Cry of My Heart

Wow, I have totally fallen in love with some amazing people here. Refugees have captured my heart. They all have a story, many of which are incredibly tragic, yet still they are so happy and grateful for their lives. Recently we were over at a family from Sudan's house. Through a ministry call LifeCycles we were able to provide a bicyle for their 10 year old boy. Within minutes of being given a bike, he went and got his old broken bike and gave it to his friend who lives nearby. This broke my heart. What a concept. He had been blessed and without thinnking knew that it was his turn to pay it forward and bless someone else. If only the American church could think like this 10 year old Sudanese boy. How the world would be changed and God would get so much glory. I am daily humbled by the lives and actions of refugee families. They weekly invite us into their homes, feed us and care for us despite having little to nothing to actually give. They remind me of the woman in the Bible who

Psalms 23:5 says " You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I have heard this verse a thousand times but tonight I see this verse in a whole new light. I am reading Face to Face with God by Bill Johnson. He addresses this verse as though God is sayiing "Satan! My people love Me and I love them, and you're going to watch!! Such romance strikes terror in teh heart of the devil and his hosts. At this table of fellowship our relationship with God deepens and overflows into a life of victory in conflict with the powers of darkness. This struck a chord with me in great ways. This past week we particpated in the Nehemiah City Tour. On this tour we first went to a Islamic Center and were taught the key values of Islam. The people there were incredibly hospitable to us. Despite the fact that they were celebrating the Holy month of Ramadan which means they were fasting, they still served us a helping of Baklava. The next stop was the Hindu Temple. This temple

Can you feel it?? The mountains are trembling....THe Spirit is moving! I truly feel the presence of the Lord and am confident that He is shaking up the earth and beginning a revival... I'd like to believe thats its all starting here in Houston, Texas. All i know is that God is doing small things that are leading to big things all around me.... Here is a brief update of whats happening around my neck of the woods. We have had several opportunities over the past few weeks to help with Refugee Services of Texas. We have been able to set up apartments for refugees that are coming to the states straight from refugee camps. This includes building beds, setting up kitchens, stocking refrigerators, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Its a great way for us to help out where needed. The students have started a weekly Bible study for Bhutanese Youth. Pastor Abraham, the pastor of the Bhutanese church here, asked them to take over and lead and disciple the young people of his church. This is a very exc

Missionary Training School has begun! Its been a busy two weeks as our students came in from all over the nation, and some directly from other nations such as India and Costa Rica. Its been neat for me as staff to watch the students begin to learn, grow and experience the same things I did not even one year ago. MTS changed my life in outrageous ways, I am confident it will do the same for these students. THe girls and I decided we were going to get ot know our neighbors by baking cookies and deliveing them with notes of encouragement to each door in our building. Through this we met 2 Pakistani families who are Muslims, a Hispanic couple, and a couple white girls who are teachers and very interested in refugee ministry. It was awesome to be able to connect with our neighbors and shock them with good ole fashion kindness. We have been able to continue dialogue and nearly friendship with our Pakistani Muslim neighbors. They have a 16year old daughter who we are excited to befriend an

Wow, as I write this I realize that i have been in the Houston area for over 3 weeks! I cant believe how quickly the time is passing here. Our first week here God opened up doors immediately. We went to Sugar Land Family Church and the people there were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We were able to connect with the youth and worship leaders of the church and share with them our heart and vision for the City of Houston/Sugar Land and for the 10/ 40 Window. We are excited to continue working them and mobilizing them into missions along side of us. We were able to visit the YMCA international and go through their training orientation. Through this were able to see much more of the diversity not just in clients but also in staffing and volunteers. The YMCA offers refugee services such as ESL, Human Trafficking counseling, Teen and kids camps, refugee resettlement and orientation. We are looking into possibly partnering with them in the future. We were also able to see an area of tow

So I made it to Sugar Land, TX!! On Thursday July 1st Dan and I set out on the open highway and headed south to embark on the next adventure that God has called us to. We were very excited to be on the way to the life we had been praying about and anticipating for almost 6 months now. Our way there was filled with problems as my poor car was not used to driving such long distances in the heat, however God was good and kept it running all the way through. I also ended up losing my new cell phone at a rest area in Oklahoma. I believe that These things upon a few others were ways that the enemy was trying to attack and discourage us. I took this as a good sign, if the enemy is feeling threatened, God must have some amazing things ahead for us! We made it to Ft Worth on Thurs night really late and stayed with my sister Jessica and her husband for 2 nights. It was great time to catch up and spend with my family, but by Saturday we were ready to get to our final destination and new home. We

You bring restoration You bring restoration You bring restoration to my soul You've taken my pain called me by a new name You've taken my shame and in it's place, you give me joy You take my mourning and turn it into dancing You take my weeping and turn into laughing You take my mourning and turn it into dancing You take my sadness and turn it into joy This song has taken on brand new meaning for me this week. This week I was given the priviledge to be a part of seeing life transformation. I cannot tell you all the details, but it is too good not to share anything. This week I responded to a general GMAIL survey. I made all my answers about Jesus and how important he is in my life. I didnt think much of it, but through this a got an amazing response from someone who had read it. Through a series of emails and questions, I was able to share the love of Christ with this person and for the first time in their life they now understand what unconditional love is! Halelujah, I ha

Buenas Tardes Amigos! I am writing this blog update to share with you what has been happening in my life and what is to come. As most of you know I have been in Oaxaca for the last 7 months of so studying missions. This was the most incredible experience of my life which I am so very grateful for. Through this experience God fueled my passion for missions and reaffirmed to me that this is my calling. In Ephesians 4, it tells us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. I have been called to a life of missions, and I cannot imagine doing anything else. This leads me to WHAT is next for Ashley Ballard. God has laid it on my heart to go on staff as a full time missionary with Global Frontier Missions (the same organization I have been with in Mexico). Our vision is for the unreached people groups of the world. There are still 1.4 billion people in this world who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our desire to see these people come to the knowledge

Last night a friend of mine brought up how she felt selfish but she truly didn't want Jesus to return. She wanted to live her life, get married, have kids, and grow old before she went to Heaven. The idea of Christ returning invoked emotions of fear and anxiety more so than comfort or excitement. Her honesty surprised me at first, but then I realized how common this way of thinking is for the majority of Christians in America. I know I grew up with this same attitude. Why is this true? I pondered this for awhile and this is what I came up with. The majority of American Christians live comfortable unsacrificial lives. We love the luxury and easyness that comes along with our faith. I believe that many Americans view their Christianity as more of a fire insurance. It really is only good for them as a "get out of Hell free card". They may live the traditional Christian life and take the family to church on Sunday, but their faith is pretty much on reserve for when they die