Journal

Live Your Mission

Ashley Ramírez

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Whether you’re a coffee barista or youth pastor, new to your faith or have been walking with Jesus for years, in Columbus or San Salvador, our mission as Christians is to prepare people’s hearts for the message of the Gospel. Three months ago, I was unable to see that my extra time stateside was actually a gift – a gift to live life alongside some of my favorite people in the world and help mold their hearts to look like Jesus’. Living my mission doesn’t only mean serving the people of San Salvador. Serving my mission means serving God’s people and sharing the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection wherever I am, whatever I am doing.

Salvadorans have more physical needs than the Youth of Rock City, but we all have a huge, gaping hole in our hearts that only Jesus can fill – it’s a need for the revitalizing presence of God.

My mission field is wherever my feet are planted, and these days, God has me growing and blooming with some of the most beautiful people I know.

Love is Red 2016 // God Winks

Ashley Ramírez

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Love is Red 2016

I look out and see black worshipping next to white, worshipping next to Mexican, next to Hispanic, next to Native American, and the only color that matters is red because that’s the blood of Jesus!

–John Gray, Love is Red 2016 speaker

I realize that the normal person would probably grit their teeth and prepare for teenage drama and eye rolls when confronted with the thought of a church auditorium filled with literally thousands of middle and high school students. I, on the other hand, throw on my new Rock City Youth tee, pull out my favorite pair of Converse shoes and post to Instagram that even packing has me #RedBullexcited for the weekend.

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Wednesday Night // t-minus 14 hours and counting // @rockcityouth ➵ @lirconf

Love is Red (LIR) is a Youth and Young Adult conference in Canton, Ohio with the vision of “developing leaders and inspiring students to know God and to make Him known.” One of the greatest parts about this particular conference is that they host breakout sessions not only for students, but for leaders as well! It is purposely designed each year to run Thursday-Saturday because the organizers knew from the beginning that Youth Pastors and Leaders are at church on Sunday! This way, students get to miss a day of school and leaders can be back for church on Sunday! [side note: It is a fact that most Rock City Youth students, although glad to be out of school for a day, were actually pretty concerned about missing a day of classes! World changers, man.]

In three short days, we experienced 6 world-renown preachers and spent hours worshipping God alongside our peers, led by some of the biggest names in worship music, Elevation Worship and Jesus Culture!

Thank you Jesus / Just as I am I come / Hallelujah / Oh what amazing love
Thank you Jesus / Just as I am I come / Hallelujah / Oh what amazing love

I could spend this entire post trying to impart to you every motivational sound bite from all 6 preachers, but I have a feeling that I wouldn’t be quite as inspirational as they were in the moment. Instead, I want to highlight a few shining moments from the weekend and share with you how God spoke to me.

Two phrases that I am folding up and tucking in my heart forever from Love is Red are

If you want to see God do amazing things in your ministry, you must hold tight to obedience – Noah Nickel

and

Souls are at stake here. – John Gray

Anyone that knows me knows that I do not take kindly to hearing the word “No.” (Future husband – consider yourself warned.) Growing up, I was used to getting my way pretty much all the time and if I didn’t get my way at first, I had this INSANE power to exhaust my parents with my debate skills to the point that they would rather just give in than argue for one more minute about why, for example, taking my mom’s shiny, red convertible to the drive-in movie just wasn’t a good idea.

Well, God knows my weaknesses and He knows that I need to learn how to hear “No.” The mission field is ripe with “No.”

  • “No, I am not interested in hearing about your ‘best friend’ Jesus.”
  • “No, the church doesn’t have enough money to provide for that family’s need.”
  • “No, it’s not a good day to go to the beach today.” (Is it bad that that No is the hardest to accept? Just kidding. Really!)

Over the past 3 months, God has put me in Obedience Bootcamp. I am asking for things and God is saying “No.”

  • “No, you can’t go to San Salvador…yet.”
  • “No, you can’t live in your house OR your dad’s house.”
  • “No, you can’t be in a dating relationship right now.”

What I am learning is that God says No for a reason. He does not say No just to taunt me or be mean to me. God says No because He can see the future. He is already in the future. I know that I must be obedient to God if I want to move to San Salvador and be a part of what He is doing there.

Souls are at stake. Wow. First of all, let me say that I fully understand and believe that God does NOT need me to save a person’s soul. God may choose to use me, but He does not need me. God is in the business of soul-saving, not me. With that being said, I do not want to stand in front of Jesus on judgment day and have to say, “Father, I am sorry that I did tell ________ about you because I was busy ________ (being disobedient).” I know that there are people in this world that God wants to use me to reach. There are people that will identify with my story and finally understand that if God has mercy and forgiveness for me, He’s got it for them too. There are people that will trust me with their story and trust me when I tell them just how much Jesus loves them – enough to die on a cross in order to erase their sin from God’s memory.

Is there anything worth risking missing the opportunity to be used by God and a part of His salvation plan? Absolutely not, if it means being disobedient to a God that I trust with my life now and for the rest of my days.

Hands up / Heart open
Hands up / Heart open

Of course, Love is Red wasn’t just for me. Love is Red was for each individual person there. Love is Red was for:

  • Jin, our OSU bus driver who randomly picked our assignment for the weekend and ended up coming into the conference and rededicating his life to Jesus!

PRAISE BREAK!!!!

  • Pastor Amanda, who was picked out of an audience of thousands and told by Pastor John Gray that she would see “supernatural increase” in her house in the next 30 days!

PRAISE BREAK!!!!

  • The EIGHT Rock City Youth students who boldly walked to the stage when people called into ministry were requested down front!

PRAISE BREAK!!!!

  • The hotel room full of Rock City Middle School boys who, without being told to, prayed over their friend who felt called into ministry!

When God said No to my big, bold prayer to move to San Salvador in December 2015, He wasn’t saying No to hurt me. He was saying No to things I had planned because He knew that the things HE had planned were so much greater.

Olivia Shank’s first response to my departure delay was, “This means you get to go to Love is Red, right?!” Thank God she was right.

