11 days left in the US!

dear friends!
it's been so long since i have last updated, but i figured I'd better squeeze in one last blog before this season of my life comes to a close. I've had an extremely bittersweet bundle of emotions the last week to say the least. I'm so ready to be home for a week yet so not ready for this season of my life to come to be officially over. I will never get this dynamic EVER again in my life. no matter how much i try, I'll never get this same atmosphere again. Yet, i know that i didn't come to discipleship training school to sit around and never become a real disciple. Now that this season is ending, it's time to do my duties- make disciples.

i will never be able to express to you all what an amazing three months this has been for me. i have met Jesus face to face, and completely changed my view of things in this world. I realize now MORE of who He really is, and i say more because with that there is even more to learn. i have found my identity in Christ. I have, for the first time, really taken the time to ask Him what He thinks about me. Who does He say I am? I've had revelation after revelation of how much He loves me, and it overwhelms me. His mercies really are new EVERY morning. His love really WONT ever change. He really does have GREAT plans for my life, and i trust Him with that. God is good. And i want the prayer of my life to be that i will praise Him in both the good times and the bad, for He has made them both. NOTHING at all ever happens without His allowing. NOTHING ever happens that He doesn't first put it into motion. and as difficult as that is to accept when tough times come, I still know that HE IS GOD. all the time. And for that i will continue to praise His name.

The goodbye's here will be far from fun. But with them come hello's at home. And then the goodbye's at home will be even harder, Yet with them come hello's in India. today as i complained about how my life has been so full of goodbye's lately, a good friend of mine said this, "Ashton, just remember with every goodbye comes a new hello." It really hit home for me. Yes i am saying goodbye to half of my family here at ywam since we will be split up in India, but i get new hellos once i arrive home to Corryton. And then with those goodbyes, i get to meet so many beautiful people in India. in the end- all these goodbyes become worth it.

This Christmas is going to be my favorite of all, i can just feel it. I've developed such a greater appreciation for my family and close friends while being away. I've realize just how truly blessed i am. I know that God picked all these things JUST FOR ME, why wouldn't i praise Him. This Christmas, in my heart, i will be celebrating Jesus. The WORD becoming FLESH. The baby in a manger. The savior of my soul. The ultimate servant, healer, friend, lover. That's whom i will celebrate this year. I pray that i may never lose this tasting of Him, that nothing will ever take away the love i have developed for Jesus and for the nations. I want to be a world changer. But i cannot do it alone. I need to accept his strength each morning, and pray for a fresh anointing to do the things He has called me to do daily. This really is the greatest season of all, Christmas.

To wrap this all up, I'm going to give you a brief list of what I will be doing in India and where I'll be living. My first week or two-ish will be in Mumbai working with an orphanage of rescued children from brothels. We, as a base, support nine girls that have been rescued and we'll be taking them and the other orphans to the Himalayas for a weekend to just hang out and love on them. Then back to Mumbai to minister in the red light district there- which is either 2nd or 3rd largest in the world after Amsterdam. Then my team will leave Mumbai and head back to Hyderabad where we will stay for the next month. There we are working in orphanages, schools (teaching English), AIDS clinic, AIDS hospital, the slums, and a prostitute colony. We will also be doing evangelism in the parks, mall, train station, and other various places. This is mainly what our ministry times will look like in Hyderabad. The next month (Jan. 28- Feb. 28) we'll be flying to Jaipur. There we haven't been told exactly what ministry looks like yet, but most likely it will be about the same thing. Then my last week will be spent back in Hyderabad finishing up ministry there. I am so excited for the amazing things God has in store for India. He is ready to bring a new, fresh wind of His grace to that place, and I'm so humbled to be apart of it!

