Well, it has been awhile since i have been on here and i am so sorry for that. We have been out visiting as many people as possible. Boy, did we have a great time in North Carolina. I wish we could have seen so many more people than we did and spent more time with the people we were able to see. The first part of our journey was in the Outer Banks with our family which was so much fun. A house was provided for us to stay in right next to the beach with a pool. It was so nice to have a pool and the days it was too hot for the beach.  Cai learned to do a little swimming and gained a love for jumping in the water thanks to Aunt Stacey. We were so blessed to have time with our families away from the business of everyday life.

After our week at the beach we started our long trip to Charlotte. This trip took us 10 hours with three crazy children, one who was nursing every four hours. LONG TRIP!!! We were very excited about getting to Charlotte because of all the people we were going to get to see. I (Ashley) most of all was excited because we got to stay with my best friend and her family for two weeks. We had dreamed about our kids playing together and now they were doing it everyday. We are so thankful for their hospitality and most of all their faithful friendship. We also are so thankful for those who went out of their way, changed schedules, and welcomed us into their homes. We were so blessed with good food, great conversation, encouragement, lots of laughs,  and just restful time with friends! We wish we could have stayed longer and saw more people. Matt also had a great time reuniting with his discipleship group boys and some of their families. It was awesome to see how the boys are maturing into strong men in the faith. They had a lot of laughs and great conversation; white water rafting, mountain biking, playing Wii, playing golf, and even  some Frisbee golf! We were also given the opportunity to speak at Fairbluff Bible Chapel and with all our friends about the ministry the Lord has given us and all the other workers in reaching Nepal for His glory! It was a lot of fun and a great privilege. Thank you all for all you have done for us especially during these two weeks, we feel blessed and refreshed!

The last part of our trip before returning to Ohio was a stop in New Jersey. I wish i had pictures to share with you  from this trip but our camera sadly was ran over and the pictures were not saved. But we did have a great time with my family. We were able to get lots of doctors appointments done and the boys even went to the dentist for the first time. Wasn’t too bad! Soriah was healthy and almost 10 lbs.  We also had a girls night out with my mom, sister, Soriah, and I. We got Soriah’s ears pierced!!! She did great and looks so beautiful. Once again it was hard to say goodbye to the family but were so blessed with the time we had with them even though it was short and are excited to go back to them in November for the remainder of our time in the states.  We are also so thankful for my mom who found us plane tickets for $50!!! It was so nice to get to Ohio in just over one hour instead of 13.

We are now in Ohio and getting settled in. I have joined a Bible study at Matt’s church and am loving some interaction with older women and little time away from all the children. We have started some packing and shopping so that our time in NJ is not full of that. I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed with it all and very excited too. It has been a long time away. Don’t get me wrong we are loving being with our families though. Matt has faithfully been working on language and an earthquake pamphlet that will be presented with the Gospel.  We are also trying to look for a safer place to live…earthquake safer that is.  Please pray for our children as we are sure this will be a harder transition then last time for them.  We were also able to talk to our Pastor in Nepal the other day and they also are asking for prayer for their health and ministry. Also pray that we will take advantage of our time here in America left with family, friends, good food, and simple conveniences; but most of all that we will be faithfully working for the Lord and to further Nepal with the Gospel!

We want to thank you all for how much you have blessed us during out time in the states.

Well, this past weekend we entered the  Safari of Ohio! Mamaw and Papaw thought a trip to the Wilds would be a fun touch on summer and boy were they right. The Wilds is a 10,000 acre safari of wild and endangered animal, right here in Columbus Ohio!! We got to ride in an open air bus and learn about and see all kinds of animals. Like bison, donkeys from Iran, giraffes, camels, African cats, painted dogs, rhinos (which are actually from NEPAL!!), and so much more. It was a great time to be with those we love and enjoy the beautiful creation God has given us.  A few pictures for your viewing pleasure…

This week was also Matt and I’s fourth wedding Anniversary. I can not believe it has been four year…wow time flies! When i married Matt i never knew all the Lord was going to do and how happy one person could make me. In four years we have had three children (beautiful i might add),  traveled the world together, served the Lord together, grown together, struggled together, and learned to love  a way we never thought possible. We are thankful for Christ’s example of how we are to love and respect one another and we are daily striving to live out this example. We are also so thankful for all of you who have blessed us, taught us, and have displayed this God honoring example.