"Day 2 of #LIRConf is in the books and OH EM GEE - these moments are now memories that we will keep and return to often for the REST of our LIVES. God winked at Rock City Youth tonight and has given us a peek into what is to come: the best." -Pastor Amanda
“Day 2 of #LIRConf is in the books and OH EM GEE – these moments are now memories that we will keep and return to often for the REST of our LIVES. God winked at Rock City Youth tonight and has given us a peek into what is to come: the best.” -Pastor Amanda

Click HERE to catch a glimpse of our Love is Red experience and HERE to watch recordings of every worship session and every speaker!

It’s hard out here for a youth leader.
What a way to end conference: “Don’t you dare give up on your path when you are still in process.” FAITH for the MIDDLE :: Robert Madu
Livin’ the dream (for real)
Love Is Red Dress Code.
Four of a kind
Thank you Jesus / Just as I am I come / Hallelujah / Oh what amazing love :: Elevation Worship
Hands up / Heart open
“Day 2 of #LIRConf is in the books and OH EM GEE – these moments are now memories that we will keep and return to often for the REST of our LIVES. God winked at Rock City Youth tonight and has given us a peek into what is to come: the best.” -Pastor Amanda
John Gray spittin’ TRUTH

February 2016 Update

Ashley Ramírez

Hola Hola, Amigos!

Oh my goodness! Where has February gone?! It has been a whirlwind month for me! The month of love was filled with just that – support and encouragement from the people who love me the most. It has been truly sweet!

This month wasn’t a monumental month, although there were a few memorable moments, it was more a month of maintaining. By the beginning of February, my Development Plan was in full swing. I have been more involved in Rock City Youth, I am being challenged weekly in my discipleship lessons with Pam and by mid-February, my counselor affirmed that we were accomplishing what we had set out to do! My favorite part of each week has been spending a few hours at home with my two favorite guys – Dad & Dewey! Last, but definitely not least, are my Spanish lessons! I have a long way to go before I am even close to fluent, but speaking, writing and listening in Spanish is becoming more natural.

Being able to maintain my Development Plan means being able to trust that God has me in the palm of His hand and that He has already mapped out this part of my life. Somewhere right around the middle of the month, being in Columbus no longer felt like being stuck. It began to feel comfortable and I became settled in the situation. I was no longer panicked or anxious about not knowing when I will move to San Salvador. Any obstacle that has been tossed into my path, God has removed in His perfect way. I know that I will move there soon and that whatever happens between then and now, it is all part of God’s plan and His hands are all over my life.

On January 18th, Rock City Church began their annual 21 Day Fast. Rather than giving something up this year, I chose to add something into my life. I didn’t remove anything from my life because I feel like I have been in a season of God taking things from me. He took my plans for leaving in December and He took my control over knowing and deciding when I would leave. So instead of giving up even more when I am already in a season of deprivation, I added in daily, focused prayer time. Every morning at 6am, I crawled out of bed and fell (sometimes literally!) to my knees in an hour of prayer to God. I wanted to be in conversation with God before anyone had a chance to text me, like my Instagram post, tag me on Facebook, or otherwise distract me from my Creator. Some mornings were awesome and the hour would fly by. Other mornings, I tried and failed at praying while sitting up in bed (“I’m awake! I’m listening, God. I’m herrrreee….zzz…”). The fast ended February 7th and to be honest, I was thrilled to have my extra sleep back in the morning. Although I was slightly better rested, my days were less purpose-driven. Not having my morning time with God (even the failed prayer mornings) took away the conviction of knowing that whatever happened, God’s got it under control. So I am now adding that dedicated morning prayer time back into my schedule a few times a week.

One of my favorite nights from February was an evening at Youth Pastor Amanda’s home. The Rock City Youth Core Leadership Team gathered for our monthly Family Dinner Night. We got close & comfy on the couch, shared praises of what has been going well in Youth and what needs modified. But before we got down to business, Amanda’s husband, Josh, joined us to lead us in an acoustic worship session on his guitar. It was such a precious time, sitting with some of my closest friends, giving God all our praise. After a few songs, we each shared where we were feeling weak and could use some extra prayer and we prayed over each other while Josh continued playing in the background. With our hearts out in the open, we were ready for God to make moves through us in the Youth of Columbus. We spoke truth to one another, sang each other’s praises and laughed – a lot. At one point, I stopped talking, stopped laughing, and just took it all in. I have been so very blessed to be surrounded by people who share my heart for Youth Ministry. The leaders of Rock City Youth have been my family for a year and a half. When I stopped to appreciate the moment, I realized once again just how much I am going to miss these people when I move. I completely empathize with Paul when he wrote,

For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1v8

February held an especially sweet memory – Ali Howard returned back home to Columbus! She spent looooong 3 weeks away visiting San Salvador and attending Reliant’s New Staff Training so that she can begin building her ministry team! Ali will be moving to San Salvador full-time to serve at the Children’s Centers in Guayabo and Soyapango. It’s kinda cool to think that she will minister to the children while they are in elementary school and then she will hand them off to me when they’re old enough for youth group! My friendship with Ali was definitely unexpected but quickly turned into one of my most treasured relationships. There hasn’t been one day since we both confessed wanting to move to San Salvador full-time that I haven’t thanked God that we are going through this process together.

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{…and yet, our friendship just works. 💜}

For over a year now, I have had the pleasure of being discipled by my mentor Pam. Two weeks ago, I began taking what she has taught me and pouring it into someone else. Many of you know of Olivia, one of the sophomore Rock City Youth girls that has permanently taken up space in my heart. Olivia loves Jesus with all of her heart and I actually got to baptize her last spring! She is now in a place of her faith journey where she wants to know all she can about God and His Word. This provided a beautiful opportunity for me to practice discipleship from the other point of view! Olivia and I are working our way through the book of Philippians, discussing how Paul’s words speak to us and what confuses us. We are also spending time simply being in awe of a God who can take a man who one was murdering Christians and the next, that same man preached the Gospel and wrote a huge chunk of the New Testament. I am really excited to see where God leads Olivia and me on this journey. I am even more excited to hear how Olivia will take what she learns from our time together and passes it on to someone else. The process of discipleship is truly neverending!

