Update Letter - May 2011

Dear family and friends,

Is it really the end of May already?? How did this happen? The past couple of months in LA have been a whirlwind. It’s hard to remember exactly what’s happened, but the Lord has most definitely been at work. Since my team and I are working on developing the spiritual discipline of remembering, I will do my best to recount the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in this season.

My internship class at our most recent prayer retreat - April 2011

The kingdom of God belongs to such as these…
Ever since moving to LA, I seem to be surrounded by children. It’s a peculiar thing really, when you consider where I came from. From doubting that I would ever want to have children of my own, to warming up to kids during my time spent in both Bolivia and Costa Rica, to thoroughly enjoying getting to know my baby nephew, to being completely immersed in ministry with children. How did I get here? While I still don’t feel 100 percent natural when relating with kids, I feel the nudge to embrace the place where God has me and consider whether kids might have a prominent place in my future – ministry or otherwise. But in the meantime, I am truly enjoying learning from the many kids that surround me.

The award ceremony at the end of the tutoring center spring semester. I got to present each of my students with a personal award of acheivement. The awards included Master of the Arts, Most Improved Reader, and Academic Mastermind.

Working to pay the bills…
In my last update I told you about starting a new teaching job at an after-school tutoring program. Well I’m pleased to tell you that classes wrapped up at the end of April, and I almost felt like I was graduating alongside my students. I was very overwhelmed going into the job, but I am blown away by God’s faithfulness throughout the semester. Somewhat surprisingly, I already find myself thinking about my students often and missing my time with them! Since finishing the teaching gig, I remain with only one part-time job. I work as a barista at a small café near Hollywood. It’s nice to have a low key job while I focus on the SP internship in this season. While the pay is minimal, God continues to be my provider.

In March, some great friends came for a visit - Lauren and Ricardo! We did all the best touristy things in LA. Here we're waiting for the train to take us up to The Getty.

Learning to party for Jesus…In our study of the gospel of Luke, we read the “Parable of the Shrewd Manager” (Luke 16:1-15). One of the ways we interpreted this passage is to mean that we should be smart, resourceful, and shrewd with our resources in order to advance the kingdom of God. We’ve decided to apply this scripture right now by throwing large birthday parties in our neighborhood. Theoretically, we could take the $200 or so that we end up spending on each birthday party and greatly bless someone in the neighborhood, but we’ve decided that by pooling our resources and throwing birthday parties for our team members at each of our 4 houses, we can instead reap the reward of building relationships with our neighbors and breaking down race, class, and social barriers. Now that’s being shrewd for the Kingdom! In a couple of weeks we’ll be hosting the next party (for me and teammate Tabor) at our place!

Teammates Dan and Denise hanging out at our first team birthday party.

The party included a bounce house, corn hole, sidewalk chalk, music, and cake!

On the horizon…
I only have a few more weeks in the spring quarter of the SP internship. After this, we’ll take about a month break from meetings – continuing to focus on our various ministry roles in the neighborhood. When we reconvene in July, we’ll be working on an in-depth investigation into each of our spiritual gifts. We’ll survey ourselves as well as ask mentors, family, and friends to do the same, hoping to achieve a relatively thorough grasp on the gifts that the Lord has given each of us. And in response, we will work on creating personal development plans for the next year of the internship in which we’ll map out how to develop certain areas of our gifts. Also coming up this summer, I’ll be attending the Servant Partners All Staff Conference in mid-August. I’m excited for the opportunity to meet SP missionaries from all over the world and get a glimpse into the larger work and vision of this awesome urban slum ministry.

Thanks so much for reading. I am so blessed by your friendship and your partnership in my work and ministry here in South LA. I would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for the work of God in South LA. Again, please remember to check out my blog for more regular updates. I hope you have a great summer!

Much love,
Ali Fraze

Please Pray For...
- Growth and comfort in children's ministry
- Further development of spiritual disciplines
- Successful survey of spiritual gifts
- Relationship building with neighbors
- Unity among internship team and staff

I love you, Mom!

Dear Mom,

You are amazing! I could never ask for a better mama! You're fun and cuddly and always up for anything! You're my zip-lining, salsa dancing, amusement park conquering, world traveling mom! You're always my number one fan and my biggest support. You give me strength, yet allow me to be weak and vulnerable. You know how to laugh and have a good time, yet you are one of the biggest criers I know - and I'm quickly catching up to you! You're one tough cookie, yet nothing is more soothing than having my head in your lap. I know you want nothing more than for me to be by your side and always at arm's reach, but it means the world to me that you support and encourage my world traveling heart. It makes me sad to be far from you on this special day... but I send all of my love to you today! Happy Mother's Day! I am utterly blessed to have you for a mom! I love you and miss you so much!

