post-Finals snow trip to Tahoe

So after the craziness of finals was over a few guys (Jimmy, Justin, Steven, John Kwon, Stephan, John Cai, and a few friends from K2: Steven Chang and Andrew Park) went to go snowboarding. The night before, we drove to Sacramento and met up with Kevan & Jenny and some other Gracepoint members to attend Bayside Church Christmas Service. Afterwards, we got In-n-Out and we all crashed at my place in Davis. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 AM (yes, we are hardcore) and left for Tahoe. Conditions were perfect as we hit the slopes. It was a good time together. After we boarded, we ate lunch back at the cars. The menu was meatball sandwiches provided by my mom. After some more boarding (and falling) we called it a day and went back to Davis for some beef noodle soup. Ah, the joy of winter break...

Taiwan Mission Team is Gone!

Today, we sent off the last of the Taiwan mission team members. Our team is comprised of some 70 people, led by Pastor Ed & Kelly Kang (Gracepoint Berkeley), William and Esther (directors of acts2fellowship), our own Manny & Sunny, and a whole host of other people, including Kairos folks, Praxis, and our very own Ben, Helen, Jenny (not my wife), Cece, and Justin T. (who's only 1 of 2 college students on the team).

While there, our team will reach out to Taiwanese college students by playing basketball and various other sports, eating at the dining commons, and going to club activities (e.g. English Corner and English Clubs). They'll be inviting the people they meet to the weekly Friday Night Plus! (think: weekly Koinonia Bible Study), and also to the Christmas Celebration, which is a performance (like a mini-GLive) our team is putting on to present the true meaning of Christmas. Over in Taiwan, Christmas is simply a western commercial holiday and there's no sense of the Christmas story, baby Jesus, or the Nativity.

Also, they'll celebrate this Sunday the Taiwan Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Hsinchu inaugural! That's going to be so exciting! In between, you can rest assured there'll be plenty of eating, hanging out, boba drinks, night markets, and learning the heart of God for that nation.

Please pray for our team:

• Inaugural Service and the Christmas Celebration
• that our Taiwan church plant team will be greatly encouraged and strengthened by the presence of so many from Gracepoint Berkeley, San Francisco, Waypoint Davis, and Bridgeway San Jose brothers and sisters.
• for many Taiwanese college students to come and experience our community, and learn about the true meaning of Christmas.

Angel Tree Update

Hi gang,

Here's an update on Angel Tree:

- Miraculously we got in touch with one of the Angel Tree children's mom, we'll be delivering gifts for the girl in Sacramento on Wed. afternoon/evening. I'd like to leave Oakland around 4pm; if you can join please email me. We'll be back probably around 9.

- On Saturday we (Wenj, Hugo, Daniel Song, me) shopped for the gifts and had a little wrapping session (no not that kind of rapping) at Dana house.:

We got a glow-in-the-dark Carebear and a nice 2-layer jacket for the girl, and a blingy electronic truck and black jacket for the boy. Hugo kept saying how 'cool' that jacket was.

- Unfortunately we still haven't been able to contact the boy's mother, but we still bought presents in faith =) Please pray that we'd be able to get in touch with them somehow.

- Saturday night was the Angel Tree party. Since our children weren't coming our group wasn't officially invited. However (and I had a sinking feeling this might happen) I was officially invited as the guest magician, and I think God wanted me to be able to commiserate with you finals-takers because the ensuing stress was something I hadn't felt since Chem 1A days.

The rest of the night was spectacular, children and families from all over Oakland and Alameda of many different stripes and backgrounds, hanging out with our youth students (dressed as elves, I don't know how the teachers convinced them to do so), eating a fabulous roast and turkey dinner, playing games, singing Joyland songs - and of course being visited by Santa himself, a.k.a Jim Kwak-Klause. As I sat down after my show and looked out over that motley but joyful crowd, I gave thanks to God for giving our church this chance to minister to them, and for this building which we could use for that.

Studying @ the Office

If you want to study after service on Sunday (12/16), I have to go to the office to do some work. There's a nice conference room, drinks, and a quiet place to study if you need it. I work a stone's throw away from Willard, where we meet for Sunday Service, and you can join me.

On another note: Early Bird registration for the winter retreat ends 12/20. Checks can be brought to the Willard courtyard after Sunday Service. There'll be a table to receive Early Bird registration checks.

Finals Study Break

Finals doesn't have to be all stress. In fact, for some people, it's not stressful at all. Sure, they may be in denial. But you can say one thing: they're not stressed. Ironically, finals also turns out to be the time when most guys get the most sleep, play the most basketball, and still find time to study. Isn't that great?

Thursday night, the staff set up the Fireside room at the YWCA so you guys could drop by, hang out, and recharge for a while. We brought chili dogs & cheese, chips, some fruit, and early-Christmas gifts! Steve came and gave us the biggest shocker, as you can see. Good thing Abigail wasn't there--she might have started crying. Nonetheless, kudos to Steve, Chih-Ming, Jimmy, and Alan for taking bold steps during a time when bold steps are needed.

We sort of just hung out, listened to some Charlie Brown Christmas music, laughed, and even played a game of Bang at the end. It was Curtiss' first time... and as the lone deputy, he and the sheriff were wiped out pretty fast by the outlaws. Muahaha.