{Discipleship Devotional with Olivia}

 

 

It has taken almost three months, but I am finally resting in God’s plan and actually enjoying it! Until I move to San Salvador, I am continuing to lean into God’s sovereignty and trusting in His word when He tells me,

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8v28

Thank you all for your continued support! Each and every one of you is allowing God to work through you to encourage me to persevere on. The following verse from Hebrews speaks so clearly to me in this season of my life. Because I am surrounded by a cloud of people who love and support me, I am all the more able to banish from my life the evil one’s attempts to slow me down or stop me altogether. It is with your help and your love that I am able to focus on God’s purpose for me, no matter where in the world I am.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Hebrews 12v1

Please Pray:

  • For Rock City Youth as we travel to Canton, Ohio, March 3-5 for Love is Red, a Youth and Young Adult conference with the vision of “developing leaders and inspiring students to know God and to make Him known.” I got to go last year, and it is a beautiful thing to watch students from all over the country raise their arms in surrender to Jesus.
  • Friendships will be built and faiths will be strengthened. As my girl, Olivia Shank said when my departure got delayed, “Hey! This means you get to go to Love is Red, RIGHT?!” Right on, amiga!
  • Next week’s Rock City Youth Night! We will be hosting an anonymous Q&A with a panel of youth leaders!
  • For Ali as she begins building her Ministry Support Team! This season of ministry is one that requires much perseverance, but inevitably draws us closer to God. Sign-up to follow her journey here!
  • Rock City Church’s first mission trip of the year to San Salvador! Our Beyond Our Walls Director, Nate, leaves with a team of missionaries on March 5th to serve the people of San Salvador. Lives are going to be changed! Gracias Dios!
    For continued endurance and the ability to “relax and enjoy the journey in God’s presence.” (Jesus Calling)

be cheerful no matter what // pray all the time // thank God no matter what happens.

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Ashley Ramírez

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My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Philippians 1v20

The book of Philippians is frequently referred to as “The Book of Joy.” This comes off a little counterintuitive because this “book” is actually a letter written by Paul to the people of Philippi while he is in prison. Prison! Paul’s imprisonment required that he be chained to a Roman guard for most of his stay. I can assure you that if I were 1) in prison and 2) chained to a super scary guard, I would be a lot less than joyful. Yet, here’s Paul, making the best of a crappy situation and sharing the gospel with the men he sees on a daily basis.

I can’t relate to Paul in the prison bit (thank you God!), but I can relate to him in the feeling of not being where I want to be. Paul would have much rather been in Philippi helping the people there spread the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection. But, he’s stuck in jail. I would much rather be in San Salvador sharing the Good News of Jesus, but I’m stuck in Ohio. And here’s where Paul and I really differ: Paul is unabashedly courageous in sharing the gospel with those he is with in prison. He writes that the gospel “has become known throughout the whole imperial guard…”¹ Sure, a Roman prison was not where he thought he would be preaching the gospel, but it’s where God put him for the moment.

Sharing the gospel has recently become something I reserved for the mission field of San Salvador. Thoughts fill my head shouting,

  • People won’t judge you in San Salvador! You’re a missionary! You’re supposed to preach the gospel!
  • So many people in San Salvador haven’t heard the true gospel, so they won’t be able to argue with you about it!
  • You’ll have some time before you start sharing the gospel because you won’t be fluent in Spanish yet, so you’ll have time to prepare yourself!

While some of these things may be true, none of them exempt me from sharing the gospel right where I am, in Columbus, Ohio. So often I am actually ashamed of sharing the gospel because I am afraid of what people might think of me, what stereotypes they might label me with and that I might not be able to argue logic with faith. But then I think of the story in the book of Mark² in which four men carry their paralyzed friend on a mat to the home where Jesus was teaching. Realizing there were too many people to get in the front door, they carried this man onto the roof, dug a hole in the roof and gently lowered him down, in front of Jesus’ feet. I am seriously summarizing what happened here, but the point is that they went to serious trouble to get their friend to Jesus. They saw that it would not be easy, but carried on anyways. They knew he had to get to Jesus. These guys did all that, and I’m scared to simply tell some of my closest friends about Jesus and how he saved my life?

And I call myself a missionary…

Paul’s words have become my heartfelt plea before God: Do not allow me to be ashamed about anything, but with boldness, allow my words, my LIFE be honoring to You, Lord! There is no condemnation³, no disapproval from You! Shame comes directly from the pit of Hell and the evil one uses it to pull me away from You. But because Your grace covers my shame, I will not be ashamed. I will not be embarrassed. Rather, I will be convicted, and in this conviction, praise Your Holy Name and share Your Holy Word.

¹ Philippians 1v13

² Mark 2v1-4

³ Romans 8v1

Bloom Where You’re Planted

Ashley Ramírez

I think we all know at this point that three months ago, when I looked ahead to 2016, I saw myself living in San Salvador fulfilling God’s call on my life as a full-time missionary. As it turns out, God did see me doing full-time mission work in San Salvador, but He was on a different timeline than I was. Instead, God’s plan had me on the mission field here in Columbus, Ohio for a little while before sending me south.

Well…okay. Bloom where you’re planted, right? So I dug down, secured my roots and searched for the Son (see what I did there??).

Teenagers can be a very challenging group of humans to work with, let alone love. But I completely believe that God breathed air into my lungs so that I would share His love with students and help them grow into disciples who make disciples. So if I am going to be temporarily planted in Columbus, I am going to serve and lead the people for which God created me.

