International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

After this past week’s Bible study, we had a surprise birthday party for Jisup and Josiah. Jisup’s birthday was on Friday and Josiah’s last Sunday. We prepared the cake and candles in the kitchen during the Bible study time. The plan of attack was to bring out the cake as soon as Jisup finished the announcement. The surprise was pretty much perfect (except that Josiah noticed that there was a cake in the kitchen when he went there in the middle of the Bible study). But anyway…

So, Karen and I lit the candles on the cake in the kitchen and brought it out through the hallway of my apartment. I had my camera in hand, ready to take a good shot of Jisup and Josiah. The plan executed perfectly (well almost): lights went out; Karen brought out the cake; and everyone sang in unison in perfect pitch (maybe not) “…Happy Birth-day to Youuu!!!” People clapped and rejoiced.

And then, the real surprise came: Karen blew out the candles. Silence! Bewildered faces (I could see them even in the dark)! And then, guffaw! I think Jisup and Josiah were truly surprised by what Karen did! I believe Karen was surprised by what she did too. But good job at surprising them, Karen!

When I go to Taiwan in a few days, I can say that I have been to Disneyland. It may not mean much to the Taiwanese people, except that they may have heard and seen things about Disneyland in America, and people say it is the happiest place on Earth. I wasn’t going to die an unhappy man if I didn’t visit Disneyland, and I didn’t have much desire to go when I visited LA a few weeks ago. But I decided to make this historical event to go Disneyland for the first time in my life, along with the other historical events in my life now, like moving out of Alameda, and moving to Taiwan.

It wasn’t what I expected. I thought Disneyland is for kids, and adults would have no fun there. But, I was wrong. Disneyland is for adults too. It is a pretty fun and happy place. The classic rides like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, and the Indiana Jones ride were fun, and I didn’t feel like throwing up at the end. For example, if I go to Magic Mountain, another theme park in southern California, I would be nervous waiting in line to get on a ride that I will regret going on when I am on the ride. I guess I am not a thrill seeker, but I would like to be a kid again, especially in Disneyland. Oh boy, I wish I was fifteen years younger in Disneyland! I would have had more fun as a kid.

I went with a group of my friends in ISM and people who have been to Disneyland before. That made being there a lot more enjoyable. If I went to Disneyland in the future with my wife and kids, I don’t think I would have much fun. Because I won’t be as young as I used to be, I wouldn’t be able to leave Space Mountain with a smile on my face, but with a dizzy feeling in my head. I have to make sure I don’t lose my kids, and I would have to keep up with them. I see when parents go to Disneyland; they do it for their kids.

In just about a week’s time, our beloved Hubert will be departing from his all-too-familiar Bay Area for Hsinchu, Taiwan. God has provided him the opportunity to serve as a missionary in Taiwan alongside with our brothers and sisters who are already in Taiwan while he studies in the Information Science master’s program in the Tsinghua University. Last night, after our Bible regular Summer Bible studies, we held a farewell event for Hubert.

I believe that many of us who were there had very mixed feelings. On the one hand, we were very sad that Hubert, with whom we have spent over 4 years together in ISM, will be leaving for Taiwan and staying there for 2 years. The thought of separating with a good friend brought sadness to our hearts. On the other hand, we were all very proud and encouraged by Hubert’s commitment and vision to respond to God’s calling for him to serve in Taiwan. Despite the language barrier and all the transitions, Hubert is determined to go. We joked that God will provide an ISM in Taiwan to receive him and take care of him (maybe Free Chinese Class). But in all seriousness, we were very proud of him. And I know that these mixed feelings were really the result of our love for Hubert, which was enabled by our fellowship through Christ.

So, in the program, we had a chance to sing songs of God’s faithfulness in Hubert’s life, to hear Jesse rapped while Joseph beatboxed, to recount Hubert’s growth in the past four years in a PowerPoint presentation, to have him share his spiritual journey, and to hear his leaders’ and friends’ comments about and encouragement for Hubert. As we prayed for him in the end, I felt assured that God will continue to watch over him and use him to advance His wonderful kingdom work in Taiwan.

Please continue to pray for him during this big transition in Hubert’s life. If you happen to be in Taiwan, don’t forget to contact him and meet up with him. Go Hubert!!!