So on to the last one…Vacation!!! This week we are going to reunion vacation with all of Matt’s family in the wonderful Outer Banks.  We are looking forward to and hoping for lots of sun, beautiful beaches, good food, fun with the fam, and much time to share Christ with those we love.  Please pray for our trip we are leaving tonight and it should take us about 14hours with a nursing baby. Which anyone who has any children knows this could be quite painful. We are also heading to Charlotte after this trip and we are very excited about seeing you all while there.  Pictures to come!

Wow, I can not believe this day has come. Before Soriah was ever thought of our plan was to come home for Matt’s brother Tyler’s wedding (Soriah just became an added bonus).  The love they share has been growing for eight years…that is longer than i even know Matt!! Crazy to think about. But Matt and I are blessed to have gained a wonderful new sister in law and a new aunt for the kiddos. Tyler and Stacey are an amazing couple and we were so excited to share in their special day.  This was exciting and nervous to me as a mom because i got to watch and push an adorable first born down the aisle. Cai was their  ring bearer and i would love to tell you he did a great job, but i will just have to tell you he was the second handsomest man there to my husband (sorry Ty…i am a little partial). After a wonderful rehearsal it ended up the morning of that i had to push him to the doors to enter the church and then Matt had to come down the aisle and give him a pep talk, but instead of nicely walking down the aisles with his father he kicked and screamed the whole way down. I think they picked the wrong son to be the ring bearer because i had Cai crying because he didn’t want to go down and then i had Korby crying because i wouldn’t let him go down the aisle. Anyway, other than the fit, the whole day was beautiful. During the reception Matt was given the opportunity to share his best man speech, where he shared God’s purpose for marriage and how Christ is our example and His love for the church. Well, of course Matt used this opportunity to share Christ with everyone there. What a blessing to be able to share in a wedding and also share Christ. Well, as always i will leave you with some pictures of the beautful day and my beautiful children.

Wow! Two weeks have flown by faster than i can believe. So yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July with my family and we also celebrated two weeks of our sweet little girls life. With many bumps in the rode i feel or should i say  I hope we are moving towards some smooth sailing. Soriah ended up staying in the hospital one extra night which felt like torture to mom, but we survived and Soriah was able to come home a little healthier. We had her jaundice checked the following day and found that her scores went back up, so they put her on a formula diet for 12 hours and if it didn’t go down she would have to go back to the hospital. With lots of you praying along side of us, our little girl was able to stay home and her scores are continually going down. The Lord really has blessed us with a great addition to our family.

During all this craziness Micaiah was also able to have his surgery done for his hernia. The doctors all said he did a great job. We have found that telling Micaiah that he has done a “good job” is vital and goes a long way. But we praise the Lord his hernia is gone and that he never had to experince any pain from it.

As for an update on Nepal, things are still growing more and more difficult for believers over there. We have heard from other workers in Nepal that the Nepali believers are becoming fearful for their safety and lives. The threat is still out against believers by a hindu extremist group, though we have not heard of any more attacks lately.  Please continue to pray for the country as a whole and also for the believers there to stand strong in the Lord.  Also while we were in Nepal we were doing some mu*slim mapping but since we had to leave so quickly we hired some men from our church and a few campus crusaders to complete this project. This has been going great but we ask you to pray for them. For their safety but also that there work will be done diligently and accurately. Though the research was for our visa our ultimate goal is to benefit ours and others’ ministry among mu*slims. Prayer, Prayer, Prayer! Thank you all for your faithful prayers!

Well, as i have said many times, we have been waiting patiently to get to go see Matt’s family and that time has finally come. We are leaving tomorrow after Micaiah and I have our follow-up appointments. Some of you may not know but we have decided to extend our trip in the states until the end of November because of the short amount of time we have had with our family in Ohio and our friends in North Carolina. So we are sad to leave our family in New Jersey and look forward to seeing them again in a few months, but are very excited for us and our kids to enjoy the other half of our family. Plus we know Mamaw and Papaw cannot wait to get their hands on all three of their grandbabies! We also have Matt’ s brother’s wedding this month which both Micaiah and Matt are in. Don’t worry i will be posting many pictures of Cai in his tux…it is so cute! But for now i will leave you with just a few pictures from the last two weeks.