Our Youth Pastor Amanda recently gave me the responsibility of Leadership Coordinator. For the past few weeks I have been working to find new leaders, begin to discover their strengths and connect them into our ministry. I have been developing and implementing a plan for onboarding the people who have shown interest in Youth Ministry at Rock City Church. This new position required me to be in the church office a few days a week, so not only did I get to take on a new and challenging position, but I have been able to closely watch Pastor Amanda work and learn from her leadership. She has shared with me some of her challenges as a Youth Pastor and allowed me to brainstorm new ideas for how to get students in the door of Rock City Youth (RCY).

Rock City Youth took a break for the month of December. This was a refreshing and much-needed break for our leaders, but it caused our numbers to drop when we returned at the start of 2016. A new tactic for growth presented itself to us just a week ago – the Rock City Youth Telethon! Last Tuesday night, a handful of RCY leaders and students gathered at the offices with a list of 600+ students who had either been to Youth at least once or marked themselves as a high school student on a Sunday Connect Card. Using this list, we divvied up the names and began calling students, informing them of what Rock City Youth is if they had never heard of us, inviting them to come to the next evening’s Youth Night and encouraging our regular students to bring a friend or seven.

Needlesstosay, this experience was productive but had a few oops! There were the students that were no longer in high school – “Oh, congrats on graduating! Got any younger siblings at home?” There were the people who were only in Columbus because they were visiting family – “Oh, okay! Well, were you visiting high school friends? What’s their number??” And there was this response that I got – “Veronica? There ain’t no Veronica here! This is a pizza place!” Lo siento, amigo!

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Rock City Short North // Thank God It’s Youth Night
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Gettin’ fueled up for night of soul-replenishing worship {thanks Annie’s Mom 😘}

Wednesday, Youth Night, came and when the numbers were in, between the Instagrams, Facebook posts, Snapchats (yes, we gave into the Snapchat phenomenon), invite cards and phone calls, we saw a 20-student increase from January to February! GOD IS GOOD!

Youth night, as always, was an amazing night of worship, friendships (new and old!) and a beautiful and hilarious message from Pastor Amanda. We are blessed to be able to use Rock City’s brand new Short North campus for our Youth Nights. This gives us access to a state of the art worship experience and space for our growing population!

I was excited to not only see new student faces, but about 10 new LEADER faces! Much of my connection work is done from behind a computer, so it was a blessing to meet the people attached to the emails! I am seeing Youth Night from a new perspective these days. I was once totally consumed by the student experience, but I now look at it from a new leader point of view, and it is just as amazing. I get to watch leaders fall in love with Youth ministry and get a glimpse of why we do what we do.

Why we do what we do – well, that’s a question for a whole other blog post 😉 But the long and the short of it is that we do Youth Ministry because we live in a fallen world and our culture follows the youth. Teenagers set the tempo for what is cool, what is worth our time and money, and what gets the most time on our social media airwaves. If we can lead students to Jesus, they can lead the world to his heart. It could also be argued that teenagers are the most needing of Jesus’ love, acceptance, and affirmation, but like I said, that’s a post for another day.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 16v5-6

Follow the Rock City Youth fun on Instagram, Facebook, and online!

be cheerful no matter what // pray all the time // thank God no matter what happens.

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// as thunder roars, we’ll shout Your name //
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Karis, one of our new leaders @ RCY
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The Youth Office, where the magic behind the magic happens {I may have taken over Pastor Amanda’s desk for a day while she was out 😬}

Want a little sunshine in your inbox each month? WHO DOESN’T?!?

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Please consider giving. You can get set up in five minutes by clicking the “Give to the Cause” button under my photo or by going to reliant.org/ashley.arend

January 2016 Update

Ashley Ramírez

Hola Hola, amigos!

Considering I started the month having no clue what to expect, January pleasantly surprised me! I moved into a new host family home, Rock City Youth came in like a wrecking ball, and my birthday was the highlight of everyone’s month!

January started out with a move! I am now living with Pam and Brad Boseker. Pam is my discipler (mentor). As part of my Development Plan from Rock City Church, she and I meet at on the couch once a week for a lesson on evangelism, how to study the Bible or we focus on one Bible theme. These lessons with Pam are changing how I view God, how I read the Bible and how I view myself in God’s plan. One-on-one mentor time with Pam is definitely something I would not be getting if I were in San Salvador right now, so I am appreciating that beautiful perk of being stateside! One of the greatest parts of living with my mentor is that I get daily encouragement and support for this unexpected life detour I’m currently in.

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After a month long hiatus, Rock City Youth came back in 2016 with a night of killer worship and a solid message from our Rock City Church Lead Pastor, Chad Fisher. Not only had Youth been on break for a month, but I was in Colorado for the month of November, so it had been since the end of October that I had seen my Youth comrades! Being back with the students laughing, catching up on life and praising God was just what I needed in the midst of my season of uncertainty. Turns out they weren’t so disappointed that I’m still around. 😉

View More: http://rockcityyouth.pass.us/011316

View More: http://rockcityyouth.pass.us/011316

A few weeks ago, Amanda, the Rock City Youth Pastor, and I decided that part of my uneasiness of being in Ohio was that I no longer had a schedule. Fortunately for me, Amanda is one of my more ingenious friends!

We sat down and figured that as a full-time employee of Reliant Mission, I should be working about 40 hours per week. So what am I doing with those 40 hours? My Development Plan from Rock City included:

  • Weekly counseling appointments
  • Twice a week discipleship meetings with Pam
  • Weekly Spanish lessons
  • Rock City Youth Leadership
  • Intentionally deepening my relationship with Dad before leaving the country

We scheduled out the appropriate amount of hours for each of those activities and I was left with about 13 hours to fill.

When I began serving with Rock City Youth, I was put in the position of the 9th-grade girls’ LifeGroup (small group) leader. I absolutely loved this job and it solidified my passion for youth ministry. Since then, I have been moved around a bit to fit the needs of Youth, but I have always been a LifeGroup Leader. Pastor Amanda decided that it was time to up my game and strengthen my building muscles.

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{a few of our 9th (now 10th!) grade girls!}

In Rock City Youth, I was a leader, spending time with the students and committing much of my schedule to connecting with them. I was now going to become a builder. I love being a LifeGroup leader, and honestly, I’m pretty good at it. But the next level, administrative stuff was where my skills were weaker. As a builder, I am building up new leaders to be able to go out and reach the students of Columbus.

