Update Letter - November 2010

November 15, 2010

Hello!

How are you? I can’t believe how fast the last couple of months have passed! How is it Thanksgiving already? Well I’m excited to give you an update on the first 2 months of my internship here in Los Angeles, and there sure is a lot to be thankful for in this season! In just 2 days I’ll be hopping on a plane back to Denver to be in my friend Stephanie’s wedding! And then I’ll stick around to spend Thanksgiving Day with my family! It should be a wonderful and enjoyable time!

SP Los Angeles Class of 2012

After getting settled into my apartment with my 2 roommates here in the neighborhood and getting a brief orientation into the intern program, we jumped on a plane to the Philippines! My team of 12 interns stayed in a small slum community in Manila called Botocan. We lived with local families and spent our days getting to know the people and the lifestyle of the community. I was overwhelmed with the incredible work God has been doing in his beloved of Botocan. A Servant Partners staff couple moved into the community about 2 years ago and officially launched the church about 1 year ago. There is no question that lives have been transformed and impacted by the incarnational ministry of this obedient missionary couple. The community knows that they are committed to staying and understanding the daily struggles of life in the slum. We were fortunate enough to attend the first baptism service of the church. Six young men publicly dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ. God is doing an awesome work in Botocan and it gives me hope that he can do similar work in impoverished communities all over the globe. Jesus proved that he rules supreme and is in complete control of this broken and scarred world. Thank you, Father, for your love!

Since returning from Manila, our main objective has been adjusting to and putting down roots in our South L.A. neighborhood. God did an incredible work of team bonding through our experience abroad, and it has been fun to continue growing in those relationships. I have really enjoyed studying the Word and praying with my teammates and discussing sensitive issues like community finances and what it looks like to live like a family in Christ. My roommates and I have also been blessed by the relationships we’ve made with neighbors in our building. Our new goal is to expand the reach of our relationships with other neighbors on our street. It’s exciting to become a part of this neighborhood and it’s slowing starting to feel like home.

Me and my roommates (Grace and Steph) at the beach!

Our internship term is getting into full swing here. We meet twice a week as a team to study the book of Luke. We have also begun learning how to effectively work with our words by each writing and presenting a short devotional to the team. (Visit my blog for a more detailed account of my first devotional.) Visiting many churches in the area and reading various books on world missions also fill our time. Over half of our team is working full time to support themselves, but 5 of us are still spending our days searching for work in the area. The internship so far has been joyful and challenging, but I’m very excited to see how the Lord will grow and develop our faith and gifts over the next 2 years!

Thank you again for your partnership in this new endeavor! Your prayers are greatly needed and appreciated!

Many Blessings,

Ali Fraze

Walking through a rice paddy just outside the Manila slum

Prayer Requests:

A job!

Relationships and boldness with neighbors

Continued team bonding

Diligence and growth in spiritual disciplines

Manila Photos!!!

Sorry it's taken a while to get these posted! Please enjoy the pictures and comment away! Let me know if you have any questions!

Change is in the air.

It's the end of an era. Or at least a break in the era. Margarita (my car) has officially become a Cali girl! Now, the new look may not be as bad ass or rugged, but it's cute. And I think she's really starting to like it here. She at least appreciates the warmer weather! ;)

It's quite sad to relinquish all ties to my beloved Colorado. The guy at the DMV took my old plates and threw them in the trash before I had time to realize what was happening. Looking back, I have a hint of regret about not asking to keep my cute Colorado "NeRD" plates. How could I have been so thoughtless?

Anyways... Margarita and I are embracing the new California look and are excited to put down some roots in our new home. I hope California offers us as much fun, adventure, excitement, and beauty as good ole' Colorado. We miss you, Centennial State. We'll be back to visit again soon! (Or at least I will, and I'll take some pictures for Margarita!) Haha :)

SP Devotional #1

A significant part of this internship with Servant Partners is learning how to better use our words to lead and teach devotionals, sermons, etc. I hate public speaking, always have. But I am very excited to grow in this department. I can't be very effective in ministry if I never use my words to encourage, teach, exhort, and comfort those around me. I'm praying that God will do a miracle in me over the next 2 years by developing my confidence in public speaking.

