You did WHAT???

I quit my job! (Or gave notice, that is.) In this economy? Yeah, I know... weird, huh? Or maybe dumb? But this is when I step out and learn to TRUST. God will provide, he has a plan. Lord, what is your plan? :)

Yikes... this all just became VERY real. I'm really doing this. On Wednesday I broke the news to my boss that I would be moving to L.A. at the end of August for the Servant Partners internship. It was surreal. But the last 2 years (almost) working at Michael Baker have been great! I've met some really amazing people, learned quite a bit about hydrology and hydraulics, became a Certified Floodplain Manager (oh yeah!), lost every single game on our office softball team, and survived MANY hours in a cubicle! But seriously, I'm so thankful for these last 2 years and will be very sad to leave Baker behind.

It was quite a rush quitting my job. I felt... excited, anxious, nervous, emotional, not sure what! But as I was leaving work that day, a song lyric came on the radio that really struck home, made me tear up, and gave me some much needed comfort.

♪♪ You will be safe in His arms
You will be safe in His arms
'Cause the hands that hold the world are holding your heart
This is the promise He made
He will be with You always
When everything is falling apart
You will be safe in His arms ♪♪

Amen to that. Thank you, Lord. I'm stepping out in faith, knowing that I am safe in your arms.

God is Good... ALL the time!

Over the last year and a half here in Denver, I have been blessed to be able to be a part of a great church - Denver Community Church (http://www.denverchurch.org/). The people are amazing, the teaching and leadership are incredible, and the community and fellowship that I've gained have been life-changing! Growing up, I never really understood the point of church. I mean why can't I just have my own personal relationship with God, do it by myself, keep it to myself, and forget about wasting so much time going to church. Well, fortunately, the Lord has completely changed my view of church over the last several years. I know now that I am completely powerless in my own strength and willpower to walk this journey alone. I need the love and support and community of other believers to encourage me on my walk and pick me up when I fall. I've also learned that I grow and develop most in my relationship with the Lord when I am committed to a small group. This group setting allows me to be challenged and keeps me accountable in my daily walk with the Lord. I have been so richly blessed by an incredible, eclectic, amazing small group of women during my time here with DCC. God is good!

Anyway... I spoke with the outreach pastor at my church a couple months ago about my plans to move to L.A. for this internship. He invited me to fill out a Mission Opportunity request form and meet with the Missiology Team to tell them more about this opportunity, more about myself and my heart, where I am at with fundraising/preparations, and how they might be a part of this journey with me. After meeting with the Missiology Team at DCC, I was completely encouraged! These people share my heart for reaching out to the poor and completely understood my call and vision for this next phase of my life! A few days later they emailed me to let me know that they would like to cover the rest of my expenses for the internship!!! I was blown away and nearly started crying in my cubicle... :) I praise God for his continual provision and constant faithfulness! FEELS GREAT TO BE FULLY FUNDED!

I feel so blessed to have found the amazing community of DCC. I am so excited that they want to partner with me in this journey and can't wait to see what it will look like to keep them involved in these next 2 years with Servant Partners in L.A. (I even got a little blurb on their website. Check it out!) Thank you, DCC, for your enouragement and love!

This whole post makes me think of a song. It's the one song that I usually sing to my little nephew, Caleb. It's a really simple, but beautiful spanish praise song. (Good thing it's only 4 lines, because my horrible memory can't handle any more than that!)

Tu fidelidad es grande,
Tu fidelidad incomparable es,
Nadie como tu, bendito Dios,
Grande es tu fidelidad

Your faithfulness is big,
Your faithfulness is incomparable,
There is no one like you, holy God,
Big is your faithfulness

So true. Are are SO faithful, Lord. Thank you for your love and provision! I am overwhelmed.

Support/Update Letter - May 2010

In case you missed it... here is the support/update letter that I sent out in May. I plan to send out another update letter before heading to L.A., so keep an eye out for the next one. Enjoy.

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Dear Friends and Family,

Hello! ¡Les envio saludos desde Colorado! I pray you are doing well and are excited for the upcoming summer! I am definitely anxious to enjoy the beautiful Colorado sun with lots of camping, hiking, and sports… that is if the cold and rain ever let up!

The last couple of years of my life here in Denver have been filled with challenges and successes as I’ve begun to settle into my young career in Civil Engineering. I’ve learned so much and have really grown personally, professionally, and spiritually. I’ve been incredibly blessed by a great church and small group, a good job, and fun times with my family. It’s been especially amazing to be a new “Tia” (Aunt) to my awesome nephew, Caleb (smelling flowers in the above picture :)).

