International Graduate Student Ministry – Gracepoint Berkeley

We had a wonderful BBQ and sports time last Sunday. We met many new Berkeley international graduate students (and some of their spouses). We had some very delicious BBQ…the chicken drums and thighs were grilled to perfection! To counter the grease attack, there was a wide assortment of salads. And after the sumptuous lunch, we had three different activities going on at the same time: soccer, volleyball, and a nice walk to the shoreline in Alameda. Many of the new friends commented that they had a great time. Check out our pictures to see what you think. Come join us next time!

I must admit that I was sad that we finished The Truth Project series as we wrapped up our summer home church format last Sunday. The Truth Project taught me how to gaze upon the face of God. It exposed the many lies that I and our culture have bought into and showed us the beauty and majesty in God’s own nature and His marvelous design of this world. As it surveyed the truths about God, philosophy, man, the state, law, sociology, and many other important topics, it provided many discussion opportunities for the international graduate students. And I am touched by Dr. Tackett’s passion for truths.

If you are interested in the materials, please let us know. We encourage you to check it out. Here is a promo trailer for The Truth Project.

Summer 2008 was winding down, so ISM celebrated the end of summer with a nice, relaxing picnic at Live Oak Park in North Berkeley. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, and a lot of fun together. How did we have fun? Glad you asked. We played a team game where some older ISM staff members got soaked. And then we played hours of basketball, volleyball, soccer, and frisbee. Check out the photos!

In the summer, ISM met for Bible study in homes in Alameda. The small group Bible studies were places where we learned about Christianity and what the Bible teaches about God, human nature, and Jesus Christ. We started with dinner each week, delved into the Bible, and strengthened our friendships in this nice cozy setting.

If you’re looking for a small group, please contact us! Check out the photos–you might want to join one after you see them!

I just wanted to update everyone on Meowmeow and my trip to China. It’s already been quite a trip here… It feels like a long time already even though its been less than a week. We landed at the new Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital Airport on Tuesday. It is really nice. And big. And just a tad far from the rest of the airport though. After trying to reach the other terminal to catch a cab, we were exhausted and cooled off at the Lei Cafe. (This one is for you Shufei!)

We got to visit with some old friends from Berkeley as well as do some business networking. We will provide updates for everyone when we get back, but we were grateful for the chance that we had to meet them back in Berkeley with ISM.  (We also come back with the sense that the church really is the hope of the world.)

We have also eaten really well. Meowmeow’s parents are also with us, so we have been eating a lot… 3 full meals a day. I think we will come back with more weight gained.

Alas, it wouldn’t be quite a trip without unexpected adventures. And I think wherever I go, hospitals love me. Yes, I had to make a visit to ER at a Chinese hospital. It was a nervous experience because I wasn’t sure what would happen. Here is a picture of my left hand. It is massively swolen and looks more like a paw than a hand because I couldn’t bend my fingers all the way. It’s hard to believe that it was just 1 mosquito bite that caused this. We went to 2 pharmacies looking for Benadryl and the pharmacist told us to head to the hospital ASAP. Thankfully nothing seems terribly wrong. The doctor looked at the hand and just gave me 3 types of anti-histamine/anti-allergy type medications. I think I’ll be okay, but please remember us in your thoughts.

Can’t wait to see everyone in 2 weeks!

For most of June, Eliah and I went to Thailand with around 20 other people from Gracepoint Fellowship Church. The team, led by Pastor William Kang, of the Acts2 Fellowship Group, visited Bangkok and Changmai in the northern part of Thailand. We participated in touristy activities like riding elephants, touring temples and ancient ruins, and eating authentic Thai food. Real Thai food was much more spicy than I expected. Sorry to write about this after talking about food, but while riding the elephants, they would stop as they were walking and go to the bathroom. I was really praying that the elephant would not slip and cause us to fall into the mud.

We also were able to talk with people from all walks of life: elementary school students, elderly people that lived with leprosy all of their lives, university school students, villagers, and church members. It was a moving experience to praise God with the Thai churches, singing in both Thai and English. It made me realize that God is present all over the world and that our different cultures could be bridged by our common faith in and love for God.

When I go to Taiwan in a few days, I can say that I have been to Disneyland. It may not mean much to the Taiwanese people, except that they may have heard and seen things about Disneyland in America, and people say it is the happiest place on Earth. I wasn’t going to die an unhappy man if I didn’t visit Disneyland, and I didn’t have much desire to go when I visited LA a few weeks ago. But I decided to make this historical event to go Disneyland for the first time in my life, along with the other historical events in my life now, like moving out of Alameda, and moving to Taiwan.

It wasn’t what I expected. I thought Disneyland is for kids, and adults would have no fun there. But, I was wrong. Disneyland is for adults too. It is a pretty fun and happy place. The classic rides like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, and the Indiana Jones ride were fun, and I didn’t feel like throwing up at the end. For example, if I go to Magic Mountain, another theme park in southern California, I would be nervous waiting in line to get on a ride that I will regret going on when I am on the ride. I guess I am not a thrill seeker, but I would like to be a kid again, especially in Disneyland. Oh boy, I wish I was fifteen years younger in Disneyland! I would have had more fun as a kid.