Hello World!!

Soriah Janelle

Born June 20, 2009

6lb 10oz and 19in

Soriah was born two weeks early because of my placenta previa and also because of low fluid. She had to go to the special care nursery for her respiration, low blood count and now her jaundice. Since her jaundice was so high in the first 24 hours we have not gotten to hold her, dress her, or even love on her much. She did start nursing yesterday and is doing great with it. I actually weighed her this morning after she ate and she is now 7lb 1oz!!! She is such a happy, good baby. We were hoping to go home today as you can imagine the rest of the family is longing for our return (Cai and Korby that is) and because her jaundice was stable there was a chance. But after her morning blood work it has gone up quite a bit, so we are waiting. Please pray for her to heal quickly. It breaks my heart to think of leaving the hospital without her and I have to leave by tomorrow night. Thank you to all of those who have been praying for us during this pregnancy and please continue to pray as both Soriah and I heal from this. Also pray for my boys, they are in great hands, but they miss us and my sweet hardworking hubby has not stopped. Pray the Lord gives him strength. Thank you all!

Well, she is still not here. Last week we had our Amnio to check the maturity of her lungs and as of last week they were not ready. So we have kept her in a whole  ‘nother week and we are going tomorrow morning for another Amnio testing. Thankfully this is a very easy, quick, and painless test. So sometime tomorrow evening we will know if she is ready. Since my pregnancy is considered high risk and they do not want me to go into labor I have a scheduled c-section for Monday the 22nd. I am hoping the sooner the better but we want her to be healthy and ready. As for everyone else, they are doing great. Working hard to make this last week for me go as fast as possible. Korban’s leg is completely healed and Cai’s burn is almost completely healed and we do not have to go to the burn center anymore. Though he does still have to have his hernia surgery and that is scheduled the day after my c-section. I hate that i will not be there with him; but his amazing papa will be. It is a quick , easy, same day surgery; but pray for him. Thankfully we have lots of help and Soriah decided to wait until the end of school to come so we will have even more help! Well, please be praying for us tomorrow and through the week. Hopefully the next time you hear from us we will be telling you that our sweet little Soriah has arrived.

As you can tell by the last few post we are very happy to be back in America and know this is where the Lord wants us at the time but it is still so difficult to be away from the people we love and the country the Lord has given us at this time to minister to. I wanted you guys to have some idea of what is going on in Nepal right now so you could better pray for them while we are away. I am copying a letter from one best friends and team mate in Nepal. To read more of her updates go to www.reachsouthasia.blogspot.com.

Today started out as a very normal day in church. I was super excited because Johnny, one of the team leaders from the team from liberty was going to preach and I have heard He is an awesome speaker. We were in the middle of singing How great thou art when I noticed someone come in and get Shyam. I did not think much about it until someone that I did not know with a motorcyle helmet who looked very obviously shaken came to the microphone. They stopped singing and in nepalee he shared that He was a member of the Catholic church up the road and the church had just been bombed and He was coming to warm the churches. Then He went on to say that other bombs had been planted in area churches. He was very obviously shaken up. He went on to say they believed that a Hindu extremist group had planted bombs targeting Christians. I must admit that is when my heart began to race and I begin to feel fear. But as quickly as that came, then an AMAZIING peace filled my soul. This is when your faith becomes real. In a moment like this you must decide is What I believe worth it? Is who i believe in worth it? You read about this in books– but in a moment like this you must decide.

