One night during our Spring break trip to Yosemite with K1 and K2, we watched a movie titled Glory. Glory is a 1989 film which tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the American Civil War. This 54th regiment was the first formal unit of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African-Americans. It depicts their struggle to be recognized as a legitimate regiment ready for battle and they end up spearheading the attack on Fort Wagner, taking heavy losses.

I found myself being moved to tears as I watched these men not only growing into respectable and trained soldiers but also, slowly melding together under one purpose and love of fighting for the Union. Each of the main characters in the story is uniquely different from one another: educated and uneducated, a man with a chip on his shoulder who clashes with every person he speaks to and a composed older black man that acts as a peacemaker among the quarrelsome soldiers, and finally, a white colonel, who really had nothing in common in terms of experience and knowledge with the black regiment that he had to lead.

I got a chance to bond with many students that came on the trip. Each of them has their own story, history, quirks, personality, opinions about different topics, but we were able to enjoy being with each other through the many common experiences that we shared throughout the trip. These included preparing and eating late-night snacks and food for the hike and lunch, sharing life journeys in the car, doing a group talent show among the cars through the Talk About, sharing stories about interesting facts about ourselves, and arm wrestling and playing other silly games.

The highlight for many of the students was the outdoor prayer meeting that we had in Yosemite Valley, under a big Oak Tree in light rain. This was the last day of the trip and having seen the beauty of God's creation, it was such an appropriate thing that we were there to just marvel and praise God for who He is. We sang "How Great is Our God" with all our hearts, acknowledged God's vision and desire for us to be pure and beautiful as he designed nature, and repented and sought help to be delivered from our idols that mar God's original intent and design for us. After the prayer meeting was over, one student immediately said, "This was my favorite part." My heart just melted and I knew that this end of connecting people to God and for them to experience God's community was what life is all about, and anything less than that is a loss and not living life as God meant it to be lived.

It’s another Saturday night bible study. The praise is over, the message is over, dinner is over, and the small group time is over. We’re all just sort of milling around North Loop in that aimless but enjoyable time during which teachers and parents round up their wandering youth students to go home. I’m chatting with a bunch of fellow Element members. One of them says, “Hey, can I sleep over tonight?”

Thus begins another night of fellowship with my fellow youth students. For the past two or three years, such nights have been fairly frequent occurrences, with anywhere from one to five of my youth brothers coming over to hang out and sleep over. Essential of course in every night is first and foremost a time of food. Ramen and Spam are two of the essentials, along with generous amounts of Evergoods and fried rice, plus any leftovers that happen to be just lying around.

Then it’s time to go to bed. Of course, having just eaten a meal, we don’t fall asleep right away. Contrary to the generally accepted stereotype of teenage boys as simple punching machines who wrestle each other into exhaustion whose only other two common activities are sleeping and eating, we generally just end up talking. Late into the night, we talk about school, life in general, various questions they have about Christianity, and (most often) absolutely nothing at all.

Now, being just one of two senior guys in our youth, all of these guys who come over are at least two years younger than me. So in a lot of ways, I’m simultaneously a buddy and an older brother; as the oldest, there’s a lot of responsibility put on me. I have to make sure they don’t blow up the house, or leave a mess, or kill each other. A lot of time I double as a tutor, helping them with homework and stuff. Other times our house is a sanctuary—if for some reason they don’t want to go home that night, their easiest alternative is my house.

So what started out as just fun and hanging out has slowly evolved into something more. It’s been yet another time in my life where the distinction between “my life” and “church” has become blurred to the point of disappearing, and afterwards I found myself better off.

Click here for Isaiah's full story.

I have experienced the Acts 2 church so often since my first day at Gracepoint, I could say so much. Last year, a couple just gave us an older car after getting a new one because they saw how much trouble my family of four was having getting around in one car with our crazy schedules. Most recently, last month the church helped us with our move to Alameda. My husband and I were very anxious about how we would manage packing and moving a four bedroom house right in the middle of the semester, as we were both grad students. But then, one of the sisters in my group took over, making calls, sending emails, arranging rides (and even lunch), and on Saturday morning 15(!) brothers and sisters showed up at my place ready to help. What we thought would take all day, took three hours from start to finish!

Watching how the group of us came together, each one of us using our particular strength (no pun intended) and doing our part to make one big difficult task possible, really illustrated the Body of Christ. One sister organized the details of the day and watched the kids, the brothers put their biceps to work moving the large furniture, the sisters moved the smaller furniture, boxes, and made sure nothing got left behind or broken, and Richard, having played too many video games like Tetris, came in handy, as he impeccably arranged all of our furniture to fit into the moving truck, utilizing every last square inch. Three brothers even stayed behind to help us at the new apartment by arranging furniture and setting up the beds so that we had a place to sleep. And Andy's proficient handy man skills came into play, as he scoured the new apartment, making small repairs and hooking up appliances.

