NSWN was Awesome!

Wow, our first New Student Welcome Night was incredible! We had over 1,000 new students join us, and I heard we had to turn away a few hundred more due to lack of space. I'm so thankful for all the hard work each person at our church put in to make this event possible. I've been hearing such a buzz from many students around campus who were impacted/impressed/awed/intrigued by the program.

Don't forget, part 2 is tonight! A new video, skit, more music (with alot more singers), another great message, ice cream, sports/games @ Maxwell Field. Sure, it's packed, but hey, you have Monday off to rest. :)

We're meeting @ Crossroads at 5:15pm for dinner and then heading to the program together. If you were there for the first one, you know that seats are gonna go fast. See you tonight!

Welcome Week Events!

Hi guys, Welcome Week is upon us and that means LOTS of activities. A Berkeley tour, In-N-Out & Ghiradelli, a Kakigori (Japanese for shaved ice) party, and more Ultimate Frisbee that you can handle! Invite your friends and join us. Or, if you're just bored and by yourself, come anyway!

Miscellany

• For a fitting end to an exciting summer, we're having an all-Koinonia BBQ this Friday @ 5pm in Alameda. Join us for food, sports, and fun all together! Afterwards we'll head over to my place for Bible study.


• Our praise leader, James, is taking a new poll on the Gracepoint Fellowship Church Berkeley Worship site: What's your favorite worship song?
  
  http://gracepointworship.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/favorites-gracepoint-fellowship-church/
  


• And while we're in the polling mood, vote on Pastor Ed Kang's poll to indicate what you'd like to see more of on his blog. Vote before it closes!
  
  http://edkang.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/gracepoint-fellowship-church-pol
  


• For those of you who use Twitter, there's a new Gracepoint Twitter feed. Check it out and follow Gracepoint!

My friend is going to Gracepoint Austin...

I can't believe that in less than a week, Joyce, Del and Maurice will be leaving to join Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Austin! Joyce's departure is especially sad for me since I've worked with Joyce for the past 3 years at my current job. I've known her since she was in high school through her older sister, Grace Kim, who's my peer and rather famous (or infamous) on Dis-gracepoint. It doesn't seem that long ago when, during the winter break of my sophomore year, my peers, Joyce and I went to Disneyland. Joyce was only a sophomore in high school back then and we had so much fun together as we rode on amazing rides, ate yummy snacks and took pictures with my favorite Disney characters like Alice, Ariel, Woody and Buzz. Before I knew it, she was an excited yet clueless freshman at UC Berkeley! Boy, time flies. But over time she grew into a person who loves God and cares about others deeply. As I saw her reaching out to her Joyland kids, serving faithfully in acts2fellowship and loving the co-workers at our work, I just thanked God for changing and shaping her over the years. I can't believe that she's now married and will be moving this week to Austin with Del to help out our church there. I'm inspired by her courage to leave her home of seven years to go to a place that she hasn't even visited yet. As I pass by her empty cubicle, I already miss her. But I am very thankful for all the years I got to know her and excited about what God will do through her life in Austin.

Baby Ryan is Born!

Ryan Park was born to Helen and Ben of Homegroup 3 this past Tuesday! What's he doing in this pic? Is he singing like Ben, or welcoming us like Helen? Or just trying to be funny?

Regardless, we're thankful that Ryan is healthy and that he (and his parents) is doing well.

Announcements for Week of 8/11/08

Hi everyone, here's what's coming up this week and beyond:

Friday (8/15) – Dinner, All-College Bible Study and Fellowship
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Northloop
Please join us for some fun and fellowship after your finals. After dinner and Bible study, we'll play games and watch the Olympics!

Sunday (8/17) - New Time and Location for Service
Time: 1:15pm
Location: Pauley Ballroom
Our service is permanently moving to 1:15pm. But for the next 2 weeks only, we'll be having service on campus at Pauley Ballroom.

Wednesday (8/27) & Friday (8/29) - New Student Welcome Night!!
There's so much excitement in the air as we prepare for these 2 nights! Be sure to invite your friends, especially those who are new students to Cal.

Saturday (8/30) - Extended Gracepoint Monthly
Time: Saturday, 9am-6pm
Location: Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
Cost: $10; Sign up
It's been such a packed summer, with mission trips, the start of our Austin church, new homegroups, discipleship retreats. Whew! Join us for this special time to recount and share all that's happened at our church. Please sign up here so we can plan for the right amount of food. I really hope all of you can make it.

Another Normal Vs., a Gracepoint Berkeley Classic

I've been waiting to get this. The Normal Vs. video about Jin and Yumi, my friends from Homegroup 8, has been posted on their site. I think this is one of the funniest Normal Vs. in recent memory. And when you see Jin and Yumi, say hi and get to know them. They're great people!

New Student Welcome Night for the last 10 Years...

By now you guys have probably seen our awesome trailer for the New Student Welcome Night (NSWN). Every Fall, the NSWN is our biggest event and it's all hands on deck as all of Gracepoint mobilizes to make it happen! As our praise leader, James Kim, reminisced in his latest post on the Gracepoint Berkeley Worship blog about how this year's NSWN will be the 10th one for which he's led the traditionally rocking praise time, I also realized that 10 years ago, the NSWN of my sophomore year was the first time I played the drums for our church. That was at 2050 VLSB, a room that has become for so many of us a place of many indelible memories. It was the first time I'd ever used one of those electronic drumpad thingys you've seen around church, that just don't quite compare to the sound of a real live drum set.

It's been 10 years, 10 New Student Welcome Nights. We've moved on from VLSB; last year we packed Wheeler Auditorium and this year we'll pack Pauley Ballroom. But NSWN never gets old. Each is just as much the exciting adventure the last one was as we get to see how God uniquely works among a new group of eager, wide-eyed students, many who hear the Gospel for the first time at NSWN. Since I'm always on stage or sitting in the front of the room, over the years I've always had a great view of their varied reactions--awe, surprise, amusement, deep thought. I can't wait to see who finds their way to this year's event, can't wait to hear many new stories about how people were impacted by something in the program.

I bang the drums extra hard every NSWN. It's just the right thing to do. And I'll keep playing as long as my arms don’t fall off and I don’t go deaf, although after playing for this past Saturday’s awesome Centrifuge event held by our Element Youth Group, I think my hearing’s life-span got shortened by about 20 years, which means 20 fewer NSWN's I can play for, I guess.

Marathon Man

The talk of the town has been Steve Suh, who ran the SF marathon this past Sunday! He's the man, and the only over-30-year-old at our church who has ever done this. He finished with an official time of 4 hrs, 37 min too, the time it probably takes most of us to run half the distance. :)

Watch as John Chung salutes Steve in this tribute video. Be sure to vote in his poll too, so that we can see future tribute videos to Kenton, John Ko, or John Chung. I think if all 3 of them ran together, that would defy the boundaries of awesomeness.