Everyone remembers the incredible performance of Jamaica’s sprinter Usain Bolt at the recent Olympics in Beijing. What sticks out about Mr. Bolt is the way that he demolished the competition, but also the flair with which he accomplished it.
Last Friday night, Koinonia went bowling, and let’s just say, Pastor Manny was on fire, very similar to how Usain Bolt was in Beijing. I mean, he had such command of that bowling ball that he was pulling out strikes and spares at will. Though the eldest competitor in all of Koinonia, Pastor Manny showed the young ones what’s up…
In the video, you’ll see his impressive skills, as well as some striking similarities to Usain Bolt…

Texas is the #1 football team in the nation. There’s no doubting that. A bunch of us from Koinonia crowded into Pastor Manny and Sunny’s place this past Saturday to witness the incredible prowess of our mighty Longhorns. What a way to spend a Saturday! We ate hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, salsa, threw a football around in the backyard, and to cap it off, jumped in jubilation as UT took down the #1 team in the nation, Oklahoma, in what is already being dubbed a classic.

Though I was cheering each time McCoy connected with Shipley, inside I could not help but feel a sense of anguish, anguish because I was torn inside with this sad reality…The team I’ve grown to love, my alma mater, the Golden Bears of the University of California Berkeley, better known as Cal, simply cannot hang at the level of a UT or OU. As much as I would like to fancy the idea that Cal is a top tier program and on its way back to the Rose Bowl, the reality is that they are simply is not there yet. Yes. I admit it. They are not there. Don’t get me wrong. I love Cal. In fact that is the reason why I must speak the truth. You see, I’m no fair-weather fan. I’m a true fan. I’m a golden bear. And I still hope. I hope that one day, I’ll be able to cheer in jubilation over a Cal Rose Bowl victory…(i tried uploading a video but blogger is giving me problems. so a photo will have to suffice…look at carlton’s hops!)

October 5, 2008 was a historical date in Gracepoint-Austin’s history.  We celebrated the official start of our church during the Inaugural service.  As we got to watch a slideshow of all the important events during the past 3 months we’ve been at Austin, I couldn’t believe that we’ve only been here for such a short time.  It feels like ages ago when we first had our Koinonia Bible Study when we cooked enough meatloaf to feed 30 people but no one came, so we ended up eating different variations of meatloaf the entire week.  I remember the first time we tabled and flyered on campus, and our first New Student Welcome Night when we barbecued 100 pounds of stead and wondered if anyone was going to come.  During the service I was amazed at how God has led us faithfully to this point and thankful that we could share this day with all the people that we’ve come to care for–new and old faces alike.  I was also thankful for all the brothers and sisters who came out from our home church in Berkeley just to help us prepare and participate in this celebration.  I’ve known many of them for about 8 years, and their presence was a reminder that our small team here is not alone but we are supported by a cloud of witnesses.  I was also excited that our new friends here at Austin were able to meet our friends from Berkeley, and we got to share some good laughs as we watched videos that accentuated Pastor Manny’s quirks, watched our Berkeley friends sing and dance and even pretend to act as grumpy old men.

This past Saturday we witnessed our very first UT vs. OU football game ever.  Coming from California, I never really had much interest for football.  I’ve personally never gone or fully even watched an entire game.  But I guess being in Texas and having friends at UT-Austin I had to at least watch one game, especially a game that was considered one of the most important in the season. So, we gathered at Pastor Manny’s house decked out in our burnt-orange, Longhorn gear, and even the kids were all wearing UT shirts.  As we all gathered to watch the game together in their living room, I realized something.  Football is actually fun.  Perhaps it was because I never gave it a chance or because Cal’s football team wasn’t really that good, but there was suspense, excitement, and the taste of victory that I never experienced back in Berkeley.  Plus, as you can see from the picture of my friends jumping up and down in victory, neither have they. UT won the game that day, and I have come to understand why so many people love this sport.

When I think about fellowship times we share at Koinonia, one of the things that comes to mind naturally is…food!! Because we sure enjoy a lot of good food almost everytime we get together. I think most people will agree with me that food simply adds that joy to times of fellowship. Not too long ago, we had all the Koinonia staff over at the Windsor apartments, where Del & Joyce, Henry & Margaret, and Sarah and myself live. It was quite a potluck feast! We packed into Del and Joyce’s apartment, and stuffed ourselves to an abundance of super delicious homemade dishes. Korean BBQ, octopus, honey walnut prawns, bean curd, and muscles to name a few dishes…and with Thanksgiving around the corner, this means there’s more awesome cooking and eating inevitably on the way…

This past Saturday, Koinonia went on a memorable outing to Zilker park. This was our second picnic at Zilker, only this time, the main highlight of the day was the kayak adventure. If there’s one thing you have to do when you come to Austin, it’s kayak in the lake. It was awesome! I think I must’ve seen at least 10 turtles while kayaking during that one hour as well. But to be honest, it’s not so much the actual kayaking that I was looking forward to, because it’s really all about the devastating water fights. And there was definitely no shortage this past Saturday. I think it’s safe to say that pretty much all forty of us came back soaked. I’d like to mention that John Lin and I held our ground quite well. In fact, I think it’s more accurate to say that we pretty much dominated out there on the water. Especially that time I pretty much dominated Matt Jones and Del’s kayak. It’ll be more of the same next time…:)

The ability to trash talk is one of those things you’re born with. So you either have it or you don’t. You see, Pastor Manny was born with it, and in fact, he has mastered the art of trash talking. Sometimes you see professional athletes who trash talk during their basketball of football game. But have you ever seen trash talking in a game of ping pong? If you haven’t, that means you haven’t seen Pastor Manny in action. Some time ago, Andrew and Wayne invited me and Pastor Manny to the halls of Jester, and started to muster up their version of trash talking. They said things like “you can’t lose to a freshmen now can you Pastor Manny?” and “you’re looking old there!”…Well, as I was saying before, trash talking is something you either have or you don’t, and these freshmen simply don’t know what’s up. Pastor Manny was unphased. In fact, it made him smile all the more. Now in terms of who actually won the game, I won’t go there…That’s beside the point and is completely irrelevant..

Koinonia sisters went out to Hula Hut Restaurant a few weeks ago, a nice Mexican and Polynesian place located on the waterfront of Lake Austin. As the semester was getting busy, it was a nice break away from the busyness of campus, reminders of tests and homework. The sisters enjoyed a full meal including entrees called “Steak Tubular Taco” and “Shrimp Pipeline Enchiladas”. Surprisingly, most people ate everything on their plate. Still feeling the euphoria after their meal, they all headed over to Sunny and Pastor Manny’s house and played Speed Scrabble. With pumped up minds and increased vocabulary, they ended the night by playing something called “Telephone Pictionary”. The game starts by having each person write down a sentence on a sheet of paper, and then she hands it to the next person. This person draws a picture that describes the sentence then folds over the paper to hide only the original sentence. The next person looks at the picture and tries to guess what the original sentence was, and then folds over the paper to hide only the picture. The paper is passed on in the same manner, and this continues till the paper returns to the owner. This particular game was not for the faint of heart as we witnessed some very interesting drawings and interpretations, leaving all of us rolling on the floor and laughing. It certainly was a great way to end the night.