Valentine's Day

We had our first Valentine's Day of Compassion here in Austin! A couple of sisters started this tradition three years ago in Berkeley, where we decided to transform Valentine's Day into a day of compassion, showing God's love to those people who are forgotten. Continuing this tradition, we got to visit the Salvation Army homeless shelter in Downtown Austin. It was a wonderful time, and a packed night!

We began the night at Pastor Manny's house by baking cupcakes, getting the crafts ready for the evening, practicing songs, and eating pizza together. That was a fun time of bonding! My favorite time was when we were singing and doing motions to "Making Melody", and Caitlyn commented, "I think you're liking this way too much." I know you were enjoying the song too, Caitlyn!

The night started off with singing and doing motions to songs such as "Shake a Friend's Hand", "Making Melody", and "Your Love is Deep." As we were singing "Your Love Is Deep" I was looking at each of the people's faces, the adults as well as the kids, and my heart really yearned for them to know how deep, high, long, and wide is God's love for them. I prayed that they would know how precious they are in His sight.

Right after that, Carlton came up to give a short message about how God is a shepherd who looks for his lost sheep because he loves and regards each as so precious. We had a special guest, Nathan the shepherd, visit us during the message. A very convincing shepherd, Nathan had lost his 5 sheep in the room, and so all of the children searched around the room to help find all of them. Carlton used this illustration to teach us that God searches in this way for all of his lost children, that He regards each person in that room as precious, and desire to bring each person home. In addition, we also were able to find out some interesting facts about Carlton, such as how he really loved to play with his Captain Planet toy when he was young.

Afterwards, Pastor Manny led us in games followed by decorating cupcakes and frames with the families. As each of the families and kids got to take pictures to put in the frames, it was so heart warming to see them enjoying the pictures so much. We found out that some of them hadn't taken a family picture in many years, and they just kept looking at the picture, and you could tell that they really treasured it.

Lastly, we can't forget the Great Maurice and his magic show. From coloring pages, to card tricks with signed cards appearing in wallets, both the kids and all the adults were in amazement.

I'm really thankful that on this Valentine's Day we could share about God's love with those who really needed love instead of taking cues from this world's culture. The fact that we were able to give the families at the shelter a fun night, where they were able to laugh and enjoy the whole program, they must have experienced a little bit of God's love for each of them. The kids there were so cute, and by the end of the night, we became really comfortable with each of them, and they with us as well. It was so great to see the kids starting to open up, to see the progression of them being able to look up to the college students by the end. I think it was a meaningful and touching time for all of us, and I look forward to visiting them again in the future!

Don't Pretend Like You're Immortal

“Gone…like Elvis and his mom, like Al Pacino’s cash, nothing lasts…” What a catchy song. “Gone – In 24 hours, today will be yesterday” was the theme of our Koinonia’s Spring Welcome Night last Friday. The hope was to communicate that our time here on earth is limited and death, though difficult to think about, will surely come to each person. How then should we live our lives so that in the end, when we find ourselves facing death, we know we will have lived meaningfully? What a topic to deliver to an audience of young, spry, wide-eyed college students who have their whole lives ahead of them. I remember how I felt when I arrived on the college scene (which wasn’t that long ago). I was excited because I was finally on my own. I felt unstoppable. Not because I had anything in particular going for me, but that I was young and I had the whole world at my fingertips it felt like. Then, I got this uneasy feeling that there might be a certain, right way to live out there that I am neglecting or might be blind to. I began asking the questions that Pastor Manny challenged the audience to ask themselves – who am I?, where do I come from?, what is life? If there are answers to these questions, it means that my life philosophy of doing whatever I want needed to change. It hit me that my life is indeed short and will pass like a blink of an eye. I remember how I was sharing with the students around me last Friday that the season of life that I miss the most was my third grade year. Why, you ask? Because I was making a lot of friends, my teacher was so patient and gave me a lot of love/attention, and I was at the peak of my tetherball game. That was 19 years ago. Time just flew by since then like a flash. In college, I met people who challenged me to think about my mortality. I began to take their advice. If God exists and if He is good and worth following, then I want to know right now so that I live correctly in His eyes. I’m thankful that I was able to find God during my college years so that I can give the very best of my life over to Him and experience the meaning and richness of living according to His truths.

First Winter Retreat in Texas - Yee haw!

The year 2009 has already started off memorably with our first ever Koinonia-GFC Austin Winter Retreat. While the weather was cold (though I have experienced far colder in my lifetime), I was thankful that I could get away from the hustle-and-bustle of daily life and spend concentrated time in God’s words. It was wonderful to see so many students who were able to set aside their weekend as well and be so eager to listen to what God had to say to them. The retreat site was no Hyatt, but it was perfectly suited for our needs – comfortable bunk beds, good food, nice flat landscape, crisp fresh air, and even tumbleweed! Some of the highlights that will forever stay with me include but not limited to eating Kimchi Ramen Bowl late at night (my husband seldom lets me get away with eating so late, but this time, I could eat freely!), chatting and brushing my teeth with the girls before going to bed at night in my PJs, eating some of the best bacon and cheese enchiladas I have ever had in my life, playing “Wizards, Elves, and Giants” and “Capture the Flag” until all of our bodies turned sore (I will never forget how Janie bravely performed a body block on a momentum-gathering Caitlyn Richardson), and making a valiant effort to beat the guys at Charades (we didn’t win unfortunately).


Most importantly, I will remember the messages delivered tirelessly and heartfeltly by Pastor Manny which borne in me a deeper understanding of how precious and valued I am in God’s sight. Pastor Manny painted an unforgettable picture of the Father’s heart using a clip from the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil.” Watching the father in this movie mourning over his 5-year-old son who was diagnosed with a terminal disease made me see in a fresh way how much I matter to God and how the sins in my life grieve and torment Him. The words from Hebrews 12: 3 came alive for me – “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Jesus endured the Cross ultimately with joy because of His love for us; He knew that through all that suffering, He would be saving my life and my soul for eternity. This point along with so many other points made during the retreat refreshed my desire to honor God and be devoted to Him in every area of my life. To not relent in my struggle against my sins, and to keep living for him and for others even though it is not easy and may require sacrifices. Finally, the greatest highlight of all from this retreat was to witness so many significant decisions being made – 2 salvation decisions and several lordship decisions. I was moved to tears to hear all the commitments that were made and how so many of the students were challenged to devote themselves to the One who gave it all up for them by surrendering very specific things in their lives. I pray that as we step into this new year together, we can experience the joys of obeying God and being changed and loved by Him.