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StanfordBayUP06
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Name: Stanford BayUP Team
Interests: The Bay Area Urban Project is a partnership between InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and a number of Bay Area churches and ministries. Students spend a significant amount of time in service in the community while learning about such issues as justice, racial reconciliation, stewardship, and ethnic identity development. This summer is a multi-ethnic and cross-cultural experience, both among the team members and in the Bay Area community. The team from Stanford University includes (Top, L-R) Bethany Fong, Josefina Guillen, Mia Sakai, Kirsten Jackson, (Bottom, L-R) David Lai, Brennan Takayama, and Dennis Jiang. We will be serving at Sacred Heart Community Service (http://www.shcstheheart.org/nflash.html) in the Washington area of San Jose and helping with its Academic Summer Day Camp. Please pray for us this summer!
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Member Since:
6/23/2006
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| I've gotten more familiar with the eighth graders I'm working with-- I know most of their names/faces by now, who's the nice kid and who's the troublemaker, etc. They're interesting-- Andrew's a short, really energetic, and quite smart kid who's sometimes a handful, Victor's a soccer fanatic, and Martin's the guy who wears a pink shirt and seems like a likable kid, and it does feel in some ways a place where I want to be. However, it's been a struggle getting to know them and really help them. Partly it's because there's already a set structure in place, so I'm there to keep them more on task and focused rather than just doing whatever-- and let's face it, in a summer school, it's hard to get kids focused in the first place because there's a billion things they'd rather be doing. It's hard also because I'm also not the most gifted disciplinarian, but they (as well as every other eighth grade class) aren't exactly mature enough for a college-like atmosphere. I feel for them, but they don't know that, so that probably makes them less happy about me :P
We're spending most of our time at the women's apartment now, because there's more families in that structure and it's easier to get to know them. There's these two really awesome kids named Daniel and Eric, who always ask if we want to play-- even when we're eating dinner, cooking, or completely conked out. It's actually quite cute :)
The schedule in itself is really good, but it's also really tiring. Although we don't actually work for that long-- Monday to Thursday from 8 to 2, Friday from 9-1 in the warehouse, there just seems to be so much else going on that I think we hit the weekend just exhausted. There's a lot to absorb-- from the very basic/practical experience of working with kids to larger ideas of learning God's values for justice across racial, socio-economic, urban lines and what that means practically for, well, me-- and that bleeds into other things as well. It's actually incredible to realize how much is being done-- the innovative efforts of school districts to incorporate technology to help, the first-class structure that Sacred Heart is-- and yet also to realize that there's still a greater need to really help clothe, feed, home and educate those that need it, and how much God's really cares for that.
I think finally, that there's been a crucible-like effect because of the fact that we're all tired, trying to practically do good as well as experience things that are pretty emotional-- there's a stress that comes when you realize that you're not doing as well with kids as you like, etc-- not just for me, but for most of our team. It's sometimes come out, not in ugly, but in rather worrisome moments-- I just remember yesterday completely shutting down for a few hours, because I was just so drained. More particularly, the crucible effect is also working to reveal some wounds and other hurts that we have had for a long while, and we're trying to work through that as well.
Ways you can pray for me/us would be:
1. That I would learn how to relate with the eighth graders I'm working with and also help them best learn the material they need to learn (or catch up on, in the case of how to fill out a worksheet requiring just addition and long division)
2. That we would continue to support each other, as well as pray for the wounds and hurts to be healed (such as my own doubt that God is really present and working in the situation, as well as unresolved bitterness about the past year)
3. That God would really work and do something amazing in the next few weeks as well!
Thanks again so much for supporting me/us!
--David Lai
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| Our week of orientation was awesome and is now over. We are moving into our apartments in San Jose today!
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| Today I (Brennan) walked around Oakland with Josefina and Kirsten to talk with some
day laborers to better understand their experiences. They are unable
to legally work without papers, so they are forced to seek work in this
way. Many of them left families in Mexico and other Latin American
countries and have little social network. Some are younger than me,
and this is the only way they can provide for themselves and their
families. God is opening my eyes to the struggles of immigrants in the
United States, and many of us are currently struggling with what our place is in caring for and sharing God's love with them.
This
week during orientation, there are already a lot of intense issues that
are coming up for people. Please pray that we would have soft, open,
teachable hearts and that we would engage with difficult teachings and
experiences.
Praise God that we now have two 1-bedroom apartments to live in this summer. Here are our mailing addresses:
(for the men)
160 E Reed St, #3
San Jose, CA 95112
(for the women)
110 Graham Ave, #15
San Jose, CA 95112
We will have access to email once a week, but probably will not be
responding to most emails, so we would REALLY appreciate snail mail
from you. Your words of encouragement and prayers are GREATLY
appreciated.
We will NOT be answering most phone calls, but if there is an
emergency, you can reach Brennan on his cell 24/7 at 650-207-7670. | | |
| This is the weblog of the Stanford University team at the Bay Area Urban Project during summer 2006.
The Bay Area Urban Project is a partnership between InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship and a number of Bay Area churches and ministries.
Students spend a significant amount of time in service in the community
while learning about such issues as justice, racial reconciliation,
stewardship, and ethnic identity development. This summer is a
multi-ethnic and cross-cultural experience, both among the team members
and in the Bay Area community.
The team from Stanford University includes (Top, L-R) Bethany Fong,
Josefina Guillen, Mia Sakai, Kirsten Jackson, (Bottom, L-R) David Lai,
Brennan Takayama, and Dennis Jiang. We will be serving at Sacred Heart
Community Service (http://www.shcstheheart.org/nflash.html) in the
Washington area of San Jose and helping with its Academic Summer Day
Camp.
We are very excited for the work that God has in store this summer. We greatly appreciate your partnership, and ask that you would pray
for us in the following ways:
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Unity in spirit and purpose for the team and openness to the work that God is doing in, through, and around us
- Commitment to reconciliation and vulnerability: that we would take
risks to go deeper in encouraging and challenging one another and
entering into each others' worlds
- Humble, servants' hearts
- Wisdom to lead my team well
- God's transformation of the Washington
neighborhood in San Jose
- That God would bless the work of Sacred Heart Community
Service in the community
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