BIBLE//STUDY

Tandiwe, Amanda, Nomhle, Doreen, and Thambi.

Wednesdays are the best days. We do design work in the office, head into Alex to hang out with orphans and vulnerable children at a non-profit called Ratang Bana, and finally have an evening bible study with some teenage girls who live in our neighborhood. Although these girls come from more modern and affluent households than our friends in Alex, they are still plagued by very traditional problems like polygamy and deep-rooted superstition. They have a very earnest desire to follow Jesus, but have been taught many false ideas. Months ago on one of my first nights with them, Amanda said matter-of-factly that when she died she would have to watch all the bad things she'd ever done on a big television screen, and she'd get into heaven only if the good outweighed the bad. Sadly, this is the reality of Africa. Jesus is known by many and twisted by many. He comes in countless flavors, almost none of which are biblically sound. Africa believes in God, just not the one true God who gave His beloved Son to bear our sin and reconcile us to Himself. Needless to say, we parked on Ephesians 2:8 for a long while: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not from yourselves, but is a gift from God. We're now working our way through the Big Story, seeing how God's redemptive hand has been intervening from Creation to Christ to now. What a journey!

HOPE//HEALS

Yesterday, from Los Angeles to Johannesburg, we celebrated Katherine Lived Day. Most of you are well-acquainted with this story, but for those of you who are not: you need to be. Check it out here. This particularly weighty anniversary marked five years since that dark day in 2008 when life took an unexpected twist.

To adequately express my deep adoration for Jay and Katherine Wolf would require a rather long book, so this will have to do: I love you, my treasures. Our boast is in Christ for how you have journeyed these past five years. You are missionaries of hope and have accepted this most complicated call with unimaginable grace.

Jay and Katherine celebrated the anniversary with a new website, which unveils their gorgeous new short film and future ministry endeavors. I had the huge honor of helping design parts of the website (all the way from Africa... I mean, really, how amazing is the internet?) and encourage you to take a look. And if you already took a look yesterday, take another because we've worked out a few of the kinks!

Visit: www.hopeheals.com 

TEAM//GRAY

Pray for Will & Angie Gray from jams 90025 on Vimeo.

Join me in praying for Will and Angie Gray. 

#GoTeamGray

OF//HOPE

Some of South Africa's sweetest faces. Also, we might have brought cake to the creche last week. Who needs forks?