Koinonia Christian Campus Fellowship – UC Berkeley Club

What is Thanksgiving Celebration, you may ask?  That is a good question!  Thanksgiving Celebration is a joyous occasion when the whole church gathers together to celebrate the Thanksgiving season by reflecting over and sharing about all that we have experienced this past year – through the festive medium of song and dance! Different ministry groups prepare short performances to share with the rest of the church.

Check out the exciting trailer:

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My body is sore and exhausted. Why is such a youthful man like yourself in bodily discomfort, you ask? Well, let me tell you: it’s because this past weekend, the freshmen and juniors and staff drove over to our wonderful Sierra Lodge to enjoy good old-fashioned nature and de-stress from pulling off all-nighters for those devastating midterms. I think most people (maybe all) will agree that our short but sweet time at Sierra Lodge was a much needed break from the stresses of school! Look at our pictures and see for yourself! (Pun intended).

Steve, affectionately known as our “Pastor of Leisure and Recreation,” made sure that we had fun icebreakers!

Ah, the Human Knot! A deviously difficult game, but one that makes you bond with your fellow teammates like no other. The sisters ended up barely beating the brothers, but I usually like to say we lost because we’re being chivalrous. After playing some other rigorous team building activities, we decided to hit the sack early so that we could head to Lake Tahoe with full energy the next day!

I don’t know about you, but you don’t see pretty lakes like this in Berkeley. This beats People’s Park any day!

While we had a diverse range of sports to play, ranging from volleyball to ultimate frisbee to tackle football, the kayaks were definitely one of the most popular events at the lake!

Real men aren’t afraid to wear life vests!

Sisters giving their thumb of approval of how fun the trip is!

Enjoying the amazing pulled pork sandwiches that our sisters prepared!

And of course, how could we leave beautiful and pristine Lake Tahoe without playing some vicious, physical British Bulldog? By far, the most satisfying tackle game for both genders because you have the liberty of picking out your target and tackling them ruthlessly in the sand!

Sometimes, the best games are the most chaotic ones!

Of course, we also had to take a group picture in front of the vividly colored foliage! For SURE you don’t see trees like that in Berkeley!

Though we were tired from playing so well at Lake Tahoe, that didn’t deter us from playing more fun sports back at the Sierra Lodge grounds!

The power of youth knows no bounds!

Us? Tired? Get out of here!

One of the team building games we had at the end of the night involved linking arms and falling backwards. While the sisters seemed to have accomplished the task well, the brothers had a particularly hard time…some guys claimed that it was because our large muscles prevented us from properly supporting each other…

And of course, we had a rowdy time singing praise songs around a roaring fire. It was also a precious time when we reflected on how fast the semester was passing by, but how we already developed so many close relationships with one another.

Anyways, for those who weren’t able to join us this time around, fear not! We’ll probably have another trip to our Sierra Lodge during the winter, when the heavy snow gracefully drapes the grounds and makes Sierra Lodge look like a Winter Wonderland! Make sure to come to that trip, no matter the cost!!! Ok, not necessarily at all costs, but you get the idea. Looking forward to more memory-making moments in the future!

While some of us went home for the weekend, those who were still here took advantage of the sunny weather and nice looong weekend to have some fun in the sun. We went to Crown Beach in Alameda, played some sports, and enjoyed some freshly-grilled barbecue afterward. Mhmm, sausages and hamburgers! And we can’t forget our game of “Elves, Wizards, and Giants” and “Ultimate Ninja” afterward…It was definitely a sight to see with 5 ninjas going at once in different directions in one a huge circle!

We missed those of you who weren’t here…be sure to join us next time!

Believe it or not, Welcome Week events have already passed by in a dizzying blur, and we are about to start our first full week of fall semester 2011! Whether it was our daily and rowdy game times during Koinonia Kream, delicious pizza and adrenaline-pumping ultimate frisbee on VLSB lawn, or the massively awesome showings of NSWN, everyone experienced the joy of forming relationships with new people. Here’s a brief recap of some of our events!

One of our most popular events hosted during Welcome Week was the Ultimate Frisbee and Pizza, where about 60 or so students gathered on the VLSB lawn to play ultimate frisbee, then satisfy their tiredness and hunger by feasting on delicious BBQ chicken pizza provided by Pepe’s Pizza.

Don’t be fooled, most of the time, the frisbees are flying ABOVE the ground! But even if they are rolling chaotically on the ground, it makes the game that much more exciting!
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This past Thursday and Friday, the Juniors hosted a worldview camp at BT for the students in the 3 Strands college ministry. They took the arduous 6+ hour trip from the valley in order to get a taste of several topics including Does God Exist?, Mythbusters: The Bible, and even an evangelism workshop! It was an amazing time as we got to share some of the things that we learned from JP Moreland, Chuck Colson, and ATTR.

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Hey everyone! How’s your summer so far? For the sophomores who are in the Bay Area, we took a class trip this past weekend to the beautiful Pacifica Beach!

We were greeted with some high waves that crossed our paths and created a temporary panic. (Made us restrategize how we were going to reach our special spot.) While tossing the frisbee around, we lost 2 in the water but our 2 fearless sophomore bros fished them out. And, we had an amazing time playing the mother of all ultimate football. (Ultimate football = Ultimate frisbee – frisbee + football. You do the math. =) )

This epic showdown must have lasted for hours without any breaks. All we can say is that the sophomore class has some athletic sisters. (Other classes, you better watch out at the next sports night ’cause sophomores are taking over!) While people were running, the grill was firing.

Thanks to some students and staff, a yummy meal of grilled hot links, juicy pineapple sausages, piping hot clam chowder, toasted rolls, and caramelized onions were in the works that totally hit the spot. Afterwards we wrapped up the night with a cozy time around the bonfire together right on the beach, singing a couple good ol’ tunes and watching the sunset. A great, memory-making time for sure. We were also reminded of Psalm 1 and encouraged to be rooted in God’s word like a tree planted by streams of water. Sophomore year = prime time to build and deepen relationships with God and with each other! We also took a moment to pray for all our brothers and sisters not here for the summer, but are probably in nice, warmer climates. We miss you guys!

Don’t worry, there’ll definitely be more beach bonfire bonanza’s in the future. In the meantime, drop a line and tell us what you guys have been up to in the warm sun We miss you! (And check out the photos section for more pics on this trip.)