I am now the Rock City Youth Leadership Coordinator! Youth is fortunate enough to be rapidly growing with students AND potential leaders. In the past, when someone has expressed interest in leadership, we’ve welcomed them aboard, background checked them and threw them in the pool! But as a growing organization, we need a more official and thorough process of onboarding new leaders. It is now my job to develop that process and implement it with oncoming leaders.

Yeah…I really had no clue how to do that, so this was going to be a challenge. I’m more of a people person – I can convince a brick wall to be my best friend! But coordinating all those friends into a well oiled Youth Leadership machine…?? I didn’t even know where to begin, but I was ready and willing to learn!

Amanda introduced me to a few of the web apps she has been using to organize her Youth Leadership Team. Using these apps, leadership requirements and my own experience as a leader, I got to work developing a process.

This has been a challenge for me because as much as I love being organized, getting organized can often be difficult for me to initiate and maintain. I also know very little about what requirements there are for a person in leadership at Rock City Church and how to accomplish those requirements. I also wanted to make sure we were developing a very clear process so that when I do move to San Salvador, whoever takes my place can simply step in and pick up where I leave off.

Amanda and I have a pretty good system worked out that includes a thorough system from a person’s initial interest to shadowing a Youth Leader Pro to placing the applicant in the best fitting leadership position.

Stepping out of my comfort zone of LifeGroup leadership and into a new, more administrative role isimperative for my future work in San Salvador. A year ago, Jorge, the Iglesia Gran Comisión Youth Director, told me that the leaders of the church had been “praying for someone to come and help with our youth ministry!” With my small group leading abilities and my leader-building skills, I will hopefully be God’s answer to that prayer. Whatever need is the greatest, I will be able to step in and begin to help.

Another immediate need is for someone to help update sponsors of the children in the Development Centers of El Guayabo and Soyapango. We are blessed to have over 200 children sponsored, but that means that there are over 200 people in the States wondering how their child is doing and how their money is helping. I am eager to jump in right away and begin connecting the sponsors to the child they help to support.

I’m spending more time in the Rock City Offices working with Amanda, still accomplishing my Development Plan, and enjoying life with my friends. It’s definitely not the ridiculously, crazy schedule I was maintaining over the summer and it’s not the blank canvas I was struggling to fill last month.

Call me Goldilocks, because this schedule is just right. (ha! I slay myself sometimes!)

OH! The greatest part of the month was my birthday! DUH! On January 21st, I solidified my position as a woman in her thirties by successfully turning 31! WOOOO!!!! As a Christmas gift, Dad and Cathy gave me some money to spoil myself with, so on my birthday, I did just that. I got a massage and a manicure, watched 2 hours of Law & Order: SVU and for the 19th year in a row, the fam went to Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse for dinner! The following night, Dad was kind enough to host a birthday party in his home! I think the last birthday I celebrated with that many teenagers was back when I WAS a teenager! We had a selfie wall (a background for selfies – NOT a wall of selfies of me. Although that would have been clever), Chick-Fil-A chicken and the loveliest cupcakes I think I’ve ever seen! The night was filled with the people I love. It was the perfect end to a perfect birthday.

massage
{ahhh…the massage waiting room – complete with mimosa!}
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{my loves}
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{Dad, Cathy & I at the Selfie Wall!}
KAN
{BFFs 4EVA…somethings never change 😂}
cupcake
{sweet treats}

So. When am I leaving?

I still don’t know anything yet. And believe me, as soon as I do, the entire world will know! There will be a Facebook post, email, blog, cloud writing…believe me, you will know! But here is what I do know, to borrow a snippet from my previous blog post:

“Yet” means that I am still pursuing an answer, that what I am praying for will happen at the right time and that I still have hope. I rest in the truth that just because God is silent on the matter does not mean He does not hear me. God hears my cries and He will answer my prayer of moving to San Salvador. He just hasn’t…yet.

“Because He bends down to listen I will pray as long as I have breath.”

Psalm 116v2

Please Pray:

  • That God would continue to guide the days, weeks, and maybe even months that I am still in Ohio.
  • That people would continue to support my ministry, whether I am stateside or abroad.
  • That Rock City Youth would continue to grow! I recently discovered that “Make Out Calendars” are a thing, so it is evident to me that this generation is desperate for unending love and the only place they will find it is in the arms of their heavenly Father. This world needs youth ministry.
  • For growth in the Iglesia Gran Comisión (San Salvador church that I will be working for) Youth Program! The needs of youth are not specific to our country. The Salvadoran youth are just as desperate for love and acceptance and the church’s youth ministry is working diligently to point them towards Jesus.
  • That my Dad and I would continue to have quality time together and that through it, our relationship would continue to strengthen.

I would also love to pray for you! Please text me or call me letting me know what your prayer needs are. Rock City Church is on Day 12 of a 21 Day Fast. Rather than taking something away, I am adding something in to my life. Every morning at 6am, I am waking up before the sun for an hour of pure prayer. No devotional, no journal, not even my Bible – just me and God in the quiet stillness of the morning. It would be a privilege to include your prayers and praises in my new morning ritual.

be cheerful no matter what // pray all the time // thank God no matter what happens.

Want a little sunshine in your inbox each month? WHO DOESN’T?!?

Click this link to get signed up for my monthly email updates ➳ You’ve Got Mail!

Please consider giving. You can get set up in five minutes by clicking the “Give to the Cause” button under my photo or by going to reliant.org/ashley.arend

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No Answers Yet

Ashley Ramírez

ashley_blog-no-answers-yetTuesday started out as a perfectly lovely day. Granted, it was 6am and I could barely actually see the day, but I knew it was going to be good. I had woken up early to join a few close friends at church for an early morning prayer meeting. Corporate prayer, people praying together, is a mighty powerful thing. It’s one thing to know the prayers that I am praying, but it is a whole other level of beautiful when someone gets down on their knees and echos my prayer. So even if it means waking up before the sun, it’s worth it to start my day in conversation with God and His people.