Love, love, love,

your baby,

Ali

Renewed

Praise God! The prayer retreat was a great time of rest, rejuvenation, joy and renewal. There seemed to be a theme among many on my team of freedom, renewal, a call from God toward new paths - a divine realignment, if you will. All of us were blessed by large blocks of time spent in personal prayer, small group prayer and team prayer. The Lord was very present and merciful, fulfilling our many desires for our time with Him. In addition to lots of time in prayer, we also spent some time just playing and bonding as a team. We had team archery, a lazy game of kickball, a few quick hikes, naps in the sunshine, and I even shot a rifle and shotgun for the first time ever - and hit 2 clay pigeons! (The shooting was solely for fun/to say I did it. It made me a little nervous holding such a power machine... especially knowing that guns are a major tool of destruction and oppression in our neighborhood. But I'm glad I did it once... and it was very satisfying to hit those flying discs and watch them explode! Felt like duck hunt.)

In case you're up for the read... I'd love to share more about what the Lord was up to on a more personal level. In the days leading up to the retreat, I seemed to experience a mini attack of shame from some sin in my past. Things that I have repented of and hoped to be done with a while ago, but more liberation work needed to be accomplished. I wasn't very excited about going into some of those dark places again, but God was ready to do a healing work. Two nights in a row I was able to pray with a few women, casting off some of the names that I had placed on myself from my past, and replacing them with scripture, taking on the names that God calls me - new, clean, forgiven, free, beloved. And then I wrote down all of the old names that I used to keep myself in bondage for so long and threw them into the fire that night. I am a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! Praise God for the freedom that we have in Jesus!

In prayer some very poignant verses were brought to mind. One of my teammates turned to the parable of the prodigal son. She envisioned my Father God removing my dirty, tainted clothes and replacing them with a lavish robe and a beautiful ring. In case you are not familiar with the story, check out the parable of the prodigal son below. It's a beautiful story of God's unconditional love for us!

Parable of the Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32

 ¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

   ¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

   ¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

   “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

   ²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

   ²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

   ²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

   ²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

   ³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15:11-32, New International Version, ©2011)

At the end of the first day of the retreat, I turned to the word to receive a new name from God. I ended up in the following passage. His forgiveness is so sweet!

PSALM 103

Of David.

 ¹ Praise the LORD, my soul;
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the LORD, my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

 ⁶ The LORD works righteousness
   and justice for all the oppressed.

 ⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
   his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
   slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
   nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
   or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
   so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
   so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
   he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
   they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
   and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
   the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
   and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
   and remember to obey his precepts.

 ¹⁹ The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
   and his kingdom rules over all.

 ²⁰ Praise the LORD, you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his bidding,
   who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
   you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the LORD, all his works
   everywhere in his dominion.

   Praise the LORD, my soul. (Psalm 103, New International Version, ©2011)

Finally, I was hoping to receive some direction from the Lord for the future. Should I stay at my current job? Should I start the job search again? Should I try to get back into the engineering field? What about after the internship? Is God calling me to move overseas? When? Where? How? Man... I love getting answers about the future. I love planning and scheduling and being in control of my destiny. While God did not give me any clear answers this weekend, he gave me something better. He has continued to grow my trust and reliance on Him. He continues to renew my spirit and lead my next steps. I don't know where my life will be headed a year from now... or even next month. But I am confident that wherever I end up, the Lord will be near and we'll hang out. I feel content to be on the road, enjoying the company, and keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus rather than my day planner. :) The following scripture has been a theme for me recently. Learning to come to the Lord for rest and joy and set my heart on pilgrimage. Check it out.

PSALM 84

    For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

 ¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
   LORD Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
   for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
   for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
   LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
   they are ever praising you.

 ⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
   they make it a place of springs;
   the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
   till each appears before God in Zion.

 ⁸ Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
   listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
   look with favor on your anointed one.

 ¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
   than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
   the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
   from those whose walk is blameless.

 ¹² LORD Almighty,
   blessed is the one who trusts in you. (Psalm 84, New International Version, ©2011)

Thanks for reading... sorry it's so long! I am encouraged by all that I received from the Lord this weekend. Thank you so much for your prayers! I pray the Lord meets with you today and rejuvenates your soul!

Pictures from the weekend to come soon! :)