International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

This past Friday we had our first Graduate Student Welcome Night, and oh what a night it was! There were over 140 people in attendance and we had students from many countries including far east Japan, gregarious Germany, “Be the Reds” South Korea, the Pacific Ocean Philippines, valiant Vietnam, terrific Taiwan, and of course, the ever-so-populated country of China. It was nice to see so many grad students (and undergrads too!), many of whom had been in the U.S. for less than 1 month.

We started off the night with some scrumptious Hawaiian BBQ and we nearly ran out of food because it was so good! Then we had a re-run of the previous year’s Grad Student Welcome Night Video featuring YouTube videos of grad student life. We’ll be having a new video this coming Friday, and I hear that it involves a mysterious pen and lots of Ramen noodles (sorry, that’s all I can say about it–come to GSWN #2 to see the whole thing). After the video, Chul gave a talk about the importance of having a foundation for our lives, and we heard different testimonials from past and present IGSM students talk about how they came to accept Christianity as the foundation for their lives. It was really good and some people said that the message was the highlight of the evening!

Finally, we had our IGSM Sports Night at Underhill Field, where we played soccer (a.k.a. football in every other country besides the U.S.), ultimate Frisbee, and Wild Turkey. It was truly an exciting and action-packed night as we started off the games with team cheers. I personally liked the Team 3 cheer where they swarmed around the other groups. Anyways, we had a grand time and many of us stayed around and were hanging out by Underhill even after they turned off the lights. I heard that someone said that Grad Student Welcome Night was their best night since coming to Berkeley! If that’s the case, then you won’t want to miss Grad Student Welcome Night #2!

Over the Fourth of July weekend, several of us headed down for some fun in the sun on the Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk!  After a beautiful hike along the ocean coast, we devoured our lunch of Vietnamese sandwiches and fresh fruit on the soft sandy beach.

Upon entering the boardwalk, we split into two groups: an amateur roller coaster + pigging out group, and an EXTREME! rider group. Overall, both groups had a ton of fun experiencing the various attractions (including haunted houses, water splash rides, swings, and of course, the big dipper!) as well as getting a taste of all the famous fair foods (such as funnel cakes, ice cream dots, garlic fries, and shaved ice!)

Later, while some of us ventured out to test the ocean waters, others ended the day resting and playing soccer on the beach.  And best of all, unlike the guys who spent the entire day fishing for their own dinner at sea, we got to enjoy some quality soft tofu soup on the way home–what a treat!

The guys went to Santa Cruz on the Fourth of July Weekend.  We had a great time though some of us got sea sick.  Just so the girls know, we did catch some fish and we had a great bonfire, where we ate the fish.  Check out some of the pictures from the outing.

Sorry for the late post of the pictures. We had a great time at Yosemite this past Memorial Day. What was your favorite part? Feel free to comment.

April 25, 2010- Our own Daniel and Hui got baptized with 20 others at Gracepoint Berkeley after becoming Christian in 2008 at the IGSM Winter Retreat. We rejoiced together as we recounted how God personally answered and addressed their questions and doubts, how God led Hui’s parents to salvation, and how God has continued to mold and shape them as they help other people to know Him. It was amazing to see their long journey and how God used the Bible, other people, and different examples from their lives to show them about His character especially through Daniel’s job search and PhD admission. I was personally awed to recount their journey from when they first joined the IGSM English Class many years ago. If you missed Hui’s testimony, you can read it here at Gracepoint Stories. You can also take a look at the pictures.

We had a wonderful time last weekend at the Sierra Lodge for our IGSM Annual Retreat.  It’s taken me a week to recover from the very packed time that we had over those 2 days, but it was a really memorable time.

Dr. Zhu gave three messages in Chinese: “Be Wholly”, “Be Real”, and “Be Wise”.  A brief recap of the three: in Be Wholly, he talked about his personal journey and how he had experienced tough times in his personal life.  And yet it was meeting Jesus that made him whole and brought such joy to his life, changing him forever.  In Be Real, Dr. Zhu talked about how we miss out on the big picture of life and reality because we get so focused on our present issues: research, publishing, school, and daily life.  As a result, we don’t see the world around us, which is so much bigger, and should make us more humble.  Finally, in Be Wise, he talked about how true wisdom comes from knowing God, not knowing more information.

Our brothers and sisters also gave their testimonies in Chinese–it was really moving and powerful to see them expressing how God loved them so much, how they came to personally meet Jesus, and the changes that happened as a result of their conversion.  Indeed, they have been transformed, and it was such a blessing to see them passionately telling others about what God had done for them.  (Think the healed demoniac in Mark 5!)  I personally enjoyed this time the most because in their lives, I know that the gospel is real and powerful, and that God has much to do with their lives in the future.

There was a lot more as well: campfire, good food, and three packed gospel messages from Chul.  (I hope someone else can recap those, or maybe we can post them online…  he covered a LOT of Bible passages about the grace of God and our sinfulness)

We also applaud Meowmeow and Shufei for doing simultaneous translation of the Chinese portion so that non-Chinese speakers (and 1/2 Chinese speakers like myself) could understand the messages and testimonies.  It was really hard work.

Check out the many pictures below. 

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.