I was overwhelmed that all these people took their Saturday, with all the other things that they had going on (including a Cal game to watch), to come help me move all of my junk. I am so thankful that God has given me a family on which I can depend and ask for help, and I am confident that they truly care.

One of the ways that International Student Ministry (ISM) at Gracepoint serves incoming graduate students is through free airport pickup service. For this upcoming school year, I was given the privilege of serving as the coordinator who would link these students to ISM volunteer drivers. With big dreams and goals, the international students (both Masters and PhD candidates) arrived into the Bay area. A total of 16 individuals requested our services and collectively, they were able to claim nearly every continent as their own. There were an amazing 12 nations represented and each of their “ambassadors” aspired to be the future leaders of their respective academic fields through the rich learning environment found at Cal.

As Christians, each believer is also called to be an “ambassador” of Christ. At ISM, and through the course of a month or so, many of us took advantage of the opportunity to uphold this calling. Joy filled my heart as I got to make contact with these students and I considered each of our interactions to be very precious. These individuals entrusted themselves into the care of strangers and also left it to us to lift at least one burden off their shoulders. The volunteers graciously went about putting the finishing touches to their airport pickup details regardless of whether the student requested to be picked up way in advance or sought our services just a few days before. Some of our travelers came alone while others came with family members but nevertheless, just for a short while during the pick up time, drive over the bay, potential sharing of a meal and then eventual drop off, they were in good company of someone who had waited in eager anticipation of their arrival. Many of the volunteers took time out of their busy schedules or even went as far as to take some time off from work to make this happen. And their efforts paid off. Many of these students expressed a desire to find out more about ISM and through subsequent interactions at either Friday Forum, English class, sports events, Labor Day picnic, Graduate Student Welcome Night, or even informal gatherings, they were able to witness firsthand a community that genuinely cares for each other, strives to become closer and ultimately, grow together. From start to finish, this is also our hope for those who are able to make contact with our community.

I want to share about one couple and their journey as they dated and got married.

Around the time they were going to meet each others’ parents, one of the prayer meeting topics was on financial simplicity. We read an excerpt from a biography of C.T. Studd and his wife Priscilla, early missionaries to China. One of the stories of CT and Priscilla’s courtship on the mission field was about their wedding ring, how CT didn’t have money and gave away all of his considerable inheritance for missions, but there was a ring that Priscilla was given a long time ago, which they used as their wedding ring.

After that, the young man of this couple felt firmly convicted to not spend money on diamonds. But, he was worried about how she would respond. He saw the conflict ahead, not only with his future fiancee, but with her parents who might be offended or disappointed.

I found out later that, after the same prayer meeting and the excerpt, the young woman had felt independently convicted not to get a diamond ring, but she didn’t know how to bring it up to him (especially since he had not proposed yet). She had felt that she really had no qualms about it and thought it was unnecessary extravagance. But, she was concerned about him, whether she would offend him by turning it down.

After he proposed and before he could bring the matter up, she brought it up first. She told him how she felt from the excerpt and prayer meeting, and really did not want a diamond. When she told him, he just listened, nodded, and asked her if she really was sure, and that it was okay with him.

After that got cleared, it was like a huge burden had lifted from her shoulders, and she felt so free. And, as she was recounting this to me, I tell you, she was absolutely beaming! They were of one accord and happy about their decision.

The next hurdle was telling her parents. When she told her parents that he had proposed, they asked, “So, did he give you a diamond ring?” She told them what happened and why. Then, her mother replied, “That’s okay, I don’t have a diamond anymore. You don’t really need it.” And that was that, and both sets of parents have been fine ever since!

As we went ahead with the wedding and reception plans, they said that they did not want a head table at their reception. Rather, they wanted to sit on one of the round tables with their immediate family and be there to share together rather than be off on a head table separately. This was another surprise to us, but I thought it was a great idea. So, there was no elevated head table, but they sat on the ground level with all their guests and at the table with their immediate family.

(She also could not find a wedding dress that was modest enough, so she went ahead and ordered one. The dressmakers made a mistake, delayed it all, and ended up delivering the wrong design which by then was too late to change. But it fit and it was modest, and she was fine with it. She did not give it another thought.)

I could not help but respect them. I remember when I was getting married, how important the diamonds, the wedding dress and all the wedding details were to me, and how they remain so to today’s couples. It – along with many other elements – seemed like a fixed tradition that I was glad to accommodate, but this couple thought otherwise. They made these simple yet powerful steps, perhaps not realizing what a struggle it would be for many others. After the wedding, many people said it was one of the (if not the) sweetest weddings and receptions they’ve attended, and I believe that God honored them before us, as they had honored Him with their wedding plans.