CHF Social: The Mystery Spot

Block 2 is over, and before we get back into the grind of school, study, and other activities, we decided to have a social event for all of us to relax, hang out, and enjoy each others' company. At first, Evan planned a bowling event but decided to change it to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly - the only one of its kind in the entire world!

Our adventure begins with meeting in front of Lander Hall on a cold yet beautiful Saturday morning. Yohan and Bersabell volunteered to drive, so it didn't take long for us to divide into a guy car (Yohan, Allen, and Evan) and a girl car (Bersabell, Lois, Angela, and Naomi). I may be a little partial, but the girl car totally rocked. Bersabell carries her own pharmacy and grocery store in her purse and vehicle. Let's not even mention the fact that she drives a Prius, so we were pretty much saving the environment all the way to Santa Cruz. They'll never admit it, but we all know that the guys were jealous. ^_^

Upon our arrival at the Mystery Spot, Lois was surprised that it was located in a forest. I think it was just a little too much nature for Lois. Good thing we didn't have to hike any unpaved paths.

The brave few who dare trek through the Mystery Spot

To tell y'all about the mysteries of the Mystery Spot would be boring, so I shall let pictures do all of the work. ^_^

Bersabell and Lois are both 5'6", but once entering the Mystery Spot, people shrink 4 cm-ish. They are standing on a level plane. Yohan even has an phone app to prove it. ;)

It is impossible to stand completely straight in the Mystery Spot. Now we can all do Michael Jackson's infamous 45 degree lean!

There is a house on the top of a hill that is slanted. Once inside the house, people can stand on a table and lean over without losing their balance.

People can even walk on walls.

Outside of the house is a plank that defies one's logic. This is a two part mystery. First mystery is which end is the higher end? While looking at the plank, one would assume that Allen is standing on the higher end and Naomi on the lower. In actuality, Naomi is standing on the higher end of the plank, and Allen is standing on the lower end. This was proven by our watching a ball roll from Naomi's end down to Allen's end.

The second part of the mystery is that the high and low ends do not apply to humans. While objects will roll from the higher end to the lower end, when people stand on the plank, the high end becomes the low end, and the low end becomes the high end. In comparison of the two pictures, we have all switch spots. Allen is standing on the high end, and Naomi is standing on the low end. Logically, Allen would be ridiculously taller than all of us; however, we are all about the same height.

The last mystery before we leave is this unusual spot. The block that Naomi and Angela are standing on is level. Naomi is shorter than Angela.

However, once Naomi and Angela switch places, Naomi is now the same height as Angela.

CHF 2010 (Naomi Chiang, Angela Yeh, Bersabell Asaye, Allen Chang, Lois Kim, Yohan Shin, and Evan Kim) conquered the Mystery Spot.

Aside from the Mystery Spot, Evan planned for us to take a walk along the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and eat the best clam chowder in the world (Evan's opinion). No pictures were taken while eating because we were all very hungry. All I can say is that the place that served the "best clam chowder in the world" was closed, so we had to settle for the second best clam chowder. In my opinion, it was pretty darn good! :9 After eating lunch, we walked around and just took our time to enjoy each others' presence and the blessing of having such a nice and beautiful day.

Beautiful day for the boardwalk

We enjoyed watching sea lions lounge about. Yes, we did this for a good 15 minutes.

We got some free Red Bull. Yohan already had his swig.

The guys even enjoyed a game of Street Fighter, which Allen totally destroyed. Evan, Yohan, and Angela even had a go at it. We are all under the impression that Allen could have beaten the game had he not let Evan play the first round of the final match.

Lois is an arcade junkie!

Bersabell and Lois were brave enough to go on one of those rides that raise people high above the ground and drop them.

After Bersabell and Lois finished their ride, we headed back to Vallejo. Praise God for such an eventful day filled with fun and mystery. Praise God for granting us traveling mercies and for allowing us to grow closer to each other! In conclusion, our first CHF Social was a successful blessing. So, until our next blog, take care, and God bless.

