Our second year of "On-The-Road" Bible studies took us back to the great city (4th largest in the US of A!) of Houston this past weekend! In addition to getting to meet up with our Koinonia friends in the H-town area, we got to play "The Game of All Games," had a TFN Bible study together, visited Battleship Texas and the San Jacinto Monument, toured NASA and got to see the Saturn V rocket up close and personal, and was treated at the end of the trip to a wonderful home-made Chinese feast, courtesy of Jenny and Linda’s parents and hosted at Houston Chinese Church! It was very generous of them to cook for all of us (no mean feat!) and we enjoyed a great time of fellowship. Thank you to Jenny/Linda’s parents and hope to visit HCC again!

Look forward to seeing all you Houston folks back in Austin in a few weeks!

*Btw, some students wanted to express their thanks to P. Manny and Daryl for the trip…they thank Sunny as well, but just weren’t able to find something that rhymed with Sunny! =D

Gracepoint Austin’s first ever Worldview Camp! An intensive training camp covering apologetics. philosophy, religion, science, and worldviews, from a Christian perspective, it was begun at our parent church Gracepoint Berkeley several years ago. This year, brother Daniel Kim (who studied at Biola U. and Golden Gate Baptist Seminary) flew out from Berkeley and taught 6 sessions in all, covering the topics above as well as Q&A times. It was an intellectually stimulating time, as we were challenged with some of the ‘tough questions’ about Christianity as well as their answers, and definitely challenged us to keep pursuing truth and continuing to learn. It was also great to see some of our students who came down for WVC, and fellowship together (especially with the ‘Password’ game, and trying to see who could bowl a turkey!). We’re really glad we could have the WVC this year and look forward to the next one!

On July 4th we had a festive potluck at the 605 after Sunday Service, and many people showcased their cooking talents – pad thai, teriyaki skewers, and raspberry brie salad were just a few of the scrumptious goodies made! Then we closed off the night with fireworks watching at the Dell Diamond, and watching the movie ‘Glory,’ which was a fitting end to a day celebrating America’s beginnings over 2 centuries ago. Happy July 4th, everyone!

At our fellowship we play this little game called “King-Kong Shower.” It’s a rhythm-based, 4-beat game, where each person has a verbal callsign and motion. If you get called but you don’t react, or if you call a person who’s already out, you get knocked from the ring.

Last weekend we had the class of ’09 bros from Berkeley visit, and so we had a massive round of King-Kong Shower. There were many potential lines of battle – Texas v/s California, young versus old, bros versus sisters…

But in the end, Texas handily ousted the California bros (maybe they were a little rusty since it’s been a year since they graduated), and it came down to four contestants, battling for title of “King-Kong Shower Champion”: two staff (Del and Dom), and two students (Andrew and Sam Song).

The final round video is below. It was a hotly contested result. Reactions varied wildly, with one side claiming the win, the other side crying ‘foul!’. You be the judge: did David really blow away two opponents with one fell swoop? or were Sam and Andrew in the clear, victims of a premature victory celebration? Post a comment with your take on these crucial final seconds of bout of “King-Kong Shower”!

A little over a year ago, 15 Californians who for the most part had never set foot in Texas before, arrived at beautiful UT Austin to plant a new church – and thus, Gracepoint Austin was born. Over this past year we’ve had so many things to thank God for – provision of jobs and housing, the new students and friends we made, the salvations we got to witness and take part in, and so much more. So please join us at our First Anniversary service this Sunday (check below for time and location), followed by a special dinner and reception, as we thank and praise God together!

Location: Baptist Student Center, 2204 San Antonio St. (between 22nd and 23rd)
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2009
Time: 2:00pm

It’s the 6th week of school, and you’ve taken four tests already and have three lab reports and a paper due in a week! When will the madness end!? Not until December, unfortunately! =D But never fear, this friday, Koinonia Halftime is here! Come take a break from hittin’ the books and mailing out resumes, and enjoy some friendly (like, uh, no tackling) football, FREE bbq, and a special TFN message from a guest speaker – Pastor Ed Kang from our Gracepoint Berkeley church! It will definitely be a do-not-miss event =)

Location: South Mall Lawn (for sports+BBQ) & Mezes Auditorium (for TFN)
Date: Friday, October 9, 2009
Time: 6:00pm

And check out our viral video!
Flickr Video

The month-long volleyball clinic and tournament during the month of July was so fun that there was a tinge of sadness that it was all over, now that August had arrived. And it was still too hot to play anything outside (unless tennis in 110 degree weather is your idea of fun! oops, sorry James+Wayne+Jeremy – you guys are indeed amazing to do so!) – so what better way to unwind at the end of the weekend and fellowship together than some good ‘ole fashioned…bowling!

Bryan scored us an incredible deal (thank you, Dart Bowl!) on shoes and 2 games, and we even had some in-between game cookie treats made by none other than Sheila. As always, the satisfaction of hurling a 10-lb ball at a row of nicely placed pins made for some good fun (cathartic for some), and two bros even got a turkey each. And we’re not talking Thanksgiving poultry here, either.

Afterward we said bye to some folks who were heading home until the fall semester. See y’all again soon, and to everyone else – til we meet again on the lanes!

Koinonia took the show on the road for the second time this summer. Descending on a hotel near the Galleria (with all our sound gear and ice-chests full of goodies), we invited our friends from Sugar Land, Katy, and everywhere in-between to join us for the Houston version of ‘On-the-Road’ TFN Bible study. It was great getting to see everyone again!

We played some volleyball-less volleyball to start off the night (wondering what that is? Bryan Song is your man), followed by on-the-road praise, and then a message by Pastor Manny on the book of Joshua, in preparation for a new school year and the fall semester. The following day, we trekked out to the Houston Museum of Natural Science (the highlight of which was an encounter with a real-life Terra Cotta Warrior – too bad they didn’t allow video cameras, as I would give pretty much anything for a video of Kevin G. yelping when the ‘statue’ grabbed his arm! =D  then again, I heard so did Pastor Manny…!), had a picnic next to a 5,000lb floating globe, weathered some incredible Houston thunderstorms on the way to Kemah and then capped it off with a yummy asian buffet.

Our time together was over all too soon, but we have the photos to remember it by, and soon we’ll be all at UT Austin again – so until that time, take care, Houston bros and sisters, and see you soon!