Last Post for 2008

First day of classes today. Hope you all had a great day. This is the end of Summer 2008!

Recap of Claudia for the last few weeks (lame title, I know)

Okay I know I said yesterday Steve, sorry its like 24 hours late. I do have an excuse though (I mean besides 'I forgot' or 'I was too lazy'). Wanna hear it? k thanks :)

I met with Chris (Light) around 10 to get in touch about ministry team stuff. We went to Fraiche off of University. It was super crowded (but not 40 people in line like Red Mango) so we sat on a bench outside. Midconversation a homeless guy came by panhandling so Chris bought him dinner and we talked to him for a bit. It was cool though, he's new to the area, from Detroit. He was super appreciative and we told him Chris isn't a nice person, but he did it because he's 'a follower of Jesus Christ' and we asked him for some prayer requests. Btw, if any of you guys have an extra sleeping bag laying around, someone stole his, so we're trying to find him one. In any case, that extended the meeting so I didn't post when I got home.

I've officially finished my contract for research this summer, but the project isn't done. There's a lot of work I hope to finish before school starts, but I'm probably gonna be doing stuff into fall quarter at least anyway. I'm kind of bummed about that cuz I'm not sure how much time I have, but at least things are getting interesting. I just look at pictures of bobcats taken from Jasper Ridge and try to match individuals. I finished ochem a few weeks ago too, and took a roadtrip with Karis to her house in Socal. We took Isaac and Jason along for the ride too.

We got amazing shaved ice at Isaac's favorite place near his house, and Karis showed me around her neighborhood (which is super cool! they have wild peacocks running around the streets! hahah) and we got Pinkberry! I feel like its comparable to Red Mango...um and we drove around a lot, went on a date at the Science Center for Body Worlds 3 which was really cool and nerdy if you're into that stuff :p and had a beach bonfire with a lot of Karis' friends. The water is SO much warmer than up here. haha

I went to Jeanette's baptism a couple weeks ago with a bunch of IV friends too. That was super fun, except tragic story: my car got lost and missed Jeanette by literally a minute. Sorry Jeanette :(. But hanging out afterwards was cool and Jeanette's parents treated us to dinner.

Now I'm just chillin around the house and hanging out with friends and trying to pretend I don't have more research work to do. As for the Jesus stuff, I feel like this summer has been themed around being a woman of God. I read a couple books by Elisabeth Elliot I'd highly reccomend that focus on the topic, and I've started listening to a sermon series by Rick Holland (Grace Community Church in LA) about dating/marriage/relationships. Unfortunately I haven't been disciplined at all about doing devos, which tends to be the habit whenever I go home :(. I get really lazy and fall back into hs routine. I've also been praying about ministry team stuff, which recently has brought up some new things I need to consider.

Okay that's it for now. Hope I see a lot of you guys at Back to the Farm!

Back to Stanford! 2.1

and...she told me that she'd post sometime tonight, so I decided to post as well. Well, tonight is right now, and " 'dia" still hasn't posted. I think I was fooled. 

So I finally returned from looking at the moon and a few planets of the sky with my SoCo. My SoCo is called Stanford Safari, and our mission is to explore the secrets of Stanford. Today, we got to speak with the University lawyer and the Dollies, while in the past few days, we had the honor of meeting influential people like Peter Bing (the multi-million dollar donor), former presidents Lyman and Casper, and the Dean of the Business School. Sometimes the talks can go beyond the extent of my attention span, but it's still neat to meet and listen to all these people who've made such significant impacts on the university.

Tomorrow is Saturday, which means that I finally get a chance to sleep in. Ah... just thinking about it makes my mouth drool. I wish to write more, but my bed sheets call. 

I'm coming, bed. I'm coming.

"GO! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves..."

Hello All!

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. GO! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."

Luke 10:2-3

I'm sure you are all very familiar with this verse and know what it means. But, personally, I knew what it meant but never experienced it. If you ask the Lord for greater things, he will make you do things that "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived"... and I'm sure your nodding your head and saying... "ofcourse!" but i'd like to tell you...

