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 as 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.

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

The International Student Ministry (ISM) paid another regular visit to the elderly in Alameda Care Center on Saturday, the 15th of December. However, the visit was anything but regular. First, we celebrated the Christmas holiday by singing three Christmas carols: "Silent Night," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and "Joy to the World!" Many of the elderly enjoyed the sound of Christmas with their eyes closed. Some of them even sang along with us. And their faces were beaming with joy. Then, we read, in both English and Cantonese, two passages from the Bible that talk about the coming of Jesus Christ. Following that, Hank delivered a special message explaining the true meaning of Christmas. To concretely and practically translate God’s love for them, we brought them Christmas presents—warm socks and mittens. They loved the gifts very much and held them close to their hearts.

As we went around and chatted with them individually, many of them expressed their gratitude to us. They commented that our presence was very special to them and hoped that we could come back more often. As I took pictures of our interactions with these elderly, I felt that we had gotten much closer to them after less than one year of monthly visits. Personally, these new relationships brought me so much unexpected joy and fulfillment. As I reflect on the fact that God calls us to look after orphans and widows, I realize that God truly knows how to bring us closer to true joy and fulfillment.

Our wedding was a very special day for Margaret and me. More than anything it was a day for us to praise God for who He is and what He has done in our lives. It was also a day where we once again experienced the church in action. Without our friends from Gracepoint, the day would not have been possible.

From the beginning, Jessica volunteered to take charge of helping us with the wedding ceremony and Shufei volunteered to take charge of our reception. They helped us with planning, running errands, coordinating help, and making everything happen on the day of. From setting up the sound equipment, to decorating, to ushering the guests, to transporting the gifts, to playing the music, everything was done by our friends from our church. Then at the reception, different groups such as our college friends as well as the ministry groups that we have helped out with had prepared very thoughtful presentations to show their appreciation and give us their well-wishes.

All of our relatives, coworkers, classmates and friends were so impressed -- many told us that it was the "most meaningful", "most entertaining" wedding they'd ever been to. One of my coworkers said to me, "You have such incredible friends. I wish I had friends like yours." When we told them that the only people we hired for this whole wedding were the photographers and that everyone else were friends volunteering their help, our guests were even more impressed and amazed.

At the end of it all, we both felt overwhelmed by the care and support of our church. It was but a glimpse of all that we have received from God over the years here at Gracepoint. God's love manifested through the detailed and concrete love of the members of the church -- this is what we have experienced time and time again over the past 9 years. We committed once again to likewise "live it out", and be this kind of channel of God's love to others.

Last Sunday afternoon was a picture-perfect San Francisco day and what better way to spend the afternoon than to go biking? Biking to the Golden Gate Bridge was a blast! San Francisco Praxis members biked from Fisherman’s Wharf to Crissy Field, then crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and stopped shortly in the middle to catch our breath and take group pictures. That afternoon, even the chips and water tasted better than usual.

It was my first time biking in San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. If I had done it alone, I don’t think the trip would have been as memorable. Something about biking up and down the hills together with the other Praxis members made the afternoon excursion a memory I will recall with fondness--it was like living out a postcard and being a tourist for a day, but with a group of friends I can count on.

These last three years have been the most difficult years of my life as I experienced two deaths in my family. However difficult it was though, I felt loved and cared for by people in this community. As I shared my father’s physical ailments and emotional pains from Parkinson’s disease and cancer, the brothers and sisters at this church committed to carrying my father in prayer. For one whole year, they made weekly efforts to visit my family and encourage my father with their prayers. People came sharing God’s Word, singing hymns, bringing fruit, and even decorating my father’s hospital room with Christmas lights during Christmas. Others called, emailed me with words of encouragement, and offered to help in any way they could. I felt as if my family became other people’s family as they adopted my family into their prayers and concern. One sister told me that next to her own family, my family was next in line in her prayers. This really touched me as I saw how God was using so many people to intercede for my family. I felt undeserved to be a recipient of so many prayers from brothers and sisters that I have never personally met.

Their commitment of love for my family is another manifestation of God's grace and goodness in my life. I am so privileged and thankful that I could attest to God’s faithfulness through my father's salvation and passing. This experience has given me a better understanding of God’s love and what it means to take on each other’s burdens. Not only was my father carried, but I was also carried through this difficult time and for this, I am so grateful.