International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

In this IGSM Open House message, Chul Kim juxtaposes the biblical account of “Apostle Paul’s Vision and his Thorn” with the “Parable of the Rich Fool” to examine what happens when varying worldviews collide with reality.   He also leads us in contemplating whether or not material possessions satisfy our heart and how we will face the ultimate reality in our life–death.

To listen to the podcast, click the link below:

To view the pictures, see below:

We headed up the the Tahoe area to enjoy the fresh falling snow by going snow tubing- sliding down a hill in an inner tube. We went to Soda Springs and it almost reminded me of a bowling alley where there are parallel lanes except that there wasn’t pins and we were the objects going down the lanes. Some of us went headfirst on the inner tube while others sat on them. We enjoyed the falling snow, the conveyor that took us and our tubes up the hill, the hot clam chowder that we ate as a snack at the parking lot, and the beautiful scenery, not to mention the friends that we could enjoy the day with. Check out the pictures. Hope that you can join us next time.

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.

Many of us started the new year by going to a retreat (an extended time away from our normal surroundings to study the Bible) with Gracepoint Berkeley church at the Mount Hermon Retreat Site. Over one weekend we listened to thought provoking Bible messages from the examples of people in the Bible such as Saul, Samson, the Rich Young Man, and Pilate. Older ones from the church also shared about their personal journey with God and how the Bible verses guided them at each step as they studied and struggled to live based on them. Many of us were challenged and encouraged to grow in vision and believe the promises of God, just like the ones he gave to Abraham.

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.

It’s hard to say good-bye to 2009 without recounting the memorable, action-packed and snow-filled Sierra Lodge trip that took place in November 2009. It’s hard to describe the event in words, but hopefully you can get a picture of the trip by looking at the photos above and the video clips below.

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On behalf of IGSM, I want to wish you and your family a very happy and blessed year in 2010. We joined the Watch Night service put on by Gracepoint – Berkeley on the last day of 2009 to welcome 2010 through praise, prayer and countdown. This is an annual tradition at Gracepoint as we recounted as a church how God has worked in our midst. It made the turning of the year (or decade) much more meaningful.

On the first day of the new year, IGSM had our annual dumpling making party. Kate, dubbed “The Dumpling Queen” in IGSM, prepared the filling for the dumplings and demonstrated to us how to make dumplings the right way. Some of us are trying pretty hard while others are looking for their own ways to make their perfect dumpling. It was fun and rewarding because we got to eat the fruit of our labor right away.

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It would be an understatement to say that we had fun on this LA trip to finish out the year. It was one of the most memorable trip for me because I got to have so much fun with the IGSM members in LA for three days. Some of us drove down to LA from the Bay Area on December 25th. We stayed at our members’ parents’ houses, which reduced the cost as well as allowed us spend more time together.

We went to Disneyland on the 26th and spent a whole day there. Disneyland was indeed the magic kingdom, in which we got to get on rides and watched various shows. Here is a clip of a few of us taking the ride called “Big Thunder.”

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We had a sumptuous potluck dinner at Chul & Sharon’s place on the eve of Christmas. The potluck dinner was composed of fried chicken pasta, oven-baked mussels, broiled tri-tip, BBQ chicken, pan-fried sole fillet, pineapple chicken, and assorted desserts including fruits, pies, and cakes. It was absolutely delicious, and we all had our fill.

Given that the dinner is to celebrate the coming of Christmas, we sang two well-known Christmas carols: O Come All Ye Faithful and Joy to the World. Sharon explained the lyrics and the meaning of these songs prior to singing, which allowed us to reflect deeper the meaning of Christmas. It was a very informative and touching time as we thought about the magic of Christmas together. And the singing was wonderful in a small house.

After we were done with singing, we went out to the Thompson Street to see Christmas lights. This is an annual IGSM tradition to see all the houses on this street decorated with beautiful and creative Christmas lights. It was a nice walk together despite the cold temperature at night.

We have a lot to celebrate this year- our revised name,  our 3 welcome nights, the new friends that we have been meeting, the graduate student communities that is being formed by sharing an apartment, and much more. We put all these things that we are grateful for in the form of song and dance. Three songs, Welcome Night Rock, Course 101, and O What a Year, described all that we have to be thankful for. Then we headed over to a place in Alameda to eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal together. After so much dancing and laughing at the other performances of ministries in Gracepoint Berkeley Church, we devoured the Thanksgiving meal and watched our performance. O What a Night.

We have started our practices for our Thanksgiving Celebration performance. One week left… I must say that our dances are coming together thanks to everyone’s hard work and cooperation. It’s not too late to join us in the dancing performance or to come watch us this Sunday. Check out the pictures, but it is nothing compared to watching it live.

On a cold night before Halloween while  the wind was howling outside, we stayed warm inside by playing sports- handball, musical basketball, Braveheart, and volleyball. Many friends joined us. Check out the pictures especially the last group picture. Join us for the next sports night and get some exercise.