While all of these things have been so wonderful, the Lord continues to tug at my heart to be more involved with advancing His Kingdom in a ministry setting. God has really shaped my heart through my experiences serving abroad in Bolivia and Costa Rica, as well as here in Denver, and has truly given me a passion to live and serve among the ‘least of these’(Matt 25:40). Several months ago I attended a huge Christian missions conference in St. Louis and learned about an exciting urban ministry organization called Servant Partners. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind, but I have since applied to, interviewed for, and been accepted into the Servant Partners 2-year internship program in Los Angeles, CA! The internship will be an intense experience of pursuing what it means to serve the poor in the city. It will include a short-term trip to an international urban slum community (most likely Manila, Philippines), in-depth study of the Bible as well as other ministry-oriented books, living in a poor community in LA and building relationships with my neighbors, learning how to effectively write devotionals and sermons, pioneering a ministry project in the community, and exploring and developing my spiritual gifts and individual talents. I will also work a full or part time job to pay for my day-to-day expenses.

Your love throughout the years has been a constant encouragement in my life! As I embark on this new adventure, there are several ways I would deeply appreciate your support.
1. Prayer - I will need a lot of prayer as this will be an intense and challenging next 2 years!
2. Financial Contribution - I need to raise $4,000 to cover program expenses. This amount will cover the international trip and the urban ministry training for the next two years.
3. Job Leads - If you are aware of any Civil Engineering related career opportunities in the LA area, please let me know. I would also be open to other fields of work if you feel they might complement my heart and skill set.

If you would like to support me financially, I would be incredibly blessed! I need to have a significant chunk of my support raised by June 15 and the entire sum by August 10. If you’d like to write a check, please make it out to “Servant Partners” and mail it to: P.O. Box 92493, Pasadena, CA, 91109. In the memo line of your check, please be sure to write “Intern-Fraze” (you will be sent a tax-deductible receipt for you contribution). If you’d prefer to give online, visit the Servant Partners website (see link below), click on the “Donate Now” link at the bottom of the page and designate your donation “Other: Intern-Fraze”. Feel free to contact me if you want to know more details!

Thank you so much for allowing me to share my excitement with you about what the Lord is calling me to do and for considering how you can be involved in this journey with me! Your continual partnership with me in the work of His Kingdom is such a blessing!



In Christ,
Ali Fraze

http://www.servantpartners.org/

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Seeking the Lord's plan... aka Following the Cloud

Shortly after learning about the internship opportunity with Servant Partners, the Lord really spoke to me through this incredible passage of scripture. I'd been somewhat trudging through the Old Testament books, seeking to learn more about God's amazing faithfulness toward the Israelites, His chosen people. I was anxious to be wrapping up another book, when this passage at the end of Exodus really grabbed my attention.

"In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out - until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and the fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels." Exodus 40:36-38

How awesome is that! The Lord led every move the Israelites made; all they had to do was look toward the cloud and they would know His will. Seems so simple. While it might not be as easy to know God's leading today... I do believe that we can know His will by constantly seeking His face. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well" Matthew 6:33

Thus the title of this blog… :) I aspire to seek the Lord every single day and know His good and perfect will. I pray that I would be faithful in seeking the Lord's face and looking to Him for guidance before stetting out. He is so good and faithful!

Moving to L.A.

I attended a huge world missions conference in St. Louis in December 2009. (Maybe you’ve heard of it… Urbana!) I went to help exhibit at the booth of Engineering Ministries International – the organization I worked for in Costa Rica after graduating college. It was a great experience to be able to talk to people about the great work of EMI and also get to be involved in the events of the conference. At Urbana I went to a seminar put on by an urban ministry called Servant Partners. The seminar was about urbanization and the philosophy of the organization to come alongside poor slum communities and reach out to their physical and spiritual needs – incarnational ministry. A light bulb immediately went off for me and I knew I had to learn more about this organization.

I visited the Servant Partners booth the next day to ask some questions and give them my contact information. I was completely pumped after the conference and was excited to hear from the Servant Partners staff. Well the conference high soon wore off and I almost forgot about the cool organization I had met. Fast forward a few months… I received a call in March from a Servant Partners staff member. The call caught me off guard, but my excitement and interest in the work of this group was soon re-kindled. After a long discussion I became interested in the 2-year internship program that they offer in L.A. for young people that are seeking to learn more about urban ministry and seriously consider a life of international urban poor ministry. Unfortunately, the deadline for applications for the upcoming internship class was the day before our conversation. He told me to think about applying and let him know ASAP whether I would like a 2-week extension on the deadline to submit my application.

Long story short… I decided to apply for the internship, was invited to visit L.A. for interview weekend, traveled to L.A. to interview and learn more about the program, spent a couple weeks in intense prayer and seeking discernment, was offered a position in the internship program, nearly declined the internship, had a vivid dream causing me to question my decision, spent another week in prayer, accepted to internship!

And the rest is history! …or perhaps it’s all just beginning! :) I’ve since been steadily preparing for the move to L.A. in the fall. Orientation begins September 16. I’d be honored if you would journey with me in this next phase of life. I’ll do my best to share my experiences, ups, downs, and reflections throughout the next 2-years in L.A. and beyond. Please feel free to interact in whatever ways you see fit – in prayer, in reading/commenting, in asking questions, and/or in keeping me accountable and grounded. Love you! Please enjoy and engage in this site!