J-Term & other news

Some of you guys (Sophs) are thinking about signing up for J-Term (Jan. 13-16) and wondering what class to take. If it helps at all, the plan for the spring semester for sophomore smallgroup is to go ahead w/ the Bible survey we wanted to do first semester but didn't get a chance to do. You can take that into consideration as you're thinking about what J-Term class to take. Of course, a study through the NT Survey or OT Survey class at J-Term will probably be more in-depth than what we'll do, but wanted to give you guys proper notice.

In other news:

• Winter Retreat early bird signup is $20 cheaper if you sign up online and turn in your check (payable to GFC) by Dec. 20. You can hand the check to your smallgroup leader or mail it to NorthLoop. Early Bird signup is $90; afterwards, it's $110. A table will be available next to the Book Table on Sunday at Willard if you want to drop off the check.
• If you want to be an Impact Volunteer next semester and participate in 1-on-1 tutoring, let me know at kevanDOThoATgpmailDOTorg. An email was sent earlier to one of the aliases and I can forward it to you.
• If you didn't get your two part gift from us (H.1 staff), hunt us down. It's our Christmas gift to you!

Need a "Break"?

Sick of finals and studying? Well, it's only been two days! But nonetheless, if you're looking for a break, drop by for some laughs, some recharge food, and a special gift (in the spirit of Christmas) tonight at the YWCA, Fireside room some time between 9-10:30 PM. See you there!

The Christmas party and gift exchange tomorrow night begins officially at 7:30 PM @ First Pres., Mears room A & B. We rented a classroom in there. No dinner, but there'll be some hot food and other refreshments. Remember to bring your $5 wrapped gift for the gift exchange.

And... if you're around Berkeley until the night of the 20th, Jenny & I are going to check out Christmas service at Bayside Community Church, which begins at 7:30 PM. For those of you who know, it's Lincoln Brewster's church, and there's a rock awesome pastor and ministry there so we're going to check it out. If you're looking for a Christmas service in LA, Jenny and I are going to Saddleback on Sunday morning, the 11:15 AM service.

Study hard. Hang in there. It's almost over.

Bible Study & Study Break

Joyland Christmas Celebration was so fun! Cheers to all you who made it and saw all the kids on stage. It was like a miniature version of GLive (the DVDs are coming the 14th!).

Anyway, photos from the different events are filtering through iPhoto and then to Flickr, and they'll get posted when they're good and ready. But for now, here's the 411 on this upcoming week's events:

• Combined bible study is on Tuesday night, 7 PM @ First Pres., on the corner of Dana & Channing.
• H.1 study break on Thursday night. Drop in for food and to decompress from all the stress. Drop by sometime between 9:00-10:30 PM @ the YWCA on Bancroft, in the Fireside room. We'll be handing out something special.
  
• K1 Christmas Party and gift exchange is this Friday, 12/14, beginning at 8:30 PM. Bring a $5 WRAPPED gift. Location coming so stay tuned.
• J-Term for sophs and juniors is happening the week prior to the retreat, so sign up if you're interested. Seminary style classes will include New Testament Survey, Old Testament Survey, Advanced Course 101, and Church History. You can find more info and sign up online.
• Also, if you haven't already, you need to sign up for the winter retreat online, Jan. 18-21. We'll have a Koinonia snow trip on Thursday, Jan. 17, so try and get back in time.
• For seniors, you need fill out the senior discipleship retreat online signup to reserve a spot. Make sure you do it.
  

By the way, better sign up for that winter retreat as there's an early bird and late registration. Early bird registration is about $20 cheaper... Study hard.

The Ending is in Sight for the Frosh

The last frosh smallgroup of the semester is at Dana House (2440 Dana St., corner of Dwight & Dana). We're meeting at 6:30 PM, and the staff and seniors are grilling. We'll watch Manny's hammer-dance across the stage as part of our closing semester festivities. See you guys there!

Taco Truck Wednesday

Last week, because we moved smallgroup to Thursday night, a bunch of guys came over on Wednesday. Since Jenny was already gone to the retreat, it was just Abigail and I, and a whole bunch of barbarians: a couple frosh, sophomores, and even a senior and staff. We decided against cooking, and sent a scout team to the taco truck in downtown Oakland, which turned out fantastic.

Afterwards, we played Bang. Wenjie the sheriff thought he'd introduce some fear into the game and put out a dynamite, only to have it explode on himself at the first draw. From there, it was pretty much downhill as the outlaws (myself included), decimated the rest of the field: renegades, deputies, and sheriff. They didn't stand a chance. It helped to stifle everyone's restlessness and get people serious about studying.

In addition to the drama of studying, doing problem sets, and writing papers, the other drama of the night was taking care of Abigail. It turned out alright.

Also, thank you for praying for those of us who went on the staff retreat this past weekend. We had a wonderful time with Pastor Ed and Kelly and the rest of the staff at our new Sierra Lodge (I'm trying to figure out how we can get a slot and head up there as a homegroup in the new year!). I was really encouraged and strengthened by the time together, and renewed my own commitment to honor God with my life.

Angels We Have Heard On High

Yes folks, Thanksgiving is over, let the Christmas songs begin.

As the sounds of jingling bells fill the malls and the sound of jingling registers mark the onset of the frenzy of Christmas shopping, there are some children out there who look forward to - not shiny gifts wrapped with bows - but a Christmas spent without one or both of their parents. This is where Angel Tree steps in.

Chuck Colson, of Nixon Watergate infamy, had a serious encounter with the gospel while in prison, and when he was released he devoted his life to ministering to those who, probably more than most others, truly grasp the Bible's diagnosis of man's greatest problem. Thus was born Prison Fellowship.

