The Power of Prayer: Ashleigh’s Journey to Safe Places for Women
When Ashleigh talks about prayer, her voice carries both conviction and gentleness - like someone who’s seen firsthand what happens when people dare to listen to God and step where He leads.
“I grew up in Littleton, Colorado,” she begins, “so I’m really close to Safe Places. I was raised in a Christian home, went to Taylor University in Indiana because I knew I wanted to do ministry, and later served as a youth and college pastor.”
Those early years in ministry laid the foundation for what would become a life led by obedience. After graduating from Denver Seminary, Ashleigh and her husband began raising their five daughters, each season filled with lessons in faith, surrender, and hearing the Lord’s voice.
It was in 2020, just after the pandemic hit, that everything shifted. Longtime friends invited Ashleigh and her husband to visit, telling them, “We’ve been talking with Jesus in the woods, and it’s changed everything for us.” Ashleigh laughs, recalling her confusion at the time. “We were like, what does that even mean? But they gave us a few podcasts by Jamie Winship, and as we listened, we began to understand what it means to hear the voice of God and walk in healing.”
That experience sparked a journey of learning to recognize God’s voice and follow it - wherever it led. “He started calling us to these crazy things that never would’ve been on my radar,” she said. “At the end of 2023, the Lord spoke clearly that I was to get involved in anti-trafficking work and start connecting people doing that kind of ministry. At the same time, He told us to open our home to kids who weren’t our biological children.”
While those two callings seemed unrelated, Ashleigh trusted God would connect the dots. Shortly after, at a MOPS meeting she was leading, a friend mentioned Safe Families for Colorado, and Ashleigh immediately felt the Lord say, that’s it. One step of obedience led to another, and before long, she found herself meeting people working in anti-trafficking ministries, including the founders of Safe Places for Women, Ked and Michelle. “The Lord told me He would start putting them in my lap, and that’s exactly what He did,” she said.
By January 2024, the group began meeting to pray together. “My role has looked so different and so unique,” Ashleigh explained. “Sometimes I’m praying with the women, sometimes with the staff, sometimes just encouraging Ked and Michelle or helping with fundraisers. But in all of it, the heart is the same - the Lord’s dream is to see trafficking end, and He keeps pursuing that through prayer.”
Now officially serving as the Prayer Coordinator for Safe Places for Women, Ashleigh continues to create sacred spaces for both staff and survivors to encounter God. “It’s about offering time and space for people to be prayed for,” she said. “As the street outreach ministry grows, we’re realizing how deeply spiritual this battle really is. It’s not just physical danger, it’s a spiritual battleground. When we offer prayer, love, and transformation, that directly threatens the enemy’s plans. The only real power we have to stand against that is through prayer.”
For Ashleigh, prayer isn’t just an accessory to ministry, it’s the strategy itself.“The way we go about doing this work has to come from the Lord’s direction,” she said. “My plans won’t work. But when we link arms and ask for His wisdom, that’s when real change happens. We can’t go without it.”
When asked what this calling means to her personally, her voice softens. “As my heart has been broken for the things that break God’s heart, it feels like there isn’t any other way to partner with Him except to walk into the darkness and help people step out of it,” she said.
She’s honest about the weight of the work. “It’s not easy,” she admits. “But I think as I’ve walked through my own healing, the only way to keep that healing is to offer it to others. I can’t heal anyone, but God can, and when we hear from Him, He opens doors for freedom we never could on our own.”
Her life and her ministry are proof of that truth: that when prayer becomes the foundation, miracles follow. “If you want out, we’ll walk with you,” she said simply. “Because the Lord’s heart is always to set people free.”
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