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.

Joyland Extension is a 4-hour Friday educational program that volunteers from our church hold as a portion of our Joyland children's ministry (meal included). Programs range from micro cell biology to world history, all taught by our volunteers. Scientists, teachers, doctors, engineers, college students, or just plain folks like myself who normally don't get a chance to work with the kids.

This past week, three Praxis volunteers and I transformed an ordinary living room and a humble 55 gallon saltwater aquarium into a fully-immersive coral reef ecosystem. I never thought my little fish hobby could actually open up the curious minds of our kids. I had as much of a blast as they did. We learned about 22 species of reef inhabitants in a live interactive video format. We discovered the beautiful but ever poisonous Zooanthid coral, fed the vicious eel and Koran Angelfish by hand, and had a makeshift touch pool for the kids to touch Scarlet Hermit Crabs, Linkia Starfish and an oversized Rhodactis mushroom coral about the size of an alarm clock.

Watch Video

Joyland Extension - Coral Reefs

 

Add in a splash of animated water caustics on the wall and ceilings, cue up the surround-sound ocean ambient soundtrack, and why would you ever need to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium when you got Joyland Extension?!

Indeed, it takes a village to raise one child. I'm really grateful I can be part of a community that values each child; opting to do the hard work of running a weekly enrichment program to expand their range of experiences. Because of Joyland Extension, gone are the days popping in the Finding Nemo DVD for the nth time. By the way, for the record, "Nemo" is actually an Ocelaris Clownfish which is commonly paired with the Green Bubble-tip Anemome ... any of our kids should be able to tell you that now =)

The first SF Campus Retreat was anything but mundane. It started the night before the retreat with an email that began, “You will never believe this.” The email informed us that the retreat center’s only bridge was shut down by the county due to unsafe engineering, and with less than 24 hours to find a new location, we had nowhere to go! With some frenzy and prayers, we were able to meet at UCSF on Friday night.

Despite the last minute changes, the retreat was an answer to prayer because it was a time of good fellowship and timely messages. Although I was disappointed that we couldn’t go on an overnight trip, Friday was memorable with the Carpe Diem message from Tony Campolo and the various impromptu skits building on his message. To see grown adults letting down their guards and be goofy was such an enjoyable experience. I had not laughed so much in a long time. On Saturday, Pastor Ed challenged our church to become like the Acts 2 church, where we can be a passionate church that lives out God’s command to love one another.

I felt a renewed sense of responsibility to build up SF Campus by making the concerted effort to get to know our church members better. I’ve been coming to SF Campus since August 2006, but it was really at this retreat that I began to feel like I belong in this the loving community of believers. I am very grateful for SF Campus, and know that this local church is the hope of the world. As a member, I recommitted to build this community that God has placed me in and share the love of Christ with the lost. And I know that it will be through the meaningful relationships within this church that will cause others to be attracted to Jesus.

Arriving after a few weeks of winter break, this past senior retreat was an uplifting and refreshing time for me and many of my peers. Yosemite –a long time favorite of our church- was our destination. We did a lot fun things, such as sledding, snowball fights, and indoor games. We even had a friendly Sisters vs. Brothers game of Family Feud. I must say, though the answers in the survey were clearly biased towards the masculine train of thought, the girls emerged victorious.

I was personally so blessed by this retreat in so many ways. I really felt the need to develop my character as salt and light and concretize my identity as a faithful Christian woman. Being a naturally fearful person, Pastor Ed's exhortation to not give in to our fears was challenging, especially in light of the many fears and insecurities that I will have to confront as graduation approaches. Pastor Ed had us make a timeline of our lives, noting the major markers in which we can clearly see God's hand at work. This exercise was encouraging for me because I was reminded again that God indeed is in control and I was urged to entrust my future, my life to Him in daily surrender with faith that He will continue to lead and guide me. Seeing Pastor Ed and Kelly co-laboring for the gospel and recognizing the growth in relationships of my own peers heightened my awareness of being a part of a community –a family. And as we took our last group picture against an ethereal orange sunset, I was filled with thanksgiving that God would allow me to experience a bit of heaven in this wonderful body of Christ.