Angela Yeh

Last Mystery: if I continue to make this face, will it eventually get stuck?

Volunteering at Christian Help Center

Aside from our weekly meeting, we at CHF try to fit in volunteering services every now and then. Thanks to Evan Yung Kim for planning our first volunteering service of the semester at the Soup Kitchen at the Christian Help Center on Sacramento St. in Vallejo. At the Christian Help Center, we are blessed with the opportunity to serve food to those in need. Dinner is served around 5:30 p.m., so we try to get there around 4:30 p.m. to help set up tables, organize chairs, arrange dishes, and basically just help out with whatever needs to be done.

Ben is happy to be serving the Lord.

During dinner time, it is our job to serve the food. We set up an assembly line, and we all had our stations. We were ready for the masses. After prayer was spoken to bless the food, we went straight to work filling plates with deliciousness. The trick is to give people a decent amount of food while retaining enough for everyone who comes in. Praise God that this was well accomplished because people were able to come back for seconds! Sorry, but there aren't any pictures of our serving the food because we were all too busy to take pictures. After everyone finished eating, it was time to clean up. Clean up consisted of wiping tables, organizing chairs, and washing dishes.

Another happy server

Washing dishes was probably what took the longest because there was only one working faucet, but we washed those dishes happily and even took turns!

Angela and Angela tag teaming the dishes and making fashion statements

All in all, the service was a great experience, and the time flew by quickly. Everyone was delightful and kind. We were even able to catch up with an OMS3 CHF member!

We heart you, Eunice, for coming out after a long day on rotations!

Mark 10:44-45 - "And whosoever of you will b the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Volunteers: Eunice Kim, Evan Kim, Benjamin Deters, Naomi Chiang, Angela Buck, Angela Yeh

 Until our next blog, take care, and God bless!

Angela Yeh

CHF Retreat 2010

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! - Psalm 133:1

Retreat was amazing. While it wasn't a retreat solely for spiritual growth, it was a great retreat for fellowship and introduction to CHF, Christianity, and balancing our career with Christianity. Of course, there was also a lot of relaxing, eating, and team building.

Our wonderful weekend began with the magical crossing of a ferry. To not take the ferry would be an hour detour to Snug Harbor. Allen, Naomi, Yohan, and I have decided to call the ferryman Charon (regardless of the gender of the actual ferry person) and the vastly wide and deep river (please detect the sarcasm) the River of Styx. As we leave this life of school, stress, and constant sorrow, we sail toward the relaxing and peaceful place of Snug Harbor. It truly is a retreat from this present world. :)

On Friday night, Dr. Pera spoke to us (stay tuned for notes on Dr. Pera's "lecture").

Ken Jones gave us an amazing sermon on Saturday (stay tuned for key points on Ken Jones' sermon).

In between the sermons, we ate and just enjoyed each others' company.

Rafting

The Price Is Right

Color Coded Jenga

Thanks to the master of games, Evan Yung Kim, for being the man whom we all despised during the games. Evan, we appreciate your keeping us all accountable and grumbling as we played Acid River, Electric Fence, Reach for the Stars, Fish Bowl, and other activities.

Acid River

Electric Fence

Reach for the Stars

Fish Bowl

Other Activities

The Peras' also continued our delicious crawfish tradition (Thanks Suards!). The Peras purchased about 10+ lbs of crawfish and were afraid that we wouldn't be able to finish them all. Let's just say that we killed it. Our seafood hater Benjamin Deters even tried it and said that it was the least seafood tasting seafood that he's had. :)

Expert Crawfish Boiler - Dr. Pera's written peer-reviewed articles published in highly renowned magazines on crawfish. He's pretty much legendary. 

Delicious! :9

Finally, I could not conclude this blog without acknowledging our amazing Worship Leaders: Yohan Shin, Evan Kim, and Naomi Chiang.

Yohan led Friday and Saturday night worship.

Evan led Saturday morning worship.

Naomi led Sunday morning worship.

