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