May
16
Friday Recap and Year End Stuff
By SFSU Koinonia
Last Friday we got a chance to celebrate several birthdays as well as take walk through memory lane with Jeannie and see all the people she has impacted over the years. We also got a chance to wish the graduating seniors all the best as they prepare transition to working life and other ministries. All in all it was a nice break from finals and a chance for people to just relax and play some board games. As usual, the photo gallery is posted below. Also, here is the year end slideshow and the thank you sharing from the students to Joe and Annie in case you missed it or wanted to watch it again. Enjoy! SFSU Year End Slideshow Sharing for Joe and Annie
May
07
SFSU Senior Friday Recap
By SFSU Koinonia
Last Friday, SF State got to join our Berkeley counterparts and feast on some incredible Korean BBQ. It was some awesome bbq. We then got to hear the stories of several seniors and how God led them from the very beginning to their decisions to stay and serve. It was a wonderful time as we got to pray, cheer, and celebrate with the seniors as they take their next step in life. It's not a small accomplishment and a major life change so let's keep on praying and cheering our seniors on as they head into the working world! Congrats class of 2012! After the Senior Friday Celebration, we headed over to RSF to join A2F for the ever-exciting gym night at Berkeley's RSF! It was an awesome time as we raced back and forth throwing giant earthballs, dodging for dear life in dodgeball and racing down the basketball court in musical basketball. It was a great night and as usual you can find the pictures below!
May
04
SFSU Blast from the Past
By SFSU Koinonia | 6 comments
Hey guys, we're working setting up some kind of plugin to give you guys a one stop shop for all the pictures we upload to the flickr. We heard you guys and we're doing something about and trying to make it easier to find all our pictures. As some of you might have noticed, the galleries only load 100 pictures and if there are more we have to split it up into different sets or they just don't get posted. So if you're looking for all of our pictures you can find them here: SFSU Flickr Collection Since it's senior Friday tomorrow just thought we'd bring some pictures for a blast from the past... :) Here is Simon and Lenin when they were frosh. Hope you can tell which one is them. From frosh to a senior with attitude! Chloe and Amelia when they were Sophomores to famous stage actresses! Ok maybe not... Hanzen when he was normal Hanzen as we now know him :) Kyle when he first came out... Kyle now Tina as a frosh Tina now Congratulations to all of you who made it through! Even if you have another year or three we're still glad you're here and wanted to congratulate you guys!
May
01
SFSU Baptism Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 3 comments
Last Sunday we got to see our very own Sarah and Kyle get baptized and it was great to see them make their faith public. Both sets of families came up and it was a wonderful service as we were reminded of God's work in our own lives and the common thread of grace that ties everything back to God. There was a very touching presentation where everyone got to describe their life before Christ with one word and then their life after Christ. Then the praise band gave a special song to close the service. We then finished the day off with gourmet hamburgers with all the fixings. Definitely a memorable Sunday. Congratulations to Sarah and Kyle! Check out the pictures below
Apr
29
SFSU Friday Recap! *Updated*
By SFSU Koinonia | 9 comments
Wow, what a packed Friday! We had a special message given by Jeannie Lee since Joe went on the 30+ getaway and we were really blessed by the message from Mark 6 and the things that keep us from receiving the truth. We then split off into various life groups for our various outings. The sisters went to A2 to make their "secrete project" which turns out to be some delicious looking dessert and T-shirt making! There were some pretty creative designs so check out the pictures below As for the seniors, sophomores and frosh, we had our own video scavenger hunt and there were some hilarious videos made. These epic videos deserve their own post so they will be posted separately and it also became a thinly veiled excuse to gorge ourselves on In N Out burgers and demolish several earthquakes at Ghirardelli. Of course, in good brotherly fashion, it turned into a competition of who can dust their earthquake the fastest. Suffice to say, the group with Brian Yang completely destroyed the other groups without question... The junior bros went crabbing and though there were some heroic efforts and a lot of fish sauce used on the bait, the crabs just weren't biting. But they did not come home empty handed and as one brother shared, they caught colds instead of crabs... not sure if that's really worth mentioning but they certainly braved the cold and damp weather out in Pacifica and it was definitely a bonding experience. The highlight would be when the juniors grew desperate to catch a crab and decided to soak their bait with more fish sauce and as brother J poured out the sauce he failed to take into account that there was a strong wind blowing and several brothers were marinated in fish sauce along with the bait... But none of the junior bros volunteered to be used as bait so alas, no crabs were caught. Maybe next time!