This year our HG has the opportunity to serve 2 young children (ages 8 and 3) whose father is in jail. We will be bringing them a gift that their father picked out + a nice item of clothing, and inviting them to a Christmas party to be held at NorthLoop on Sat., 12/15.

I remember when I was in college, a couple (ok many) years ago, opportunities to serve the underprivileged, while alluring, were a bit hard to come by, given the lack of car, resources, network. I think this opportunity to "welcome a little one" in Jesus' name provides an opportunity to express some of our gratitude to God for our own blessings.

If you're afraid of kids, we'll help you work through it =) If you love kids but don't have a whole lot of time, we'll find a way for you to participate. So if you would like to participate in any way, shoot me an email or call me up (510-919-0456).

If you missed Thanksgiving Celebration...

You might be hoping for a link to Manny's hammer dance video. Sorry. But one of the things we did do at our Thanksgiving Celebration was get a 5 minute video recap of the whole year for each department. Ever wonder what happened outside of Koinonia? In acts2fellowship or Kairos? Or what about across the bay in SF? You can check out the videos online. The Praxis video is snazzy, using hand-drawn cutouts to tell the story of 2007.

If you missed our Thanksgiving Celebration, you can check out a part of what you missed.

Changing the Norm: news for this week

Hey, just to keep you guys on your toes with finals just around the corner, we're changing things up a bit, starting with smallgroup day:

• Smallgroups for both frosh and sophs are on Thursday, Nov. 29, this week.
• Frosh are meeting at 6:30 PM, beginning with dinner, at the YWCA on Bancroft, in the Chapel room, the one on the far left once you go upstairs.
• Sophs are meeting at 8 PM, also at the YWCA in the Chapel room.
• Manny is going to lead the smallgroups this week! If you're lucky, he might do a rendition of the hammer dance he performed at Thanksgiving Celebration.

Joe, Ben, Maurice, and I will be gone from Thursday to Saturday on a retreat with Pastor Ed and Kelly. In other cool news:

• Bible study this Friday is at Lipman room, 7 PM, as usual. Afterwards, Koinonia is headed over to the Oakland Ice Rink, where we've rented the whole place for ice skating. Make sure to bring warm clothes.
• Don't miss out on the college winter retreat. It's the highlight of the year for many of us, and really marks some spiritual breakthroughs in many of our lives. You can sign up online. The dates are Fri., 1/18 - Mon., 1/21. You might be wondering, "Is it worth changing your plane tickets for?" And I would answer without hesitation, "Yes, definitely."

Barbecue, sports, and turkey for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend caused Berkeley to clear out pretty quickly as everyone headed back home to visit family for the holidays. Here's a rundown of all the good stuff that happened.

Wednesday night, everyone who was around had dinner at my place. Some people were in transit, waiting for a plane the next morning or for family to come into town. It was cozy, filling, and afterwards, we played Blokus, Turbo Cranium, and Bang. It was Tabby's first time playing the Wild West shoot-em-up game, but she quickly came up to speed as she joined me in taking down the sheriff: our hostess and my wife, Jenny. Incidentally, it was revealed that Brian is dangerous, whether friend or foe. You can never tell what he'll do.

Thursday afternoon, we had a wonderful barbecue kalbi picnic at the local park. There were about a hundred people there. Baseball, soccer, Turkey bowl football, ultimate frisbee, basketball, volleyball, we played everything and anything. The barbecue was a welcome prelude to Thanksgiving turkey dinner, and a good break from all the mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, corn, and turkey which we had already consumed the previous weekend and which was staring us down just a couple hours later.

Thursday night, all the Koinonia and Kairos people who were in town (but didn't have family) headed over to Manny & Sunny's to eat and hang out. I had to skip out because my parents were visiting, but I heard more than fifty people crammed into their townhouse, and they had to spill out into the neighboring townhouse living room (don't worry, we know those people!).

Friday was all quiet as everyone recovered from the eating frenzy and others braved the Black Friday crowds (I did!). Saturday came and went, and some people came over to my place for dinner, and Jenny Y. even brought homemade pumpkin pie. Sunday's Worship Service continued with The Remarkable Jesus, and it was pleasant times catching up with people who were trickling back in from Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone had a soporific look, the kind of demeanor one ought to have after finals. Probably not a good sign with finals coming up...!

Welcome back everyone. Study hard. It's the final stretch.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Berkeley?

Thanksgiving Celebration was such a blast: Jasper's nien-gao dance move was immortalized in the senior performance, Manny & Joe hammer-danced across the stage in a shameless (sacrificial) declaration of their solidarity with the sophomore class, plus the food coming out of our ears afterwards, the traveling Mo-show complete with cheering entourage, and all hundred of us crammed into an apartment (or standing on the ledge outside)... more on all this later, plus pictures.

For this week, if you're around, wanted to let you know what's up:

• dinner & hang out at my house tonight, 6:30 pm. Let me know or give me a call so I make sure you have a ride.
• Thanksgiving picnic & sports at Tilman Park. Barbecue kalbi is the menu, I believe, plus an opportunity to whack the softball out of the park or dunk on me.
• Thanksgiving dinner is hosted by the Praxis groups. Again, you got to let me know if you or your friends are planning on coming.
• Friday night: hang out.
• Saturday night: go to the City. Yes, San Francisco. Not Union City.
• Sunday: after church, sports or something.

We're just trying to squeeze out all the fun from your bones so you can gear up for those finals just around the corner.

Thanksgiving Celebration: New Time!