Another reason I wanted to begin my day by handing it over to God was because Tuesday was shaping up to be a very good, but very busy day. I needed to know that the day was God’s and He had His eyes on me. When I got back home after the prayer meeting for a few hours of Bible reading, I received a message from my friend Brittany. “Let me know when we can reschedule for!” Umm…what? Our 2:30pm coffee date had been in my calendar and confirmed for a week! I wasn’t cancelling!

“Let me know when we can reschedule for!”

“Why are we rescheduling?”

“You sent me an email canceling?”

“No? I didn’t mean to! My calendar has been acting up! But I’m still available today if you are!”
“Oh seriously!!?!?! Nuts!!! I told my cousin I could pick her up from school at 3pm because I thought you cancelled!!”
I had been noticing that Sunrise, my iPhone and Mac desktop calendar app, had been on the fritz lately. My phone would have certain events scheduled while my computer had ruthlessly deleted them! #rude
I reached out to Amanda, my super cool, techy friend who introduced me to Sunrise, to see if she was having similar problems. She was, so we both began to Google their website to send Sunrise a strongly worded Tweet. Simultaneously, we stumbled across this headline of horror:

Microsoft Announces Plans to Discontinue the Popular Sunrise Calendar App

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

WHY GOD, WHY?????

DO YOU EVEN LOVE US????

Ok. Let me quickly explain why this was just devastating news – Amanda and I, and many of our friends, LOVE that app. Number 1, it’s pretty. And we’re all about the pretty. It’s easy to use. It syncs your calendars from iCloud, your Google account, Facebook, all of ’em. It allows you to quickly and easily invite people to appointments. It had an iPhone app AND a desktop app. Most calendar apps only have one or the other. It only cost a few bucks in the App Store. And dang, it was pretty!

For the time being, my Bible time had been pushed aside in favor of finding a new calendar app, because if I don’t have a working calendar, how will I even know when I have time for Bible time?!?

Amanda and I Googled. We Pinterested. We found ugly calendars from 2013. We found ovulation calendars. We found Make Out Calendars (side note: THAT is why we need Youth Ministry!). After almost 2 hours of searching and coming up empty-handed, the question remained:why

Well, isn’t that just the story of my life the past 2 months?!

“Hey Ashley! Soooo…you’re still here! Why?”

“No Answers Yet”

“Hey Ashley! It’s been 2 months, when are you headed to San Salvador?”

“No Answers Yet”

“Hey Ashley! Has anyone given you any idea, even a ballpark, of when you’ll be able to move?”

“No Answers Yet”

But that is just how God works sometimes. We pray and we pray and we pray, but God is silent. I have begged of Him, God, please! Just send me already! I’ve done everything I know to do! When is it my time? Silence. Ok, God, fine. Make me wait. I will wait. But can you just tell me how long I have to wait? Please don’t leave me in this tunnel! Give me a light at the end! Silence.

So I wait in the tunnel. But what’s that noise?? Hello?? “OH HEYYYY FRIENDS! You brought me a present? I LOVE presents! It’s a flashlight…That’s actually just what I needed! Now I can see in this darkness! And a To-Do list? You know I love a project and a plan! What’s that? Oh! A cozy, little nook in the tunnel for me to live in! I guess I’ll just cuddle up here on the floor…A bed! Oh…that’s niiiice! Well, it’s still kinda dark in this tunnel, but now it’s kinda livable! Thanks guys!”

There is a big, over-arching part of my life that is uncertainty. Darkness. But God has not left me alone in that darkness. He is fighting for me. He knows what I want and He knows what I need. Obviously, I want to know when I will move to San Salvador! But do I need to know? Well, since God hasn’t told me yet, I guess I don’t. God doesn’t show us His love for us by giving in to all of our wants. Like a good Father, He shows his love for us by making sure our needs are taken care of first and then He tackles our wants. Can I trust the God of the Universe, the Creator, the One who knows all and sees all to know which of my wants are best for me? Well, when you put it that way…yes, of course. But do I also get frustrated when I cry, pray, and plead for a timeline and instead of opening the clouds, tapping me on the shoulder and yelling, “ASHLEY! Hey! Yeah! It’s me! That date you wanted to know? April 3rd! Ok, talk to you later!” God remains silent on the issue? Of course.

While I was at Missionary Training International in Colorado, I learned the importance of the word “Yet.”

  • “This culture doesn’t make sense to me…yet.”
  • “I haven’t learned how to do my new job…yet.”
  • “I don’t know how to speak Spanish…yet.”

“Hey Ashley! It’s been 2 months, when are you headed to San Salvador?” I don’t know…YET.

“Yet” means that I am still pursuing an answer, that what I am praying for will happen at the right time and that I still have hope. I rest in the truth that just because God is silent does not mean He does not hear me. God hears my cries and He will answer my prayer. He just hasn’t…yet.

Because He bends down to listen I will pray as long as I have breath

Psalm 116v2

 

December 2015 Update

Ashley Ramírez

Hola Hola, amigos!

Ok, you’re still here. So what now? This is the question I have both been asked the most and asked God the most over the past month. A little over a month ago, I was ready to move to San Salvador to begin my full-time mission work. But God had other plans and it was decided by all parties (Reliant Mission, Gran Comisión San Salvador and Rock City Church) that I was to wait a little longer before moving to San Salvador.

My support raising is done (YAY GOD!) and most of my stateside requirements have been taken care of. My delay is due to things of a more spiritual and emotional nature. My logistics may be ready, but is my heart ready? Is my family ready? The honest, hard to say aloud answer to that question is, Ehhh….probably not. It’s hard to admit that my body, heart and soul are not ALL ready because I so badly want to be ready. I wanted to “GO! And MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS!” I wanted to go to Infinito (Central American Youth Conference that began on December 26th) with the Salvadoran youth and watch as God changed hearts and Latino youths raised their arms in full surrender to Him. I wanted to celebrate Christmas with fireworks! And selfishly, I wanted to celebrate my winter, January birthday on the beach, surrounded by my Salvadoran amigos.