Apr
25
TFN and Bonfire Recap!
By SFSU Koinonia | 2 comments
Hey guys! And here it is! The pictures and recap of the bonfire we had last Friday. We got to roast hotdogs and marshmallows around two roaring fires. The fires were enhanced by Tom's "bio-fuel" which is completely safe for the environment to burn apparently... You can ask him what that means but it certainly helped kick-start our bonfire off. There was a running competition as to who could make the perfect roasted marshmallow and the perfectly roasted hotdog. Not to be biased here since I'm the one writing the post but I must say that my own roasted hotdog (slightly crispy on the outside, hot and sizzling to perfection) set the gold standard according to very ambiguous and subjective measures. Anyways, we all had a good time sitting around the bonfires and the night was perfect as it wasn't too cold or too hot. On Saturday some of us joined Habitat for Humanity to help clear out a park that they were turning into a park for the community to enjoy over at Bayview/Hunter's point. It was quite a bit of work as we took up the shovel and worked in the baking heat of the sun. Ok, it wasn't that hot since it's SF but it was some good ol' hard work doing something for others and so it was a fun and satisfying time. Check out the pics below.
Apr
20
Interhigh at SFSU Koinonia
By SFSU Koinonia | 6 comments
Hello Koinonia! This semester a small group of us got the opportunity to start our very first Interhigh church in San Francisco. For those that are not familiar with Interhigh, it is a ministry that helps local churches and youth pastors/leaders equip middle and high school students by providing students with resources and training to help nurture their Christian faith. Every Sunday, Richard, Leeanne, Kyle, Manny, Chloe, and Lily head off to First United Presbyterian Church and help lead a youth worship service of about 6 students. It has been an amazing opportunity to get to know these students, and help them grow in their knowledge and faith in God. Here are some sharing from the Interhigh teachers: Kyle - A typical Sunday starts with about 10 to 15 minutes of mingling with the youth, which often includes snacks. It's a time where we get a chance to get to better know the youth and talk about their past week. We then have a 20 to 30 minute message. After that, we spend the rest of our time playing games together. The youth really enjoy Apples to Apples and Pit. One thing I've learned from the youth of Interhigh is how lucky I was to have youth ministers when I was their age. Teenagers need ministers that understand where they're coming from and are committed to reaching out to them. Manny - The church that we are serving at is First United Presbyterian Church (FUPC), which also happens to be the church that I grew up going to! So serving at this church brings back a lot of memories and really helps me reminisce of what it was like being a teenager. One of the main reasons why I wanted to serve at Interhigh was because of the fact that during my middle/ high school years is when I started to stray away from God. I even stopped going to church altogether and so I wanted to help these students stay off the wrong path that I went. There are so many distractions and temptations out there that can steer them away from God; and so hopefully I can be a good role model to them and really use my testimony, past experiences, and mistakes to help these students stay on the right path. I'm really thankful and blessed to be given the opportunity to serve at Interhigh. It is such a blessing and a privilege to be able to serve these students. I'm so grateful that God would use someone like me to serve in his kingdom. It has been such a wonderful experience from doing sound set up, to playing/leading games, interacting with the students, and even giving a message! It is great that we are able to give these students messages that are fun, engaging, interactive, relevant, and applicable to their lives. It is so encouraging and awesome to see how much they really enjoy our Interhigh program, and they are always trying to convince us to stick around longer. It really has been such an amazing experience and I am so glad that I got to be a part of it. I pray that these students can continue to grow in their relationship with God, and really take their faith and their identity as a Christian seriously. Chloe - When I first heard about interhigh and its mission I had hoped that I could get involved in it. Growing up with no church background and going through a really hard time during my middle and high school days, I wanted to be an older sister to girls and give them the advice and truth I never got to hear when I was their age. So I was really excited to hear that SF was starting an interhigh church! It’s been a really interesting experience so far and it’s definitely taught me to appreciate my leaders more now that I’m on the other side trying to get to know these girls and make conversation with them. It has been a joyful experience as each week the