Kairos Christian Fellowship (Gracepoint – Berkeley)

This past Saturday was more special than most as many of us had the privilege of attending Richard and Jeanne Tay’s wedding. It was truly a joyous occasion, with videos and song-and-dance routines to show many people’s appreciation toward the couple. It was also a time of remember how God faithfully works in people’s lives, and surely Richard and Jeanne are living testimonies to God’s faithfulness.

I was touched listening to all the personal sharings of how Richard and Jeanne have been a huge part of so many people’s lives. And though videos like the “Normal Versus” videos are humorous (remember the last scene? if not watch it below!), they also clearly show the close and covenantal relationships they have developed with the people God has placed in their lives.

This was the second wedding I personally attended at Gracepoint and it again reminded me of the precious community that we have, with ample opportunities to love and serve others.

Congratulations again to Richard and Jeanne!

Hope everyone is buckling down and studying hard this week because we’ve got some exciting things planned for this weekend!

Here are the plans this week:

WEDNESDAY

HOTSPOT

Hot Spot is still on this week. We’ll be having dinner in various groups. Please contact your staff for more info.

FRIDAY

SPECIAL BIBLE STUDY!
6:30pm @ 112 Wurster (starting with dinner)

We’re having a special bible study this week. This is a great chance for you to invite your friends and introduce them to what Kairos is all about. We’ll be having:

- Free dinner
- IncomPARABLE Wisdom message
- And a time of fun and games to close off the evening

SATURDAY

MONTEREY TRIP
9:30am @ Anna Head Parking Lot (we’ll be leaving from here so don’t be late ^_^)
Cost: $25 (covers food, gas & bike rental)

And after a week of studying (or procrastinating) for midterms, it’s time to get out of your dusty rooms and libraries have some fun out in the fresh air and sunlight in our very own Monterey. Hm? What are we going to do? We’ll I’m glad you asked!

The plan right now is to head to the beach, play some sports, eat some good food and go biking around some gorgeous scenery!

Here’s a sneak peek from former trips:

Look at that amazing view! The water's so blue!

And if you're lucky, you might just even find some strange wildlife (I'm talking about the starfish, not the people, just in case there was some sort of misunderstanding ^_^)

Ready to sign up? Alrighty! Here you go:

Warning: Do not read this post on an empty stomach.

Last Tuesday night, October 20th, the sophomore sisters had a fun-filled baking night at Dana House. Working at a huge table strewn with measuring cups, mixing bowls, and various ingredients, from phyllo dough to rice vinegar, we made fruit tarts, red velvet cupcakes, and pumpkin mochi from scratch. While we all had different levels of baking experience, it was entertaining to just figure out the recipes together (for the red velvet cupcakes, we had to convert ounces into cups…ummm…) and see how they turned out in the end.

After all the desserts were baked and decorated, we all sat around the Korean tea table to eat them! While they were all amazingly delicious, we were able to award each of them with its own separate title:

1) Tastiest: Pumpkin Mochi. The pumpkin mochi was perfect: warm, crispy around the edges, and soft and gooey on the inside. Most of us admitted to having three or four, though there were still enough left over to bring home “to our roommates”.

2) Prettiest: Fruit Tarts. After filling phyllo dough with a rich blend of cream cheese, whipped cream, and vanilla, we adorned them with berries, drizzled the top with melted chocolate, and sprinkled powdered sugar on as a finishing touch. Though they were easy to make, the finished products seriously looked as if they had come from a professional caterer or five-star restaurant.

3) Bloodiest?: Red Velvet Cupcakes. These cocoa-flavored cupcakes were very…red. Though we could spread cream cheese frosting on top, the whiteness could still not subdue their vivid color. Nevertheless, they were quite scrumptious (their appearance, not their taste, reflected this award).

Overall, it was really refreshing to just take a break from midterm-studying and our own stressful schedules and just spend a few hours talking, building our relationships with one another, and creating beautiful things together. We were also encouraged to bring our friends and roommates, so it was fun meeting some new people as well. What better way to bond than through measurement conversions and delicious food? Can’t wait till our next baking night!

Face off

So last friday night, October 16th, 2009, Kairos and A2F came together for another memorable RSF Night. The arenas of competition included handball, musical basketball, and the never-before-seen capture the frisbee and tennis ball.

Juniors were clearly seen as the favorites to win yet another sports event, and they indeed prove to be in solid form. But the finale of the night, the ULTIMATE brave-heart, in which all classes clashed at once, that snatched victory from the juniors’ grasp. As the juniors were dominating the last event as well, all of a sudden in the middle of the game, 10 additional staff jumped into the battle to aid the freshmen, who actually outnumbered all other classes at the beginning. Experienced staff hunted down the easily visible yellow shirted juniors and took them out one by one.

But in the end, it was neither the juniors nor the freshmen who came out on top. Grey shirted sophomores strategically remained noiseless, avoiding any kind of confrontation throughout the game, and ended up with the most survivors. So the sophomores took the 1st place, followed by the juniors and the freshmen. But no matter who the victor was, I think all of us had a good time of bonding, not just with those we know, but also with new faces from different ministry. Class pride aside, I always feel blessed to have the opportunity to share such an experience as the RSF Night with so many brothers and sisters. But definitely, I doubt there will be another upset in the next sports night.