I went with a group of my friends in ISM and people who have been to Disneyland before. That made being there a lot more enjoyable. If I went to Disneyland in the future with my wife and kids, I don’t think I would have much fun. Because I won’t be as young as I used to be, I wouldn’t be able to leave Space Mountain with a smile on my face, but with a dizzy feeling in my head. I have to make sure I don’t lose my kids, and I would have to keep up with them. I see when parents go to Disneyland; they do it for their kids.

Every summer, ISM changes its Bible study format to smaller and cozier group. This Bible study format change provides three advantages. The first advantage is that we can meet at ISM members’ homes in Alameda. Unlike the more austere and lecture-style classroom setting, homes provide a more relaxing and welcoming environment. Meeting at homes also allow us to have better food (nothing beats a home-cooked meal). Although coming to Alameda is a bit far from campus, the distance actually allows the students and scholars to have a short excursion away from their all-too-familiar research setting on the Berkeley campus.

The second advantage is that we can hold a more discussion-driven Bible study, which allows for more interaction among the students as well as with the Bible study teacher. Another advantage is that the discussion topics can be different for different groups. This allows us to tailor the Bible study topics according to the questions and the needs of the students and scholars. Lastly, it’s always nice to have a change of setting once in a while.

In the past two years, we have tried offering classes such The Book of Romans, Genesis in Space and Time, Worldviews Today, and others. This year, we are divided into three smaller groups: one group studies the Devotion Time (DT) passage provided by Gracepoint Fellowship Church; the other two groups study the Alpha Course material.

We just started the new format last week. I pray and hope that through the new format, our ISM students and scholars will build more relationships with one another and get to know God more through the Bible studies.

Imagine standing in a circle, holding hands with the people next to you. Now imagine that you are chanting the words “this is so fun… this is so fun… this is so fun…” over and over again. In a monotone voice. And you aren’t allowed to laugh or smile. If you can’t, don’t worry–most of us couldn’t either! We had one of the funniest moments when the final three brothers were staring each other down, swinging their arms, and chanting. Not one would break. So Shufei got the funny idea to start saying “this is so FUN”. But the word “FUN” was about 2 octaves higher than his normal voice. It was hilarious. (he did not win by the way)

Welcome to Saturday night’s ice breaker games. People were divided into teams at random. And then each team had to produce an artist to draw an ISM staff member. (Note, the author of this post does not believe that any of the characters on Wesley’s napkin look like him. I resemble… err… resent that.)

And a poet. And a strongman. And a marksman. Yes, it was random, but there’s a certain power in silly games to bring bonding and laughter like no other. Eliah, our resident governator-type, did 83 push-ups in a row. Yes, 83! I don’t think I can do 83 in an entire day if I tried… with breaks. (note, the blog author has bad wrists and cannot do pushups) But it was pretty amazing to see him do 83.. and then watch Joe and Josiah try to break 50 and find themselves unable to.

This is Ken, our resident Korean military marksman. He couldn’t get the Nerf dart to hit a soda bottle. Amazingly, our star marksman–like in the Olympics–was a Korean woman… Mia.  (Okay, so Korean women dominate in archery and not shooting–its close enough) Yes, do not mess with her! I think she was as surprised as we were that she was able to hit anything.

This is how we wrapped a long day of hiking in the rain… with dinner (ribs and corn…  and ramen) and these fun games. I can’t wait until next year! And if you missed this trip, hopefully you can join us next year.  Until then, you can just practice in the mirror: “this is so fun…”

I know many of you have probably heard about our Yosemite trip last weekend. Yes, it was supposed to be a camping trip. But due to some rather unfortunate weather, we decided to rent 4 very nice houses instead. Okay, so it was 3 very nice houses and 1 house that even the guys called “spooky house”. I actually stayed at the spooky, haunted-house looking place. It wasn’t too bad. But it was sort of eerie to have to park the minivan near the street, then walk down the dirt driveway with only a flashlight… only to see a house on the hill with a long, winding staircase leading to the front door. And the house was wooden, so it didn’t look very inviting either. Chul tried to scare some of us by turning around and saying, “Do you think I am really Chul?”

Well, we weren’t too scared… at least, not as scared as Sharon and Mia during the Bourne Identity. (We had a rock-paper-scissors contest to see which movie we would watch. Shufei, representing the movie Glory Road, handily won the 2 out of 3 contest. But being gracious, the men let the women watch Bourne Identity while some of us played Bang! and Settlers of Catan.) During the movie, I think some people almost regretted choosing to watch. (like Sharon and Mia) In the back, they started to hide their face behind pillows and screamed at every suspenseful moment. I heard one of the guys did as well, but he will remain nameless. (though I think he lurks around here like a panda…)

The drive to Yosemite in May was not what we expected. There was rain and snow. Yes, at the start of summer, it was snowing. (It kept the drivers awake!) And it rained on the entire hike up to Vernal Falls. But rain or shine, we were determined to enjoy Yosemite. The weather was cool, the rain was fairly light… so it was actually perfect hiking weather, aside from the fact that we were wearing rain jackets, wind breakers, and ponchos. (a bright red one!)

The scenery was beautiful, even though it was foggy. In fact, it was reminiscent of a Chinese mountain painting with the fog partially covering El Capitan and Half Dome. So it was great to see and be reminded that nature–which is so wondrous at times–was something that God called “good” when He created it.

In sum, we were thankful to enjoy nature, deeper relationships, and great food… even in the rain. (yes, we were in our nice houses a lot of the time too) I’ll have a separate post about the hilarious icebreaker games from Saturday night.