Kairos Christian Fellowship (Gracepoint – Berkeley)

We headed off to Walnut Creek for our annual Fall Retreat. This retreat was unorthodox in the sense that there were many videos; videos of Nick Vujicic, the Huckabees, and Angola Prison were shown to challenge our horizons as Christians. Pastor Ed concluded the retreat with a message from Genesis 12 and the call of Abraham.

If I could summarize the retreat into one word, it would be: challenging. Nick Vujicic and Ron Huckabee modeled for me the strength and beauty of depending on God. Though they seemed to have a reason to be bitter at life, they weren’t. They did complain, but ultimately found solace in God’s promise that He would be there for us. In my life, I forget that being a Christian does not mean that everything is going to be beautiful but that God is going to be there with me. It served as a powerful reminder as well as a warning that if I get bitter for not having the perfect life that I want, I’m no longer talking about reality.

Another part of the retreat that also challenged me was the idea that our lives should be a testament to the glory of God, that our lives should not be able to be explained by anything other than the work of God. Pastor Ed mentioned that everything our church does is still very doable – just a little bit of organization and late nights and we can pull it off. We should not be content with the level that we are doing because that would not be comparing ourselves to the standard that God calls for us in our lives. I know that there is a lot more to do and more of a spiritual reality that I learn to see. So as I gradually learn more of the nature of depending on God – I hope to increase in passion and attempt to live up to the invitation that Jesus has given me to join in His work.

This past Saturday we gathered all the Kairos sophomores together at Dana House for a delicious dinner of make-your-own California rolls.  We played some ice breaker games where we each told 2 Truths and 1 Lie, where others had to guess which statements were true and false.  At my table, I learned that some people had some serious injuries when they were younger, including getting a pencil stuck in the back of one’s head, falling off a slide face forward, getting one’s finger stuck in a pencil sharpener, etc… very interesting to see what we used to do when we were younger!  Thankfully we have all grown out of those times and are a lot more mature now

After dinner, we finished off the night sharing about this past week and how it is like to no longer be the youngest on campus and to have these many younger frosh in our midst.  All the staff also got to share a piece of advice for the sophs as they begin this second year at Cal.  As many of us know, sophomore year is also infamously known as “suffer-more” year — it is a difficult year of transition, as you will be: adjusting to harder classes and no longer being the youngest on campus, learning to cook and clean, becoming more responsible and mature, getting to know your roommates better and rubbing lives with them (and sometimes wondering what on earth were you thinking when you chose to live with these people), etc.  There are many challenges ahead for you sophomores, but hang in there and fear not as you have one another to live life with! Indeed, looking back on my own sophomore year, my advice to each of you is to really get to know your peers on a deeper level and build on these relationships. For example, rather than doing things by yourselves, grab a few peers and do them together (having dinner, studying, hanging out, playing sports, etc). I have known my fellow sister peers for the past 8 years now and it was those times in college when we really got to know each other and share lives together. So, make the most of the time you have — live life together!

Along with the rest of the Soph staff, I look forward to this exciting new year and all that will happen.  I hope to get to know all of you better and hopefully, as we press on with one another, “suffer-more” year does not have to be such a difficult year!

Wow, can’t believe that school and Welcome Week will be upon us in 3 short days! I know that many of you will be returning so I wanted to get you caught up on some of the things we’ve been doing.

The highlight of this week has been prep work for our “Kairos Karnival,” New Student Welcome Night, and all the welcome week events! Here are some pics of our workday at Northloop getting ready for the Carnival.

Making the legs for the “QB Challenge” with hinges for easy transportation.

Who knew painting the football guys for “QB Challenge” would be so fun?!?

Here’s the finished product!! These were some of the workers an of course we tested it out to mak sure it worked!

We were also working on the ping pong toss game! And the winning cups will form “CAL!” Go Bears!

We’ve been working on our retreat/fellowship site up in the Sierra’s! We call it Sierra Lodge, but it’s quickly become much more with our newly install basketball court with lights, and all the nice additions to the house!

Celebration on our first night with lights!

We constructed a huge trellis, expanded our patio, built mudrooms, and created multiple decks in the midst of our cedar forest!

We’re excited (esp. my son Timmy) about the upcoming football season and we’ll be rooting on our team! Go Bears!!

Finally, we welcomed Jacob and Angela to our Kairos home group! They were college friends of Amy and I and they moved here from Davis and are joining our staff. Be sure to say hi when you see them!

Kairos is hosting Cal Connect again this year to welcome the incoming freshmen. It will be a wonderful opportunity for freshmen to meet some alumni and upperclassmen and ask them questions or just get to know them. If you are interested, please a look at the details and rsvp form below. Hope to see you there!