Freshmen - size of an army

(Temporarily) Victorious Sophomores

Mighty juniors

Senior power

Yay! Fall is here! It’s starting to rain and air smells so fresh ^_^! Hope all of you were able to make it out to RSF night last week with A2F. It was such a huge upset that the Sophomores defeated the Juniors…better luck next time!

Kairos and A2F Sophomores take first place in this year's first joint RSF night!

Here are the plans this week:

WEDNESDAY

HOTSPOT

Hot Spot is still on this week, but will be meeting by different groups. Please contact your staff for more info.

FRIDAY

FROSH LIFE GROUP + DINNER
6:30pm @ YWCA

Freshmen Life Group and dinner is back at the Y this week.

SOPHOMORES SETUP
6:30pm @ 1st Pres Gym (NEW LOCATION)

The sophomores have the privilege this Friday of doing setup. Please bring your own dinners and arrive at the 1st Pres Gym promptly by 6:30.

JRS + SRS DINNER
6:30pm @ Sun Hong Kong

With the sophomores doing setup, the Juniors and Seniors can take a break and catch up with one another at dinner after a busy week.

BIBLE STUDY
7:30pm @ 1st Pres Gym (NEW LOCATION)

We’ll be continuing with the series, The IncomPARABLE Wisdom.

RIDING ON THE STONE SLIDE
9:30pm

Q: What’s better than going down a slide?
A: Going down a 3 story high slide stone slide in the dark!

We’re going to take a drive up to North Berkeley’s Rose Garden and have some fun on the stone slide and the nearby playground. Who say’s you can play in a playground after you go to college?

For those of you attending the Tay-Phung wedding, we’re going to have to pass up on this opportunity in order to prepare something for the reception. We’ll start practice after bible study.

Group Devotion Time

DT by groups begins this week. Those of you who signed up should’ve gotten an email from Eunice. If you would still like to join, please email Eunice at eunicebkimATsbcglobal.net

Last Friday, Kairos had its long-awaited Photo Scavenger Hunt all over the UC Berkeley Campus! After a Bible study from Daniel Kim about the parables of the lost and found in Luke 15, we broke up into ten teams and branched out across campus to find different distinctive spots and features of Berkeley. Afterward, we shared all of our videos and pictures, and here are some exceptional ones (in various ways).

Team 9

Fiscal power at Haas

Fiscal power redefined

Some desperate campus squirrels

The best shot of the campanile (it's harder than it looks)

Team 7 rocking out

A tribute to Cal football

Reflections at the pool

Team 8

Team 5

Videos of the Night

Team 8’s The Play in slo-mo!!!

Team 10’s famous historical moment (see if you can identify it =D):

Team 3’s protest on Sproul Plaza (this is Berkeley after all)

Team 5’s Shakespeare in Unit 1

It looks like a rainy week this week, folks… up until Thursday, anyways. Hope everyone stays dry and healthy! Word on the streets is that most people are now done with their first wave of midterms… that is, unless you’re in the college of chemistry where you just constantly get pummeled by midterms.

Here are the plans this week:

WED: HOTSPOT

Hot Spot is still on this week, but will be meeting by different groups. Please contact your staff for more info.

FRIDAY

FROSH LIFE GROUP + DINNER
6:30pm @ YWCA

Freshmen Life Group and dinner is back at the Y this week.

JRS+SRS SETUP
6:30pm @ 112 Wurster

The juniors and seniors have the privilege this Friday of doing setup. Please bring your own dinners and arrive at Wurster promptly by 6:30.

BIBLE STUDY
7:30pm @ 112 Wurster

We’ll be continuing with the series, The IncomPARABLE Wisdom. Please note that we’re back at Wurster this week.

RSF NIGHT
9:30pm

a2f and Kairos will be combining to have our first RSF Night of the year! If I recall correctly, the juniors won the Kairos Kleeberger Field night a few months back (though, I thought they only won it because of their sick intro; I tried to suppress it from my memory). Who will win this week? Can the freshmen take it all for the first time ever (this semester)? Can the sophomores? Oh, the suspense! Oh, the drama! Be there and be a part of it!

Group Devotion Time

DT by groups begins this week. Those of you who signed up should’ve gotten an email from Eunice. If you would still like to join, it’s not too late to sign up!

SWS Setup Team and Elderly Care Ministry

Two things here: First, we are looking for a few good men and women who will rise to the occasion of learning — and doing — the Sunday setup each week. We have an unofficial eighth core value in our church, and that is SIU — setting it up! Be a part of the team that goes every Sunday to Willard at the crack of dawn (ie, 8am) to help SIU the sound, stage, and lights. Sign up to serve in this way!

Second, we’ll need another group of people to help out with the Elderly Care Ministry, led by our Praxis people. This group will go once a month to Crown Bay. It’s a concrete opportunity to take care of “the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the sick” right in our own backyard. If you’d like to join ECM, please sign up.

If you can, please sign up by this Wednesday!