Lastly, here are a few prayer needs i have:
1) as a school we still need around $10,000 in order for everyone in our school to go to India. Jehovah Jireh! God our provider.
2) my week at home, that i will continue to walk forward in my relationship with Christ. Even though I'm on break, i still need prayers. This is when the enemy likes to attack the most. (and pray for all the other students/staff as well!)
3) My family as I prepare to leave for India. Pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding. A peace that even they can't explain.
4) My grammy. I believe Jesus wants to heal her from all that nasty cancer. He is BIGGER than any disease and any diagnosis. Pray for complete healing. Just one touch of the master.
5) the hearts of India. That they will be ready for the HOPE that they've been searching for.


i love each of you more than words could express. your prayers, your cards, your emails, your support has been amazing. I pray blessings for each of you! Merry Christmas to you & your families! And Praise Jesus for the life He has given YOU :)

For I have tasted and seen that HE IS GOOD! To Him be all the glory, honor, and praise.

emailing from india.

hip hip hoooray, 3 weeks and 4 days until i'm off to India for 2.5 months! So in preparation for that, i'm making an emailing list. Here's the deal, internet access will be limited while i'm gone, but i know i'll for sure get one day a week to email and call home. If you would like to receive an update each week of all that God is doing then if you could please send me your email address to clapp_ashton@yahoo.com, send me a message on facebook, or leave a comment on this post i'll add you to the list!This way i can email everyone an update all at once which will make things MUCH easier on me. Please don't be offended if i don't respond individually, I promise i will try my hardest! Also, even if I don't personally know you but you'd still like updates, feel free to send me your email address- the more the merrier!

Each of you have been such a blessing to my life, and we are now about to see what all your prayers put into action! i am fully confident that God is going to do miraculous things in India, and I am so thankful each of you have a part in that. Like in Ezekiel 37, I am ready to see the dry bones come alive! Please continue to lift up my team and the others as well as we finish up our last 2.5 weeks of lecture phase!

-to God be ALL the glory!

let's pray for the nations.

every Tuesday morning we have intercession for the nations, and it hit me today- why on earth would i let it stop when i say amen? so tonight i'm bringing you all a challenge. let's pray for the nations. here's the deal, every Tuesday (which i actually only have 3 more left here in NC) ill give yall the nation. and the pray points in which you can join in on praying.

something i have learned over the past 11 weeks of DTS is the importance of intercession. I find it such a humbling yet special privilege to be able to stand in the gap and cry out for those who can't be heard. i would love nothing more than for every christian i know to rise up and change the world through active intercession for the brokenhearted, lost, hurting, and darkened hearts of our brothers and sisters. let's do this! *remember this: hate the sin, don't hate the sinner.


Today let's pray for Thailand.
here is the main prayer point i think we should lift up, but feel free to pray for whatever God lays on your heart for these beautiful people.

Sex trafficking.
*top 3 areas: Patpong, Soi Cowboy, and Nana Plaza
*in Thailand sex trafficking is illegal, however it is highly tolerated and practiced even among government officials.

pray that the light of Jesus Christ will come dwell over this nation. For where there is light, darkness cannot stand.

this is my prayer for Thailand, take some time and find yours. and let's join together and come against the darkness that is taking over in this nation!

"the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2


challenge: take at least 5 minutes RIGHT NOW, and cry out for those living in darkness.

remind me NEVER to wait so long before updating again :)

carrying the flame forward. 50 years of YWAM


Loren and Darlene :)



the map!


some stuffing for the thanksgiving baskets!




Hello my long lost people! I sincerely apologize for my lack of keeping everyone posted these past couple of weeks. we've been outrageously busy getting ready for our thanksgiving outreach coming up this sunday! [side note: this year we are feeding 250 families in our neighborhood thanksgiving meals. We are delivering on Sunday, so please pray for opportunities to not only physically feel them, but also spiritually feed this precious people that God loves so much. That they would have a hunger FOR OUR SAVIOR.] Soooo pretty much i have A LOT to share with you all, but if i shared everything this thing might not ever end, so here goes nothing (for all that i leave out, i will share with you in....oh FIVE glorious days when i am officially in TENNESSEE again!)

