Kairos Christian Fellowship (Gracepoint – Berkeley)

This past June, I and a few other Gracepoint folks had the opportunity to go to Honduras on a medical mission trip with Baptist Mission & Dental Mission International (BMDMI). We went to Erandique, a small village of a few hundred people in western Honduras. The first day we arrived in the village, we set up shop in various parts of the village to offer a variety of services: Medical Clinic, Dental Clinic, Optometry Clinic, Pharmacy, Vet Clinic, Children’s Church, and Evangelism services.  I was part of the Medical Clinic, which saw in total over 3,000 people, and we spent the week diagnosing common illnesses like allergies and fungal infections to even life-threatening ones like pneumonia and cerebral palsy. People who needed more prolonged or specialized care were referred to the Project Life program, where they were sponsored to receive treatments like surgical hernia repairs for only $50 US.

Most exciting of all, over 400 men, women and children accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior during the time we were there. Praise the Lord! Even though most of them lived in poverty, they saw the value of living a life devoted to God. The whole team was just amazed at how God worked in the lives of the Honduran people there, and we felt honored to play a small part in their salvation decisions. The trip was a real eye-opener as well, as we were away from the distractions of modern US life, and singularly focused on spending over 12 hours a day serving God and others. This was a trip I won’t soon forget, and I highly recommend going on a mission trip if you ever get the chance!

Entering my fourth full year with Kairos Christian Fellowship, I have been blessed with outings to some of Northern California’s most serene and majestic natural wonders, including Yosemite and the Sierra Nevadas. This past July 4^th, the opportunity to escape the frantic pace of daily life in Berkeley and San Francisco to pause, take a deep breath, and re-encounter the incredible natural beauty of the Sierra Nevadas, Lake Spaulding, and Lake Faucherie with Kairos was without a doubt one of the highlights of my summer.

One thing I reflected upon during this trip while gazing upon the mountainous panorama of Lake Faucherie was that thesplendor and majesty of Creation touched a deep part of my soul that continually seeks for life as it was genuinely meant to be lived. Surrounded by people who know me better than I know myself at times, as well as other people who I personally strive to understand on a deeper level, we were all able to experience true fellowship in daily being devoted to studying Biblical truths, laughing and working alongside one another, and being awestruck by the grandeur and reality of God’s majestic Creation.

As we have recently listened and observed in the Truth Project by Dr. Del Tackett, in Psalm 19: 1-2 King David writes that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hand. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” Lake Faucherie was a snapshot of Creation declaring the glory of God and proclaiming the work of his hand. We are too often blinded by the tunnel vision of needing to accomplish specific tasks or goals for the day and fail to take time to step back and see the grander picture that we are a part of. This is the life as it was truly meant to be lived.

I also wanted to thank the staff for organizing, planning, cooking, driving, and generally stressing over the trip in order to make it enjoyable for us undergrads. The sacrifices made by the staff were what made this trip possible, and they reminded me of how having so many leaders who have gone before me, walking the same path I am now walking, is just one example of God’s faithfulness and blessing in my life.

Above all, just as Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to “…join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us into a holy life…” (v.8) in our week’s devotional text from 2 Timothy 1, I was reminded of the difficulties of Christian life back home in Berkeley and our need to join in suffering for the gospel. We gleaned a firsthand taste of the true fellowship and freedom that accompanies embracing God’s plan for our lives through our July 4^th trip, and it is our responsibility to respond to that calling.

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 .

Wow.  That was a pretty AWESOME camping/hiking trip!  Steve Kim, Mike Fu, and I got to go out to Yosemite to let Mike Fu enjoy another glimpse of Yosemite before he heads off to Taiwan for a year starting next week.  Our trip included some night hiking on Sentinel Dome the first day, and then heading over to Tuolumne Meadows the following day for another high adventure hike to the Waterwheel Falls.