Thanksgiving Celebration is happening at a different time on Sunday than previously announced! We'll begin at 2 PM with Gracepoint worship service (at the same place in Alameda, at the Kaufman Auditorium), and then have our Thanksgiving dinner altogether. Then comes the entertainment... Jenny and I will be cooking a turkey this year, so watch out.

Speaking of entertainment, we're practicing for Thanx Celebration after bible study this Friday. It's not too late to participate!

Speaking of more entertainment, it's Open Thursdays again, and you're welcome to come over for a home-cooked meal and study. Drop me a line if you need a ride. Howard's already got shotgun.

Staying informed

I hear from different people, "I didn't know bible study was at..." or "I wasn't sure if we had smallgroup this week..." or "I didn't know Ben was staff, I thought he was a sophomore." Yes, for those who are poorly informed or find themselves murky about what goes on week to week, never fear: this homegroup blog is here.

It's actually been here the last three months, and you can find all our meeting times and places on these very plain, but informative pages.

That said:

• Frosh & Soph smallgroups are Wed. night in Dwinelle: 6:30 PM & 8 PM respectively in rooms 211 & 204.
• Friday's bible study is 7 PM in the Lipman Room. Afterwards, we're practicing for Thanksgiving Celebration. It'll be the last practice for the frosh/sophs, altho the seniors will be meeting again on Saturday.
• Those of you in SK1 & Church 101, it's happening Saturday morning, 10-12. SK1 is on Berkeley campus and Church 101 is at NorthLoop.
• Thanksgiving Celebration is on Sunday, right after Gracepoint's worship service. The time is either 2 PM or 4 PM. We're having some difficulties securing the venue so more info to come soon.
• We're cooking together for Thanksgiving Celebration so stay tuned. Help will be needed Sunday morning. If you think you know how to cook a turkey, or candied yams, or any of the other Thanksgiving fixings, then get prepared to show your stuff.

Thanksgiving Celebration mp3s online

Hey folks (freshmen, actually), if you need to practice "Awesome God" for Thanksgiving Celebration, Emily (your fearless conductor) has uploaded the mp3s for you to download and sing on your own.

Thanksgiving Celebration is this Sunday, 11/18. It'll be in Alameda, at the Kauffman Auditorium, and will follow Gracepoint's Sunday service. Make sure to get in touch with one of the seniors or your smallgroup leader for a ride.


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What's Happening this week

What's Happening used to be a 70s sitcom featuring the infamous Rerun and his buds. It's way before pretty much everyone's time, but I thought a little historical education couldn't hurt. But seriously, here's "what's happening" this week:

• Bible study this Friday also turns out to be the first message of our annual Thanksgiving Retreat. It's at First Pres right across from Unit 3, beginning at 7 PM. Acts2fellowship, Kairos, and Koinonia will all be there, as well as Praxis.
• Frosh smallgroup is meeting Wed., 211 Dwinelle at 6:30 PM w/ scrumptious dinner and discussion time.
• Soph smallgroup is meeting in the parking lot next to Sather Gate and Sproul Hall. We're going to famous Fentons to celebrate birthdays and hang out. Wed., at 9 PM. Note the time change.
• Thanksgiving Celebration is next Saturday, 11/17. If you want real home-cooked turkey before the actual turkey day, join us for laughs and great food.

See ya'll soon.

A culinary sort of post

Recently, our homegroup has had to demonstrate its culinary talents. And pretty much, if happy mouths and satisfied stomachs are any indicator, you can call us Ratatouille.

Of course, our menu generally consisted of meat, meat, and more meat (sorry to our one vegetarian representative, Alan). It started with grilling 600 lbs of tri-tip for our Gracepoint Anniversary. The grilling took four hours, and although it started off with a bunch of laughs and "sampling" all around, by the end we were all business grilling to medium rare perfection. Afterwards, we showered and showed up at the Gracepoint anniversary. There was a real live orchestra, which served as a visual and auditory example of the message series, Divine Symphony. Then we watched a video in which different people shared their stories of how they experienced Gracepoint and the community of faith. Even I was in it! We had a wonderful time together, and then celebrated afterwards with a rock-awesome dinner, topped by 600 lbs of our medium rare tri-tip.

More recently, we had a Koinonia and Kairos potluck at Northloop this past Friday. Again, we decided to cook 30 lbs of meat (it was Maurice & Wenjie's idea) to represent our homegroup, and also prepared some beautiful appetizers. We cooked a lot, ate a lot, and then had bible study all together, reading an excerpt from Joshua Harris' I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Seeing everyone from Koinonia and Kairos stuffed into the conference room at NorthLoop was a sight to see, but it was great having a chance to learn new names, and at last to sit down and talk to people we see all the time at our activities but with whom we hardly exchange a word. In addition to the Thanksgiving Celebration practice we had afterwards, another highlight was the magic show Maurice put on after we finished cooking, before we ran off to NorthLoop for the potluck.

There's plenty of other stuff I could write about, but I'll spare you guys. Plus, all this writing and keeping up to date stuff is tiring work. I'll put up some pictures instead with the Flickr link. It's easier, and it's worth more words, so they say.

Every Thursday there's home night at my place and Ben's place. People come over for dinner, hang out, and study. Some people are regulars... which is a good thing. Getting out of Berkeley every once in a while is good for your sanity.

A little while ago (in keeping with "meat" theme of this post), the frosh went to Fuddruckers during smallgroup. It was a gross display of oil, grease, and good ol' fun.

