semanas seis, sete, e oito em Lisboa, Portugal

March 7th-March 26th

Dear family and friends, sorry for the lack of posting these last three weeks. It has been one crazy week after another. So, to spare you all some reading I am going to give a quick synapse of each week.

In the week on March 7th through March 12th, I was on campus doing normal ministry work with Soularium and meeting with students. That Thursday, the 10th, Callie and I hosted a baby shower for Bethany. We decorated and made food and created games and made a diaper cake. It was all really fun and I am super excited for baby Isabella to arrive in early April.

The week of March 13th through March 19th was a crazy busy week! A team of 14 from Ole Miss was in and we were training them every morning and on campus with them from 12 to 5 every day. It was a lot of work, but I had some of the most amazing conversations with students than I have ever had. One in particular sticks out in my mind, a group of us were on campus doing Soularium and we approached these three students who were off by themselves. We started doing Soularium and got into a really good conversation. One student, Ana, opened up immensely telling us that she suffers from eating disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, and a drug addiction. She went further saying that all of her problems came from past relationships and the lack of trust, she explained further that she wished that she could trust Jesus the way that I and the other two girls talking with her did. It was an AMAZING conversation and I hope that I get the opportunity to speak with her again.

Throughout the week, we played American games on the green and many Portuguese students came by to play and we made A TON of connections. It was the best week I have had in Portugal so far.

Now let me brag on the Ole Miss team a little. They were awesome! I am so thankful for each and every one of them for taking their spring break and coming to Portugal to serve. They built me up emotionally and spiritually and brought a sense of energy back. It was awesome to be able to work with them and get to know each of them on different levels. Thank you all so much!

This past week, March 20th through the 26th, has been my most exhausting week in Portugal by far. A team from the International Sports Federation (ISF) came to Portugal to help the Prewitt’s host a basketball camp for ages 5 through 15. Campo de Ferias was an amazing crazy time that I got to spend with the kids playing basketball, volleyball, and doing crafts. It was a nice time to goof off and be silly. With the helper, more my age, I made a lot of new friends and it was cool to get to know all of them and create friendships that will last beyond camp.

I had a lot of really good conversations and was able to share the Gospel with a girl that I spent a lot of time with during camp, Joana. She really struggles with the Gospel because her sister has a brain disorder and cannot do anything for herself, Joana’s question was “How can I ask God to come into my life and let me go to heaven, when my sister cannot do that?” She asked a lot of hard questions, some I had answers for and others I did not. But I hope to continue our friendship past camp and be able to talk to her more and hopefully meet her sister.

I am so thankful for the ISF team and their boldness in their faith. Also, this is there 8th time returning to Portugal and the connections they have made are life long and I am so thankful for their commitment here with these students. Jessica, the boss, is awesome and I have been talking to her about, in the future, taking a trip with ISF to play softball in Belize with a women’s semi professional team. We’ll see where that goes.

I left out a lot, but as you can see these last couple of weeks have been busy and amazing works of the Lord. He is faithful here in Portugal and it is awesome to see how He is working through the lives of Portuguese. I am so excited to continue the friendships that I have made over these last weeks and see where they take me.

Easter Sunday is officially my half way mark. I have been in Portugal for 63 days and I have 63 days left. It is crazy how it is going by so fast. I miss home and am excited to see you all soon, but I have a new home here too and I am very sad that I will have to leave my friends and the missionaries who have become family. So, for kicks and giggles I made a list of things that I miss from home and things that I will miss once I return home.

Things I Miss: Things I Will Miss:

-family and friends -missionary families and friends

-driving -the metro

-Chickfila, Sonnys, and Zaxbys -Padria Portuguesa

-sweet tea -pastries (all day everyday)

-CYM’s vanilla lavender lattes -GOOD COFFEE, fresh juice

-church in English -hearing worship music in Portuguese

-New Girl -Fado music

I would like to give a quick shout out because today (March 26th) is the birthday of a man who means more to me than any other man in the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I hope you have an amazing birthday and I am so sorry that I cannot be there to celebrate with you.

This upcoming week will be busy as well, trying to keep up with the connections we made these last weeks, the arrival of the European Affinity Leader, and many other things! Stay tuned!

I hope you all have an amazing Easter, celebrating our Lord and Savior’s victory over death. Remember how powerful this holiday is.

I will see you all very soon.

Love,

Ashton

Praises:

-an amazing basketball camp

-I have created so many friends and connections I don’t know how to keep up with them all

-ISF team being amazing

-God working in the lives of Portuguese in crazy cool ways

Prayer Requests:

-that I can get follow up’s with all of the students we have connected with

-that we can successfully and quickly start a small group

-that seeds with continue to be planted

-safe travels for the ISF team as they return home

-safe travels for the HandsOn students traveling to Ireland for vacation

-our bible study with Crisitane, that it will continue to go well

-safe travels for Callie (she takes her vacation to France April 4-April9)

-safe travels for me (I take my vacation to Spain April 11-April 17)

-Bethany and Jonathan as they prepare for the arrival of Baby Isabella

-Jacob and Cara as they prepare to head home for the completion of their Journeyman program

-Brussels and the rest of Europe as we deal with the effects of IS