International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

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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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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If you’ve been to Friday Bible Studies you know that our post bible study activities are limited to Barrows Hall.  We have had trips to Fenton’s or SF but that’s a rare treat. Two weeks ago we decided it was time for a change. We divided into teams and ran out, literally, into the night for our very first photo scavenger hunt!

Ok so what exactly is a photo scavenger hunt, you ask?

The scavenger hunt is basically a game where people, either individuals or teams, are given a list of items or activities they have to do (all free things) to accomplish. Whoever comes back first or within the allotted time wins. Except in our case, people were given a list of places to find on campus and take photographs as a team…some of the pictures turned out to be hilarious. Here are some of the highlights. Read more »

For the third part of the Connect series, we filled up  110 Barrows Hall, the room we will use for the rest of the semester. I was personally very surprised to see the hallway outside filled with people, pizza, and conversation- and all before 6:30pm. We started by watching our first video about Peter and the lab experiment and then an awesome video about a grad students fluctuating self-worth as he interacts and compares himself with the people around him. Dr. Chul Kim gave a message along the same lines about how we view people in our lives.  You can listen to it here:

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It was a really fun one-day tour around San Francisco on Monday (8/10) with the new friends that we have met through dinners and airport pickups. The weather was perfect. Although the trip was not exhaustive in terms of the number of sites that we visited, We hit several famous spots including Fisherman’s Wharf (and had clam chowder for lunch), Lombard Street (and the flowers were blooming), Golden Gate Bridge, and Golden Gate Park.

After yesterday’s home church service, the two International Graduate Student Ministry (IGSM) home churches gathered to play volleyball at the Godfrey Park in Alameda. The weather was beautiful once again, and we all had a fun and intense game of volleyball. This is indeed a team sport with a lot of talking, taunting and cheering…very good for community building.

Next week, we are going to have BBQ and soccer to celebrate the end of the summer home church as well as to welcome the new Berkeley international graduate students that we met through airport pickups and home dinners. If you are a new graduate student, please feel free to come join us.

The IGSM Girls & Garlic: A Match Made in Gilroy…  Ten of us drove down to Gilroy, CA to attend the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.  We sampled a ton of yummy food, including such items as garlic ice cream (quite edible) and garlic kettle corn (sweet crunchiness with a zing!).  You can probably tell which of us went by our sun tan and garlic breath!

Yesterday, a bunch of the International Graduate Student Ministry brothers helped four brothers among us to move into a new apartment in Berkeley. This apartment is in the same building as Grad Haven. You may not have known about Grad Haven, but it is currently the Berkeley home of six of the IGSM brothers. Most of them are graduate students, except one who recently graduated from his Master’s program. They hope to make this place a haven for other incoming graduate students, hence the name, Grad Haven. Following their steps, four other IGSM brothers found another apartment in the same building and established Grad Haven #2 (for lack of a better name at this point).

I am so excited about our Grad Haven apartments. First, I see that God creates a community among our graduate students (and some non-graduate students), bring their relationship closers. They are not just sharing a place, which some graduate students do to save costs, but they are sharing their lives. Second, I see that God could really use their places to provide a haven to the incoming students. Graduate school is difficult, and sometimes, very lonely. Yet, these brothers want to show other graduate students that they don’t have to do it all alone. Third, I foresee that I will hear many good stories coming out of Grad Havens as these brothers rub lives with one another. I will be sure to update you with the best ones in the future.

Congratulations and go Grad Havens!

After last Sunday’s home church services, the Alameda home church and the Berkeley home church in ISM had a friendly soccer match in the Godfrey Park of Alameda. Weather was perfect. The winning team would get free yogurt or boba drink from the losing team.

I don’t have detailed stats of all the players in these two teams. But suffice to say that both teams were pretty even skill-wise since the Berkeley home church was without two of their powerful players, Jon and fantheflame. Anyway, here is a quick run-down on what happened (Team Alameda = Alameda home church, Team Berkeley = Berkeley home church):

Team Alameda quickly scored a goal at 5 minutes from the start of game, 0-1.

In response, Team Berkeley quickly bounced back through a penal kick to tie the game at 1-1.

20 minutes into the game, Team Berkeley scored again to take the lead at 2-1.

End of first half.

Both churches looked significantly tired, but Team Alameda took advantage of Team Berkeley’s weak back field and scored the last goal in regulation with 5 minutes left to tie the game at 2-2.

Going straight into penalty kick to determine the winner, the two teams tied at 3-3 after 5 rounds of penalty kick. The goalies on both teams put on a great show in defending their goals, allowing for only one goal from each team.

It was the sisters’ turn to shoot for penalty kick at the Sudden Death round. Team Alameda scored the final goal to put the game away with the final score of 3-4.

It was a great game. And Team Berkeley treated Team Alameda to Quickly for yogurt and boba drink. I look forward to a rematch in the future.

The photo album below includes some really cute and funny baby pictures. Hope you will enjoy them.

What do you say would be the best way to end the week for graduate students? How about listening a thoughtful message that helps you see the reality of life more clearly, followed by a time of wonderful praise and moving testimonies, and ending the night with a fun fellowship time over ice-cream or pastries? Well, that’s what we experienced this past Friday at Gracepoint Fellowship Church. We listened to Pastor Ed’s Truth Hater Part IV message series, worshipped and praised God with the Ei8ht Hour Shift band, and the ISM brothers fellowshipped over Fenton’s ice cream and the sisters over Strada’s pastries.