God is never an "ofcourse"-kind of God =)

I have been working at an investment bank in Japan for the past 10 weeks and God has truly sent me among the "wolves."

When I arrived in Japan, my expectations were that I would learn more about the financial world, learn how to analyze financial products and build a deep and wide network to fulfill my dream of bringing economic prosperity back to the Philippines. I thought I would go to a Church in Japan, be involved, study the Bible, mingle in the Church and have good time. My plans seemed to be alright. I thought I was doing the right thing. I had my plans set. But one thing I prayed before leaving Japan is... "God give me direction. Show me what needs to be done. Help me grow. If you have to break me... break me."

Sure enough, God "answers you and tells you great and unsearchable things you do not know." And I had no idea what God had in store for me.

At work, He placed me in an internship that was completely different from my expectations. He continually broke me in the most unexpected way. He taught me things that I did not think was important at all. He gave me responsibilities and situations that I thought I could not handle. He made me talk to people that I never expected talking to...  And finally,

He is telling me to "GO! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."

And after ten weeks being in Japan, now I know how the Seventy-two that Jesus sent out felt like... I know how David feels like when he fought the Goliath... I know how Paul feels like... and the Apostles... the thousands of missionaries in the depths of a country... the millions of Christians being sent out to the World...

Completely scared. =)

God's plan should scare you. It should make you feel weak. It should make you want to avoid it. It should make you doubt. It should hurt. It should be hard. It should be the thing you least expect. It should make you think like your the most incompetent thing in this world.

Look at Moses,  he tried to make excuses =)

Exodus 4:10 "O lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue..."

The Lord said to him, "Who gave his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or make him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"

Jeremiah wanted to stop preaching because of the hardships he received, but God kept pushing him further...

"So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.

But if I say, "I will note mention him or speak any more in his name,"

his word is in y heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in; 

indeed, I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

Even Jesus was scared and wanted to make it a little easier,

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 

Matthew 26:39

BUTTTTT

Recall Paul's comment, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'... That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Where does our strength come from? Let us all shout it out aloud peopleee!!! (>.<)

"My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and my horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my SAVIOR - from violent men you save me."

2 Samuel 22:3

Let us, strive for God's plan. Strive to fear it, feel our weakness and glorify Him always! Let us seek the "wolves" in our lives and seek the harvest that God has put out for us =)

Sorry, I didn't talk about what I did over the summer and just lectured everyone....

But if your still interested in hearing me blabber on you how God has been shouting things in my ear and how i've been too dumb to hear it, I'd be glad to =)

Truly apologize for the long post! See you all at school!

Peace be with you all.

Mark

Back to Stanford! 2

Hello hello hello! As Karis mentioned in her post below, I, too, have returned to the Farm! As much as I enjoy seeing everyone again (well, I guess not everyone...I've seen just Karis thus far), I must admit I do miss good ol' home a bit. If you haven't left home, enjoy the last minute of it! 

I had the honor of talking to the second half of "Kardia" today, and...

Oh snap, my SoCo is leaving to the observatory like RIGHT NOW (to look at stars in the sky!). I'll be back in a few hours to finish the post. >.<

Back to Stanford!