Thanksgiving Retreat coming up

The big news, as the headline goes, is the one-day Thanksgiving Retreat coming up on Saturday, Nov. 10, led by Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang (Gracepoint Berkeley). It's the date of the USC game, but we'll all watch it together on the big screen at the end of the retreat. It's our annual tradition to do this--the retreat, not the game--and I expect we'll be challenged and blessed by the messages. I also expect to hear department news of what's happening throughout our church, from the children's department Joyland to the post-grads in Praxis. If you have time (and even if you don't), I encourage you to go. Of course, this means you need to plan and study beforehand, but likely you'll be glad you did.

There's more Thanksgiving retreat info and signups online. Check it out.

Other news:

Bible study this week is at Lipman Room, 7 PM on Friday. Afterwards, the freshmen are heading to Dana House and the sophomores are going to Manny & Sunny's. The seniors... well... ya'll have a free night!

Also big in the news is the baptism on Sunday after service.

And we're also helping with NorthLoop cleaning on Saturday, @ 10 AM. Afterwards, we'll grab lunch @ In-n-Out, and then study for the rest of the day.

Sweet 16 of... Arm Wrestling?

You've heard of the sweet 16 in NCAA basketball, right? Ah, but have you heard of the sweet 16 of arm wrestling? Uh...neither did I until a couple Fridays ago when Eddie decided to draw up a bracket of the 16 guys in our home group for arm wrestling!

This is the picture. It is Oct. 12, 2007, our post-bible study event. 16 guys are at my home. We're making some nice nacho cheese and lemonade. And of course everyone is eagerly anticipating the event for the evening, but little did they know it is... arm wrestling?!
Everyone receives a bracket of all 16 people present who are matched up randomly, or at Eddie's whim.

The goal? Choose who will make it to the final round and win it all.
Incentive? Eddie or I will take the person who filled out the bracket most accurately to a free dinner anywhere they choose.

So what happened? Let's look at some pictures:


Look at how intense Chih Ming is going at it against Brian even in the first round!


But it's just mostly friendly competition right?


Maybe not... I hope they have licenses for those guns!


However, when the dust clears there is only one victor! Freshman John Kwon was no match for Senior Steve Choi... Or was John holding back...?

In the end everyone had a lot of fun and laughs. Who knew that arm wrestling could be such a bonding occasion? Guys just bond on a deeper level... you know without words
Oh yea, who won the bracket?! Senior Stephan Yoon, guess being older means something, like knowing who to choose in arm wrestling competitions...
Until next time...Koinonia 1 arm wrestling championship of the world...


We'll leave you with a little video I like to call... OH MY GOSH!

the News: upcoming and days gone by

First we'll tackle what's happening this week, and then we'll look at all the stuff that happened the previous couple weeks (there was a lot!):

• Friday bible study's at Lipman room, 7 PM. Our homegroup's in charge so if you can help, talk to Kevin D. Afterwards, there's RSF night. Time to see if the sophomores will hold onto their championship, and if the freshmen will continue to place in the top 3.
• Frosh and Soph smallgroups are same time, same place: 211 Dwinelle, 6:30 PM & 204 Dwinelle, 8 PM.
• Saturday Sierra Lodge trip: if you think you're manly (and even if you're not) and pretty good with power tools, love the smell of lumber, then I want to invite you to join us at Sierra Lodge this Saturday. It's a house we're building (that's right, us!) for all the good memories and trips we plan on taking. Plenty of people have pitched in to make the place wonderful, and all of us want to be able to point to a floorboard and say, "I painted that." Not only will it be good ol' hard work, it'll be fun being together with the rest of Koinonia, and have an opportunity to be a part of something our whole church is involved with. Plus, one of these days, we'll be staying there on one of our overnight trips! If you want to go, you got to let me know. Included a picture of the house to the right.
  
• Gracepoint's first anniversary is this Sunday. We're having all-combined service at 5 PM on campus @ Pauley Ballroom. Koinonia is in charge of the food so all of you guys, be prepared on Sunday to pitch in and help out for the celebration!

Now onto all the stuff that's been happening the last couple weeks.

Several Sundays ago, a ton of us from Gracepoint went to celebrate Waypoint Community Church's 10th anniversary on Sunday evening (9/30). God's faithfulness for 10 years, multiplying 5 original people into a group of more than 200! Amazing! As Gracepoint was the sending church 10 years ago, I was so thrilled to see and hear what God has done. Waypoint's our sister church out there in Davis, where the cows graze and the John Cai's of the world roam.

There was the Koinonia sports night at Alameda Gym after the More Than A Face talk. We had free play with three half-courts of basketball, and 1 full-court of volleyball. We ended the night by splitting up freshmen vs. all the upperclassmen in ultimate handball. Freshman team 1 rocked, and freshman team 2, unfortunately, got rocked. But hey, we had a good time and even took a bunch of pictures.

Allen C. from Taiwan says hello. He recently sprained an ankle and also badly sprained his finger. Recovery time is 6 weeks, during which time no sports and no heavy lifting. Please pray for him and the rest of the Taiwan team.

I became a dad. Ha ha! Abigail J. Ho was born Oct. 8, 2007, weighing in very respectably at 7 lbs, 5 oz. Jenny and I are absolutely delighted, and also very thankful for all your prayers, and for many of you who have expressed such love as you came to visit us, bringing food, laughter, taking camera phone pictures, and your happy smiles. Also, it was neat to see that for so many of you, it was your first time holding a newborn. I posted an indulgent amount of pictures online, so if you really want, you can look through them and maybe find yourself when you visited.

