August 2012

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the snapshot august 19, 2012

upcoming events August Aug 24: Fun and Fellowship Aug 31: Baptism September Sep 07: 6th Grade Welcome night Sep 14: Small Group Activity Sep 21: Bible Study Sep 28: Fun and Fellowship Notable Upcoming Events Aug 16: CELL TEAM PLANNING EVENT Aug 17: BAPTISM APPS DUE Aug 19: BAPTISM CLASS

in this issue This is the first issue of The Snapshot produced by the new team (Allison Chang, Evan Tseng, and Lucas Yan). We wanted to restart it since its last issue last year and we are trying to give it a new life and look. If you would like to join The Snapshot team, email [email protected]

thank you Mary Mary, We know you are leaving because God has called you to do so but before you do, We want you to realize the impact you had on our youth group and us. Here are a few things you’ve done that helps illustrate this: *Junior High Missions- You started this missions trip for Junior Highers and helped them learn about what it means to truly serve. *Welcome Team-It used to be falling apart. you stepped in and turned it into something that radiates God’s love *The Snapshot-Thank you for starting this newsletter. We will try our best to continue your vision for this publication -The Snapshot team

contents    Youth  Retreat                                                      2-­‐6  Senior  Appreciation  Night                7  

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 an overview of summer retreat Every year as summer comes to a close, the youth group goes on the summer retreat. Although this is only the second time that I have gone to retreat, I find myself much more knowledgeable about how the camp works, when to do what, where to go and other small tidbits of tips. However, no matter how many times I go, I believe that retreat will always sweep me off of my feet and teach me something new about God. One of the most memorable moments at retreat was during praise night on Sunday night. During that time many of us were called to pray with others and for others and it simply amazed me at how much love there was. It showed me that God’s love is always working, not only does he love us, but because of him, we love others as well. Complete strangers were praying for each other giving emotional support. There was one person from North Valley who I had just been sitting next to and did not personally know who prayed for me. That truly touched me, to know that my brothers and sisters in Christ were always supporting me. Furthermore, the theme of this years retreat, “New Image,” taught me that it is important to not only say that one is Christian, but to truly live a Christian life. Yet another valuable experience I had was bonding with the current 6th grade girls. I learned so much about them and I hope that I will be able to continue to develop my relationship with them as one of their small group leaders next year. I also hope that next year many more people will go to retreat, especially the junior high students, because it is a truly eye-opening experience. You will see so much love and learn so much about God.

-Allison Chang

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 summer retreat’s lessons

Looking back, I have learned a lot this summer. I took an electrical engineering course at UC Berkeley, finished up US History at DeAnza, and prepped for SAT Math. Ironically, the most important lesson came not from academic pursuits but from spiritual ones. It came from my experience in this year’s Summer Retreat.

In late July, registration for youth retreat began. Mary and

Jeremy Huang were quite enthusiastic about it. Unfortunately, I had UC Berkeley all week and a final exam the following week. After a bit of consideration, I decided not to go. I concluded logically that I needed to use the time to study and finish homework. As youth retreat approached though, I began to have second thoughts. I had never been to summer retreat before due to time issues in the past and wondered if I would ever have another chance to go in the future. My emotional side told me that I’d regret it if I did not go this year. I was also at a spiritual low point. I didn’t really feel or see God work in my everyday life. Against my logical side, I decided to go.

Due to a UC Berkeley lecture on Friday, I was forced to

come up to retreat Sunday night to attend Monday’s lecture. Saturday went by great. I learned much from the high school speaker, Tim Lee, and realized how fun summer retreat was (zip lines, BMX, ropes course, etc.). At night, the speaker told us how we had to let things go to God and invited us up to the front to pray. I definitely felt closer to God after that message and alter call.

