International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

After our Friday Forum message entitled, “Why Am I So Stressed?”, we headed out to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to enjoy the view…  and relieve some stress.  (also known as relax)  It was a perfect day to head up to LBNL as the clouds and fog were nowhere to be found–we had a perfect view of Berkeley, San Francisco, and the Bay Bridge.  And it was all perfectly lit up by a perfectly full moon!  It was a gorgeous view, and so we took a lot of photos from the LBNL plaza overlooking the view. Read more »

The excitement of receiving and welcoming new international graduate students continued in Part 2 of our Graduate Student Welcome Night series. Although the stress of school has begun to mount for some of our students, many of the new friends managed to join us again for the second Welcome Night. We also met many new friends. We once again packed Lipman Room with about 100 attendees. Read more »

Once again, we are thankful to meet so many new friends at our second Graduate Student Welcome Night. Our last installment of the three-part Welcome Night series is coming up on 9/11. Professor Chul Kim will wrap up his message series, Connect, with the final topic on how to connect with people in graduate school. A special video will be presented in this Welcome Night.

Friday 9/11 @ 6:30pm – 110 Barrows Hall

We look forward to seeing you there!

The long awaited Graduate Student Welcome Nights (Part I) finally took place on Friday, August 28, at Lipman Room (Barrows Hall, 8th floor). At the event, we had well over 100 attendees, who came from many different countries: Turkey, France, Germany, Korea, China, Iran, India, Greece, and right here in the U.S.

As life, namely stress and busyness, was the main topic of the night, we began with a fun game called “Stress Test.” Through this test, we realized that most graduate students experience stress in very similar ways. Does that count as “great minds stress alike”?

After the game, Dr. Chul gave us a very insightful message about the stressful life of graduate students. The unending cycle of work, stress, fun was particularly memorable because it summarizes the lifestyle of graduate students very well. You can listen to the entire message here:  

Read more »

We had a great turnout in the first of the three Welcome Night series. We are thankful to meet so many new international graduate students and had a lot of fun time with them, doing the stress test and playing games at the Underhill Field. Please see the pictures of that night below.

We are very excited about the next two welcome nights (9/4 and 9/11) as we continue to listen to Dr. Chul Kim, a professor at CSUEB, about how to perceive success and relationships in graduate school. We will also have a skit and a special video in the next two welcome nights, making each one of them uniquely special.

GSWN 2 – Friday 9/4 @ 6:30pm – Barrows Hall, 8th floor (Lipman Room)
GSWN 3 – Friday 9/11 @ 6:30pm – 110 Barrows Hall

So,don’t miss it!

For three consecutive Friday nights (8/28, 9/4, 9/11), IGSM will host a special series of welcome events for the incoming graduate students.

GSWN 1 – Friday 8/28 @ 5:30pm – Barrows Hall, 8th floor (Lipman Room)
GSWN 2 – Friday 9/4 @ 6:30pm – Barrows Hall, 8th floor (Lipman Room)
GSWN 3 – Friday 9/11 @ 6:30pm – 110 Barrows Hall

The main speaker, Dr. Chul Kim, a professor at CSUEB, will share his wisdom about how to perceive busyness, success and relationships in graduate school.

We will also have a special video, music, and a skit in these three welcome nights, making each one of them uniquely special.

Come and join us!

Below are some pictures of the Graduate Student Welcome Night last year.

On July 3rd, another group of ISM brothers went to Santa Cruz for fishing. I heard from Chul that they worked very hard and caught about 34 fish. I did not believe it until I saw the pictures. I was sad that they did not bring back any of their catch because I love fresh fish (yum!!!). But I am glad that they all had a great time!

Wedmod and I took our small groups of international graduate students for a fun one-day outing in San Francisco on July 3rd. We started the day hiking the Land’s End Trail next the Legion of Honor museum. After the hike, we drove down Clement and spotted a small Chinese dim sum place. We were placed at the back table with a nice man-made waterfall view. Dong was very happy with seating arrangement as he got to enjoy the man-made view. After that, we headed out to the Ocean Beach to play soccer and football. While I love playing football, I believe soccer is a better sport. We wrapped up the day with beach bonfire and Canton-style BBQ over the fire. We also had clam chowder, which really hit the spot in the chilly wind! Check out the pictures.

International Student Ministry split up into 2 groups to take part in the 30 Hour Famine with the rest of Gracepoint Fellowship Church’s ministries. One group went to the Bay Area Rescue Mission to peel potatoes and help with cleaning. Another group made and sold baked goods while telling people about the 30 Hour Famine and World Vision. We were all hungry by the end, but we learned to serve together and give up a little bit so that others could benefit. Check out the pictures.

There’s never a dull moment in ISM. The long-awaited ISM Yosemite Trip finally came. We woke up Saturday morning to eat breakfast at a hotel in Groveland, a small town where we were staying, an hour away from Yosemite. We drove into the park where the scenery of the mountains, clouds, and waterfalls were waiting for us. We couldn’t help but to be in awe and take lots of pictures and then went to Glacier Point. Half of us hiked down the panoramic trail to see multiple waterfalls. We were surprised by deer, a vivid rainbow, and a hail storm. The other group drove around to take more pictures and then hike up Vernal Falls. After the hiking, we headed back to our lodge to eat dinner and play games including a contest of endurance, agility, and creativity. It just can’t be described in words. We happily slept and then had our worship service at the lodge. Then we headed to a nearby lake for some sports and lunch before we returned to Berkeley.

ISM went to Monterey on an overcast Memorial Day. The weather did not stop us from having lots of fun, sightseeing, biking, playing sports on the beach, and eating. What a great time of bonding.

Our annual Worldview Camp at Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Berkeley, will be from 6/17-20 this summer in Alameda. Our guest speaker will be Sean McDowell! Here’s a little about him:

EDUCATOR: Head of the Bible Department at Capistrano Valley Christian Schools, where he teaches the courses on Philosophy, Theology, and Apologetics. He graduated summa cum laude from Talbot Theological Seminary with a double Master’s degree in Theology and Philosophy. Sean received the “Educator of the Year” for San Juan Capistrano, 2008. His apologetics training was awarded Exemplary Status by the Association of Christian Schools International.

SPEAKER: Popular speaker at camps, churches, schools, and conferences nationwide. Sean has spoken for organizations including Focus on the Family, Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth Specialties, Wisdom Works and the Association of Christian Schools International. Sean is the national spokesman and a conference speaker for Wheatstone Academy (www.wheatstoneacademy.com), an organization committed to training young people with a biblical worldview. Sean has also appeared as a guest on radio shows such as The Hugh Hewitt Show, Focus on the Family, Point of View, the Frank Pastore Show, the Michael Reagan Show, Converse with Scholars, Stand to Reason, and more.

AUTHOR: Sean is the co-author of Understanding Intelligent Design along with William A. Dembski (Harvest House, 2008), Evidence for the Resurrection (Gospel Light, 2009) and More Than A Carpenter with Josh McDowell (Tyndale, 2009). Sean is the General Editor for Apologetics for a New Generation (HH, 2009). Sean has also written Ethix: Being Bold in a Whatever World (B&H, 2006). Sean is a contributor for Passionate Conviction, an apologetics book compiled by William Lane Craig and Paul Copan (B&H, 2007). He is currently the general editor for The Apologetics Study Bible for Students (B&H, 2010). Sean has also contributed to YouthWorker Journal, Decision Magazine, the Christian Research Journal, and blogs regularly at www.seanmcdowell.org.

Please sign-up online if you would like to attend. It will be $50 if you sign-up by 5/15 and $60 thereafter. That means the deadline is coming up soon!