Hello!
As the title says, I'm back at Stanford for Sophomore College. I saw Steve today in the dining hall and it reminded me that no one has posted on this blog in forever! And since it's getting closer to school starting, I think everyone should post so that when I see you guys, we have stuff to talk about and you don't have to tell me what seems like your whole life story to catch me up on how your summer was and then we'll have an even better conversation than if you hadn't posted! =D
So since my last post, Kardia had an awesome road trip down to LA. Kardia, Isaac, and Jason barely fit into Matty the Matrix with all my stuff in the trunk. I actually drove for part of the way too even though I barely remember how to drive manual. I think I scared Isaac and Jason with my driving. But what can I say? I guess I'm the stereotypical Asian female driver... =P So Kardia had a great time in LA (or at least the Kar part, I'll let dia speak for herself... although since we're the same person, I guess I can speak for us...). We had yummy shaved ice with Isaac in Cerritos and ate lunch with Alyssa in Carson. Despite SoCal traffic, we also made it to Huntington Beach in the evening for a bonfire. A really full but super fun day. On Sunday, Kardia went to Karis' home church, then got food in Koreatown, and spent the afternoon on a date at Body Worlds 3. The exhibit was sooo kool! I would definitely recommend it if you like anatomy/science and such. In the evening, I gave Claudia a tour of my hometown. You can ask her what she thinks of my city. Maybe she'll make a post about it if I remember to tell her. Then Claudia left my house and Monday.
I ended up coming back up the California coast for family vacation. We visited Morro Bay which is on the central coast of California. Then we headed up to the Bay Area to visit family and go to Great America. It was so much fun going on roller coasters and hanging out with my siblings. Then we drove back down the coast to go home. I slept in my own bed for a few nights before I was off to my church retreat at Idyllwild. That was a nice time to catch up with my church family and enjoy God's creation in the mountains. I left the retreat early so I could make it to move-in to SoCo today. And so now you're all caught up in my life. I can't wait to read your posts. Please keep posting. I really enjoy hearing all about your summers. Hope to see you all soon!! Class of Oh-Leven lunch when everyone gets back to campus? I hope so!!

~Karis =D

Karis peer pressured me

So for those who don't know, I've had the (mis)fortune of having been at the same school as Karis since Kindergarten, and she's been ordering me around ever since. So once I read her post wondering about my summer, of course I decided to happily oblige and compose a post myself.

It is 9:20 am, and I've been at work for two hours already, yet accomplishing nothing. I'm interning at Northrop Grumman this summer doing some business management stuff, but my boss has been working on a bunch of classified projects, leaving me to digg, cnn, and facebook. Though boring, I relish in the fact that I get paid for things such as posting to this blog. I'll also take this opportunity to thank you for paying your taxes, as the lovely government is the prime client of Northrop.

Overall, this summer has been going along very smoothly. Nothing too chaotic at all, and my schedule basically revolves around work. I'm able to enjoy weeknights with family and hang out with high school friends on the weekends. Unfortunately, life in Southern California is a bit less exotic than Nicaragua, and the most exciting thing that's happened to me in the past few weeks is probably learning that the Dodgers picked up Manny Ramirez. Still, I'm really cherishing this time to let me slow down and relax before stuff picks up in a couple of months.

I definitely miss many aspects of Stanford, and I can't wait to be involved with IV again, meet new dormmates, and have a college-life sleeping schedule. At the same time, I'm not quite ready to relinquish the bliss of having a mostly stress-less summer, which has given me the opportunity to catch up on some reading (Strongly recommend Blue Like Jazz).

Alright that's it for now, I suppose. Will post more later when I come up with something interesting to blog about :)

God Bless,

Andrew


P.S. Go Lakers! (take that Karis!)

Work, work, work!

Hey everyone! So I'm finally back in the U.S. (have been for the past two weeks), chilling in the good state of Virginia. Well...I lie - first, it's actually REALLY hot and humid where I am, and second, I'm working everyday at my parents' shop, so I don't have too much time or energy to "chill". I'm not complaining TOO much though (cough)...I'm rather enjoying spending some much needed time with the fam.

So my daily life nowadays is painfully uneventful, a stark contrast from my early summer in Nicaragua. Oh speaking of Nicaragua, it was truly a blessing to have had the opportunity to visit the country and experience its people and culture. It was my first time in a Latin American country, and while having to sleep in mosquito nets and almost having my leg taken out by a pack of rabid dogs at night weren't the happiest of my experiences, it was still amazing to practice my Span...glish and get a feel for international service. My group of 14 Stanford students had a lot on our plate there. We participated in a variety of community projects, learned about the country's medical system, and even got the chance to shadow doctors. The trip wasn't all work, though. We got to hike up a dormant volcano, swim in the crater of another that had last erupted thousands of years ago, as well as visit multiple beaches and clubs.

