Richard & Jeanne Tay
Berkeley/SF
Richard Tay
I came to college as a youth group kid ready to leave the church and take in all the world had to offer. But I went to a welcome night at the beginning of my freshman year, and met some people who studied the Bible intently and lived their lives intensely to love God and love others. It was such an authentic community, it helped me drop the masks I had worked so hard to craft during the first 18 years of my life. And finally, in my junior year of college, the gospel became real and personal. I was like Nicodemus - doing the right things, but spiritually so hollow. It finally got me, and I laid down my rebel arms and accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness.
Since then, I graduated college, but never really left the college campus. I’ve spent time in Japan, Uzbekistan, Riverside, Pomona and Berkeley, ministering to college students as a co-vocational minister for 22 years before becoming a full-time staff for our network. I have a 10 year old son now, who is growing up faster than I like, but still likes talking to me (at least, for now). After all these years, I’m still down for a challenge – running, rock climbing, hiking, hitting that next PR or moving to a new city to build the Acts 2 community I’ve been inspired by and fell in love with.
Jeanne Tay
I grew up in a loving Buddhist home in Baldwin Park, California - home of the first In-N-Out! My parents fled Vietnam during the war and sacrificed a lot for my siblings and I. Because of them, I had the opportunity to attend Berkeley for undergrad and grad school, getting my B.A. in History and M.A. in Education. While I don't teach in the public school setting anymore, I still love reading, writing, and encouraging others to experience the power of the written word - especially God's word. I am passionate about walking alongside the spiritually curious to explore the Bible, which I believe is the living word of a God who knows us and loves us, and wants to be known by us. That's how I encountered Jesus for the first time - in the pages of the Bible in a story about a father who extravagantly and unequivocally embraces a wayward son upon his return home. I identified with that wayward son and thought - if that is what God is like, I want to know him.
After a semester investigating and getting questions answered by mentors in our network, I became a follower of Christ in the middle of my freshman year. Since then, I have been learning how faithful Christ and His people can be to a stumbling, struggling follower. I am humbled that God can use someone like me, and has given me a church full of brothers and sisters in Christ I can serve with and go through life's ups and downs with. My Myers Briggs personality type is ENFP and I am Enneagram 7, which means I am always down for an adventure! And following Jesus' call to be a fisher of men with people I've known for decades at our church, has been the greatest adventure! Raising my curious and creative son Elliot with my loving husband, Richard, has also been an immense blessing and adventure I am grateful to Jesus for every day.