Let rewind life a bit, and start with week before last when we went to orlando for the southeast YWAM conference and the 50th celebration! Yes, that's right YWAM has been in action for 50 years now. That's simply amazing to me. So the conference was really great, it kind of made of for the fact that i was missing the missions conference at home. Plus the best part is that the founder of YWAM and his wife, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, were the guest speakers. It was such a privilege for me to sit and listen to the very people who were obedient in what God had called them to do in order that I am where I am today. My favorite part of the entire week was the last day, where we all split up with our bases, and had communion together. It was such a special time. And then there was a giant map and all the ywamers and people there came together and signed the name to the place they feel God has called them to GO. What a beautiful picture it was to see all my brothers and sisters in Christ seeking God's will for their life and for the nations. It was incredible. (the picture at the top is the map) So to wrap up that week, i'll say this: The mission God gave us when he left us with the Holy Spirit was to carry the torch to the nations. To never let that flame Go out. I think it's time that we do just that...get off our butts and GO. We've got souls to save, let's not let the enemy win the battle over their lives. It's time to fight like we've never fought before.


Ah, now moving on to this week. I have NO clue where to begin except to say that this week i have experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit more in my life than i ever thought possible. The biggest thing i will take home from this journey thus far is this: that God is limitless. He CAN and WILL do whatever he wants, whenever He wants, however He wants to do it. In this western culture that we live in, we put God in a box. We don't experience spiritual warfare firsthand, nor do we experience the Holy Spirit in His entirety. But this week, i have seen a glimpse of what i've been missing out on for the past 19 years. I really can't put into words what has happened, nor is the a specific thing that i can pinpoint to illustrate this. All i can say is that this week i havent just simply experienced God. I have had an encounter with the creator of the universe firsthand. This week our guest speakers were Christopher and Jenny Hopper, and let me just say this- i've never met anybody quite like them. God used them this week in such a powerful way in my life, that i will remember this week as a mile marker in my faith forever.

My notes from this week are so long and extensive that i could never just pick one thing out from it, but i will say this. I am seeing God in a new light, a way i've never seen Him before. He is real. He is in me. And as i sat at RESET last night worshipping, I realized this simple thing: My only desire right now is that i may see so much of Jesus here on Earth that is possible, that the only way to ever see more is to be in heaven. I want to be so familiar with what He looks like that when i get to heaven i won't even hesitate in recognizing Him. For so long i've known about Jesus. I've had so much understanding about God and what He has done. But now i don't just want understanding, i desire experience. I don't just want to know about him, i want to know him. I want to come home from this season of my life and be unrecognizable because it appears as though i've stepped off the mountain of the presence of God, just like Moses, and my face is glowing with his glory. That's my desire. That's all i want. For the first time in my life i can
actually mean this when i say:

You're all i want, you're all i need. You're everything, Jesus.

I wish i had so much more time to write and share what I'm learning. But when i get home in march i'm gonna type up all my notes and make a notebook and then i will be happy to share EVERYTHING i am bringing home from this.

ALSO, a PRAISE! we have officially purchased our tickets to India. We'll be leaving December 31 (Yes, i will be in NYC on new years eve...hollaaa! and YES! i will be in the air when the clock strikes midnight!) I'll be in India until March the 7th. But Thank you all for all your support, it means the world to me to have so much support back at home! this is NOT possible if you hadn't been available and open for God to use you in such a special way in my life. i love each of you very much, and i can't wait to hug your necks!

TENNESSEE HERE I COME!

i will go, i will go, i will go. Lord send me.

This week I've been so homesick. so eager to see my family, and my sweet best friends. so desperate to be at my church. so ready to lay in my OWN room, in my OWN bed, all ALONE. in a house of 23 girls, there is never a moment of silence, nor a moment of alone time. Don't get me wrong, i love this place. i love what God is teaching me, i love how He is continually throwing me in "the refiners fire." It's tough though. It's different. It's just not home. This is week 7 and it is by far the most homesick i've been. Then i remind myself that i'm only 3 weeks out from being in the place i love most- my home. With the people i love more than life.

As i sit and ponder how much i want to be at home, I am reminded that my life will never be the same after this experience. It's different now. I am different now. And then God reminds me again that He has called me to a different place. Home will always be there, but I may not. I wonder where it is that He'll send me. I wonder what He has planned for me. I better not get ahead of myself- i must stop. I must regather my thoughts, my fears, my emotions. He is in control. He has a plan bigger than i see. And for now, I am here- for such a time as this.

