The Story of Christ in Motion

Every month, Grace partners with The Real Life Center to provide fresh produce and a generous breakfast to well over a hundred families. This unique community has become a place of belonging for a beautiful group of people in challenging circumstances. We are made for others, and so we reach out to help and be helped by souls in situations outside of our own experience.

Peter Hays and his wife Magré are ministering in the Netherlands. Along with their ministry as church planters and leaders for over 35 years, Peter teaches seminary classes at Tyndale Theological Seminary  - a seminary specifically geared toward ministering in multicultural settings. Here, Peter is pictured with a group of his students, which simply illustrates the profound impact that he and Magré have for Jesus across the world from their small corner of Europe.

Operation Mobilization - a mission agency with headquarters close to the Grace Church campus - has been a long-time partner in ministry with Grace Church. Several years ago, some of the leadership of Grace took a trip to the country of Moldova, specifically partnering with OM's ministry arm there. They spent time visiting families in the local church that OM ministers to and helps to resource. Pictured here, Pastor Kem Williams prays with a gentleman whom OM has helped minister to due to some of his life circumstances leaving him without many family connections. The resources, friendship, care, and prayers that OM Moldova provides to so many like this gentleman are powerful markers of the work that God is doing there.

Andrew Wollenhaupt  is a long-time member of the Grace family. Having grown up in the PTC area here, he now serves with his wife Kristen in her home country of Australia with YWAM (Youth With a Mission). Reaching out and engaging with communities in Australia through arts, sports, and other creative events and endeavors, Andrew and Kristen focus on doing kingdom work with families and children in various parts of the country, and occasionally all over the world . (3 images)

Cathy Hicks and her husband Dave spent decades serving in and around South Asia, connecting with local partners helping to mentor native pastors and leaders to reach their own people. Here, Cathy continues to invest in the deep relationships that make their ministry meaningful.

One of the children of the community in Moldova where Victor Antoci and his family minister. Victor and his wife Emelia, Moldovan natives, reach out into the villages in the Nisporeni Region of Moldova, and specifically focus on the kids and families of those communities who often live in economic hardship.

After a bumpy two-hour ride outside Kathmandu, Cathy and Dave Hicks arrived at this village church. Warmly welcomed at the church door, they joined a congregation of vibrant believers already singing praises to the Lord. This was their first visit, but they were greeted as long-lost siblings in Christ.

Picturesque beaches used to celebrate more beauty as the El Youssi family holds a baptism for some new followers of Jesus from the refugee community in Malaga, Spain.

The core of Dave and Cathy Hicks ministry in South Asia has always been building relationships with locals who can then go and build bridges to faith in Jesus themselves. They are the key connection point in an area of the world where teaching and proclaiming the gospel are harder and potentially more dangerous than in others. 

Grace family member Mike Rabbit - in Spain, serving with the El Youssi's - giving a Bible to a woman passing through the refugee center there in Malaga. To hear Mike tell the story,  her openness to receiving the Bible were particularly remarkable. The care and concern that the El Youssi's and others show these displaced members of society is often an invitation toward the beginnings of a faith journey for many.

Born out of some relationships here in South Atlanta, the GLOW organization - which ministers to Japanese nationals living in the States - has found a thriving community of people hungry for kingdom work in their lives. Pictured here is a summer camp of families connected with the organization gathering in a local church in the Japan branch of the organization.

The Mobile Food Pantry is a staple of the Grace Church outreach programs into our local community. The most remarkable thing about the MFP is the community and relationships that have built around it. Yes, it serves the physical needs of a community walking through hardship, but more importantly it ministers to the hearts and dignity of these wonderful souls.

Aftermath of attacks in Ukraine. Long-time partners Oleg and Lena Vasilevsky are working to bring peace and grace to a region of the world currently steeped in hurt and violence. Through their Radooga kids camps, they minister with families in Ukraine and beyond whose lives have been upended by the devastation of war.

Using food, music, community events, personal interviews, and specialized teaching, Club 2.0 serves members of the local special needs community by giving them a place to belong and to be seen. The joy and energy from this group is infectious. 

Grace Gardens is a recent undertaking under the watching eye of founders Mark and Debbie MacLachlan and Peyton Kitchens. For many people around the world and, yes, here in South Atlanta, to have a garden is to take the first step toward health, wellness, and self-sufficiency. This passion project is helping many in our community and beyond learn how to take that step.

Margré Hays serves her local community in the Netherlands through Bible training and small groups - among many other ways. Here she is working with local kids in a Bible study environment.

Radooga robotics camp class hosted by Oleg and Lena Vasilevsky. Many of these camps are help in regions of war-torn cities in Ukraine that are under continual threat of bombing and attack. Holding these camps in sheltered areas within these dangerous areas provides community, skill development, emotional healing, and relationship to kids in the middle of traumatic circumstances.

For Oleg and Lena Vasilevsky, this is what Radooga camps looked like before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. These camps reached out to student and youth communities with the gospel through camp experiences and activities, training them in leadership and cultural literacy through the lens of the gospel.

There are few more dramatic stories of gospel transformation and Spirit-empowered ministry than Tafere Desta in Ethiopia. After his radical conversion from tribal mysticism, Tafere began serving communities and uplifting families through agricultural ministry - the gifts of the fruit of the ground and the fruit of the Spirit.

Locals come to listen to Tafere Desta teach about gardening and the gospel in Ethiopoa.  Tafere carries a message that has  impacted the lives of many -  from locals trying to make it from day to day to an Orthodox priest. Now working in war-torn regions of the country and targeted by rebel groups, this ministry continues to bring life (literally) to those around it.

Jonathan Benson serving with Cru and the University of Georgia with groups in India - touring and making connections as they explored and shared differing experiences in culture and life across student communities.

Oleg Vasilevsky - baptizing his daughter Anya - a reminder that ministry includes those closest to us, not just those outside of the walls of our home or our churches.