That's news for now. That's a lot of stuff, but it only goes to show that life in the community of faith is very, very full.

'Tais' to Taiwan

It's only been about a month since we sent off our Taiwan church planting team, but there are a lot of things going on over there! Especially for those who know Allen Chen and Jon Chou, you may be interested in keeping up with news from Hsinchu, Taiwan... newsletters and links to their website can be found on the gracepoint missions page. Let's be faithful in praying for these guys, many of whom gave up a job or school so they could bring the gospel to college students in Taiwan...

411 on this week: 10/8

With Kevan tending to demanding paternal duties (apparently the baby can recognize the mother's voice right after birth, but Kevan will have to work a little harder these first couple of weeks), I realize the info for this week's homegroup activities have not been put up. I suspect those who are interested already know these things, but it's always a good idea to double check, i suppose. So here's the information about what's going on this week:

• frosh smallgroup @ 6:30pm in 211 Dwinelle, Wed, 10/10 (yes, kevan will be there)
  
• soph smallgroup @ 8pm in 204 Dwinelle, Wed, 10/10 (ditto from above)
  
• koinonia bible study @ 7pm in 100 GPBB, Fri, 10/12

See ya'll soon..

She's Here!

Congratulations Kevan and Jenny! In case you guys haven't heard, Kevan and Jenny are now the proud parents of Abigail Ho. Please be sure to congratulate them.

Jenny is doing well, and Kevan was very excited when I went to visit them this morning. Jenny asked me if I wanted to hold her baby, and I was very hesitant at first. Little Abigail is so helpless and innocent! It was my first time holding a newborn; what an experience! It was a reminder of what a miracle life is.

More Than A Face talk tonight!

It's always exciting to meet on campus every Friday night, and this week even more so. Suzanne's giving a talk, More Than A Face, a look at media's effects on self-image. She's done a lot of research to compile facts, some excerpts, and even some applicable video clips and songs.

• what: More Than A Face
• where: 155 Dwinelle
• when: 7 pm

Afterwards, Koinonia 1 has gym night at Alameda H.S., so make sure you all bring appropriate gear for basketball and volleyball. If you need a ride, make sure to catch one of the staff or the seniors with cars.

Serious studying over food

Some of the guys came over for dinner and study Thursday night. Last week, it was just Stephan and he ate a lot of food. Not to be outdone, some of the sophomores and a lone senior came by this week, determined to make their mark on my couch and dinner table. Brandon had finished four midterms this week, John has a CS project to start on, James has Greek to study, and Justin had some music to sing and math problems to crank out. Basically Brandon came over just to sleep. But James came over with dessert: lemon bars he had made from scratch. Amazing! But then I noticed it had already been eaten. There's an etiquette lesson to be had there, but I won't spell it out. Anyway, the lemon bars were so good Jenny kept some for herself before letting the guys take it home.

Dinner consisted of a pretty Korean menu (thanks to my wife): roast gui, kimchi chun, fried tubu, sam and kenyip, and potstickers. It was a lot of food. After cleaning up, feeding the fish, some vain attempt at studying (some more productive than others), we had cherry pie a la mode (courtesy Justin and good ol' Sara Lee), James' lemon bars, and moon cakes from Shanghai. Wenjie also came a little later and Steve also dropped by too at the end of the evening, just in time for dessert.

I'm always grateful when people invite themselves over. After all, home's not meant to be a private, secluded place where the rest of the world is kept at bay. Acts 2 tells me home's a place to eat together, have fun, read God's word, experience encouragement, and enjoy our friendships under the umbrella of Christian community.

Frosh Angel Island & "This is very fun"

The frosh from our homegroup joined up with all the frosh in Koinonia for our annual Freshman Angel Island trip. The weather was beautiful, and with 91 total people in attendance, it was a huge excursion packing into the cars at 8 in the morning, getting all the ferry tickets, and having enough food for everyone!

The ferry ride was great and by the time we were in the middle of the Bay, the fog had burned off, the water was shimmering blue, and the SF skyline in the distance was quite a sight to see. After getting our picnic tables and grills, and after doing a quick mixer to meet the many new faces, all of us took off for the hike to the peak. Some guys, like John K., started complaining about how "hard" the hike was before we cleared the first hill. Then there were others, like Manny, who decided they would prove their manhood by running to be at the lead of the pack. Between the many vistas and stopping points on the way up, what greeted us at the top was a beautiful panoramic view of the entire Bay. We hung out there for a while and then before everyone got too ravenous, headed down to basecamp for a barbecue lunch.

To end the day, we got into our majors, posed and took pictures, and then played "This is very fun," where all the people stand in a circle, hold hands, and say with a straight face, "This is very fun," without breaking a smile or laughing. The most serious, no smiling, no-fun person who says, "This is very fun" wins and takes all. Needless to say, there were plenty of laughs.

It was a great day, and I took tons of pictures. Wish you were there!

It's October! 411 on the week of 10/1

It's October already. Unbelievable how quickly the semester's going by. The sophomores went bowling last Friday, and the freshmen went to Angel Island this past Saturday (pictures coming soon!). In between school, midterms, studying, Koinonia bible study, Gracepoint on Sundays, outings, basketball, and Cal football games, we still find time for weekly smallgroup:

• frosh smallgroup @ 6:30pm in 211 Dwinelle, Wed., 10/3
• soph smallgroup @ 8pm in 204 Dwinelle, Wed., 10/3 (Ben's smallgroup is meeting at Ben's home over dinner; more info to come)
• Friday, 10/5, Koinonia's presenting "More Than A Face," a look at how media affects self-image in 155 Dwinelle

And last, if you're interested in community service, stay tuned and let Wenjie know (wenjiecATgmailDOTcom). He's organizing a way for our homegroup to give to our community.