"Let me not be blind with privilege, give me eyes to see the pain. let the blessing you've poured out on me not be spent on me in vain. let this life be used for change. i will go, i will go, i will go. Lord send me to the world, to the lost, to the poor and hungry. Take everything i am, I'm clay within your hands. i will go, i will go. send me."

that's my prayer. I want to go where He sends me. I have BIG dreams- dreams that most people probably don't think are even real. But watch me, God willing, those dreams will become my reality. I'm convinced, that God is using me- an ordinary girl- for an extraordinary purpose.


Could yall do me a favor this week? PRAY. pray that the homesickness will go away. That God will give me grace enough to make it through the next 3 weeks. Pray that I will have a clear mind and heart, letting God fill me with himself in order that I might be used. Pray that I am focused on the One that matters most.

I love you all, and I appreciate your love for me.

short and sweet.

This past weekend we had a free weekend, however without a car it wasn't possible to come home :( so brother came to trev's house and us and 3 of my friends from here went and had a WONDERFUL, refreshing weekend! It was much needed. This week and last week= SUPER BUSY! plus we leave on sunday for a week in Orlando, it's the southeast conference and then the 50 year anniversary celebration of YWAM! I'm pretty excited about it, minus the fact that we'll be staying in tents all week, blah! But that's just a forewarning that i won't be updating next week, but i promise to do a really thoughful, "what is God teaching me" blog either this week or the week after we get back. Once i get back from Florida, I only have 2 weeks until i'm home for thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you all don't understand how excited i am about this. This thanksgiving will be the best one ever. I have so much to be thankful for, and being away makes me appreciate it all the more. I can't wait to see you all, it will probably be the best reunion i've ever had! I love you all soooo soooo much! thank you for your prayers, they are still very much needed!

To God be the Glory :)

For He is holding my hand.

I was having my quiet time last week, and this is what God spoke into my life- it came as a vision, it played like a movie, and i wrote it as i watched.

I am a missionary.-I AM, not i will be someday, but i am NOW. this is what God created me to do. He had this all planned out from before I was made. At conception He was pleased. When he heard my first cry his face filled with excitement. I was finally here. My plan on Earth had officially begun.

He's walked ahead of me these past 19 years, but even better than that He's walked along side of me- holding my hand. Many times I begged for Him to let me go, to let me do things on my own- Even sometimes He'd release me from His grip but never out of sight. I was too special to his heart to get away. Once I saw and recognized i'd been stubborn, I always came dashing back. I couldn't stay away. I wanted to be near Him. I wanted him to lead. I wanted my hand in His. Thats where i belonged. Everytime i returned He'd look at me with a smile, embrace me with a hug, and whisper in my ear, "I'm glad you didn't go far, im glad youre back, cause i've got big things planned for you. It would've broke my heart to see you miss out on that. Welcome back my ashton."

So here i am walking alongside my Jesus, my Savior- the one who never lets me out of sight. The one who rejoiced at my birth and at His plans for my life. And I'm at this place when things are drastically changing. Here i stand at a crossroads in life- I look back and see normality, comfort, and habit. But i look ahead and see that everything is different. As i stand at this crossroads the Lord again whispers to me, "This time let's just wait. I need to prepare you for the things to come. we've got a lot to work through before it's time to take this leap of faith. Just trust me, my plans are good. I won't let go of your hand." For a moment i try to fight back, "But Jesus, i like normal, i like comfort. I can't do it, I'm not strong enough. I'm not ready to leave it all behind. Not me Lord. are you sure you have the right girl?" This was his reply, " It's you. I knew you before you let out your first cry. I had this planned long before you had even a clue of it. You may be weak, but I am strong. Hold my hand cause it's you that i want to take with me on this adventure. Life with me isn't normal, it's not easy, and it's not comfortable. But I AM the great comforter. I am your strong tower. Ashton, trust me- I won't let go. I don't expect you to leave it all behind, take it with you. It's who you are. But realize that greater things are yet to come. You are the girl for this job. It's you i made this for. Accept that i think you are good enough. I believe in you. Now believe in me."

At that moment I see who I am. I see what God has made for me, i see all the times He believed in me when i didn't believe in myself. And it's in that moment that i realize this- I am a missionary. I am called to a life where normality isn't always involved. I am part of a magnificent plan that God picked just for me to fulfill. He is my comforter when it gets hard- for He is holding my hand.