The next day was also fun and spiritually stimulating. I managed to find someone to take me back to Cupertino. All seemed well, however, there were complications: they were leaving late at night. So commenced a debate: should I stay and miss lecture or leave and be too tired to concentrate the next day? I also said a silent prayer asking God to show me what He wanted me to do. After a bit of logical thinking, I decided that I

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  needed to attend lecture because my professor could cover a potentially big topic on the final. As I began packing, Nathaniel came up to me. He said that it be better if I stay because the car I planned to go on had limited space. There was God’s answer! As a result, I stayed at retreat until Monday. That night, God gave me a calling. During Praise Night, I felt a strong conviction that I needed to fix my Boy Scout troop. My troop was chartered by CCIC-SJ and was supposed to be “Christian”. In reality, we were nothing but a group of people who went to places to have fun and tried to make ourselves look good by advancing through the Boy Scout ranks. Through this, God had shown me that my logic was too limited to see His bigger picture. If I had left, I would have never known what God wanted me to do! On the last day, as we were waiting to board the bus, my friend and I were passing a football. I accidently threw the football too hard and it landed in the midst of a group of middle school girls. One of them, whom I knew well, held up the ball and said “Thank you, Lucas”. She then proceeded to keep the ball away from us. It was all in good fun, and after awhile, we managed to get it back. My friends and I then continued passing the ball to each other for a few minutes. She began begging for one of us to throw it to her but to no avail. At that moment, my emotional and logical sides began to fight. The emotional part of me felt compassion and pity for her and told me to throw the ball to her. The other part complained that my reputation was at stake and that my friends would look down at me if I threw it to her. My conscience told me to listen to my emotional side, even when my logical side said it made no sense. As a result, I told my friends to pass me the ball. Then, I told her to run farther out and I gave her the best throw I had. In the end, I felt a satisfaction that I had done what God wanted me to do. Retreat taught me that logic is not always right. Besides listening to my logical side, I also need to pay attention to my emotional and spiritual side because God can communicate with

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me through those also. Logic is based on man’s perspective and we as humans fail to see God’s bigger plan. I personally think that lesson is more important than UC Berkeley, DeAnza, or even SAT Math.

-Lucas Yan

how summer retreat changed me I am so glad I went to retreat. My life and happiness was corrupt at that time. I would always be jealous of people- and have always been hopeless. I also didn’t have the intention of finding God. I wanted to go up in the mountains so I could chill alone late night on the mountain peak- that is what I usually did when I felt depressed. At home, the roof is my substitution for a mountain peak. I guess I am really a sad, sad person. (FYI: I didn’t break any rules at church, not even curfew. I slept sound and was unaffected by the rumored “lawnmower” ) Growing up, I often get consumed by influences. One week: I’m a nerd; another week: a prep; then: a bully. The problem with me is that I did not know who I was and had no identity. I would be so happy in my own little world and be on top of the world; then, when I went to school... people intimidated me. I was intimidated by cool guys because I know how they are, and how they would tarnish my reputation if I didn’t... at the very least, tried to be cool.... I was intimidated by girls too because I felt that if I said something silly, they would gossip to other girls about the loser that I am. Before I got onto that bus, I ate a fortune cookie. The fortune paper stated: “An unexpected windfall will soon be yours”. My feelings at the time was... what the heck... but Yay(?) I guess.

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 To sum up, I truly had a life-changing experience at retreat. It gave me identity. Now I am more sensitive and considerate of other people. I plan on donating one article of clothing to charity every Friday of the week for the rest of my life. I also want to help the people less fortunate than me- maybe at a food bank. I even want to donate water to the Hispanics in front of Home Depot every time I pass by. God has really changed me. Truly.

-Evan Tseng

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we will miss you, seniors :’( We showed our appreciation for the seniors at Senior Appreciation Night, the seniors’ last night at youth group. Here are some encouraging notes for each of the seniors from The Snapshot team Robert Peng: Thanks for being a good friend. You’ve taught me how to do simple drum beats and figure out the beat for a song. -Lucas Robert, stay strong in college! You are bound to achieve great things. Nevermind the little details, the bigger picture is to leave your name in history. -Evan Sam Jiang: Thanks for being patient and showing me how to do the quotient rule. -Lucas Hey Sam, you are a really nice person. It will definitely be of aid to you as you live your life. -Evan Sam Lee: Thanks for allowing us to see things from a different perspective -Lucas Hey Sam! I am sad to see you go to college because I really wished to have known you better. Your kindness and your considerate heart will change the world. -Evan Thanks for teaching me so much the past few years about being a kind and caring person and for being such a kind and caring person yourself. Have a great time in college! -Allison George Zhang: Thanks for being the person that builds people up. You’d say hi to every time you saw me. -Lucas