Help me serve trafficking survivors in Indonesia!

Hi, my name is Ashley.

I'm raising money to fund a missions trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, to teach dance and intuitive movement to counselors working with girls rescued from trafficking. These girls are shattered and have lost all sense of who they are. They are between 12 and 18 years old.

One day they will tell their stories. But sometimes, words aren't enough. Not even close. Each of these girls carries a unique story of pain that even the kindest words can't heal. Each fragile nervous system is a web so tangled, it will take years to unravel. Dance helps with that. Movement--any kind--is healing. But mind-body movement is exponentially so. It's medicine, poetry and grit. It creates a bridge between what we thought happened, what really happened, and our ability to speak it out. Intuitive movement unlocks trapped emotions and gives back power that was stolen.

I am a dancer, musician and writer living in the beautiful Pacific NW with my husband and 4 children. I love Jesus more than anyone in the world. He gave me a new life, a new name, and a new hope. I love worshipping my Savior and seeing his fingerprints everywhere in creation.

That's who I am now. Three years ago, I would have told you I was anorexic, depressed, suicidal and a lost cause. Jesus reached into my life in one way after another to show me the difference between Satan's lies and his love. The things that impacted me the most were never words alone. They came with hugs. Silence. Dance. Flowers. Trees. Colors. Rhythm. Breath. When I began dancing it was as though brick walls began crumbling around me.

My dear friend and therapist invited me to accompany her missions team to Jakarta. I will be teaching counselors and house mothers from 3 different shelters, many of whom were rescued themselves. We will do Jewish dance, modern dance and somatic work. We will create a safe space to unravel. We'll also be doing art, lifespan therapy and other practices.

Earlier this year God imprinted on my heart Isaiah 61: 1-3: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted." I believe this verse is part of my calling and this trip is the first of many open doors. I feel very unprepared and am going on faith alone. But God does the healing, and he uses healed people to do it.

If you want to pray, pray for the salvation and complete healing and deliverance for all the girls at the shelters. Pray also for me and the rest the of the team, that we would stay grounded in God's word and his love. Most of us are survivors ourselves.

Thank you for considering being a part of this work. All donations will go toward airfare, passport and other travel costs, and materials for teaching. The trip dates are October 21st through November 1st.