girls have started to warm up to us especially when we play games like Pit or Uno together, but more so when we lead discussions with them. It has truly been a privilege to be a part of FUPC interhigh giving these youth the chance to learn about God in an interesting, engaging and relatable way. I look forward to what God has in store for FUPC interhigh and how He’s going to work in the hearts of these youth. Lily - I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the students better and just seeing them warm up to us. I still remember the first few weeks we were there, when the girls didn’t smile or say much, even if we asked them something. Now, it’s really great to have them coming up to us, telling us about school, showing us their fancy Nintendo 3DS’s, venting about basketball games and how much homework they have. I never thought that in college I would be working with middle school girls, comparing the “Justins” of our days (Justin Bieber vs. Justin Timberlake) with them, and insisting to them that I’m really not that old! :) I used to think that middle school and high school youth were all just annoying kids with uncontrollable hormones, completely forgetting that I used to be one of them. Now I have a heart for these crazy kids, who remind me so much of myself at their age. As I see the youth coming out every week, what I want more and more is for the Gospel message to come alive to them, to show them that church doesn’t have to be just a place you’re forced to go to, that instead, it can be a place where people do life together.
Apr
16
Guy/Gal Getaways Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 6 comments
Hey guys! What a packed weekend we had! The girls went down to Monterey to bike, play sports on the beach, and take a stroll down Cannery Row. It looks like they had some devastating shaved ice and some delicious Korean BBQ on the way back. All in all, it was a great time of bonding and fun for the girls. The guys on the other hand drove up to Point Reyes, hiked the Estero trail, then headed over to the beach and devoured over 60 oysters... Yes, 60 oysters. Along with that, we had some clam chowder and sandwiches out at Drake's Beach and finished the time off with the staff utterly defeating the students in football. The students made a heroic effort but alas, they could not topple the staff even when one of the staff was handicapped from a pulled muscle. Maybe at the next beach outing guys :). Also, check out the two guys who got a better taste of the ocean... literally. Anyways, make sure to check out the pictures below! Don't see all the pics? Then check out the rest HERE.
Apr
10
Easter Service Recap
By SFSU Koinonia
Hey guys, wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. Last Sunday some of us got to visit Bay View and share the gospel with the elderly there and hand out flowers and carnations to them. It was touching to see the elderly sing along with us and their faces light up as we handed them the flowers and shared about God's love for them. We then headed over to Kofman where we had an amazing Easter service this past Sunday with a full 20 person band singing and a moving video describing the impact that Jesus has had on our lives and on the world. We then changed out of our Sunday best and into our sports clothes and went to the park next to Joe and Annie's place to play volleyball and ultimate Frisbee and then finished the night off with a scrumptious BBQ. It was a great night. Make sure to check out the pictures below! Missed out last Sunday? At least you can check out snippets of the praise and worship rehearsal time:
Apr
07
SFSU Recap and Photos
By SFSU Koinonia | 2 comments
Hey guys, It's been a while since we updated a lot of the pictures so wanted to just put up a quick post so you guys can check all the pictures from the last few TFNs and Lifegroup events. Enjoy!
Mar
25
SFSU Snow Trip Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 4 comments
And here it is! The much anticipated recap of our epic SF State snow trip! We got to eat delicious shish-kabobs roasted over a roaring fire with evergoods, smores, and the whole works. Then the Joypact bros joined us later and we got to sing and dance to some Joyland songs. If we get enough comments then maybe we'll even post up a video of Joe dancing to Davy Davy! We finished the night off with some singing so good ol' campfire classics and called it a night The next day was when the snow festival began with a bible study given by Joe and Jeannie, followed by a morning and afternoon of sledding, snowball throwing, and a lot of snow wrestling. It was a crazy day and you can get a glimpse from the pictures below. It was basically an awesome trip with a lot of snow throwing, snow sculpting, and snow everything. Feel free to browse through the pictures in our gallery or on our Flickr. Due to technological limitations, the gallery can only display 100 photos out of the 330 that were took (yes, there were a lot of pictures!) so feel free to check out our church flickr for more photos HERE.