But what I really want, above it all, is to live according to God’s plan for my life. Now, that isn’t hard to say, but doing it, that…that takes some serious trust.
God, what if I don’t make it to San Salvador by February?
Trust Me.God, what if I don’t have a place to live?
Trust Me.

God, what if I lose supporters?
Trust Me.

God, what if I don’t make it to San Salvador in 6 months?
Trust Me.

God, WHAT IF…?
Trust Me!

WHAT IF God is who He says He is? WHAT IF He is our Hope? WHAT IF HE is God Emmanuel, God With Us? Savior? God?

Well, if that’s all true, then I have no reason not to trust Him. And it is so very true. God is the reason I have hope. He has always provided just what I need, just when I need it. Prime example – at only a month old, God placed me in the arms of my parents, Tom and Lois, who from that day on would love and care for me beyond what anyone could have asked or expected. They adopted me and from that day forward, I was theirs and they were mine. God was faithful to my needs and to the desires of their hearts. Since the day I was born, God has been with me. And He remains at my side, whispering, Ashley, my sweet child, don’t you see how I took care of you then? I am faithful. You are Mine and I will continue to care for you. Trust Me.

God IS who He says He is. Therefore I will trust in Him.

Back to the original question…what now?

Well, most of my days are completely unscheduled. What was once a calendar filled with support meeting after support meeting is now a blank canvas. But before I allow myself to start forming a plan in my head for the day, I spend just a few brief moments with God, relinquishing my day to Him.

I am working closely with Nate Eckhart (Rock City Missions Director) and John Ransom (Rock City Executive Pastor) to decide how my extra days stateside should be spent.

I am continuing weekly Spanish lessons with Andrea Ramos, mimaestra de español  muy hermosa. My true learning will come once I am in San Salvador, but these lessons help me to be as prepared as possible before I move.

I am also continuing to meet with PamBoseker once a week for Discipleship. These are serious, hardcore Bible studies. I can freely admit that as a missionary, one of my weaknesses is my Bible knowledge. Pam is helping me to become better read, to memorize more key evangelism verses and to understand just what the heck does THAT even mean?! Pam is not only my Bible Study teacher, but she is also my spiritual mentor as well. As I walk through this season of trusting God more deeply than ever before, Pam has helped to teach me to still the evil voices in my head and reminded me time and time again of God’s faithfulness. As many of you know, my mother passed away 5 years ago from endometrial cancer. Over the past year, Pam has truly become a mother to me. She dries my tears when I feel like the earth beneath me is collapsing, she sings praises when my prayers are answered and she puts me in my place when I’m just being a downright dunderhead. She has blessed my life and will forever be in my heart.

pam

I have added in weekly sessions with a Christian, faith-based counselor. If I’m not sure that my head and heart are ready for this move, I figured I’d better ask a professional. We have only met twice and I am so excited to see how God uses her to grow me.

And best of all, I am using my extra time to love on my dad. As anyone can imagine, this move will be the hardest on him. I am an only child, his only little girl and I am moving to place completely unfamiliar to him. I will miss Dad most of all. He is my only Dad and my only living parent. Losing Mom was a season of brokenness, and I think this feels a little like loss all over again for us both. So the extra time has been a beautiful blessing. We get together weekly to share a meal and talk. Our Christmas this year spread across three days, was filled with laughter, Dad’s amazing cooking and will forever be imprinted in my memory. My unexpected time with Dad has been incredibly worth the moving delay.

Dad Christmas

The end of November and entirety of December has been spent living with my best friend Kristen, her husband Trai and their 19-month-old son, Dominick. They were incredibly gracious to let me stay with them. I got to bond with Dominick in a way that I know I will never forget and I hope just a smidgen of our time together remains in his memory.

dom
On New Year’s Eve, I will transition to one of my two part-time homes. Let me explain:

Doug Shank, a Rock City Youth Dad, has two girls, Olivia and Tatum. For most of the past school year, on Wednesdays, I would pick them up from school and we would hang out until Youth. As you can imagine, this created a pretty awesome friendship between the Shanks and me. Doug now has a work client that requires him to travel to Alabama Monday – Thursday (don’t ask me what he does. And DEFINITELY don’t ask Tatum 😉 ). Because he is gone those four days, the girls need a live-in caretaker. And since I need a place to live, I have agreed to play the part of the older and super cool sister by staying with Olivia and Tatum at their home Sunday night through Thursday evening. When Doug gets home, I will head to Pam and Brad Boseker’s home for a few days of rejuvenation. I am so excited for this because it is an opportunity to live with some of my best girlfriends and to live with my mentor and teacher – an opportunity I would not have had if I had moved to San Salvador this month, as was “the plan!”

 

Thanks to my monthly supporters, I have begun to receive a paycheck from Reliant Missions! This will help me to support the people housing me and with my stateside expenses. To all of you that have been and are continuing to support me with a monthly gift, THANK YOU. One of my biggest concerns when I was told that I would mot be moving in December was how I would support myself. Reliant decided that although I am not yet on the field working, everything I am doing here is preparing me for my ministry. Soon, I will also hopefully begin to help Pastor Victor, the pastor at Gran Comisión San Salvador, with things that can be done from afar.

Your gifts are helping to ensure that I am as ready as possible for this life-changing move and that once I am on Salvadoran ground, I will be as effective as possible.

Thanks to those of you that have given special, one-time gifts, my account is ready for when I am given the go-ahead! Your support allows me to purchase a plane ticket, helps cover the cost of my work visa and provides money for other, miscellaneous moving out and moving in expenses.

And my Prayer Warriors! Those of you that have been praying and encouraging me, THANK YOU. You are the reason I am not drowning in this time of uncertainty. You have asked God to provide money, a home, peace of heart and many other things I may never know about. Thank you. Keep it up!