Last night I gave my first devotional to the team. Yeah, I was nervous, but I did it, and survived! I am so thankful for my team for giving me a safe place to develop as a teacher of God's word. Unfortunately, I'm definitely turning into my mom (& dad). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my mom and dad, and would be lucky to grow up to be so loving and wise and supportive. BUT... they're both a couple of criers! Haha... I started to tear up a bit toward the end of my talk, and then completely lost it during the critique time at the end. But it wasn't a bad critique. Our intern leader Daniel looked me straight in the eyes and told me, "You did a great job! Let God use your words! God has given you authority to speak!" Thank you, Lord, for speaking through me, for being strong in my weakness, and for being my comfort in the midst of fear.

I'll go ahead and paste my written devotional below, if you're interested in giving it a read:

It seems that one of the most common questions in the human experience, especially in the Christian experience is: What is God’s plan for my life??

It’s easy to get trapped in the never-ending questioning: Am I on the right path? When is God going to reveal the mighty plans he has for my life? Is God calling me to this particular place/job/ministry? What if I just completely miss the boat and miss out on God’s perfect plan for me?

I know I struggle to discern God’s call and will in my life. I have certain desires and passions, but do they align with God’s work in my life and the world? How do I figure out if this particular path is the path I should take?

When I was deciding whether or not to pursue the SP internship, all of these questions were swirling around in my head! One night while I was working my way through the Old Testament, I stumbled across this one passage that completely stopped me in my tracks. It’s at the very end of Exodus. “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 fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.” (Exodus 40:36-38)

When I read that passage, I was like Man! That’s so cool. All the Israelites had to do to determine the Lord’s plan was to look to the cloud over the tabernacle. If it was just chillin’ at the tabernacle, they knew to stay put. But if the cloud lifted, they knew to pick up their things and follow the path of the cloud for God’s next step in their journey. I wish discerning God’s will today was so simple! Give me a cloud, Lord! Though it may not look exactly the same in our lives, I do think we can pull some relevant applications out of this passage. Just as the Israelites had to keep their eyes on the cloud to know the Lord’s plan, we too have to look to the Lord each day to live fully within his will. It’s not quite as tangible. We don’t have a literal cloud or column of fire to decide our path. Instead, we fix our eyes on the Lord by staying in his word, by staying connected to him through prayer, and by receiving wise counsel from other Christians around us.

Each new day of unemployment, more fears and questions start to invade my mind. What opportunities do you want me to pursue? How can I best use my resources and the network of people that you’ve placed around me? If you open a particular door, does that mean you want me to walk through it? How long will I be unemployed? Will you provide for my financial and physical needs if money gets tight? How exactly can I know your plan and will for my life??

Well I don’t know that I’ll ever have complete confidence in all the decisions that I’m forced to make each day. All I can really do is to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33) and trust that the small worldly necessities of life will follow. I know that my main purpose in this life is to seek Jesus with all my heart. And as a natural consequence, I will learn to “trust in the LORD with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; in all my ways I will learn to acknowledge him, and he will make my paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6)

Maybe some of you are wrestling with similar questions. Especially being in this internship, it seems like many of us are at a crossroads wondering what God might have for us a little further down the road. I encourage you all to entertain these questions, meditate on them, but don’t let them overwhelm you. Instead, let’s focus on giving all our energy to the Lord and trusting him to lead us down the right path when we come to it.

Some questions to consider:

1 - Am I anxious about the unknown direction of my future? Whether it be money? Job? Career path? Spouse? Devotional topic?

2 - Do I sincerely trust God to guide me daily and lead me down the right path?

3 - How can I more fully submit my plans and anxieties to the LORD?