Extreme bowling with the sophomores

Just the week before, the sophomores walked away with the RSF night championship in the first RSF night of the year for Koinonia. Pretty impressive stuff.

Now that class competition was out of our system, we paired up with the sophomore girls from H.4 this past Friday after bible study and headed out to the bowling alleys of Pinole. We got three lanes, laced up our shoes, selected our weapons of choice, and before we could bowl our first ball, all the house lights turned off. What's going on? Strobe lights turned on, and the black lights glowing purple on everything white made all of us feel like we were back in a junior high dance. Loud music also came out over the house speakers. We took it all in stride and refused to be deterred. Extreme bowling, after all, is nothing for RSF night champions.

We split into three teams and played for two hours, with popcorn, nachos, and drinks on the side. Of the three teams, the last team had a pregnant woman. When we took team pictures, the whole team put bowling balls in their t-shirts to show their deep camaraderie and empathy. How about that for Christian fellowship?

You can find our cool bowling pictures on Flickr, as usual.

Good ol' home-cookin'

If you want to get away from Berkeley and have a home-cooked meal, you can come over to my place tonight. It's a "catch-your-own-ride" kind of a situation, and I'd say grab the nearest senior or smallgroup leader if you want to capitalize on the offer. Of course, there'll be the mandatory study room for the studious, and then there'll be the "I'm glad I'm away from Berkeley" room, mostly hovering in and around the food.

Last night's smallgroup among the frosh was fun since Joe's H.2 group joined too. The room was packed, but it was a good time to meet others and welcome new faces. We asked some questions and put the answers up on the board:

• What do you find attractive about Christianity or religion?
• What do you find repulsive about Christianity or religion?
• What do you think is difficult about being a Christian?

The sophomore smallgroups, as usual, each did their own thing. From inductive bible study to discussion over a chunk of text, I'll just speak for my group.

First, we took a survey of people's relative stress level on a scale of 1-10. With a kid on the way (yes, that would be me), mine was a little higher than most (a 7 in case you were wondering), and some of the sophs decided they'd like to retract their original number and submitted an integer significantly lower. But after that, we each of us put a question on the table so that we could talk about them in the upcoming weeks:

• One question about God; something I've always wondered or thought or wish I could ask...
• One question about myself; "If only I knew this about myself," or could figure out this part of my life...

Angel Island this weekend for the frosh. Oregon vs. Cal also. Go Bears.

UPDATE: Got my phone back. It's a text-messaging machine

no cell phone for me

My cell finally died. Waiting for a new one from Verizon. If you need to reach me, email me at kevanhoATgmailDOTcom.

the news of the week, 09.24

It's another week, and the midterm snowball that hit last week is bound to keep rolling till the end of the semester. And since you guys need some relief at some point in the week, keep an eye on these:

• freshman smallgroup, 6:30pm @ 204 Dwinelle on Wed. (9/26)
• sophomore smallgroup, 8pm @ 211 Dwinelle on Wed. (9/26)
• Koinonia bible study, 7 PM @ 145 Dwinelle on Fri. (9/28)
• Freshman Angel Island trip on Sat. (9/29). Memory-making trip out into the middle of the big blue center of the San Francisco Bay. Sign up online, or if you want more info about Angel Island, or just want to be convinced about what a great time you'll have, talk to one of the seniors or staff.

That's the 411 on what's happening this week.

As for RSF night this past Friday, congratulations to the sophomores for being #1. And for the freshmen, 2nd and 3rd is more than respectable: it's almost unheard of for freshmen to place so high! Could it be the additions of the seniors, or were the freshmen themselves truly responsible for such a stunning RSF debut? We'll have to see.

Haiku Friday

The Haiku is an art form. Subject, content, the delivery and its sense of timing. It's tough stuff. It might be just the stuff you need on a Friday to wake you up. See you guys tonight: bible study's @ Lipman, 7 PM & there's RSF night afterwards so bring appropriate gear.

On with the haiku show:

Winter rain falling,
Solemn earth shows no repose,
Steve Choi is caveman.
- John Cai [when he was a freshman]

working days grow long
sitting still makes me weary
take off shoes and stretch
- submitted by Steven Choi

Ken Chu is the Best.
I like to play basketball,
After I eat beef.
- submitted by Ken Chu

Running for the hills

For freshman smallgroup we opted to take off from the urban campus setting of Berkeley and fled for the hills. It was freezing, but the ice cold wind made us feel generally pretty masculine and tough, reminding us that we had lives other than the academic bookworming that seems to define reality: chem 1a, math 1a, etc. Between cold pizza, a courageous last stand on the whale until undermined by a cowardly Ken back-attack, some pictures, and calling Aaron "the man" for braving the arctic winds in shorts and a thin shirt, we had a chance to see the Bay Area in its panoramic splendor.

John shared about watching the webcam version of our view from late night CS programming, and we talked about the strange characters of Berkeley. All in all, no substantive content, but good times and laughter nonetheless. Just the sort of thing we all need sometimes.