This is all nice and good, Ash, but WHEN ARE YOU MOVING??

Believe me, I wish I knew. When I move will be a decision made by Rock City Church’s leaders. I am still going, I just don’t know when yet. I assume nothing and I am planning nothing…yet. But I am hoping to move in a few months. But I am trusting that God will reveal His timing to me. I will keep you all updated as time goes on and when decisions are made.

I call a woman for My purpose from a far off country.
Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.

Isaiah 46v11

Please Pray:

  • That God would continue to provide for my needs, both known and unknown
    • For the few nights that I will be spending at Pam & Brad’s, I am without a bed! My dad has a fancy, indoor air mattress that I can borrow, but if anyone has even a spare mattress I can throw on the carpet, that would be such a blessing!
  • That I would be able to trust God’s timing and His plan. I desire peace that surpasses understanding.
  • For God to put people in my life who will help me to be God’s hands and feet in San Salvador by financially supporting me. Even though I have reached my goal, a little buffer would be amazing.
  • That Rock City Youth’s January 13th kickoff would bring back familiar faces and bring in new kids, eager to feel God’s love in their lives.
  • That God will continue to open the hearts and minds of each person I am blessed to share my story with
  • PRAISE! On December 26th, a bus filled with 36 Salvadoran youth left for Infinito in Honduras! As I write this, they are on their way home. Most of them have not had cell phone service outside of their home country, but I understand it was 3 days filled with amazing worship, wise speakers, and an opportunity to serve the Honduran people. One of San Salvador’s own, Emilio, was one of the worship singers for the 2nd year in a row! Infinito hosted a baptism last night, and many lives were entrusted into God’s hands. YAY GOD!

san sal

emilio

be cheerful no matter what // what pray all the time // thank God no matter what happens.

Want a little sunshine in your inbox each month? WHO DOESN’T?!?

Click this link to get signed up for my monthly email updates ➳ You’ve Got Mail!

Please consider giving. You can get set up in five minutes by clicking the “Give to the Cause” button under my photo or by going to reliant.org/ashley.arend

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This is The Day

Ashley Ramírez

ashley_blog-this-is-the-day

Today was my day. Well, today was supposed to be my day. The day everything changed. The day I left Columbus, Ohio with tears of sadness for the people I would leave behind. The day I stepped onto Salvadoran ground with tears of joy for the people God would touch through me. Today was going to be the day I changed my Facebook country of residency from The United States to El Salvador (because we all know it’s not really real until it’s on Facebook).

Today is not my day. Today, I sit in on a couch in Columbus, Ohio. Today, I long for my Salvadorans. Today, I meditate on what the apostle Paul preached and I practice walking by faith and not by sight.

Today is not my day.

One month ago today, November 23rd, I purchased a one-way plane ticket to San Salvador, El Salvador. I found the perfect ticket with the perfect departure time (so long as I didn’t mind kissing friends and family goodbye at 5am!), the perfect landing time, the perfect window seat and the perfect amount of free checked luggage. But if I am being honest with myself and with all of you, it didn’t quite feel perfect. But nevertheless, leaving at the end of December was the plan! I’d be in San Salvador for Christmas, I’d make it to the youth conference with the Salvadoran youth and I’d finally have my dream beach birthday in January! Nevermind that something felt a little off, the plan was coming together!

My plan.

Since the beginning of this journey, I pleaded with God to stop me in my tracks if moving to San Salvador to become a full-time missionary was a road not meant for me. I prayed, God, open the doors that will get me to San Salvador. But if this is not Your plan for me, shut the doors. Slam them. Lock them. Holy Spirit Super Glue them closed because (like He didn’t already know,) I will knock DOWN a door if what I want is on the other side. Father, make it hurt so that I learn my lesson. 

Proof that God hears my prayers: This hurts. I believe with my entire heart and spirit that God will get me to San Salvador. But I was on a road of my own planning and my own paving. And just as I asked, God gave me an obvious and painful detour. Telling my Salvadorans that I am not sure when I will be moving broke my heart. Explaining to supporters that my plans had been shaken up and that “this happens all the time in missions!” felt like slowly pulling off a scab each time it happened. Shouting at God in my moments of despair and frustration felt like an act I didn’t have the right to do.

I  don’t have any concrete answers yet as to why God still has me here in Ohio, but what I do have is healing. What was initially an excruciating pain is now a dull ache. The initial shock has worn off and I have settled into this new phase of my journey. The truth is, I may never know until I see God face-to-face why He has me on this particular detour.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.’
Lamentations 3v22-24

Because I know that God loves me beyond measure, I do not let my feelings of uncertainty and frustration overtake my spirit. Of course, I have moments when I wonder if God even knows what He’s doing up there. In these moments, I must make it a practice to close my eyes, envision God’s hands tenderly cupping my face and hear Him lovingly whisper, Little girl, didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see my glory? And I do believe. Even when it doesn’t make sense, I believe. God’s compassion for my weak spirit will never fail. He will continue to whisper His truths to my heart and the glory of His plans will be revealed to me.

My motto this month has been “I don’t ‘Be still and wait!'” I am wonderfully made by God and He made me a planner. I love a good, solid plan. Most of my plans are set in stone because it’s pretty dang difficult to erase stone carvings. Knowing that God has purposely placed me in a season of “Be still and wait” doesn’t exactly go along with my plans. But what choice do I have other than to do as I have been told? Bitterness against the people deciding when I can go to San Salvador will only cause me regret. Dreams of what could have been only wound my heart deeper. And making my own plan, outside of God’s will, certainly is no longer an option.

Because God is all I need, I will wait on His timing.

Because God bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath.†

And because He saved my soul, I will give Him all of my days.

Today is not my day.

Whatever plan for the day I come up with pales in comparison to the plan that God has already written for me. I trust that He knows my heart, knows my desires and as long as I keep my eyes on Him, whether I am seated on a plane headed to San Salvador or cuddled up on my best friend’s couch in Ohio, today is God’s day, and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

† Psalm 116v2