To close I just want you all to listen and reflect on a passage of scripture. So, I think most of you know that public speaking is not my favorite thing in the world. Yesterday I was feeling super anxious about this devotional. I was feeling very unqualified to talk on this topic and felt like I couldn’t pull all my thoughts together. I cried out to God to help me, to give me a word. I’m not one that very often feels like the Lord speaks to me. But yesterday, he very tangibly answered my cry. He gave me this scripture and after reading it, I felt so much more at peace and I was so thankful for the very real way in which he met me in my fear and anxiety. David wrote this Psalm during the time that Saul was pursuing him and trying to kill him. When he arrived in the Philistine city of Gath, he was afraid that the king would kill him, so he decided to act like a crazy man to avoid being killed. He escaped from the city and ran to a nearby cave to hide out. David did not trust in the plan of the Lord. He allowed his fear to take over and determine his behavior. Later he realized his mistake and praised the Lord for saving him despite his lack of trust. Psalm 34 really gives us some promises to hold onto when we’re tempted to act out of fear rather than trust.

Psalm 34:

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

2 My soul will boast in the LORD;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

3 Glorify the LORD with me;

let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Grasshopper Mentality

On Sunday, the General Director of Servant Partners, Derek Engdahl, came to talk to our class about "The Facts of Poverty". It was a great opportunity to hear from someone with extensive experience working with and for the poor, in L.A. and all over the world. It was also cool to hear that Servant Partners was born out of a bunch of college students, who were moved by the scriptures about living for justice... asking the question, "What does it mean to follow Jesus? With poverty in our backyard?"

We spent several minutes brainstorming the various contributors to urban poverty: Lack of education, employment injustices, financial near-sightedness, addition - alcohol, drugs, and gambling, generational sin, violence, abuse, lack of health care, governmental injustices, inefficient justice systems, destruction of slum communities, HUGE influxes into major city centers, lack of jobs, racism, classism, gender issues, presence of the occult - spiritual darkness and oppression. The list could go on and on. Poverty, especially urban poverty, is complex and cannot be described or solved in simple terms.

Derek brought up another interesting contributor to poverty - the grasshopper mentality. The term is coined from chapter 13 of the book of Numbers in which the 12 Israelite spies are sent into Canaan - the promise land - to scope out the land and the enemies that they would have to defeat in order to occupy it. One spy is chosen from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and they spend 40 days exploring the land in order to bring back a report to the people.

When the 12 reported back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community, they shared fruit that they had collected from Canaan and shared their report. The land was incredible and all they ever imagined, but they also relayed frightening news of huge, fortified cities, strong and powerful inhabitants, and huge giants. In regards to the giants, the men told the community, "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Only Caleb and Joshua encouraged the community to believe in the Lord's promise to give them this land. They pleaded with the assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

But their decision was already made. The Lord was disgusted by their fear and unbelief. He killed off all of the spies that had come back with a bad report and sent the Israelites into the desert to wander for 40 years, until every man over 20 years old was dead. Only Caleb and Joshua were spared and allowed to see the promise land.

At the end of the 40 years, Joshua sent 2 spies into the land. They met a prostitute named Rahab in Jericho who took them in and protected them from the guards. Rahab relayed some very surprising news, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."

Not only did the "powerful enemies" NOT see them as grasshoppers, but they were utterly terrified by their incredible power and amazing successes with the Lord on their side. The first set of spies had simply projected their own perceptions onto the giants, without considering the promises and faithfulness of their God.

Many people in poverty have this same perception - the grasshopper mentality. While there are some obvious obstacles and strongholds for those in poverty, the Lord desires to set them free from oppression and give them victory over their enemies. Anything is possible with the Lord and doubting his strength and ability to save is sin. Part of the work of urban ministry as well as community organizing and advocacy is encouraging the people to step out in power, with confidence. You are NOT grasshoppers and the world does not think you are grasshoppers! Change the mindset, get rid of the fear. YOU are worthy of God's power.