Guys at babyshowers

Apparently, the cultural norm is that guys don't show up at babyshowers. It's a "woman thing". Well, not with me and my friends. This past Sunday (9/16) my friends threw Jenny and I a babyshower, literally showering us with gifts, good company, lots of laughter, and the kind of love evident through care and attention. Some of the H.1 guys made it out, and that was really special. There's a ton of pictures, but here's a couple. If you're really interested, I guess the Flickr album is always accessible.

Jenny said she laughed so hard, she was afraid she was going to self-induce labor.

411 on this week, 9/17

The funny thing is that the seniors (together with the freshmen) are taking Chem 1a. Their midterm's tonight, and I'm sure John and Steve are looking forward to it. Anyway, here's info on what's happening this week:

• freshman smallgroup's meeting on Wed., at 6 PM @ the Anna Head West parking lot, on Channing across the street from Crossroads. We'll eat dinner up in the Berkeley hills and be back to the dorms by 8. Kind of a longer smallgroup evening than usual, but figured it was a nice change of pace
• the sophomore smallgroups are meeting in different places on Wed. night. Kevan & Eddie's group is meeting at 8:30 in 204 Dwinelle. And Ben and Tim's group is meeting a little earlier at 8 in 125 Dwinelle.
• H.1 has setup this week for bible study (which is Friday, 7 PM @ Lipman room), and we'll probably start at 5. Kevin D. is the point man, so if you'd like to help, give him a ring.
• for the frosh, Angel Island trip is coming up. More info on that later, but if you'd like to go, it's Saturday, 9/29, and you can sign up online at our Koinonia site.

Totally unrelated, all you skaters, please be careful. There's been a bunch of falls in the past couple weeks: Justin, Howard, Brandon, Mike, Stephan, and last night Steve took a bad spill on Bancroft. He passed out from the fall and the police called the paramedics. Thankfully, he's okay (no doctor's note to get out of that chem midterm), but please be careful. Don't try to be cool and fast on busy streets. You can be safe and cool.

Jenny wanted to get you guys helmets and kneepads but I told her to just calm down.

Imaginary pet squirrels

After bible study on Friday (we covered Genesis 2 and the worth of man [based on the Spirit of God breathed into us] and humanity's need for relationship and community), our homegroup went over to Manny & Sunny's. Over quesadillas and some good ol' home cooking (potstickers and some Korean sides), we laughed and had a pretty good time. We decided to get serious and had five people give obscure stories from their childhood. Among them were:

• not an imaginary friend, but an imaginary pet squirrel named (of all things) Squirrel
• an iguana named Mr. Joe, which was lost in the forests near Pittsburgh
• video gaming so bad the counter and a potted plant both cracked
• 3rd place finish in a slam dunk contest
• and the most memorable Cal move-in adventure ever.

Manny, John, Howard, Kevin, and Steve vulnerably bared their precious childhood moments with us, and in between the laughter, we tried in vain to guess who lived which story. All said and done, however, probably the Oscar ought to go to John for getting people to believe he had an imaginary pet squirrel.

Questions for God

This past week in our freshman smallgroup, we asked the question: "If you could ask God one question and get an answer, what would you ask?"

After thoughtful consideration in smaller groups, some of the questions people brought to the table:

• If God created man in His image, why are we so messed up?
• Why is there so much suffering and evil in the world? Why do the good guys seem to lose, and the bad guys win? Why do people who try so hard end up failing?
• If there's a God, why did He create us?
• What's my purpose? What's my goal?
  
• Why does God allow violence in the world?
  
• What is love?
• Is God personal or obscure?
  

There were more, of course. But that's it for now. Maybe we'll have a chance to answer some of them this semester.

In addition to the "God-questions", I also left room for people to ask questions about our group and what we do in general. One of the guys asked, "Is it true girls aren't allowed at smallgroup?" At first I thought he was just joking. It reminded me of a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, but actually, I think he really wants to know. So I'll make sure we have time to talk about it at our next meeting on Wednesday.

On another note, looking forward to basketball on Saturday morning @ the RSF. The sophomores said they want a piece of the freshmen.

Got Safety?

What is up with our campus lately? Nine robberies in between Sept. 1 to Sept 10 doesn't make for a very safe campus environment. Anyway, watch out. UC Police has this to say about the recent spate of robberies, as well as some safety advice at the bottom of the article.

Don't try to be tough. Better to be safe.

things going on this week, 9/10

Here's the latest and greatest:

• Freshman smallgroup on Wed. (9/12), @ 6:30 PM, 204 Dwinelle. Dinner is on
• Sophomore smallgroup on Wed. (9/12), @ 7:45 PM, 125 Dwinelle. Light food
• Koinonia bible study on Fri. (9/14), @ 7 PM, Lipman Room, which is on the 8th floor of Barrows. Afterwards, we're headed to Manny's place to hang out so make sure you catch a ride.

Saturday's the Cal Football Game against Louisiana Tech. Some guys are going to the stadium, and the rest of us will have to find a TV somewhere. Then there's others (like Stephan) who need to study for their midterms. No matter what happens, Go Bears.

That's it for now.

NSWN 2007

Every year, Koinonia teams up w/ acts2fellowship to put on New Student Welcome Night. We do it with the help of a lot of volunteers, as well as some guidance from the good folks over at Gracepoint Fellowship Church in Berkeley and Pastor Ed Kang and Kelly Kang, who all play a huge role, helping us craft the program, and figuring out what should go in and what should get left out.

Anyway, it's THE event of Welcome Week and we had a huge turnout once again. There's always a chance to read more about it if you're so inclined at the New Student Welcome Night blog.