Woohoo... Well, I told you I was going to send my first newsletter this week! Better late than never, right?! Now hang

with me, this is my first letter and I'm trying to make it short, engaging, and thorough. (psst, the cover picture

is a Kenya sunset from my friend, Lillian!)    

     

Ashley  Carroll  Set  Free  Leader/Visa  Missionary  Free  Methodist  Church  –  Kenya  

 

What have I been doing since May...

 

May-- As most of you know, I graduated from Houghton college, moved back home to Sinclairville, and started a summer job cleaning at Chautauqua Institution. What May was about relaxing and enjoying the beauty of not having homework! Something cool to note is that my mom and step-dad were in the NY area for my graduation and we went to Letchworth State Park and it was a blast from the past from my mom. We used to camp at that park when I was a youngin' (I mean REALLY young...waist height!) so it warmed my mom's heart to be back at that park years later with a college graduate!

 June-- What a fun month filled with meeting new people and making new connections. OH--and marriage... not me of course... go ahead and breathe again. My brother, Tyler, and his now wife, Sam, got married! YAY. Since then, they have all moved to Florida where our mom and step-dad live! I started a new job (a God thing) at a local restaurant as a waitress, started participating in Zoom calls with Set Free Leaders (disclaimer, I will be putting a new blog up soon to talk more about Set Free, https://followmetokenya.wordpress.com/stay tuned) here in the USA, and I went to new missionary orientation. I felt ultra blessed by the missions department at Free Methodist headquarters for organizing a way for all us new missionaries going out sometime in 2019 to be together and talk through and prepare for the years ahead of us. I feel like these people have become a new family for me. I loved hearing the testimonies of these brothers and sisters and how I'm not the only crazy person ( I knew this already, but...) who God is calling to a different part of the world. There were a total of 17 of us and even a few more who couldn't make it :(, who have all been called to different parts of the world to serve.

 

 

Exciting news of JULY! July was the kick-off of speaking and support raising! I was blessed

to have the opportunity to be the camp missionary at Cattaraugus

Christian Family Camp (NY) which was a great time! I had 3 days

there to just be unplugged and charged up with Jesus and His

people. My friend Olivia (bless her heart) has been a great support

for me during this season of life and in the picture to the left, that's

her and I singing at camp. We taught everyone a song in Swahili.

The following week I preached at Gerry FMC! Nothing to do with

missions, but just an opportunity to share a word God put on my

heart. I had another Zoom call with Set Free USA leaders, and I

started planning for the fall months (*PLUG, if your church hasn't

registered for Freedom Sunday September, 30th 2018 yet, there's

still time to do sohttps://www.setfreemovement.com/freedom-

sunday/)! The month ended with an Anderson family vacation to

Outer Banks, NC. What a great time with family. It's a bitter sweet

season becasue in the midst of all my preparing for Kenya, the other

2 children in the house have graduated high school and are going

away to college! This family vacation was a way for all of us to enjoy

the last days together as a unit of 5.

   Yay for August! What's up for this month you ask?? I'll tell ya... Last Wednesday (8th) I spoke at an evening service at Heritage Village on the call God has placed on my heart and the ministry in Kenya. Okay, I love being among a group of elderly folk. There's something beautiful about their hearts and I am always inspired

     

   

by their years of experience and little seeds of wisdom. I know that if nothing else, these folks will be some of my prayer warriors. On the 16th of this month I will be traveling to Akron, NY and joining a Set Free team there to hang out, share the call, and hear about what that group and church does to advocate in their community.

Prayer requests If I'm honest, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by my schedule for September. I'm super excited and encouraged by everyone who wants to hear what the Lord is doing, but it's go-go-go. - I'll be speaking in New York churches and a church in Minnesota in September! YAY for connections :) SO, safe travels and enthusiastic people wanting to make financial commitments and prayer partners! - Pray for Freedom Sunday... what The Set Free Movement does is INCREDIBLE and for the 30th to be a success means that they can keep on, keepin' on doing what God has called them to do! Work towards freedom for all people. - Currently I'm 10% funded and looking to be 100% funded by January...I know the Lord will fulfill His promise, and I will go to Kenya as He leads, but January would be nice :)

 Thanks to all of you... blessings and peace, Ashley Carroll