meetings and the fire of God is so evident in many of our lives. There have been miracles, people slain in the spirit, and He has been filling them the Holy Spirt and giving people prophetic words, songs and also visions. God has been opening heaven here at New Life. This past weekend was the Youth Leader Prayer Summit and we had over 100 youth pastors from 18 different states with us. We had one of the most intense, most powerful prayer meetings I have ever been to last Thursday night. It was also the first meeting for the Summit. Everyone was really pressing in and going after God. One of the things that we prayed for that night was for God to burden our hearts for the lost and God did just that. I also received a vision from God that was awesome. I was looking around the room watching others worship God beacause I enjoy it and like to see what God's doing in them. As I was doing this, a spark caught my eye. It was in the center of someone's upper back which looked like one from a 4th of July sparkler, but it was brighter. Then I saw more of them on others and also on myself when I looked down. I was like, Wow! This is crazy! It was so real that I 'm pretty sure I was actually seeing this. I then looked over at David Perkins and saw a huge burst of it on his chest as he was at the microphone praying. But these sparks weren't on most. I believe God was saying the sparks will go out only to the ones who are following after Him in desperate pursuit and this spark/fire is also a new one He is igniting in us. I heard a quote that a famous revivalist said once and it really spoke to me along with this vision: "If you light yourselves on fire, the world's going to come and watch you burn." David added on that if you do this, the youth you lead will see you, get along-side you, and burn also. I'm praying that this new fire will be ignited in all of us and we will see this generation following hard after God and revival will break out everywhere; bringing many to Christ. I'm really excited about what God has been doing and can't wait for tomorrow and the next day.... and the day after that....... :]]

first blog EVER!

Oh hey guys! For my first blog I thought i might just let you know what goes on in DLA during the week, so here's our schedule since some of you were interested:
mondays: this day is our sabbath, so we can stay home and relax, do homework, chores... etc.

God Time
Each day we meet in the World Prayer Center at New Life for God time at 9am which goes until 10:30. There's usually someone either playing piano or guitar while we pray and it's such a wonderful way to start out the day. Being with God in the place of prayer first thing in the morning makes a HUGE difference in my day! I highly recommend it to all.

Class
After prayer time is over, we go straight to class which is Theology on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Christian Living on Wednesdays and Fridays. We have class for 2 hours where we learn a lot of good stuff and have a fun time debating and talking about some pretty deep topics.
After class gets out we have our lunch break until 1:30. During this time, a lot of us love to play 4-square which is a huge thing for a lot of people over in the WPC (just thought I'd let you know).

Ministry Tribes
Every day from 1:30-5pm we break out into our Ministry Tribes. This is our time to work on things for the church and it's many events and nightly meetings. I am in the Conference Tribe which means we get everthing ready and put together for the Desperation conferences that are held in the summer. My specific roles are late night events during the conference, youth pastor events/meetings/Summit, and marketing.

Furnace Prayer Meetings
There is one every day of the week, but only have to attend 2 of them. I usually go to the late night one on Friday which is from 10 till midnight and Revival Town which is on Tuesday nights 6:30-8pm. DLA and theFurnace have to be there at 6 in order to meet our requirements, so we have what we like to call, pre-prayer prayer.

Nightly Meetings
_tag: youth group on Wednesdays, 7-9pm, mandatory for all DLAs and we have pre-tag prayer at 6
the Gathering: Thursdays night meetings for Furnace and DLA. Dan Perkins usually leads this meeting. Also, we pick up our green cards at this meeting that we fill out to and give to our accountability leaders that lets them know if we met all of the Furnace requirements for that week.
theMILL: Friday night service from 7-9pm for college students and 20-somethings led by Aaron Stern.

Sundays
We have accountability at 9 in our groups and then DLA attends the 11 o'clock service and we all sit in section 10 as one big happy family:). Afterwards, we go home and serve our host families from 2-5 if they have anything for us to do for them.

Other random things
We have to be in the Furnace prayer room for 2 hours each week
Saturdays rotate. It's either a personal(we do whatever), accounabilty(we hang out with our accounability groups), or a home sponsor Saturday(we hang out with our host families and do things like snowboard:).

ok whew. Yeah, it's a lot of stuff, I know. But really fun, exciting, challenging, rewarding, the list goes on... I expect that most of you sill skim this post, but if you do read and get this far, congrats. You're either really bored by this point or you're my mom. If any of you have questions about this or just anything at all, I would love to hear from you! Prayer requests are also great!