According to World Vision’s disturbing statistics, over 29,900 children die of hunger, disease, and poverty everyday. Of these, 15,500 die of as a result of malnutrition. And in light of the recent tragic events in Burma and China, Gracepoint Fellowship Church decided to participate in World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine fundraising drive to raise awareness of the children in need around the world and to raise actual resources and support for them.

Sharing the same spirit as the church, many ISM members joined in the fundraising effort by committing to go without food for 30 hours and by going to their friends, families, coworkers, and colleagues to ask for sponsorship and support. While asking for donation may not be something that we feel comfortable doing, the desire to feed another hungry child has kept us persistent and diligent in seeking funding. For me, some my professors and my colleagues have responded very positively because they recognize that this is a really serious issue in the world.

If you are stunned by the stats above or if you want to find out more information about the starving children in the world, please visit World Vision’s website. If you feel like donating, you can contact me, shufeilei [at] yahoo [dot] com. Every dollar will go a long way for these children because $1 can feed a child for one day. Think about it, if you don’t buy that can of Soda for lunch, you can literally feed a child for an entire day. We can go without that soda, but can the little one go without food for a day?

Every summer, ISM changes its Bible study format to smaller and cozier group. This Bible study format change provides three advantages. The first advantage is that we can meet at ISM members’ homes in Alameda. Unlike the more austere and lecture-style classroom setting, homes provide a more relaxing and welcoming environment. Meeting at homes also allow us to have better food (nothing beats a home-cooked meal). Although coming to Alameda is a bit far from campus, the distance actually allows the students and scholars to have a short excursion away from their all-too-familiar research setting on the Berkeley campus.

The second advantage is that we can hold a more discussion-driven Bible study, which allows for more interaction among the students as well as with the Bible study teacher. Another advantage is that the discussion topics can be different for different groups. This allows us to tailor the Bible study topics according to the questions and the needs of the students and scholars. Lastly, it’s always nice to have a change of setting once in a while.

In the past two years, we have tried offering classes such The Book of Romans, Genesis in Space and Time, Worldviews Today, and others. This year, we are divided into three smaller groups: one group studies the Devotion Time (DT) passage provided by Gracepoint Fellowship Church; the other two groups study the Alpha Course material.

We just started the new format last week. I pray and hope that through the new format, our ISM students and scholars will build more relationships with one another and get to know God more through the Bible studies.

Imagine standing in a circle, holding hands with the people next to you. Now imagine that you are chanting the words “this is so fun… this is so fun… this is so fun…” over and over again. In a monotone voice. And you aren’t allowed to laugh or smile. If you can’t, don’t worry–most of us couldn’t either! We had one of the funniest moments when the final three brothers were staring each other down, swinging their arms, and chanting. Not one would break. So Shufei got the funny idea to start saying “this is so FUN”. But the word “FUN” was about 2 octaves higher than his normal voice. It was hilarious. (he did not win by the way)

Welcome to Saturday night’s ice breaker games. People were divided into teams at random. And then each team had to produce an artist to draw an ISM staff member. (Note, the author of this post does not believe that any of the characters on Wesley’s napkin look like him. I resemble… err… resent that.)

And a poet. And a strongman. And a marksman. Yes, it was random, but there’s a certain power in silly games to bring bonding and laughter like no other. Eliah, our resident governator-type, did 83 push-ups in a row. Yes, 83! I don’t think I can do 83 in an entire day if I tried… with breaks. (note, the blog author has bad wrists and cannot do pushups) But it was pretty amazing to see him do 83.. and then watch Joe and Josiah try to break 50 and find themselves unable to.

This is Ken, our resident Korean military marksman. He couldn’t get the Nerf dart to hit a soda bottle. Amazingly, our star marksman–like in the Olympics–was a Korean woman… Mia.  (Okay, so Korean women dominate in archery and not shooting–its close enough) Yes, do not mess with her! I think she was as surprised as we were that she was able to hit anything.

This is how we wrapped a long day of hiking in the rain… with dinner (ribs and corn…  and ramen) and these fun games. I can’t wait until next year! And if you missed this trip, hopefully you can join us next year.  Until then, you can just practice in the mirror: “this is so fun…”

This past Friday Forum, we watched a video about the Sichuan earthquake that was done by one of our ISM member’s friends. The video’s author was a journalism graduate student at Berkeley, and so some of us got to meet him. I wanted to post it for people who missed our Friday Forum.

Warning: this video is graphic and can be disturbing.