New Life

During our last full day in Manila, we got to attend the first ever baptism service of the young church in Botocan. What an honor. The church has been around for about a year now. They started off with only a sunday school for the kids until they launched their full service a little over a year ago. The church now has a sunday service, a youth service, a boys and girls fellowship, and small groups. The congregation is still very young, but so vibrant! On baptism Sunday, 6 young men (13-23 years old) stepped up to share their testimony. While my Tagalog is not quite up to speed enough to understand what they were saying, it was clear through their expressions and emotions that Jesus has really transformed their lives. Almost all of the young men cried through their testimony... which of course made me tear up and praise God for their new life! It's clear that God is raising up some incredible young leaders in the church and I am so excited to see how they will transform their community!

After the testimonies at the church we all gathered up with our pool supplies and walked about 30 minutes to a private pool in a nearby neighborhood that the church had rented for the day. The six young men were invited into the water and Pastor Aaron baptized each of them as an outward display of their decision to follow Christ and leave their old lives behind. Praise God! (I'm sure it was a really emotional and exciting baptism... unfortunately, I happened to be in the bathroom when all of the baptisms were done. I came out right when everyone was applauding and cheering. Oops... )

We spent the rest of the day eating delicious food and playing in the pool! So many of the youth were there and it was so fun to play with everyone! Toward the end of the day, one of the youth leaders, Cherice, gathered everyone up at one end of the pool and all of the kids proceeded to dedicate and sing a song to all of us Americans. It was really beautiful and a moment that I won't soon forget. She then asked for Filipinos and Americans to share what this experience has meant to them. Some really nice words and lots of tears were shared. I really will miss the community there in Botocan. They received us with so much love and really taught us what it means to accept and encourage each other and really live with passion for the gospel. I am confident that God with work in and through each of them to bring amazing redemption to their small community. We love you, Botocan Bible Christian Fellowship!

Jennifer

On Thursday night, half of our intern team had the opportunity to prayer walk through the red light district in downtown Manila. I was a little nervous and scared about what I might see and experience down there. One of the SP staff here, Cora, guided us through the crowded streets. We took a jeepney and then walked for about 30 minutes. We walked up and down a few streets that were dotted with clubs and hotels. Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines. But there are several clubs where women dance around in bikinis and then get to know their guests. The clubs are often 'conveniently' located next door to an hourly hotel. This gives the girls an opportunity to make arrangements and get some more money on the side. I guess it's not unusual for one of these hourly hotels to rake in around $25,000 per night! A very lucrative business opportunity.
I really didn't see anything out of the ordinary walking up and down the streets. The clubs just looked like innocent karaoke bars from the street. We then walked up and over some of the pedestrian walkways in the area where a lot of the girls and their pimps hang out to find customers. We tried to talk to a couple of the girls, but they were not really interested in sharing their lives with a random group of Christians. But then we walked up to Jennifer. It seemed pretty awkward at first... all 7 of us nervously crowding around her, not really sure what to do next. She seemed a bit confused and overwhelmed, but nice and open to talking. Cora asked her a bunch of questions in Tagalog about her life and her job as a prostitute. She shared with us that she was 20 years old and had a young son that lived with his grandparents out in the country. She would like to have a real job, but doesn't know how or what to do to make more money than she does in her current arrangement. She tells us that she usually has about 1 to 3 clients each night, each paying around 300 pesos (about $7). She's out here every night, trying to make enough money to get by and send to her son. She dreams of a day when she can return to see him. We each ask her a question or two... she's starting to seem a little more comfortable with us. We ask if we can pray for her and then surround her right there on the overpass to lift up her prayers to God. It feels overwhelming and a little scary... but I feel honored to be able to pray for our new friend.
She seems so young. As we say goodbye and walk away to find a jeepney home, I am completely overwhelmed with sadness and anger and confusion. I wish I could just save her! Why does she have to feel forced to earn money this way? Why does this 'profession' even have to exist? Why, God? Please save Jennifer, Lord... pull her from the darkness! I feel completely helpless. All I can do is pray. Lord, I trust that you will bring redemption to this broken world. Thanks for letting me meet your precious daughter, Jennifer.