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“When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Ac11:23).

On the evening of Thursday, April 19th I visited the El Camino UBF ministry. About 40 young people gathered at the garage of John & Grace Baik’s home, which they use as their center. It was so moving to see such a graceful manger ministry served by only one missionary couple. I had already met John & April Boos and Sarah at other UBF events. It was so good to get to meet all the other growing disciples there, including the three other new couples: Roberto and Sarah, Johnny and Kathryn, and Ty and Jessica. I was so blessed by everyone’s sense of mission and commitment to campus ministry, as well as by their joy and eagerness to grow. After dinner we studied Titus chapter 2 for about two hours. It was a beautiful time of fellowship in the word of God. I pray that God may richly bless the ministry of his word at El Camino UBF, and that God would continue to use them to reach many other students at CSULB, USC and other nearby campuses. They are praying for their study of John’s Gospel and Joshua, and to grow in spiritual power through prayer.

On the evening of Saturday, April 21st Kathy and I visited the Berkeley UBF ministry. Mark & Christine Moran welcomed us into their home, where we met their beautiful 6-year-old daughter Abigail. We went to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, where we had fellowship with Andrew and Esther Kim from Sacramento. Then we went to the Berkeley UBF center, which is a storefront building that they rent near campus. There we met the other Berkeley coworkers: Timothy and Ruth, Joshua and Jackie, and Gil and Madeleine. We studied Titus chapter 2. It was so encouraging to see their spiritual unity and friendship. Afterwards, Mark Moran wrote the Sunday message based on Titus 2. We spent the night in their home and had gracious fellowship with them in the morning. They mainly pray that each coworker may serve two students, and they’re specifically praying for three Berkeley students, Ben, Ahreum and Aaron, to study the Bible faithfully and grow as ancestors of faith for UC-Berkeley. We also prayed for Christine, who will have a second baby at the end of June.

In the morning on Sunday, April 22nd Kathy and I attended the worship service at Stanford UBF. Msn. Andrew prayed for three years that God would send him to this campus; then God opened the door for his family to move there. Currently Msn. Andrew and Anna Hwang are serving the ministry by themselves. Their garage had been beautifully remodeled into a very suitable meeting room even before they bought the home. We met their two lovely young daughters, Priscilla and Lydia, and three Stanford students: Lingbo, Danielle and Christian. Lingbo was invited to UBF when she was working on her Ph.D. at U Penn, and when she moved to Stanford to do post-doc research she joined the ministry there. She was so joyful to see us. Msn. Andrew gave a powerful message on Acts 11 about the Antioch church. I learned that when the Lord’s hand is with us, even unlikely people like the sophisticated ancient Greeks can be brought to the Lord. After the service we had lunch together, and then briefly visited the campus. They are praying for 20 1:1 Bible studies per week, for 20 worship attendants, that God may send two families to co-work with them, and that through the gospel message Stanford students may learn to stand for the Lord and go out to the world as gospel witnesses.

In the evening on Sunday, April 22nd Kathy and I visited Sacramento UBF. Msn. Abe and Susie Yoon and John Jeong from UC-Davis also joined. We gathered at the Sacramento UBF rented meeting place, where we studied Titus chapter 2. Msn. Esther Kim took care of the children during the Bible study. We had a very open and honest discussion about our challenges in living godly lives as Jesus’ witnesses to young college students. Afterwards, we had dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was so good to get to know these precious coworkers and share fellowship in Jesus. We pray God may use them precious to reach students with the gospel, and that he may send good coworkers to co-work with them for campus ministry.

In summary, the Bay Area is a very expensive area to live and work. But God’s servants there are working hard to support themselves, to support each other and to seek and serve the Lord faithfully at each campus. May God send more workers to this harvest field. May God bless many of us to visit and support these precious ministries.

Reported by Pastor Mark & Kathy Vucekovich