We are now heading into our 4th year of carrying on the tradition of the Valentine’s Day of Compassion, one that was started at our church at UC Berkeley! This year, a total of 106 students participated and spread out all across Austin to show God’s true love on this wonderful day. Below is a recap from one of the students who participated.

Written by Nathalie L.

This year, many of the students at Koinonia participated in what’s called Valentine’s Day of Compassion. For some, this was the first time they had done anything like this – whether it was working with kids, the elderly or just visiting a nursing home and shelter homes. It is an opportunity to live out the fundamentals of God’s word about love, rather than the narrow meaning of love (as just romance) found today. This year we visited six different locations with a program of praise songs, a message and various prepared activities afterwards. I had the opportunity to visit Posada Esparanza, which houses to families of immigrant women and children. This was the first time I had done this, let alone go into an environment like this. The language barrier alone created great anxiety on my end. However once we got there the children’s enthusiasm calmed me down a bit. They were definitely a rambunctious bunch, and I just fed off their high energy. During the activities, I had a chance to help the children make picture frames. Their excitement on creating something themselves really made me think of things in a different perspective. Regardless of all the anxiety I had felt in the beginning did not matter, because this wasn’t for me, but for them. The moment we stepped foot in there, everything shifted from my own worries to just being all about the children and mothers there. They have dealt with much tougher issues than I could ever imagine, but still they were able to be strong enough to laugh and live life in their own manner and start anew. It made me appreciate that I had a chance to do this because I was able to experience the real meaning of Valentine’s Day through showing God’s true love to them!

Check out more photos here!

Written by Rosa L.

This past Friday, some of the senior and freshman sisters met at Sunny’s house to have the first Small Group Bible Study of the semester. With the mix of the young and younger (haha), we had a great time getting to know each other in a smaller, cozier setting. We started the night with one of our church’s favorite dinners, bibimbap. Afterwards, we broke up into smaller groups to study Mark 1:1-8, examining key verses and key points of the passage. Sunny spoke about what i means to prepare our hearts for Jesus and how to be like John the Baptist who lived out what he preached. Following this time, we had our first Iron Chef competition of the year with the theme of doughnuts! There were three teams, and each team had to create a sweet doughnut and a savory doughnut. The competition was even more interesting with the secret ingredients: crushed pineapple, bbq sauce, and baby food. In the end, it was close, but the “Heavenly Doughnuts” took the victory with ingenious combinations like chicken and baby food (tasted like stuffing!). The night ended with more donuts, cookies and ice-cream. We all left Sunny’s house full of sugar and anticipation for what next week will bring!

Written by Jenny C.

Last Friday marked the first Small Group Bible Studies of the spring semester! The Junior sisters had a great time together at Kelly’s house. To start off the night, we had a delicious dinner of make-it-yourself Vietnamese spring rolls as different people entertained us with a show-and-tell of meaningful items they had brought from home. Afterwards, we gathered in Kelly’s living room to read and discuss Mark 1:1-8. Kelly closed the time by encouraging us to be honest about our sins and to strive against the grain of culture as John the Baptist did. Finally, Sarah led us in a game of Junior Olympics, in which the four teams, Canada, US, Russia, and China, faced off in events such as pig fighting, leg wrestling, worm racing, and a Koinonia classic, blind swordsman. After going medal-less for much of the night, China pulled off a stunning upset and stood on top of the podium in the end. We look forward to having many more of these fun times this semester!

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Written by Frederick L.

After our Friday Night campus bible study, the young (lively freshman and sophomores), the old (juniors and seniors), and the ancient (graduates and working folks) all funneled into the St. Edward’s gym for our Gym Night. With teams separated by class, this night was a battle filled with shouts of victory. To win in each of the different games, each team needed camaraderie and tact. It was quite a sight to behold; oversized yoga balls were launched, dodgeballs were evaded, and basketballs were shot and raced with to the finish line. With all the deafening cheers and loud panting, it was clear that no one was holding anything back; everyone gave it their all. The night culminated in a free-for-all Braveheart game, in which the juniors emerged victorious. We ended the exciting night by mingling outside and eating snacks. Be sure to not miss out on our next Gym Night!

Written by Rosa L.

After several days of flyering and preparation, the Freshmen Welcome Night had finally arrived to kick off the new semester. We experienced the familiar yellow shirts donned by the welcome team, the smell of good food in the air, and the excitement that encompassed. Many of the students helped out with the night from mc-ing to acting in the skit to even performing the special song at the end of the night. Pastor Manny gave a message, challenging us to make the most of college, as this is a special time to investigate Christianity. He even used a football field to demonstrate how short our lives are. After the message, we played a game of line charades and it was hilarious how phrases were distorted from one end to the other. The night ended on a sweet note as we all went out for dessert. Overall it was a great night of meeting new people and marveling at how much God has worked in our midst. We look forward to what great things this semester will bring!

Written by Jenny C.

Last Friday, we had our annual Koinonia Spring Welcome Night, where over 100 total students joined us in Mezes Auditorium for delicious teriyaki bowls, a poignantly hilarious skit depicting the toils of life, and a short, thought-provoking talk given by one of our staff, Bryan Song. He exhorted us to think critically about our lives and to use our youth to seek truth in the Bible, a message that resonated with many in attendance. It was a joy to see all the sophomores and juniors coming together to put on this event and engage our campus in spiritual conversation, whether through flyering, cooking, or volunteering for the skit team. We capped off the night with a rollicking game of Ultimate Price is Right where teams competed to guess figures such as the weight of Bevo or the price of a meal at Chik-fil-A. It was a great end to the kickoff of what is sure to be a great semester!

This past weekend, over a hundred of us headed to Camp Bucker in the Texas Hill Country for our annual Winter Retreat! The weekend was packed with challenging messages from Pastor Will Kang (of our Davis church), testimonies from many of our church members, moving times of praise and exciting times of fellowship and fun, personal times of prayer. God worked mightily in many peoples’ lives and we look forward to everything He has in store this coming year and having the chance to live it out together.

This past week Koinonia hosted the Freshman class for dinner at the 605. Over 70 freshmen met on together on the first night of the semester a delicious dinner and exciting games, followed by an encouraging message from Pastor Manny to the freshmen to earnestly seek God this semester. It was a great time of seeing everyone again and kicking off the semester with some great food and exciting games!

This past Winter Break, 37 students from Austin took part in mission trips to San Diego, Taiwan and Cambodia. Our team in San Diego took part in three intense days of campus outreach, culminating in 3 campus welcome nights happening simultaneously on the UCSD campus. Two of our members joined students from other Gracepoint churches to spend the first part of Winter break doing campus outreach in Taiwan at NCTU and NCHU, sharing the Gospel message and the meaning of Christmas with the Taiwanese students, many of whom have never heard the true meaning of Christmas. Many of our members also joined a mission team to Cambodia for a packed time of village outreach, teaching at Life University and village outreach, including an exciting Gospel Night! All three of our mission teams were able to see God work mightily and we’re looking forward to the next mission trips this coming Summer.