At my new home in VA, I feel like a lonely duck. I have no friends, no volcanoes, no clubs. Haha, in a way, that might actually be a good thing. Because I don't have any fun things to do here, I've taken up reading (surprise!) during my spare time. I recently started reading a book by renowned theologian John Piper, called "Don't Waste Your Life." I remember Jeanette reading the book (throughout the year ;-)) this past year, and I used to tease her because the book's title seemed a bit silly. The content of the book, however, has been extremely intellectual and logical, and Piper has provided some compelling ways by which we could glorify God AND enjoy our lives as faithful Christians. I'm not too far into the book yet, but I think it's going to be a thought-provoking read. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking to live a life of meaning, not one that is wasted.

I sincerely hope everyone is living out this summer in ways that are glorifying to God! What does that mean? According to Piper, it means that we take joy in sharing about the good news; in magnifying God as He was, is, and will forever be; in loving one another as Christ first loved us; in living out our daily lives as true children of Christ. Let us seek his Word and presence in times of both triumph and hardship. It's been really tough for me to do all these things thus far, but I feel like God is challenging me to improve bit by bit.

Finally, if anyone has prayer requests, please don't be shy to share them with the rest of us! (Thanks, Karis, for sharing!) After all, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ - how beautiful is that?! As for me, my mom has been visiting Korea this summer to attend to her ill mother. Taking advantage of the low medical bills there, my mom decided to get an MRI scan of her body. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, the scan today revealed a 7-cm tumor inside her uterus. She may be undergoing surgeries soon, so I'd really like to ask for prayers for her safety and calmness of soul during this unpredictable time. My family and I find comfort, though, in our faith that God is watching, and will always watch, over my mother. Thanks, everyone. Praise God.

Steve

KSP!

Hello friends!

I don't think there's much for me to write in this post, but it made me sad that no one has written here for more than a week. I'm still waiting to hear about the exciting summers of Kevin, Patrick, and Andrew since they haven't posted yet. And as always, I really enjoy reading the posts from Steve, Jeanette, Claudia, Mark, and Jason. It definitely helps me stay involved in everything you're all doing this summer.
So I'm still working in a lab for the summer. I haven't quit or been fired yet (and hopefully that doesn't happen). Some exciting things? Well, I and other IV friends visited the BAyUP team in Oakland on Sunday. We all got together for a potluck lunch at their apartment. Then we walked to Harbor House (which you should all be familiar with) to hear each team member's testimony. It was encouraging to hear about the team's experiences with God's joy, love, and provision. The nine of them will definitely be eating well for the next couple of days since they had a lot of leftover food from the potluck. I think they'll really appreciate it since right now they're living on $15/person/week. Hmm... we should try doing that for fun sometime. =P Yesterday, we had Stephanie and Jeremy's Farewell dinner as they leave for Stephanie's sabbatical in August. It's so nice to see IV people so frequently during the summer. And tonight we have summer fellowship. I hope to see everyone who's around campus if you can make it.
Okay well I think that's about it for my life. I have one prayer request for anyone who reads this. My draw group (Christine, Sophia, Claudia, and I) petitioned for dorm reassignment from Casa Zapata to FloMo. Please be praying that spots will open up and we'll be able to get into the dorm and stay together. I'm a little nervous about the housing situation, especially because I have been really looking forward to living with Claudia next year. Please be praying that we would be placed in the best rooms to do God's work next year. Thanks!
And please let me know how I can be praying for all of you this summer!

~Karis

I'm Bored at Work Right Now

so I shall post.

Okay so I guess I'll update everyone on how Naperville (home) was and what I've been doing.