That second hike was pretty ridiculous.  We must have hiked 20 miles total, 4 or 5 of which was because we went the wrong way, but nonetheless, it was some real deal hiking… we were all dead tired at the end!  The best part was seeing the waterfalls at the end of the trail.  But on the way back, the weather made a turn for the worst, and with the temperature dropping down the to the 60s and with high winds and rain, we almost felt like we weren’t going to make it back.  But we made it, alive and well!  That was the most memorable hiking trip ever!

Thanks Steve for taking us out to Yosemite!  It can be described by nothing other than: AWESOME!

(Check out the pictures here.)

The 30 Hour Famine was really an eye-opening one.  I was particulary blown away by how much God can use people who are really committed to serving Him. I really felt like I did nothing, but God worked in the lives of people I asked for money and they generously contributed.  What really struck me is that many of my old friends and coworkers really rallied around our cause when I asked them for money.  I think when you tell someone you’re a Christian and you are actively doing something with your church- like selling snowcones or holding bake sales and garage sales, they have no choice but to really consider what makes you the person that you are.  I found many of my old friends either contributed financially to the cause or at least supported my cause.  In many cases,  it gave me a venue to share how my Christian church was actively trying to raise money to stop poverty around the world.  Oftentimes, when I tell people how much we raised last year, they are blown away.  It’s amazing to be part of a church that is so passionate about serving God–wheather or not we notice somtimes–other people definitely do.  How many people get the opportunity to  bag over 4,500 lbs of rice for the hungry while raising awareness about poverty around the world? I am really in awe at the devotion of our church–I really feel it’s a testament to the gospel.

Looking back on the 30 Hour Famine, I’d say that I was touched more by the experience itself than anything else.  During that time, I found myself struggling so much even though it was only 30 hours.  It made me really consider how much hunger affects people around the world.  The experience made me recall my encounters with children in Thailand, Mexico, and Bangladesh.  I remember distinctly being extremely frustrated with the lackidasical demeanor of the students.  I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t listen or frequently drifted off.  The 30 hour famine really put my frustrating experiences into perspective.  As I bailed out rice to be bagged and weighed I found myself unable to focus and rather exhausted.  It wasn’t long before I dumped 6 lbs of rice on the floor because I wasn’t concentrating on what I was doing.  The experience really gave me a sense of  compassion and awe for the many starving children around the world and what they must go through.  It’s so easy just to think that hunger affects just once facet of a child’s life, but that’s a lie.  They can’t learn, they can’t study, they can’t work, and  I’m sure sometimes they can’t even sleep.  While my mistake only cost a couple pounds of rice, those starving children who work in factories often lose limbs because of it.  The experience made me extremely grateful that we had the opportunity to experience just a piece of what they go through–it really made me want to do more.

I’d say the other experience I found incredibly humbling was my opportunity to serve with Koinoinia’s Homegroup Twix at their 30 Hour Famine Garage Sale.  They raised over $800 dollars selling our junk at Dana house.  When the residents of Dana House were debriefing on their success, John Chung said something which really made me think.  He said, “We made over $800 just selling our junk.  I would just like to encourage you guys as we go through 30 hour famine to really consider how much God has given you and just to be frugal with it & just use it for His kingdom.”  The truth of what he was saying really struck me–if our junk is worth $800 how much more so is our stuff worth?  And if I have all this stuff, am I being frugal in how I spend my money or am I just assuming I need these things.  Every time I told people that one dollar could feed a child for a day it became a little bit more of a reality for me. It really made me see why our leaders are so frugal for themselves and generous towards others.  I hope that I become a man who is really frugal towards myself but generous towards others.

Luke 12:48 – “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Thank you all for your patience. I’ve finally gotten the chance to post up some Magic Mountain photos. These photo are courtesy of our talented photographer David Park! Gotta love this first shot of our fearless director, Rick Yi!

More can be found on David’s Flickr site, as well as GFC’s Flickr site.