I serve a Mighty God! (update July 18, 2007)

Greetings from the beautiful land of Mozambique !

My God is a mighty God…mighty to save, heal and deliver. He is full of mercy, love and grace! My absence in sending an update on my friend Cade and life here has been purely lack of time and I apologize for this. I have been preparing for the departure of Julie (a new missionary who came last November) and Marcia (the director of our base). As of Saturday, July 21 Lisa and I will be the only missionaries here on our base which leaves us with a lot of added responsibilities. Marcia (from Brazil ) and Julie (from Canada ) are going to be gone for about 2 or 3 months for a time of rest. Please keep us in your prayers.

Update on Cade

I mentioned in my last update that Cade’s husband took her out of the hospital and told the doctors that they were going to seek spiritual help from our great physician Jesus. Well, since that time Cade has been resting in a mission house that her church has built. Each time I have gone to visit Cade she has been surrounded by people who love her and worship music playing. I have felt very much that I have been fighting in this spiritual war with Cade and her family. Many nights I could hardly sleep. BUT….last week on Tuesday I got a phone call from Cade. She told me that she was doing much, much better. I began asking her questions to see how much better she was….She began to tell me that she could move her arm completely and her leg. She was even able to walk, but still was gaining strength in her leg. My heart was so ecstatic….I kept thanking Jesus and saying ‘hallelujah’! When I visited her the other day she was outside visiting some women that had come to visit her. She is now able to nurse Princila (I misspelled her name in the last email) and completely take care of her. She does not have anymore problems with pain in her head and no more problems with her heart!! She is able to walk by herself!!! The only thing that is left is that her left foot is quite swollen and does not have complete movement when she walks so we are still declaring the complete healing of this foot. Once she is fully back to full health she will be going back to her home. Right now her husband and children are staying with her at the mission so that they can be together. My God is a mighty God!!

Birthday Party

Next Saturday, July 28 we are going to have a birthday party for our boys like we did last year. This will be the second one they have ever had.

Women’s Conference in Amatonga

This past Saturday, July 14, I was invited to speak at a women’s conference in Amatonga which is about 2 hours from where I live in Dondo. Julie, Lisa and I left home in Dondo about 5:30 am to set out for a great time. Both Lisa and I preached during our time there. Before leaving Dondo the Holy Spirit so beautiful prepared both of our hearts with the words that he wanted to speak. It was amazing to see that where I left off in my message in the morning Lisa picked up in the afternoon. At the very end we had a time of washing the women’s feet. It was the very first time for these women to have their feet washed as Jesus had demonstrated to His disciples. The presence of God was very strong and women were spontaneously delivered. I felt that deep roots of prejudice and hurt were being uprooted and healed in some as we washed their feet. I’ll never forget this older women whose feet I began to wash. As I looked up into her face with a kind smile of love she looked down at me with tear filled eyes. I knew the Holy Spirit was healing deep hurts of slavery – I could feel it so strongly in my spirit. It was a really beautiful and powerful time. As a missionary ministering in a man’s world were women and children ‘are the least of these’ it was such a blessing to love on these women who many have had such harsh lives and been so trampled upon. I have attached a couple pictures of our time during this conference.

To each of you that has been praying for my friend Cade…a big thank you! For those that have been praying for me and have given financially….a huge thank you as well!! My prayer is that you will see the fruit of your labor of love in your daily lives. I have been gearing my heart to be prepared for this next season of time and praying for God’s continued wisdom and grace to cover it all. I want to leave you with one more thought from Scripture…”But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…” (James 1:22) Let’s go out in victory and see this world transformed by the love of Jesus!!!

Grace and peace to each one of you!
Together in the Harvest,
Ashlee