Basically going home was a tremendous blessing for me and getting to see all my high school friends and getting to have lunch/dinner with a lot of them and just do some quality catching up was really good. I did a lot of eating... a lot of getting fat... people started calling my belly "my baby"... Liz told me I needed a bra... and yea good times. Went to Chicago a few times and did some shopping along Michigan Ave/Water Tower and went to the Field Museum. On my last day my friends organized this big trip to Indiana Dunes and so we all got to go hangout at the beach and then had a BBQ at a friend's house afterwards that night. Going back to my home church was also nice as it was good seeing my old youth group leaders and pastors and such.

But yea now that I'm back on campus I've just been staring at code for hours upon hours a day... it's pretty cool...

More "later"? Hope everyone is doing well!

God bless,
Jason Wei

Happy Birthday Steve!

PCS? I don't know what to title this.

Hey guys!

I'm at home (in Mountain View..) right now. I'm (re)taking ochem and doing 'research' at Stanford for most of the summer. The ochem class is really tiny and half overachieving high schoolers, and the prof from UCSF teaches high school style which I'm really happy with. If you guys know James Xie (Twain), he's taking 33 too. Brian Khong is taking 35/36.

I'm working in a bio lab that's supposed to be doing some mammal surveys in Jasper Ridge (the bio preserve), but all I do is go on gchat and aim. So if you see me on, talk to me!! haha I'm supposed to be tagging pictures (not on facebook) of the mammal species and such, but its really boring and Karis can tell you I get off early everyday. hahaa

Catalina was really awesome as Jeanette said. Me, Jeanette, and Iheoma were in Mark II and studied the second half of Mark for 8+ hours a day! It was crazy. By Thursday I was getting pretty antsy, but it was sooo good. I learned so much from everyone there and Mark of course. I think I got the most out of retreat from being disconnected from everything/everyone (no internet or cell phone reception) for the entire week and just hanging out on the island with friends and having the space to reflect and talk to God. Hopefully I don't get PCS (post catalina syndrome [my home church used to call the Jesus high after retreats PMS--post mountain syndrome]) and fall back into routine and where I was with God before.

Okay that's it for now. Post up guys!

Claudia

Pancho

Thanks so much to those who have posted! I´m currently posting from an internet cafe in Nicaragua, and it´s so wonderful to here about what others are doing, especially since I feel a bit disconnected from home here. I don´t have much time to go into details about my experience here thus far (which has been filled with God challening me through exposing me to the dire needs of this country), but I wanted to share a quick and humorous story with you all. I hope you´ll get a good laugh out of this one.

My Spanish name, ever since I started learning Spanish in 9th grade, has been ¨Pancho¨. My favorite Spanish teacher gave me the name, and I was proud to use it to identify myself in any Spanish-speaking setting. Naturally, after arriving in Nicaragua, I was inclined to continue introducing myself as Pancho. Little did I realize that ¨Pancho¨, a nickname for ¨Francisco¨, had an alternate meaning in Nicaragua.

So, during the first few days in Nicaragua, I began to realize that the natives here, especially the men, let out an snicker of unbelief, and sometimes even a disrespecful laugh, upon hearing me say ¨Me llamo Pancho¨. At first, I thought their strange response to my introduction was caused by the humorous sight of an Asian boy - who couldn´t speak Spanish too well - saying that his name was Pancho. Today, I was exposed to an inconvenient and embarrassing truth. Pancho, in Nicaragua - let me emphasize, ONLY in Nicaragua of all the counties in Latin America, means...vagina. So for seven days, I´ve been saying, ¨Hello, my name is Vagina.¨Americans and Nicaraguans alike around me had a good laugh today. This makes me wonder if my favorite Spanish teacher had given me the name with a...certain purpose.

I hope the story brought laughs to some of you as well. Please continue to post about your summer, and also about how God has been working in your lives. I´ll do so whenever I get the chance here in Nicaragua.

