Catching 18 rainbow trout, devouring mounds of food around a campfire, taking four college grads to set up makeshift tents around two trees, kayaking and intense water fights at two lakes, staying up to watch the Olympics, playing mind-stretching group games, travailing the rugged terrain to enjoy the view at Faucherie Lake, and hiking near the scenic Island Lake. Our Praxis home group did a lot over this past weekend's Sierra Trip, but despite the flurry of activity, one of the most unforgettable parts of the trip was not so much in all the commotion, but it was in just spending time together and getting close to people in our home group.

Throughout this past weekend, we did a lot together, but more importantly, we got a chance to "let our hair down a little" as it were, and get to know each other better through shared meals, shared games, and in short, shared memories, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. It was, as we often say in our church, a memory-making moment, when we caught 18 rainbow trout at the Jackson Meadow Reservoir, or when four kayaks full of sisters tried to instigate a water fight against just two brothers, yet still ended drenched when they arrived back on shore, or when one sister ran away from a water snake faster than Usain Bolt ran the 100 meter dash. (OK, she wasn't as fast, but she was just as exciting to watch.) The trip was less about accomplishing a particular agenda, or who caught more fish, or who won the group games, but more about simply doing life together.

Some people who come to our church for the first time might feel overwhelmed by the sea of faces on a typical Sunday Worship Service, but this trip with our home group brought us together. It was perhaps reminiscent of the Acts 2 church—being together, breaking bread, and eating together with glad and sincere hearts, but this time, instead of breaking bread, it was banana boats, s'mores, rainbow trout and relational barriers, so that together, we could marvel at God's masterpiece in nature and praise Him for the bountiful blessings of Christ-centered relationships in our lives.

For those who I've talked with, no one told me that preparing for their wedding was stress-free. They always talk about how stressful it was. And for us, this was no exception. What I do find as the exception, though, is the amount of help we received from people and how much more stressful it could have been. Someone was in charge to set up the reception, another to decorate the church, another person had to gather the heavy sound equipment, and the list goes on and on. The amount of people coming together to help us joyfully when we simply don't deserve it represents how much we've been loved at this church ever since the very beginning when we both started coming to this youth group (Yumi since her junior year in high school and myself since the 7th grade). Yumi and I were flooded by gratitude as we saw all the people God has blessed us with. From our parents to our family and friends, each face reminded us of what kinds of paths they walked through with us in the past, from spiritually dark times to moments of triumph. If it weren't for them, we would not be in love with God as we are now, and our hearts would not be as spacious for others. But through words of truths, encouragements, and exhortations, through sharing downtimes together, through the tears and laughter, and in short, through spending life together, we were able to just give all glory to God. And as we have been loved by many married couples at our church through their open lives and homes, we also committed to do the same, to love God more together, and to remember our wedding so that we may always be grateful.

As Annie, my wife, just finished her first week of chemotherapy last Friday, I had a chance to reflect on how this experience of her battle with cancer, while frightening, also enabled me to experience God’s blessing of love and encouragement from many people at our church. The entire week that Annie was going to the hospital for her chemotherapy shots, there was someone who drove her there and waited with her there as she received her shots. Throughout the week, we received innumerable visitors, bringing bright words of cheer and encouragement, bouquets of flowers, and dinners so that she wouldn’t have to cook. Additionally, we received dozens of emails and phone calls of encouragement. Here is a basic summary of the people who came over on Thursday night:

• Kevan and Jenny Ho (with baby Abigail in tow) came over with Caroline Ogasawara (just back from Taiwan missions). Jenny and Caroline started cutting up fruit so that Annie could it eat it later.
• Suzanne Suh was in the kitchen putting away dishes in an organized fashion.
• Ben and (a very pregnant) Helen Park brought dinner from Seoul Gomtang.
• Carol Kim brought over her small group girls Sophia, Difan, Grace, and Sally.
• Jiseon Choi brought over little Sophie.
• Daemin and Ahmi from our San Francisco campus brought flowers and prayed for Annie and me.
• Yumi and Joanna brought over their home group: Azusa, Kathy, Vivian, Jing, Victoria, Robin, and Tina. They brought over a big box of Specialties cookies (the best cookies in the world).

