Tag Archives: Retreat

Graduate Students Prayer Retreat

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3741310267 de8887ef24 m Graduate Students Prayer Retreat In preparation for the new school year, the graduate students in the International Student Ministry gather together at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary for a one-day prayer retreat last Saturday. In the morning, Chul gave us two messages from the story of Ruth and the story of Elijah and Elisha in the Bible to address the issue of overcoming inconvenience in order to experience the provision and power of God. Several members in our group gave stories about how they experienced God after they pushed through the inconveniences that they faced. Each story was unique; yet, every one of them testified to the common truth that God would mature our faith and trust in Him through our struggles against the inconveniences in our lives. I was blessed and challenged by Chul’s messages and these powerful testimonies.

In the afternoon, we reviewed our past efforts in meeting and serving new international graduate students. Several of the staff members gave PowerPoint presentation that summarized what we had done in the previous years. And then, we had broke up into small groups to discuss what we could do in the future to better serve the international graduate students’ community. We had a lot of ideas. And I cannot wait to implement them, so that we can better meet the needs of the incoming international graduate students in the fall semester of 2009.

Touched at the ISM Winter Retreat

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3292449452 f02edc57a7 m Touched at the ISM Winter RetreatWe just finished up our ISM Winter Retreat last weekend at Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds.  It was a really special time as many of us got to really listen to the word of God, as well as some very informative special lectures by Daniel from Gracepoint Fellowship Church and Acts2Fellowship in Berkeley.  Daniel spoke about how there are things that science cannot explain, such as consciousness, thoughts, and the mind.   He also gave a good summary of a case for the resurrection of Jesus and how it is possible even through the evidence allowed by skeptics!  

3291651995 625a39c0f3 m Touched at the ISM Winter RetreatChul and Sharon gave wonderful messages about Jesus’ temptations and how we can encounter Jesus honestly, even with our doubts and all.  Brothers and sisters gave their testimonies about how they experienced God dealing with them about their ambition, moving closer to God in spite of family obstacles, and how they came to know Jesus personally.   Many students received prayer from the staff, and it was a really wonderful time.  As you can tell from the picture, Chul really opened wide his heart to us.  (see 2 Cor 6:13)

3291640365 2d1d6ebef4 m Touched at the ISM Winter RetreatFinally, we had a lot of fun playing games like acting out Bible passages as a group.  Meowmeow (and my team in absentia) won with their funny rendition of Noah’s Ark and received coupons for free Dreyer’s Ice Cream.  We also acted out various animals, with Josiah’s money (and Sanghoon’s banana + Shufei as the tree) taking first place.  And I must say, my chicken act with the other guys was pretty funny too…!  Even Mia said it was good, so it must’ve been.  I guess it’s hard to compete with animals when they have props like Shufei. 

As you can tell, we had a blast and a blessed time.  Who says you can’t have both?  Hope you won’t miss out on our next ISM retreat!

ISM Winter Retreat 2009 Messages

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Seminars by Daniel Kim

Seminar 1
Listen:  
In this special session, we learn that scientific naturalism actually has no explanation for the mind, thoughts, and free will. However, the atheist has a dilemma: choose free will and knock out atheism, or choose no free will and knock out the possibility of miracles. While the latter seems intellectually satisfying, this lecture says why we actually must affirm free will and deal with the possibility that naturalism doesn’t have all the explanations. And that we may actually have to deal with the possibility of God. After all, according to atheist philosopher John Searle, it’s a miracle that you can even raise your arm…

Seminar 2
Listen:  
Is the resurrection of Jesus possible? Our natural inclination is to say no. But when we look at the evidence—evidence that is conceded only by skeptical critics of Christianity—we are left trying to explain away 4 facts: (1) Jesus died, (2) the body was gone, (3) the disciples were changed, and (4) hardcore skeptics and persecutors also became Christian. So what’s really a plausible explanation for the resurrection? The theories might surprise you… even convince you that people can come back to life in very very rare circumstances—like Jesus’.

Retreat Messages by Chul and Sharon Kim
Message 1:  
Message 2:  
Message 3:  
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Message 5:  

Wonderful time at the GFC retreat!

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Wonderful time at the GFC retreat!Many of the ISM students and staff attended the winter retreat for Gracepoint Fellowship Church Berkeley this past weekend.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and bonding, as well as getting a chance to listen to messages from the Bible for an extended period of time.  (and had some very thought provoking video clips as well)  Many brothers and sisters shared their stories about how they came to know God, how they struggled with their personal issues, and how they grew through the process.  It was a great opportunity for all of us to take time out to think about God’s love for us.

The ISM Winter Retreat is coming up!  We hope that you can join us for that if you couldn’t be at the GFC one.  We will have a series of Bible studies to give everyone a deeper understanding about God’s perspective on life, sin, Christianity, and relationships.  Also, we will have some special seminars including topics such as the origin and validity of the Bible, the existence of God, etc.  It will a very informative opportunity for you to explore whether Christianity is rational.  And of course, we will have some fun games, go hiking and enjoy nature!  Sign up is here.