Ashlyn Hahn (UCLA // Senior)
Coming into college I was familiar with the fellowship KCM but was apprehensive to get plugged in. I came from a predominantly Korean church and in all honesty, I thought it might be difficult to make a diverse group of friends by committing to this ministry. Through different events, particularly Powderpuff, God has showed me how small my concerns were and that His plan is so much more fulfilling than my own.
Towards the end of Spring Quarter in my freshman year, I heard about this event called Powderpuff that had recently passed. It sounded like a lot of fun and I kept it in the back of my mind. I continued on, jumping to and from other fellowships that year, but personally had a difficult time feeling connected in them.
As a sophomore I began coming out to a few KCM meetings here and there, but was worried that I might not integrate smoothly given that most of my class had attended for a year already. Spring Quarter rolled around once again and along with it, Powderpuff. In high school I really enjoyed playing sports and figured I would give this girls flag football team a shot. During practices I was pleasantly surprised to meet girls I could easily talk to and relate with over the game, Christianity, and much more. Powderpuff provided me with a comfortable environment to get to know fellow Christians in and every week I began looking forward to practice days. Though I had attended for a while, this was the start to my feeling like a part of KCM and for that I am very grateful.
As the year progressed I learned about KCM Short Term Summer Missions (STSM) and I knew I wanted to go. I realized that KCM had provided a unique opportunity to serve abroad, that I didn’t have at my church. I applied and began training. I later ministered in North India and gained a better understanding of the value in supporting missions.
Within KCM I have come to know a diverse group of individuals all with different interests, but the same love for God. KCM, and the events it offered, have helped me to love people better and invest in the lives of others. I believe this has all been part of a lesson God reminds of, that I am not the controller of my own life and I can find joy in the knowledge that He is.
Noelle Chang (UCSD // Class of 2019)
After the first few powderpuff practices I went to my freshman year, powderpuff quickly became my favorite part of winter quarter during my four years in college. Once FSF was over, it would be time to break out those cleats that were in the closet and get ready to run, block, catch, and pull some flags. However, powderpuff wasn’t just a time where girls came together to play a sport and try to win (which was what I expected, having played sports growing up). Powderpuff was also a time where we were able to witness different demonstrations of love.
First, football wasn’t a sport that girls typically played. Because of this, most of us were starting or had started from knowing nothing about football and worked together to try to understand it a little better in order to play. As a freshman, the older girls often explained to me how things were run, and the coaches patiently taught us so that playing became easier. And as I got older, I was able to do the same for the younger ones. Powderpuff was a time where we were able to teach and learn from one another.
Girls also had the opportunity to meet other girls in KCM. The underclassmen who were present at most of the after-GM fellowships were finally able to meet the upperclassmen girls who often dipped after GMs. Following the initial awkward, “Hello, I’m ‘so-and-so’ and I’m in ‘whatever year,’” girls who barely knew one another were cheering for each other as they ran drills and scrimmages. Powderpuff was a space where though girls didn’t necessarily know one another well, there was a camaraderie that formed by going through practices together and simply being on the same team.
Also included when playing powderpuff was the (one hundred percent) chance of falling, running into one another, and missing a flag or a ball. However embarrassing it might have been for me when I fell, ran into another sister, or dropped the ball, those were the times when the sisters around me picked me back up (literally) and encouraged me, saying, “You’ll get the next one.” There wasn’t anyone putting me down for my mistakes—there were only girls and coaches giving me pointers to improve and cheering me on to do my best. Powderpuff was a time where we were able to encourage and help one another strive to improve in a very different setting than the usual sitting down and talking.
Powderpuff may just seem like an intense, aggressive physical activity executed by girls on game day, but the process of getting to that day included more than that for me. Through powderpuff, I not only came to enjoy the sport of football, but I was able to learn from and teach other girls, experience patient instructing from coaches, form relationships with other girls, and observe a different type of encouragement. Through powderpuff, I was able to practice and receive different demonstrations of love that couldn’t be observed in normal day to day settings.
