Update Letter - February 2011

Dear Friends and Supporters, February 13, 2011

Happy New Year! I know… it’s a little late for that and I’m sorry for the delay in communication. Life here in South L.A. has recently gotten very busy and I’m excited to share some exciting news with you! After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and friends in Colorado, I decided to stay here in L.A. for Christmas. It was really hard to spend my first Christmas away from my parents, but God also met me in the sadness with great friends and new adventures! Two of my teammates and I took a day trip down to San Diego on Christmas. We hit up a particular part of town for an Asian-themed progressive lunch, full of completely new and delicious culinary experiences. Then we walked the coast at La Jolla and visited the seals, ending the night with a delicious Christmas turkey dinner with my roommate Steph and her parents. Then I brought in the New Year with some of my teammates and church friends by hosting a champagne game night and dance party! What a blast!

One of the many stops on our Christmas adventure - La Jolla beach

Check out this slideshow for more pictures!

As I’m sure you are well aware, I had been looking for a job in South L.A. since relocating here in September. I was beginning to get very discouraged and anxious about the future. A couple near job offers left me even more discouraged and frustrated. But I’m happy to inform you that in mid-January the Lord answered my months of prayers in a very unexpected way! The director of an after school program in our neighborhood happens to be a Servant Partners internship alum. She was very suddenly in need of a teacher for the 1st and 2nd grade class. And after receiving disappointing news from a potential employer I decided to consider the teaching job. It was a quick decision, but I felt God’s invitation to trust Him and rely on his strength to grow and teach me through the process. In a matter of days, I stood before my young students. It’s been a daunting and exhausting challenge at times, but one that has stretched my boundaries and caused me to constantly seek Christ for equipping. While working with kids is not something that comes natural to me, I’ve been encouraged recently by God’s Word, which says: “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest” (Luke 9:48). I also just began working part time at a cute independent coffee shop for some more income. While the new pace of life is difficult and chaotic at times, I am overjoyed by God’s provision in this season. AND, as of last week, our team is fully employed! Praise God for his extravagant love and provision!

My Classroom at the after-school program

In other news, February 1 marked the start of the ministry project season – a 6-month period of focused ministry and relationship-building in our neighborhood. Our internship team was divided into 4 different teams, partnering with 4 different ministries of our local church – the young adult ministry, the youth group, the children’s ministry of the Spanish service, and childcare/kid’s curriculum for the Friday night cell group. We are coming alongside the Church of the Redeemer in the vision that they have adopted to build a highway of resources and support for the children of our neighborhood, “from cradle to college”. I was assigned, along with teammates Dan and Josh, to the Friday night cell group. We’re still figuring out what this time will look like, but we made our first appearance at the group last night. Please pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit and tremendous love and patience for our time with the kids. It’s funny how my work and ministry seem to currently revolve around kids, since just a few years ago I had very little interest in working with the little ones! I’m excited to see what God will do through this new work.

I am truly grateful for your partnership with me in this season. So much has happened in the last few months, but I seem to have met my one page quota. I’d love to share more stories and pictures with you! Head on over to my blog to read about more exciting news including – giving my first sermon, taking Spanish step aerobics with my neighbors, growing in prayer, and visiting beautiful places in Southern California. Again, thank you for your prayers and your friendship. I pray the Lord’s blessing and protection over your lives!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Much love,
Ali Fraze

Extravagant Provision

In December, 5 on our 12 person team were unemployed. Finances were starting to get tight and anxieties were running high. The "benefits" of unemployment were running out and the boredom was setting in.

In late December, Steph was offered a job with a really cool non-profit organization. Then Denise started a temp job, and then a month long contract in the development group at a really great organization. Then James got a job offer from World Impact - where a few of the other interns work. And then I started at the after school program and coffee shop. THEN just last week, Dan started a job with an engineering company in Long Beach! In just over a month, we went from 5 unemployed team members to ZERO. Praise God for his faithfulness and extravagant provision!

"Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." Psalm 107:8-9

Just wanted to share the good news! Thanks so much for your prayers!

P.S. - Things are going well at the after school program and coffee shop, but the learning curve is steep and it's been a little tiring to juggle the two jobs and the internship. My brain seems to always be busy. Please pray for an absence of anxiety and a settling in to my new busy life! ALSO - my knees have been rebelling in a big way to the constant on-my-feet lifestyle. Please pray for healing for my knees. It makes me very sad to have to slow down and sit on the sidelines of my active lifestyle. Can you recommend any remedies? What are the best shoes/insoles for a constantly standing lifestyle? Any supplements or exercises that have helped your aching knees? All advice and prayers are welcome! Thanks! :)

Back to my Roots.

Hey there. Thanks so much for the weekend prayers! The prayer retreat was really great! God is doing some cool things on the team, and it's starting to get a little bit easier to discern his voice.

Right before heading off to the prayer retreat I had a job interview at a really cute independent coffee shop! Unfortunately, I hadn't received any news about the job before I had to unplug and head off to the retreat. I found myself a little distracted Friday night and Saturday morning. I finally asked my teammate James if I could use his nifty iphone to check my email real quick for any word on the job. I frantically signed in and scrolled down my inbox. There it is! "Welcome to the team" was the subject line! Woohoo!!! A job! I did a little happy dance right there... and it was fun to be with the whole team at dinner when I got the news! Praise the Lord! And then I clumsily made a quick reply to accept the job while my dinner got cold. But who cares about dinner... I got a job!

So yeah, I started at the coffee shop on Tuesday. It's going well. The people are really nice, it seems to stay pretty busy, and it's SO cute! I still have a lot to learn as far as all of their systems and procedures, but I'm getting there. The shop is family owned - started by a Korean mom and daughter (my age). The daughter is acting as the store manager now. It's located in a pretty snazzy part of town, somewhat close to Hollywood. I've already heard all kinds of conversations between people about work in "the industry". But I haven't seen any famous people yet. I'll let you know if anyone big pops in!

Just wanted to share the news! I feel very blessed. It's fun to be back to the coffee shop culture! The job is a great compliment to my part time teaching gig at the after school program. And now it's fun to look back at all of the closed doors, frustrations, and waiting over the last several months and praise God for his perfect plan and perfect timing. And I'm so glad that I didn't have to cross over to the dark side... (Sbucks). ;)