Mar
19
SFSU Road Trip! now with Pictures!
By SFSU Koinonia | 7 comments
Hey Koin peeps! Hope your Spring Break is going well so far. A group of brothers are embarking on a road trip of epic proportions right now. Well, I don't mean to over-hype it. I'm not sure if it's going to be really epic. But I bet it's sure going to be fun! The bros headed out this morning, driving north, where they will eventually explore lava bed caves and Crater Lake! We are going to be updating this post throughout their trip with new pics as they come in, so be sure to come back and check out their adventure as it unfolds! ** UPDATE: Their journey has come to a close. Thanks for following with them. They took even more pics, which you can see the gallery at the end of this post, so be sure to scroll all the way down! **
Mar
05
Friday Recap & Upcoming TFN
By SFSU Koinonia | 3 comments
Hey Koinonia! Last Friday was packed with fun as the Seniors and Frosh went crabbing at Pacifica where we discovered that vanilla wafers act as wonderful bait. We also learned that we need to bring harpoons and spears next time we go crabbing since there was a ginormous seal that stole the bait every time we lowered the crab cage into the water. But our efforts were not in vain as we caught a starfish the size of a frisbee as well as a crab that was just shy of regulations so we couldn't bring it home. The Sophomores and Juniors went out to Pier 39 and had their own mini video scavenger hunt so you can expect some cool and some not so cool videos coming your way throughout the week. For the girls, they baked some cup cakes and decorated them. My personal favorite is the finely detailed writing of "Koinonia" on the cup cake which must have required some intricate frosting work. Props to whoever made that one. In the meantime, check out the pics below! For this week, we're going to meet altogether at 226 Burk Hall at 6:30pm starting with dinner. Then afterwards we'll head out and go bowling! So make sure to bring $10 this Friday. Feel free to comment below as to who you think will get a turkey this time around. Btw, found this video to show you that everyone is welcome to join :)
Feb
20
TFN and Life Group Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 2 comments
Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the smaller group setting last Friday. Some of the bros went bowling while others had a full on nerf war and we wrapped up the night with celebrating Jeff's birthday and being inspired with watching episode 2 from Band of Brothers. The girls had a night of spring rolls, funnel cake, and Despicable Me. It was definitely a nice cozy time for everyone. We have a very short recap video that I think the guys will appreciate more than the girls but it gives you a little picture of what the night was like. Enjoy! This week we will have prayer meeting at FUPC on Tuesday at 9pm by life groups so let your staff know if you need a ride. For this Friday, we will be meeting as a large group for TFN at 226 Burk Hall at 6:30pm starting with a warm home-cooked dinner. So mark your calendars and we'll see you all there! Also, here are the latest galleries of the pictures from the past TFN a couple weeks ago and the dim sum run we made two weekends ago.
Feb
16
Valentine's Day Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 1 comment
Last Tuesday, we got to celebrate Valentine's day by going to Mission Convalescent Home and the Salvation Army Rehab Center where we were warmly welcomed by the residents. So instead of sitting, feeling sorry for ourselves, we got to go out and share God's love with those who really need love since they're forgotten by the rest of society. We had a wonderful time meeting people from all walks of life and the students got to present the Broken Heart Skit which was powerfully performed and brought tears to many. We then got to meet a lot of the people who live at the Rehab Center and hear their stories about how they got there and how God has taken their lives and made them new. It was such a powerful experience for many of us, especially given the fact that many of the guys were twice our size but after talking and getting to know them, we found out that they were really nice and easy to talk with. All in all, it was the best Valentine's Day for all of us.