Thank y'all for coming to the retreat. Thank the Peras for being perfect examples of spiritual leaders and servants, and thank everyone for their prayers. We hope that each person who went on the retreat had an awesome time and hope that those who were not able to go shall be able to next year. Until our next blog, take care, and God bless.

Angela Yeh

Unofficial historian of CHF

Come to Retreat!

Tests Tests Test

With the our first blocks coming, everyone is stressing. Second years have started skipping classes in order to prepare. First years are still quite diligent and attending classes in hopes of grasping knowledge and weaning whatever information necessary before their exams. Everyone is wanting a break and hoping that they are prepared. Sigh...with such impending doom looming overhead, one wonders what to do after such a stressful experience. Ok...so maybe more people are worried about the exams instead of playing after; however, I've always been one to think more about playing. ^_^

Well, good thing CHF can provide an option for a relaxing and uplifting weekend after the blocks - CHF Retreat!

CHF Retreaters 2009-2010

Information about the retreat is as follows:

CHF Retreat

September 17-19, 2010

Cost: $30 cash or check (make checks out to Sharon Pera)

Location: Snug Harbor (http://www.snugharbor.net/)
3356 Snug Harbor Drive
Walnut Grove, CA 95690

Things to Bring: Bible, pen, sleeping bag, toiletries, swimsuit, camera, games/board games, sports equipment (i.e. football, soccer ball, ping pong paddles, etc.)

Deadline for Registration: September 7, 2010

Time of Departure: 1:00 p.m. on September 17, 2010. (This is an estimate, so just be ready to change with the plans)

Space is limited, so let us CHF leaders know if you're interested!

A set schedule has not yet been planned out; however, we will have a speaker on Saturday - Ken Jones! The majority of the time will be spent...

In Fellowship

Alex Lion, Max Hyon, and Yohan Shin leading worship

Getting to know each other

Angela Yeh, Bridget White, and Annie Chao - COM 2013 classmates, fellow sisters in Christ

and Eating some amazing food!

Rajan Menghani, Naomi Chiang, Evan Yung Kim, and Annie Chao enjoying some crawfish that the Suards brought

It's a great time for bonding and relaxing, so come out and play with us! It'll be a great way to refill your spirit in Christ and to strengthen your relationship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Allen Chang, Evan Yung Kim, and Yohan Shin helping each other put on sunblock and bonding. ^_^

We hope to see everyone at the retreat and look forward to getting to know each and everyone of y'all on a deeper and more personal level. In such stressful times of our lives, it's always a blessing to have a strong connection with fellow followers of Christ and know that there will always be someone who cares and will continuously pray for you. CHF is a safe place where you can come, regardless of denomination or belief, and just praise and worship God and be loved.

Until our next blog, take care, and God bless!

Angela Yeh

Welcome to Christian Health Fellowship

Welcome to Christian Health Fellowship!

This is a new feature that the CHF leadership has decided to start. Well, actually, this was an idea placed into my head (yes, inception) by Ben as a way to keep a log of CHF activities. Before I begin, let me introduce our 2010-2011 CHF leaders:

Maritess Gay Asumen, COM 2013
Allen Chang , COM 2013
Naomi Chiang, COM 2013
Benjamin Deters, COM 2013
Evan Yung Kim, COM 2013
Yohan Shin, COM 2013
Angela Yeh, COM 2013

Also, we cannot forget our wonderful faculty adviser, Dr. Abe Pera, and his wonderful wife Sharon. For 3 years, the Peras have opened up their homes as the main fellowship location for CHF members and have been great pillars in our ministry and faith.

We have a lot planned for this year, and we look forward to meeting everyone and growing closer to each person as we trudge through the hardships of school and rejoice in each blessing that God has given us. Keep updated with our CHF calendar so that y'all will know about our events.

http://www.google.com/calendar/hosted/tu.edu/embed?src=tu.edu_uatubuc5kt2b57f1u8usg6ktfg%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles

Until our next blog, take care, and God bless.

Angela Yeh