International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

Come join us for our Thanksgiving Service and Celebration on 11/22 at Kofman Auditorium.  This is a time to get together to eat some good food (think turkey), sing and dance (have fun), and thank God for all the ways that He has been good to us.  Hope that you can join us.  Please sign up so that we can determine how much food to make. Don’t want to go hungry do we

Time: 1pm
Location: Kofman Auditorium (2201 Encinal Ave, Alameda, CA) – Rides provided from Barrows Hall at 12:15pm.  If you need a ride click on the Need a Ride checkbox below.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

This past weekend was Baptism Sunday at Gracepoint Berkeley.  Brothers Allen and Eric (not biologically related) were baptized, and Eric gave his testimony (again) during the worship service.  Hearing once again at how God worked in his life, bringing him to Berkeley for 1 year for a masters, and how he learned about sin and his need for the cross in that period of time was really powerful.  Indeed, it validates everything that we are striving for at IGSM: impacting international students with the gospel in the short window of time that they are studying here at America.  We also had a chance to celebrate with them by taking photos, presenting them with gifts–flowers from the sisters and NIV Life Application Study Bibles from the brothers, and giving them a warm hug was a very special time.

Personally, it was very impactful for me because I’ve gotten a front row seat to see God change these two brothers’ lives and hearts in the 1 year they’ve been here.  I remember going on an SF outing with them 1 year ago.  I had no idea then that these two would be taking Course 101: Christian Foundations (you can sign up here!) with me and Jesse.  During C101, I saw them think about their lives more seriously and conclude that the gospel is true–and in the process, they had personal encounters with God.  I was so thankful to see them up there Sunday, and I can testify that God is good.  If you missed Baptism Sunday, be sure to congratulate them when you see them!

Many of you know Hank, a former staff in the International Graduate Student Ministry. He was married to Joy in the Praxis department in Gracepoint Fellowship Church. It was an indeed a very joy-ful occasion (I cannot resist the pun). Various ministry groups and peer groups showed their support to the couple by performing singing and dancing on the stage at their wedding reception.

Due to the high average age of the IGSM staff, we figured that we would not look good to dance. Jisup came up with the brilliant and daring idea of doing a Doo-Wop song, using “Come Go With Me” as the prototype. With the help from Paul breaking down the parts in the song and from Jesse/Jisup/Sara rewriting the lyrics, we were able to pull off a fine performance and received a good reception from the audience.

If I can find the recording of our performance, I will post it up later.

This post is a bit late, but it’s still worth remembering all the graduations that took place last month because graduation is a significant milestone. Last month, we celebrated Ted, Betty, Diana, Hui, and Sara’s graduations with their families and friends. We pray for these graduates that they will experience God’s leading and provision as they begin the next chapter of their career. Congratulations! 

Congratulations to our graduates: Sara, Diana, Ted, Hui, Betty, K.C., and Sam. We praise God for his faithfulness in their studies.

To welcome baby Chow and baby Lei, we had a babyshower for the parents. We tried to predict the weight and length of the newborns, suggest names, and predict which features of the parents they will have. We also put the fathers to the test by having them change a diaper while blindfolded. There were lots of laughs, but overall a lot more gratitude for how God has blessed each of the couples.

The theme of this post is "eating," one of the most universal, highly valued, and well practiced activities here in ISM. In the season of Thanksgiving, we give thanks to God by appreciating His abundant provision in the form of food and fellowship around the dining table. We hosted Thanksgiving meals one after another, starting out with the English Class Thanksgiving meal, to the post-Thanksgiving Celebration dinner, to a home-style potluck dinner at Chul & Sharon’s place, and to the hot pot dinner hosted by Jesse, Joe and Eliah. Though I could not make it to all of them due to my family engagement, I can experience the joy of these dinners by looking at these pictures. If you missed all the dinners because you were diligently working away in your lab, I have a good news for you. You will have a second chance at Christmas. Don’t miss it!

Yesterday was celebrating Thanksgiving the Gracepoint Fellowship Church way. It started out with Sunday Worship Service, in which Pastor Ed Kang taught the congregation from Psalm 73. Ensuing the message is a series of year end review video from various department. (I hope to put up the ISM one later.) AND THEN, the BIG SHOW started. Boy, "shocking" is an understatement for some of the performances. For our performance, I believe that everyone had a great time on stage. No big mistake. We videotaped it, so that we could watch it after the turkey dinner. Everyone did very well, and we had a good laugh when we watched ourselves. Not without mention is that Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber stole the show (rightfully so!).

I cannot believe that the long-awaited, highly anticipated Thanksgiving Celebration, hosted by Gracepoint Fellowship Church, is only less than 12 hours away. We have been practicing hard for this wonderful event to give thanks to God and bring joy to fellow brothers and sisters in our congregation.

I really look forward to all the performances…

ISM participated in Gracepoint Fellowship Church’s Thanksgiving Retreat, in which we listened to many touching stories of how God impacted people’s lives through their salvation in Christ. We were also treated to Pastor Manny’s report on Gracepoint Austin. On my drive back from the retreat, Howard shared that he really appreciated Pastor Manny’s sharing because he saw how God perfectly provided everything. It was truly amazing!

For the retreat, Pastor Ed Kang and Kelly Kang had us each write up a one-page reflection on how God’s salvation work changed our lives. We shared with one another in small groups at the prayer meeting this past Tuesday. As we listen to one another’s stories of thanksgiving to God in my small group, our hearts of thanksgiving multiply.

Last Friday, we celebrated it with all of ISM together after our Friday Forum Bible study.  Right after Bible study and announcements, Chul noted that it was the last Friday for Frederick and Angelique, our encouraging couple from Germany.  They were only with us for a few months, but we felt a strong kinship with them–their heart for Germany and the campuses there, Frederick’s love for theology, and how they really immersed themselves into the community at ISM and Gracepoint Fellowship Church Berkeley.  Frederick shared some kind words with us.

After that, Shufei, Karen, and webmod went up to the stage because we had a “special song” prepared… for Chul!  We all sang Happy Birthday, and then gave him some gifts that we prepared.  Chul opened the wrapped package (without oven mitts though) that contained instant coffee and kimchee.  And yes, he was happy to receive these things!  Of course, today is Chul’s 40th birthday.  So if you see him around, make sure to wish him a happy 40th.

Jonathan Hong turned one at the beginning of September. All of us in the International Student Ministry celebrated together. Consisting of graduate students and alumni from Berkeley, we are surrounded by children. The Hong family with Jonathan’s grandparents are shown on the right with the traditional Korean rice cake and fruit. I don’t know how Jisup and Sara were able to raise Jonathan as they  are such busy graduate students, trying to juggle writing dissertations, presenting at lab meetings, studying, and raising an energetic baby. They shared how they are so thankful for this community who helped raise him. As I see Jonathan, he is a reminder of God providing all the energy and resources. Sara had a really hard pregnancy. Then after Jonathan was born, Jisup had to take his qualifying exam. Less than a week before his qualifying, he got food poisoning and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Life always throws surprises, but it is so comforting to know that we are never alone in facing these challenges. God is ultimately with us and he surrounds us with people.

This entry is dedicated to the overseas alumni who cannot see the children here at Berkeley grow up . They have changed so much and have only gotten cuter. On the left, Kate is holding Elizabeth, Paul and Mary’s second child. She is less than one year old. Ken is holding Nikki, Ken and Jean’s daughter. Next David is looking at Ken. David is now four years old and as energetic as ever. To the left of Jonathan is Christopher, son of Paul and Julie, friends of Sara and Jisup. Please send us pictures of your family, kids, etc. I would love to hear updates about you.