Feb
07
Spring Welcome Night Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 6 comments
We ended the first week of February with a bang! Last Friday we have our annual Spring Welcome Night on the SFSU campus. It was great to see a lot of familiar faces, and new ones, too! We started off the night with dinner, then a skit performed by our very own SFSU students which helped set the scene for the message. Joe gave a thought-provoking message on Psalm 139, about the different masks we tend to wear and the images we try to put up in front of everyone, but all of it causing us to grow more and more isolated and empty inside. But God knows us completely and fully, flaws and all, yet still loves us just the same. It was a reminder for all of us to engage in meaningful relationships with other people and God by just being open and true to yourself. We had a panel of post-college students that shared with us the many different kind of masks they used to wear. Some were funny, and others were downright shocking! We "topped" off the night with some dessert and games. Check out the recap in pictures below!
Jan
23
Yosemite Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 1 comment
Hey Koinonia! We just came back from an incredible trip to Yosemite. Even though it was raining/snowing, we got to see some incredible waterfalls and got in a few snowballs at our favorite people :). We also wanted to welcome everyone back from the break and hope you guys got all your classes! If you want a break, check out the recap video and the pictures below! As usual, we got a lot going on this week so keep checking back on the blog/facebook for the latest info! This Tuesday, we have prayer meeting in SF at FUPC starting at 9:00pm. Rides will be at Arballo for the guys and Serrano for the girls, leaving at 8:45pm. For more pics, check them out HERE!
Dec
27
2012 Winter Retreat
By SFSU Koinonia | 8 comments
Hello Koinonia! Hope you all had a good Christmas! Coming up really soon in January is our annual winter retreat where many college groups will be getting together to hear each personal stories and relevant messages from Pastor Ed. So come join us as we get away from all the distractions of city life, meet new friends, hear impacting stories and messages, and get properly focused before the Spring semester begins. We'll be heading over to Mt. Hermon, Santa Cruz from Jan 14th-Jan 16th. So make sure to sign up HERE if you're interested! See you all there! The cost for the retreat is: $75 FRESHMEN SPECIAL!!! $100 Early Bird Special (must be received by 12/31: Mail by 12/28!) $150 after 12/31 for everyone Check out the full flickr gallery HERE or click on the button below for a quick peek at some of the shots... So who is coming? Comment below if you're gonna be there!
Dec
11
SFSU Gift Exchange Recap
By SFSU Koinonia | 6 comments
Hey everyone! Hope everyone is hanging in there with finals! Last Friday we joined our Berkeley counterparts for a combined bible study with Pastor Ed. Afterwards, we had the most epic SFSU gift exchange ever! We had acrobatic re-enactment of TC skits, Hersey kiss toss-a-thon, and many other battles for the right to pillage another team's presents. It looked like everyone went home with a nice gift, especially those from Serrano house if you know what I mean :). We ended the night with some sharing and singing Christmas carols by candlelight. All in all, it was an awesome time! Due to finals this week there will NOT be life groups and we will have something super-awesome this Friday so keep checking back for the latest news! In the meantime, good luck to those who still have finals left and make sure to sign up for the winter retreat if you haven't done so already! Check out the photos below!
Dec
08
Ice Skating Recap and SFSU News
By SFSU Koinonia | 3 comments
Hey Everyone! Check out the vid above to see a recap of the things we were up to these past few weeks. Last week's ice skating was a blast! There were races, sick poses, and a whole lot of slipping and falling but everyone managed in the end to learn how to skate :). Hope none of you guys are bruised as badly as some of the staff from all the falling (I'm sure the extreme slide in th playground added to some of the bruises!). Check out the pictures below! This week, we'll be going over to Berkeley to join our Berkeley counterparts for bible study and then afterwards is our much anticipated Gift Exchange! This is not your normal gift exchange as our seasoned veterans can attest to. But it's one of the most fun nights you'll ever have! Please bring a gift between $5-$10. But if you forget, that's ok, just come anyways and enjoy the fun :). There's sure to be a gag gift in there or two that'll make you wonder, "where in the world did they get that?!?" Rides will be at the dorm stop starting at 6:15pm. Then on Sunday at 6pm after our worship service will be the cutest event of the year as our Joyland kids put on their annual JCC (Joyland Christmas Celebration). If you're not too stressed with finals or want a break then let one of the staff know that you would like to come and check it out. Lastly, make sure to sign up for the Winter Retreat is you haven't already done so. You can find out more info HERE.