Date/Time: Thursday, August 13 from 7-8:30pm (drop in anytime!)
Location: Starbucks @ 1701 South El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94402
For more info: Andy & Amy at andytung@alum.berkeley.edu or (510) 914-4749

We’re going to Cal Connect again this year! Woot! It’ll be our chance to meet the new students and hopefully help answer some of their questions. Some of the staff will be going, but it would be great if some students could come too so that you can be the “young and hip” older brother/sister that the new frosh can talk to.

Here is the date and time that we’ll be going:

Date: Thursday, August 13
Event Time: 7:00 – 8:30PM (+ Transportation Time)
Location: Starbucks (map), 1701 South El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94402

If you are interested in joining us, please comment on this blog and we’ll get back to you. Thanks!

Holas! This Friday night after Bible Study, we’ll be joining Rick & Sue’s group for a night hike up to the Big C. (Apparently Amy Tung STILL has not been up there yet, as well as several other staff members…shameful ) We’ll take a strenuous 15 minute hike and when we get up there, tired and hungry as I know many of you will be, we’ll be having some yummy snacks and fun fellowship time. Please wear comfy shoes (its not that bad of a hike, but it has quite an incline). Please also bring a flash light so you can see where you’re walking. I’m excited! See you all Friday!

This past weekend Kairos had a special opportunity to stay in a charming and lovely house in the Sierras. Instead of roughing it, Richard T was able to find us a gorgeous house where all forty of us packed it in. The house was so cozy, each room having their own themes and decorations — there was even a purple room! We were all pretty comfortable even though we had to squeeze forty people into five rooms.

When we arrived and got settled, we prepared to go to Lake Spaulding. When we got there we had a picnic lunch and waited for our kayaks to arrive. However, when some of the brothers brought the trailer, it was empty. (They shall not be named.) Despite this minor setback, the rest of us found a way to occupy ourselves, either by eating, skipping stones, and/or playing with the kids. A short time later, the brothers brought a trailer full of kayaks and oars, and very soon after we were all off into the lake. Of course, regular old kayaking would be boring so we spiced it up a little with splash fights, paddle races, and kayak jousting. It was a full day when we headed back to the house where we thoroughly enjoyed Dora’s Chicken Tiki Masala with garlic naan. After washing and showering up we went outside to play a mysterious game that Josh invented. Once we split into teams, he explained the rules of the game. Needless to say, many of us got quite nauseous after Josh mentioned the title of the game, “Eating Trash Relay”. Each team had to run to and grab and eat an item from a trashbag. Some items include: a whole watermelon slice, Durian wafers, Saltine crackers, black licorice, Spicy V8, and a PB sandwich (yes, there was no J). It didn’t really matter who won or lost, because everyone walked away a loser because of the stomach upset that was caused. After that unusual game, the brothers and sister split off to play normal games like Spoons, Catchphrase, and Pokemon. We all went to bed tired and ready for our next day of adventure!

The next day we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of corned beef hash and leftover Tiki Masala. We did our DT and drove out to Lake Faucherie. The ride was pretty nice halfway through until we hit unpaved road where all of us bumped along a 45 minuted drive to the lake. A SUV full of brothers bumped too hard and punctured two of their tires. While the rest of us were at the lake having lunch, they had to go back to get the tires fixed. Some sisters made them a lunch to go and we all missed them while having fun at the lake. At the lake we tried catching snakes (some of us successful), fished, skipped stones, played games, and rafted. We then went on a short 0.2 mile hike to see a beautiful waterfall on the other side of the lake. The water was cold and very clear, and the picturesque scene really made me appreciate God’s awesome artistry (who would have thought that water falling from a higher place to a lower place could look so amazing?). We took a memorable picture and hiked back quickly so we could get back to the house in time for dinner and fireworks. We prepared a Korean BBQ feast of salad and kalbi. The house had a great view of the fireworks already so we didn’t have to fight the crowds. After dinner and clean-up the sisters and brothers again split up to play games of our own. The sister played an intense game of King Kong shower. After wards we played…girl stuff, while the brothers were calmly playing instruments in the music room and playing Pokemon again. We all then went to bed, resting before we headed out home the next day.

We woke up the next day and had chicken soup while doing DT. We then cleaned the house hoping it would be spotless so we could develop a good relationship with the owner. Afterwards, we packed all our things and headed to Sierra Lodge to have Sunday worship with Koinoinia, Praxis, and the Staff. Pastor Ed gave a great message about 2 Kings 5 and the story of Naaman, focusing on the other “minor” characters like the servant girl and Naaman’s soldiers. After worship service, we had meatball sandwiches for lunch and then made our way back home. Although we were hindered by the traffic, the sisters made efforts to entertain ouselves with games and singing. When we got to Berkeley, most of us went to Racha Cafe to eat a late dinner. We enjoyed the great food and company telling each other riddles and sharing our food.

It was such a shame to go back home and having to get ready for another week of school, but this Kairos trip was certainly very memorable since it was our whole group together and the first with the newly added A2F Blue group. I made so many great memories (and ate such great food!) and can’t wait for our next Kairos wide trip .