What: IGSM Sunday Large Group
Where: YWCA
When: Sun. March 14 at 2pm
We will be resuming our IGSM Sunday Large Group again this week at the usual place and time (YWCA at 2pm). Come join us as we talk about the Great Reversal that Christianity brings in our life. As usual, we will have a hearty meal after the bible study time.
What: IGSM Friday Bible Study
Where: 110 Barrows
Date/Time: Fri. Mar 12 at 6:30pm
We will be having an IGSM Friday Bible Study at 110 Barrows this week on Fri. 3/12 starting at 6:30pm. We will prepare for the upcoming IGSM Retreat this Friday. Come by and join us. As usual we will start with a scrumptious dinner.
We will be having a baptism this Sunday. A baptism is where a Christian makes a public profession of their faith. And this weekend, Samanthu Lu, one of our very own will be sharing how she became a Christian. So come join us for this memorable occasion.
Location: Willard Middle School (2425 Stuart Street, Berkeley, CA)
Date/Time: Sunday, March 7 at 11:30am
This time will be followed by lunch fellowship at the YWCA to celebrate the baptism. Don’t miss this special occasion.
On Valentine’s Day, our group visited the residents of the Rounseville Rehabilitation Center to share with them a kind of love that is not always recognized in this age of heart-breakingly sappy Korean dramas. To stress this point, Jisup delivered a message on our one true Love, God, whose greatest act of love was to send His one and only Son to the cross. While the world reserves romance for the beautiful, for the rest of us including you and me, God desires that we experience His unconditional love, which is made available to us no matter how undeserving we are. Following the message, we had a chance to interact with the residents and offered decorative flower pots for their rooms before several of the brothers closed with a rendition of the song “Amazed.” The first two stanzas of the song go like this:
You dance over me
While I am unaware
You sing all around
But I never hear the sound
Lord I’m amazed by You
Lord I’m amazed by You
Lord I’m amazed by You
How You love me
In sum, it was a joy to share this message of God’s love with the residents and to see their excited responses. No doubt, we look forward to doing this all over again next year! Check out the photos.
This week, we will have a special event on Friday, February 19 at 6:30pm at 110 Barrows. It is our annual Spring Invitation, but this year, we will have a “special speaker” talking presenting a discussion titled “More Than a Face” that will uncover the truths about how the media has distorted the notion of beauty, and how it affects our self-image and everyday life. Hope you can join us as we discuss this interesting topic.
Location: 110 Barrows
Date/Time: Fri. Feb 19 at 6:30pm (starts with dinner)
Join us as we have our annual Gracepoint Valentine’s Day of Compassion. Every year instead of buying into the commercialization of Valentine’s Day, hundreds of us spread out into various different homeless shelters and elderly care facilities around the East Bay to share true love with those who are in most need. This year, IGSM will be going to the Rounseville Rehabilitation Center in Oakland, CA at 2pm. If you are interested, please come to 110 Barrows by 1:30pm on Sunday.
Come check out our new IGSM Sunday Gathering. We will have an Open House on Sunday, Feb 28 (note date change) at 2pm at the YWCA Building (2600 Bancroft). Check out what all the buzz about the IGSM Sunday Gathering is about. We will start out with a sing-a-long time, followed by a moving message. And no time is complete without some hanging out with friends eating home-made food. So check us out at our IGSM Sunday Gathering on Feb 28 at 2pm at the YWCA building on Bancroft. If you don’t believe how good this time can be check out the video below.
Come join us on Sunday at 2pm to our IGSM Sunday Gathering to study the bible. The gathering will end with a late lunch.
Haven’t seen snow? Longing to get out of the lab? Come join us as we head into the mountains to play in the snow.
Date: Saturday, Jan. 30
Where: Tahoe Vista at the North Tahoe Regional Park
Meeting time: 8am (wow so early)
We expect about a four hour drive to Lake Tahoe. We will eat lunch in the cars on the way up. When we get there we will sled and play in the snow. After we are all tired out and changed, we will take some pictures around the lake, then return back and grab dinner on the way back.
Please bring about $40 in cash ($30 will be collected to pay for gas, parking, and sled rentals; the remaining is for meals), snow clothing (jacket, pants, shoes, mittens, hat), and an extra change of clothes.
Let us know that you want to come by signing up. We’ll arrange the rides and let you know where to meet for pickups.
Friday Forum will be back at 110 Barrows this week (1/29) starting at 6:30pm with dinner.
Taking advantage of the fact that school hasn’t started yet, we headed out to the City after Friday Forum at the YWCA. What would winter be without some winter activities like ice-skating? We went to Yerba Buena Gardens’ ice skating rink and hit the ice, literally. Some of us ended up with some bruises while others seemed pretty comfortable on the ice and even tried to skate backwards. After some time on the ice, we went to get some ice cold milkshakes and deep fried yumminess at Mel’s Diner. Mmmm.
As we look on the New Year, we are always looking for new ways to help our International Students know God. This year, we will start our very own IGSM Sunday Worship Service starting on Sunday, January 31. Come join us for this momentous occasion. More detail to be announced so check back frequently.
International Graduate Student Ministry (IGSM) is an official graduate student group at UC Berkeley. IGSM started in the fall of 2003 with the vision to help all UC Berkeley graduate students from various countries (including students from the United States) find out the true meaning and purpose of their lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of us also attend Gracepoint Berkeley, where Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang lead the ministry.
