I’m so thankful for my parents’ visit a few weekends ago and for what God did in their hearts. This was the first time my parents visited for any extended period of time, minus my graduation from college. My hope for their short stay was for them to see my life, what I do, and what our church is like. So on Saturday, after eating dinner together with my leaders and peers, I showed them my house and then we walked over to Steve & Suzanne’s, which is only five minutes away. When they realized that I was going to knock on their door unannounced, my parents backed off and wanted to go back, not wanting to bother them. But I encouraged them to come in, telling them that people drop by their place all the time unannounced.

Upon entering their home, they were welcomed and given cups of tea and a warm welcome. Pretty soon, some of the senior class from Koinonia started to trickle into their house for a senior discipleship time. Seeing how the seniors played with the kids, my mother remarked how lucky their kids were to be raised with so many uncles and aunties to care for them. As we left their home, my parents expressed their surprise at how open their homes were to so many people.

The last stop we made before the hotel was our very own church building, North Loop. Though my parents were very tired from a long day of sightseeing, their eyes popped wide open the moment we entered the building. It was 10:30 pm, and North Loop was still bustling with people. The SF group were folding Sunday service programs together, laughing and enjoying one another’s company; the praise band was in the warehouse practicing for Element’s upcoming Centrifuge; the audio-video guys were working in the A/V room. Every room was occupied and full of life, and my mother’s exact words were, “I can feel this church is so . . . alive!” My parents were absolutely amazed, and they wished their camera had not broken so that they could take pictures of what they were witnessing and show their church members at home.

What was it that impacted my parents so much? It was people opening up their homes, sharing life together, and enjoying genuine relationships as they served God together. I saw in a new way the power that Christian community has to attract people and to eloquently demonstrate God’s active presence. Jesus’ words sprung to life: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

This summer, we held the first annual Sophomore Discipleship Retreat at Sierra Lodge, led by Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang. It's only been a year since we first met these sophomores as wide-eyed frosh, and many of them didn't really know each other very well either. The first night we played some games, including a rousing competition of King Kong Shower -- and I must mention that the girls handily triumphed over the guys. Over the next couple of days, we had times of sharing stories about ourselves, hearing inspiring messages together, doing some work around Sierra Lodge, hearing Pastor Ed and Kelly’s sharing and advice about different topics, playing at the lake, kayaking, and hiking. One night, we watched a video of Tony Campolo’s Carpe Diem message, and I was so stirred once again by the truth he spoke and his passion. I was inspired once again not to sell out to the small dreams of materialistic comfort, and to live out with passion our God-given visions. I was so thankful that the sophomores got to have this time to set the tone before their soph year, when everything gets tougher – personal relationships, spiritual life, school.

After the video, Pastor Ed and Kelly asked the students to write down what they would like to do in their lives for God with a group of like-minded friends. As the students were writing, I thought about my own visions I’ve had for my life. In many ways, I realize, I am living out the dreams I’ve had for my life. I usually don’t think about my life in this way, and am generally more focused on things that I lack. But sitting there with the students, it was easy to think back to how I felt at their age and it gave me a different perspective on my life. I was reminded how it was so daring for me to even think that I and my friends could live the way our leaders lived, that I could indeed forgo the standard dreams of securing a comfortable life for myself, that I could pour my life out to impact other college students at that most exciting time of their lives, when they are just waking up to what the gospel means and how it could be lived out, just as I experienced. I was so thankful that there I was trying to impact these students in the same way that they impacted me, 14 years ago. Though I haven’t done anything grand in my life, I just felt joy to think that my God-given visions had come true in this way. Even the fact that we are foster parents right now, I was reminded that this is way beyond what I ever imagined for myself, until I saw some of my leaders become foster parents, and our church carried the burden together.

As the students were writing out their visions, some of the younger staff and I were talking about their own visions. I was so thankful for how God has transformed their lives. They were reminders to me of God’s faithfulness throughout the years of our ministry. Here they are, having caught on to the heart of our ministry, committed themselves to God, having grown through many struggles -- and who knows how God will use them in the years to come. I was reminded of God’s faithfulness in the lives of those people, and was excited afresh to think there is that same potential in the sophomores for their lives to be transformed by the gospel. Afterwards the sophomores took turns sharing their visions of what they would want to do for God in their lives. I felt that this was a marker of something changing in their midst. As Kelly Kang shared, one of their goals for this retreat was for the students to get to know one other on a deeper level. She said that you can play games together for four years and not really know one other, but she wanted them to have the opportunity to develop their visions, and to find like-minded friends with whom they could dream dreams for God together. I think it will long be remembered as one of those memorable times of their undergrad lives. I was reminded of what a wonder it is that I am here in the midst of this kind of ministry, and felt so thankful to be able to be a part of it.

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.