In that moment I decided without a doubt YES. What I believe is worth it. Who I believe in IS worth it. God is real and so is my faith. I had such a peace flood my soul. Shyam came to the microphone and we began to pray for those that were at the church. Then we continued singing How GREAt thou Art (in nepalee) In that moment again I could truly SAY HOW GREAT THOU ART– that I serve a God who is Real and true and the only God who can make sense out of tragedy. I was amazed to see the reponse of the church as we continued worshipping. Then Johnny got up to speak and give His sermon (hard to give under these circumstances huh!) I will never forget His sermon. It was about 5 minutes worth before we had to stop– but He read from 2 Thessalonians 1: 3(B) We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,[a] as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4Therefore(C) we ourselves boast about you(D) in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith(E) in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
The Judgment at Christ’s Coming 5This is(F) evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be(G) considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6since indeed God considers it(H) just(I) to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7and to grant(J) relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when(K) the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven

He was about to expound on this when the police came and said for safety we must end the service. We ended with a quick hymn and dispersed. I was again amazed at the peace God provided.

It turns out the bombs that went off int he catholic church killed a 14 yaer old friend of one of our church members, a 30 year and injured many others. I had just met one of the catholic priests from there at a wedding wedensday. He is badly injured with His face partially blown away. Please pray for all of those involved. Please pray for those that committed this act. It is unconfirmed yet if other bombs were found, but no others went off praise the Lord. I truly believe God protected our church and it’s people. All of this happened hours before another new comm*unist leader was inagurated as prime minister.

God is on the move here, and Satan is mad. But we know that we are ON the WINNING team.
We finished out a normal day. we went on with a planned soccer outreach with the liberty team. I know God got great glory as the liberty studetns shared the gospel with the team at 1/2 time. God is the victorious one. I am so glad that I have a faith in a God that is REAL.
Please continue to pray for nepal, those who were at the church today and for all the christians here. And please DON’T worry!
Oh Lord How Great thou ART!

Well, after a couple more doctors appointments and a trip to a specialist it is confirmed that I have a complete placenta previa. This means my placenta is covering my cervix which means we are looking at a c-section in probably around three weeks or less. I am having another ultrasound on the 29th of May just in case a miracle happens and the placenta moves up but if not i have a scheduled amnio on the 11th of June. The amnio will show us whether the lungs are ready for delivery. If they are we will most likely schedule the c-section right away. The doctor has said that he does not want me to go past 37 weeks because of the chance of me going into labor. Because this condition is considered high risk i am pretty much settled on the couch. With placenta previa there is always a chance of bleeding turning to hemerroging, and even premature labor; so we have to be very careful. Last night was my first experince bleeding since returning to the states, so after a couple hours at the emergency room in the middle of the night i was sent home because i was not contracting and the bleeding was starting to subside. But for next 24 hours i am not allowed to do anything but lay, in hopes that it will stop all together. If not we will be back to the hospital to continue monitering and maybe bedrest there (which we are trying to avoid). So for now i sit and pray. Please continue to pray for us and our little sweet Soriah. We don’t want her to come yet just a few more weeks to let her cook a little longer and get a little stronger. Sorry it took so long for this update but these last two months have not gone as we had planned. Pray for our families also as some are away from us and some are working hard taking care of us. We are so thankful for the blessing both of our families have been to us.  We are also thankful for all of you. We cannot wait to share our sweet Soriah with you all.

For all of you who faithfully pray for us, I am asking you to be extra faithful this week. Is that possible? Anyway, this Tuesday morning i am going for my ultrasound at 11. This ultrasound will show the placement of my placenta, which will than determine where i can deliver my baby. For those who do not know i am trying to give birth at a birth center (more like a home birth) but if my placenta has not moved up then i will have to then find a doctor and deliver in a hospital. I want to do whatever is best for a safe and healthy deliver for our baby girl but i really really want to do it at this birth center. Once i have this ultrasound i will meet with my midwife again on the 4th of May.  We also would still like to get out to Ohio to see the Hamilton side of the family, which all depends on how this week goes. And lastly Korby has a week and a half left in the cast (May 6th it comes off)…he is such a good sport! A pretty dirty one though! So we have a week full of appointments which we hope and pray is surrounded in prayer. I cannot tell you how much your faithfulness to pray for our family and ministry has meant to Matt, myself, our babies, and all thoughs we have the privilage of ministering to. I will write more when i get any kind of update. We are having a blast seeing the ones we love here, and are missing the ones we love and left for a time in Nepal! Pictures to come soon!