God bless,
Pancho

A shout out from Asia =)

Hey guys,

Freshman from Stern-Twain Bible Study Mark here! Sounds like people had a blast in Catalina and hope everyone is doing well! As for me, I was in Hong Kong for five days shadowing my godfather in his hedge fund. I was really blessed with the opportunity to understand the intricacies of the financial world, the motivations of people who are involved in it and the many temptations and tests one must face. It was a time of a lot of soul-searching and I am very thankful for my trip to HK. I am currently in the Philippines for a couple of days to spend time with family and friends, but I will be leaving for Japan on Wednesday to work there for the rest of the summer. Please pray for the many typhoon victims in the Philippines who are struggling with their losses. Hope everything is well and if you want anything from Asia, you know who to ask :) 

Peace be with you,

Mark

elk grove!

Hi friends,

So I guess I'm the first one who went to Catalina to post here. Catalina was amazing, Mark II was amazing, and well, it was really good to be able to spend 8.5 to 9 hours a day in God's Word. I kind of got sunburned there, but it's chill. Our car got back to San Jose at around 10ish on Saturday, and then I left San Jose early Sunday morning to go to back home. I barely made it to church to share my testimony for baptism since I was kind of late, but that's okay because they scheduled me towards the end. I'm getting baptized this summer at my home church in Elk Grove (Sacramento area) so if anyone wants to come, everyone's invited =] sweet. I started taking physics at summer school today, and I have a lot to catch up on since I missed two out of six weeks of summer school between finals week at Stanford and Catalina. I'll be off to catch up on my work now. Take care everyone, and happy summer!

Jeanette

Oh sweet

Okay I will post later

Um

Hm I wonder if this is how you post....

Karis' First Post!

Hiya Friends!

I couldn't think of a better title for this post, so I'm sorry if you think it's boring. Hopefully the content of the post isn't as boring to you.
So I just sent out an e-mail to the c/o 2011 e-mail list. I hope you all got it. Please let me know if you're not on the list (or know someone who's not on the list) and I'll get on it asap.
This post is somewhat similar to what I wrote in the e-mail. Basically, I'm on campus most of the summer (all but 2 weeks in August) doing research in a bio lab. I work at the med school, so if you're over this way, let me know and we can get together for lunch sometime! I wasn't able to go home between the end of school and the beginning of work, but I'll be going home to LA in August. I'm living in Lantana for Summer Research College (SRC) and I have a bunch of snacks so please come visit! If you need some extra incentive (which you shouldn't, but in that rare case that you do), A'Lester lives next door and Mike Wei lives just around the corner on the same floor. Three oh-leveners on the same floor?? What more could you ask for? (I didn't even mean for it to rhyme that time =P)
I'm looking forward to hanging out with those of you who are on campus for the summer. Now that those of you who went to Catalina are back, I can't wait to hear how the week went. I want to experience Catalina vicariously (vi-Karis-ly?? sorry if you've heard that one before!) through you. Let's get more bloggers on this site and start posting, so I can hear all about your exciting summers!

Karis =D

No Catalina...but Nicaragua!

Hey all! This is Steve, of West Campus bible study (haha...I didn't know how else to introduce myself). I lived in FroSoCo this year, and will be living in FroSoCo again next year. Yeah...FSC is a hawt place to live. I really wish I were at Catalina with all the rest of the IV troopers, but I couldn't go because I'll be leaving the U.S. this Wed. I'm going to Nicaragua for three weeks! I'll be doing some community health/ service related things there. I'm actually pretty psyched. The last few days have been really chill - just a lot of sleeping and...well, unfortunately not enough eating. A couple of friends off-campus have been generous enough to allow me to crash at their place until Wednesday. But I feel a little bad eating their food all the time, so I try to take care of my meals. I'm not very good at doing that. In fact, my stomach's growling like a demented pit bull as I write this. Haha, oh well, I hope everyone has a wonderful summer break! Please post if you can (shout out to those who went to Catalina); I'd love to know what everyone is up to this break. I'll update you on my trip to Latin America in a couple of weeks!! Stay well in Christ ;)

Steve
...of West Campus