This is just a snapshot of ONE night last week. (In fact, I think there were more people who came over while I stepped out for a bit!) It’s such a vivid picture of the loving community and church we are part of. Although cancer is not a situation that we want to be in, I am grateful for the opportunity we have had to experience so much love and support through it. Through this, I’ve been able to appreciate God’s rich blessings in my life more. This is truly the church. This is how we are supposed to live life. I can’t imagine how someone would be able to go through a trial like this on his own. Through our connection together in this faith community called Gracepoint, knowing that others are praying for us and providing for our needs -- and seeing that God, ultimately, is behind it all and loving us through them -- we have been able to face even a trial like cancer with good cheer and great hope.

FTS Retreat is a highlight every year for all the Joyland fourth through sixth grade kids and teachers. This year we bundled 48 eager and excited boys and girls together and headed for the Silver Spur Conference Center near Tuolumne, CA. The 4 days we spent there were very action-packed and memorable, and a wonderful opportunity for the kids to bond through events like King Kong Shower, sports, swimming, hiking, water slides, archery, team competition/skits, campfire times, and more.

Some of the activities the kids really enjoyed were things like the huge water slide at the camp. It was a blast watching the kids face their nerves and go down the twisty slide, and by the end of the time they were so into it that they would cheer loudly for one another as we tried to see who could stick the farthest landing at the end of the slide. Or the time we spent at beautiful Pinecrest Lake, where the kids and teachers alike were able to engage in nice, all-out, water splashing wars. (Although Teacher Nelson had the unfair advantage of being the only one with a water gun.) Altogether, it was great to see the kids enjoy this type of wholesome, outdoor fun, in an environment and culture that makes experiences like this increasingly rare.

For me, some of the most memorable times were those more subtle moments: witnessing those elusive smiles emerge from some of our shier or more troubled children; watching some of our more seasoned children reach out to the relatively new faces; or seeing the barriers between our more regular kids and former Impact kids continue to gradually erode through team activities, food fellowship, and shared fun.

Not that the retreat was only about games and activities. Our time there was also a precious opportunity for the kids to take a more focused and deliberate look at who God is. The theme of the retreat was Divine Design, and through Teacher John Ko’s messages we wanted the kids to learn that God is great, God created each of them, and that God loves them and cares what happens to them. It was a blessing to witness as the kids were able to have this time to engage and respond to Teacher John’s illustrations and points.

Ultimately, one of my boys responded to the messages by making a salvation decision. As I heard him articulate his need for God and clear understanding all that Christ had done for him, I marveled at all the ways God must have orchestrated this boy’s life to bring him to this point: all the family, friends, older brothers, Joyland messages, past FTS retreats, former teachers...all these things must have acted together to guide him to this most important of decisions. And of course, as we were learning at the retreat, we serve a God who cares about us enough to do this orchestrating for each of us.

In the end, a number of the FTS kids made salvation decisions, re-commitments, or expressed the desire to learn about God; but even for those who didn’t, we know that through this experience, through all the messages and wholesome memories and fellowship, each child walked away with a clearer picture of who God is and how much He loves and cares for each of them.

Eugene and I have been serving in our Hsinchu, Taiwan ministry since September of last year, and we had the joy of finally coming home to visit Berkeley last week for a few short but full days. It was indeed a very very refreshing time for the both of us and a much needed break to refocus and prepare for Year 2 in Taiwan. We felt like we didn't deserve it but were treated like celebrities the minute we arrived in Berkeley/Alameda as we were greeted by so many familiar faces, reminders that we are dearly loved and supported by everybody. We had many times of sharing and fun with others and were given lots and lots of delicious food to eat. Praxis and others hosted us at North Loop our first night. We also met up with staff/students from Kairos Christian Fellowship, where we served prior to moving to Taiwan, and it was great to see how each one of them have grown. Our peers housed us and also took us on a relaxing day trip with delicious food and scenery. The directors also hosted us for a scrumptious dinner. We also had the privilege of joining a BTT (Bible Teachers Training) group at Sierra Lodge. It was an incredible time of bonding and fellowship, just hanging out, eating together, kayaking, etc. as well as training by Pastor Ed on how to prepare Bible studies and learning ministry wisdom from both Pastor Ed and Kelly. We felt really encouraged as we were reminded that we are not alone and it amazed us again that our God is so actively at work that He is stretching every member of our church, be it in Taiwan, in Berkeley, in San Francisco, in Austin. We came back to Taiwan having been so refreshed and strengthened and with greater appreciation for the kind of life we have together in Christ that transcends physical proximity. Because of all that we have experienced our first year in Taiwan, with all the challenges that came with leading a church for the first time, we felt a greater sense of kinship with everyone back at home, knowing that we are serving the same awesome God together so that even though this year we were further apart physically from everybody, somehow spiritually and emotionally we feel so much closer.