Updated on April 20 8:30 pm
Correction: Earlier version misspelled the first name of senior Madeleine Hellwig of Fremont High School. Hellwig’s first name is spelled “Madeleine ” not “Madeline”
Correction: The sentence “Upon arrival, participants were greeted with free ice cream and candies, which were provided by Pastor Yugji Ogura of HoC5. Supervisors and club members helped served the refreshments while engaging in conversations with participants.” was originally published on April 19 as, “Upon arrival, participants were greeted with free ice cream and candies, served and provided by church pastors from CCIC, Hoc5 and club officers”. Pastor Yugji Orgura of HoC5 provided the ice cream, not the pastors from CCIC nor club officers. Earlier version also stated the abbreviation ‘CCIC”. “CCIC” stands for Christ church in Cupertino. The version also incorrectly named “HoC5” as “Hoc5”
Correction : “South Bay Christian clubs come together for South Bay Unite-The Journey” was originally published on April 19 under the headline, “Roots Christian Club holds first South Bay Unite event”. The event was not hosted by Roots nor MVHS due to conflicts with administration approval, according to Roots co-president senior Cynthia Shen. The sentence, “On Saturday, April 16, Christian clubs from all over the Bay Area came together in the MVHS main gym.” was also changed to correct the hosting error. The sentence was originally published as, “On Saturday, April 16, Roots Christian Club hosted its first ever South Bay Unite praise night in the MVHS main gym.”
Co-authored by Justin Kim
When Pastor Thomas Chen of Breakaway Christian Fellowship was asked to describe how he felt about the first South Bay Unite praise night, his answer was simple.“It was a glimpse of heaven,” Chen said.
On Saturday, April 16, Christian clubs from all over the Bay Area came together in the MVHS main gym. The event was coordinated over several months by Root officers, Kennedy Middle School’s Christian club and Kennedy MS teachers. It was created with the goal to encourage South Bay middle school Christian clubs to get to know to their high school Christian clubs.
Senior Madeleine Hellwig, the president of Fremont’s Christian club was personally moved by the amount of middle schoolers who came and who were willing to participate.
“I was outside greeting people,” Hellwig said, “and I was just amazed how kids were coming in on their own when I just know that, if I was in middle school, I would have never come by myself, or tried anything new.
Upon arrival, participants were greeted with free ice cream and candies, which were provided by Pastor Yugji Ogura of HoC5. Supervisors and club members helped served the refreshments while engaging in conversations with participants. Afterwards, they played icebreaker games, such as the game “Dragon Tales” to lighten the atmosphere. They then participated in worship, with music provided by students from different churches.
The main attraction of the night was the sermon by Pastor Chen, who talked about the “journey” of the Christian life. Chen stressed the importance of relying on brothers and sisters in Christ in order to help better one’s spiritual growth — a message that touched middle schoolers and high schoolers alike.
“To have the Christian presence in the school, it’s really encouraging,” Chen said. “I think about those times when I was in junior high and high school, it was easy for me to be stuck on focusing on world values and who the world said I was. Church, youth group, other Christians really kept me going.”
After the sermon, they started small group discussions. During this time, middle and high schoolers gathered together by school to debrief and discuss their Christian clubs. Officers shared testimonies and opened the group up to questions regarding the high school ministry. Non-officers could also chime in and share their advice with the middle schoolers about MVHS’ academic and social atmosphere.
The participants then broke off into smaller groups to start choruses of prayers. All were encouraged to pray for their circle of friends, community, nation and the world as a whole. The night ended with final thank you’s to those who contributed.
Freshmen and club member Iris Dong was impressed by the success of the first South Bay praise night, and with the number of participants that arrived. Her favorite part of the night was meeting new people.
“I thought it was really nice because it was pretty cool to see all the schools come together and see the community outside of your church, all of the other churches bonding together” Dong said. “There’s a lot of new faces, too, so it’s pretty cool meeting new people, just extending your family and knowing your brother and sisters.”
The event was considered a huge success by officers and members of Roots. In the future, Roots hopes that it can become an annual event. Both officers and members want to continue, encouraging a tighter connection between middle school and high school Christian clubs, as well as a tighter connection between the different churches and their community.
