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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Possibly the biggest event of the fall, the Gracepoint Thanksgiving Retreat, is coming up!

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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!

For those of you who joined us last Friday, you were able to experience the entertaining, somewhat wacky, and downright hilarious atmosphere of TFN gamenight. Whether it was speed-Scrabble among competing teams (who says we aren’t trendy, avid Words with Friends players?) or Richard T. drawing plenty of attention and some exasperation during the talent sharing by singing a medley of the names of all 200+ nations, laughter and joy prevailed throughout the night. Enough explanation, let the games begin!

The general assembly:

Now some of the games:

The epic put-Skittles-into-a-cup-with-a-straw game!

Group speed Scrabble:

Sharing unique experiences:

Lastly, happy birthday to all of you celebrating in the month of October!
Join us next time!

Taking a break from the flood of midterms we’ve been having, this past weekend the sophomore class journeyed to one of the wonders of the world, the absolutely BEAUTIFUL and breathtaking Yosemite!!!!!

Throughout the whole trip we found ourselves continuing to repeat “Whooaaaaa.” It was was a sense of just being struck down with AWESOMENESS to the point where we ran out of words to say and that was the only one that would come out.

Case in point #1: The Food. Whoaaa…

Steak. ‘Nuff said.  

Here is wise old master Steve teaching his young grasshopper the ancient and mythical secrets of meat-grilling.

Yummy yum yum. A big, hearty “Thank you!” to everyone who worked so hard to plan and prepare our meals! We ate like kings!

Case in point #2: Yosemite House. Whhhhoooooooooaaaaaaa…..

Since we arrived, the house was always brimming with activity. From prepping late night brownies in the kitchen…

…to stuffing the living room and laughing together as we played games and told embarassing stories.

Even after just two nights it started to feel like home, and a bunch of us fondly dubbed it “Yo House.” We were so thankful to have this place to go and to create amazing memories…even those we’d rather forget, like when the girls lost the couch game. We want a rematch!

Final case: The Nature. WHHHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
We hit the ground running as we conquered two hikes. The first, we called “Lord the Rings country.” Going out there made us all want to grab a sword and battle some orcs!

Seriously, Lord of the Rings, anyone? Now is the hour! Riders of Rohan! Oaths you have taken, now fulfill them all, to lord and land!

Raaaarrrhhhh!!

Waiting in anticipation to start the hike as we received safety instructions. Safety first!

Fellowship of the Koin Soph Bros.

Some of us got confused though and thought this was a scene from Sound of Music instead. “The hills are aliivvee…”

The second hike was aptly named “Peaceful River.” Here, we had a chance to quiet our hearts, read through Psalm 23, and pray a prayer of blessing for each other for the rest of the year.

Of course, we couldn’t pass up a gangsta photo while at the peaceful river. See what I mean? Struck down by AWESOMENESS.

Phew, this was a long post! But it really was a packed trip. All in all, we were so, so, so thankful for this opportunity to bond with each other and have fellowship in the midst of God’s amazing nature. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that we all had the time of our lives and a BLAST on this trip. Can’t wait until next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week on Friday, the Freshmen and Juniors made a journey up north to San Rafael for Country Club Bowling! You can bet that everyone showed their best… “game faces”

Normal game faces:

Not so normal game faces:

Um. Yeah.

It was a lot of inter-class fun, along with celebrating every strike and spare.

The ultimate champions of the night were Smith (who bowled an incredible 180!) and Robin, the leader among the sisters with 148. But an honorable mention definitely goes to Isaac  and other “injured” players, who were not kept down despite crutches and bad backs.

Now that takes some serious next skill. Join us next time!