Hi Friends!!!

Thanks for stopping by my page to read more about this trip. I wanted to share a little more about me and how I came to know Christ as my personal savior. This will help explain a little more about why I'm so passionate about bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of the Amazon River.

We all want to feel like we belong somewhere. For as long as I can remember I didn’t feel like I truly "fit in". Because of this, most of my life was spent trying to figure out “why am I here” and “what is my purpose”.

I suffered from depression and anxiety attacks for the majority of my twenties. The pain of reality felt unbearable and so the majority of those years were spent trying to dull and numb the ache in my heart.

I was running down a very dark and empty road and had not acknowledged that there was a God for almost a decade when I became pregnant with my daughter. Although many people saw this as a bad thing, my heart burst wide open with love for this child growing inside of me. For the first time in a long time I felt like there was a God. I didn’t know Him as the God of the Bible but I finally felt like God was giving me a purpose in life - to be a Mom!

After I had my daughter I embarked down a path of facing reality and consciously tried to no longer seek out ways to escape - no matter how painful life was. This led me to become extremely “spiritual”. I came to believe that if I meditated long enough or believed in myself enough, I would finally stop feeling the pain of this world. Of course, this never worked.

During this time I had become engaged and was, for the most part, acting married. Our relationship was extremely volatile and that’s when I came to end of myself. I ended up walking into a 12-step Christ-centered recovery program at Watermark Community Church. At this time, I absolutely did not believe in Jesus. I believed he walked the earth but was nothing more than a great teacher. For me to not only walk into a recovery program centered on Jesus but continue to come back, was nothing but God’s beautiful way of pursuing me.

Through the steps I came to know and trust Jesus. The pivotal step for me was step 4 - inventory. When I saw all the bad things I had ever done (or at least could remember doing) and all the bad things that people had done to me, once again, I felt my heart burst wide open with love. This time for my saviour. How could someone actually die me? It was undeniable at that moment that Jesus is real, he died for all of my sin (and yours, too) and he died knowing full well all of these bad things would happen. There is no way I could ever earn his grace or forgiveness and there is definitely nothing I have done or could do to deserve it. But I needed this free gift and so I received it on June 23, 2014.

I came to realize I was seeking acceptance by trying to be good enough on my own but the truth is, I’m not good enough. When left to my own devices I will hurt people - not on purpose but because I can’t possibly be perfect. But I’m content knowing that God doesn’t expect me to be perfect. I still struggle with this at times, but when I forget God gently reminds me that he loves me unconditionally, He knows everything about me and He still accepts me.

I can live now knowing that I have a purpose. And I have confidence that I get to be with God forever and ever in heaven!

I want to share this beautiful message with everyone! Part of sharing this message includes me traveling to the Amazon with a group of about 25 other people. I would ask you to first and foremost please be praying for me and for them as I prepare for my trip. Also, please consider donating towards my trip. Do not feel obligated to give. I consider it a great blessing and honor to share this trip with you.

With love,

Ashley Xoxo