Christmas- that is, the birth of Jesus Christ. While many were busy buying gifts for family and friends, Mia and I, 
along with forty people from Gracepoint Berkeley, went to Hsinchu, Taiwan to tell the people about Jesus’ birth and purpose of his life. He became human to be “God with us” and to tell the good news about God’s salvation. We were trying to do the same thing- go to other people and tell the good news of God’s salvation. We ate at the dining halls, did cheers to spread the news about the Christmas Celebration, and ate yummy food at the night market to spend time wi
th the people we met. What broke my heart was the numbing way in which people at the dining halls would constantly be watching tv and also an encounter with a student who was raised in a Christian family, but started to be swayed because there are so few Christians around her.
We were also able to witness the baptism of five of the Christians at the Tsing Hua swimming pool, and one moment that I would never forget is praying for them to be bold Christian witnesses on that campus. We also saw Hubert and toured Taipei.
This week, we continue on the topic of prayer through the passage of Luke 18:1-14 on the parable of the persistent widow. Through this bible study we learned that the problem for many of us is that we give up too quickly, which comes from our lack of conviction that our prayers should be heard by God. There needs to be a conviction that what we pray is pleasing to God. Furthermore, the root of prayer should be our intense desire for something good from God that only God can provide. It is this kind of prayer that God answers and helps us to increase in our faith in God. Hear this week’s message on prayer below.
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 forward to the new year, how can we experience God more and know that He is real? How can we experience the power of God in our life? It is through long and frequent prayer. That is the message that Chul shared at the first Friday Forum of 2010. There is a difference in our spiritual life and it depends on our personal relationship with God. Our faith increases when we pray more. Prayer is not just about quality, but about quantity also. So listen to this message calling us to more prayer for the upcoming year.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
In Part V of the IncomPARABLE Wisdom Series, Chul discussed the Parable of the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. From this message, we come to understand God’s compassion and affection for us, and learn how God desires to bestow meaning and purpose upon our lives. When we compare the reactions of the varying characters in the parable, we can come to identify ourselves with characters int the story and learn more about what is going on inside our hearts in light of the Gospel.
To hear the podcast, click the link below:
International Graduate Student Ministry will hold our annual Retreat from Friday, Mar 19 to Sunday, Mar 21. So save the date. We are excited to have a guest speaker, Dr. Zhengrong Zhu (bio). Don’t know what to expect at the retreat. Check out the video below:
Please sign up below. Read more »
In the fourth installment of the IncomPARABLE Wisdom series, Chul gave a Bible study on “The Parable Of the Great Banquet” from Luke 14:15-24. From this passage, we learn that the excuses by those who were first invited to the banquet reveal both a noncommittal attitude and a shift of interest that exposes that they never took seriously the banquet invitation, God’s invitation to life with Him. We learn that we need to safeguard ourselves from allowing good things, such as possessions, (our) potential, and people (in the form of relationships), from precluding ourselves from the joy that God wants to bring to our lives.
To hear the podcast, click the link below:
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.
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.
