On April 29, we celebrated the last Baptism Sunday of the school year! It was a special time as we celebrated the baptism of three of our very own seniors, Connie Fang, Samuel Sebastian Oh, and yours truly. This was truly a special day, as we not only had family come and celebrate with us, but the various staff that came back for the 30+ retreat – many of whom ministered to us – were able to join us as well for this special occasion. We heard various testimonies and heard Pastor Ed give a short message on Jesus calling his first disciples, reminding us to remember when we were first called. All in all, it was a great day for those baptized and those celebrating with us, and we hope you can join us next time!

More pictures after the jump!

Playing Ultimate Football, while Sisi happily strolls along

Sunset! Such a gorgeous view.

Everyone say cheese!!!! =)

Working up an appetite, we headed over to Helen’s place to eat a delicious dinner of Kimchi Fried Rice and Pineapple Thai Fried Rice. After, Susanna gave a short Bible Study on the tragic story of Herod and Herodius. We were able to get into small groups to discuss some questions to get us thinking and then after the Bible Study, we were able to reflect about how we were like Herod and Herodius. Then we had an awesome time of sharing stories and sharing talents! Some people told us their best family story, most painful story, and some even shared their talent at accurately imitating people (Emily Ma!) or imitating a really good British accent (Lizzie!). People did the splits, licked their elbow, made convincing animal noices, etc. I laughed so hard my abs hurt!

Guess who Emily is imitating?

The extent of our “Wow factor”

After much anticipation, we were treated to a bunch of delicious baked goods, made by the senior sisters! Yummy! The night concluded with us playing with baby Stephen and Brandon. We were even surprised by a visit from Amy, the head of our church in Hsinchu, Taiwan! Some of us have known Amy since freshmen year, so it was really special to catch up with her and see how things were going in Taiwan. Overall, another memorable night with the Kairos sisters.

Drool. So delicious!

Probably my favorite dessert of the night! Give it up for Sarah’s masterpiece!

Summer Survey!

Bro’s Night

Guess who?

See the snow? more on that later....

This weekend was the much anticipated Kairos and Third Space Snow Trip! I went with the 6pm crew, and we discovered a gem in Fairfield, the first Chick-fil-A experience for almost all of us!

This discovery could potentially revolutionize future Sierra Lodge Trips! Anyways, the sandwiches were pretty awesome, and after the meal, we continued on our journey!

After we all arrived and unpacked, we had some more Chinese and Korean rice cakes, as well as porridge while we settle down to play a game of “Guess Who?” It was an interesting time of discovering how many people looked as babies .

I think some people recognize whose baby pic is being show

We then ended the night with a few hours of basketball, ping pong, and pictionary!

Leeedurrs!

We then began the next morning with delicious bagel sandwiches, we heard Jon Chou give a message to the group for the first time! He covered Matthew 13:44, suggesting that a great treasure is one that’s worth giving up everything for and reminding Christians that our relationship with God is that treasure.

After the message, we got the first surprise of the day! Since it was too hot, our snow trip turned into a beach trip! We arrived at Kings State Beach and had a fun day of Ultimate Frisbee, football, building sand castles, and having clam chowder!

After a few hours of playing on the beach, we returned to Sierra Lodge and had some delicious skewers for dinner…

*drool

Then after dinner, was the second surprise of the day. Since we were on a snow trip, we had to have a bit more snow in it right? So commences the most EPICALLY, IMPROMPTU, SPONTANEOUS, AWESOME SNOW FIGHT! It was an all-out, free-for-all battle that raged for a good amount of time. I think we all got the flying snowballs that we wanted, and it was a great end to an already great trip!

See you next Snow Trip! Looking forward to the snow!

Carol captivated by Jeffrey’s captivatingly captivating performance.

Afterwards, James revealed what these encounters had in common: they all involved Jesus giving people a new start.  James then gave a talk on new beginnings, the desires we have to reset and re-invent ourselves (which, more often than not, just end up tiring us out), and how Jesus made all things new by dying on the cross for us.  Some of the staff and seniors also shared about the ways that they tried to re-invent themselves by seeking out new groups of friends or wearing masks, but were ultimately unsuccessful in creating these idealistic version of themselves.

Then, we headed to SF for a Pier 39 and Ghirardelli trip.  After walking around Pier 39, looking at the sea lions, and overwhelming a closing clam chowder with last-minute business, we ended the night at Ghirardelli Square.  Some of the guys decided to shake it up by ordering the Earthquake, an 8-scoop banana split monstrosity complete with peanuts, whipped cream, and an impressive array of other toppings (see below).

Austin looks particularly excited to dig in

Behold.

The girls with their more subtle (but equally scrumptious) desserts.

Overall, it was a really fun night of meeting new people, hanging out, and just getting out of Berkeley for a couple of hours.  See you next week at Sierra Lodge!

Hey all,

As announced, we’re having our Sierra Lodge Trip next week, 4/20-4/21! Sign up at the link below!

http://goo.gl/gFaOH

The Cross of Christ

On Good Friday, we talked about the radical love with which Jesus loved us. On the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We find this astounding, but at the same time this is the very thing that we need. When we sin or hurt, we do not know the extent to which the ripples of our actions harmfully affects those around us, and often in our blindness and rage and selfishness we are blind to the consequences of our actions. But Jesus intercedes for us and pleads that we be pardoned for the ignorance of our sinfulness. But do we acknowledge our own faults and sins, and do we confess it to God? Forgiveness is offered to us for the taking, and all we have to do is acknowledge it and confess our sins. God graciously forgives.

The tomb is empty! Hallelujah!

Easter Sunday was upbeat. It’s time to celebrate! Because Jesus is risen, we have the basis to trust on everything that he said as truth that we can rely on. Jesus has gone to Heaven to “prepare a room for us”. We explored Heaven as a place where we find everything high, noble, laudable, and praiseworthy! Pastor Ed asserted that the joy of Easter Sunday is that much more enhanced after one has gone through the pain of Good Friday. It is the joy of having no more pain. Perhaps the pains and sufferings that we experience in Christian life today make our future joys that much more meaningful, and thus more bearable today.

Pastor Ed enthusiastically explaining the joys of Heaven on Easter Sunday!

“Beauty, majesty, glory, love, splendor, forever! Love demands an eternity. Where else do these ideas come together except in the Gospel of our Lord! We know that we are made for something transcendent. Jesus’s resurrection gives meaning and hope to the highest things in our lives!” – Pastor Ed