meet the team
It was an opportunity that none of us could have orchestrated on our own. We were asked to study the Bible with people outside our faith tradition, which was something we had never done before. Stepping out of our comfort zone more than 10 years ago, we said yes… and our lives have never been the same!
Over the years, we deepened our own understanding of how to study the Bible as we have seen a desire from our neighbors to explore and understand the Bible. By engaging our neighbors in Bible study, our relationships have deepened. Our understanding of the Bible has been strengthened. And the clarity of the gospel and hope that Jesus brings has never given us more joy.
Planted within our remarkable community, we’ve also learned how to create a loving, encouraging, and trusted environment when studying the Bible together with people of different beliefs. All while putting aside biases and assumptions that we all bring to the text and learning to read the Bible on its own terms.
This is the heartbeat behind The Chara Project’s mission: To build confidence in studying the Bible on your own and with your neighbor.
CO-FOUNDERS
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CO-FOUNDER/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/BOARD MEMBER
Heather loves Jesus, leading worship, and eating any food with carbs.
As a Biblical literacy advocate, she has a passion for people to know how to read and understand the Bible.
Heather is a teacher, writer, worship leader, and mentor. Her sweet spot is helping people understand, and she gets great joy when she can help make the Bible accessible and relevant for others.
She earned her Bible and Communications degrees from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Heather is married with two kids living in Utah. When she’s not at her full-time corporate job or teaching people about the Bible, she’s playing backyard baseball with her family or sleeping.
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CO-FOUNDER/CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER/BOARD MEMBER
Sarah loves cooking, reading and being outdoors with her husband and three sons.
She is a passionate community builder and student of God’s Word. While earning a Business degree from the University of Oregon, Sarah met her husband, a student at Western Seminary. They then moved to Utah, and she has been studying the Bible extensively for more than 17 years.
Sarah has led Bible studies in her community with people across varying faith backgrounds. You can most often find Sarah hosting women around her kitchen table, talking about real-life issues and the love of Jesus.
Through teaching, speaking and writing, Sarah hopes to encourage every-day people to take a fresh look at the Bible and desires that they find joy and hope in Jesus.
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CO-FOUNDER
Jenny Howell is a lover of people and hopeful words. She has been serving families in ministry for 20 years.
She gets to be the coffee consuming, creation loving, homeschool Mom to 5 kids. Jenny graduated from Toccoa Falls College with a B.A. in Education + a 30 course hour Bible & Theology certificate from the Evangelical Training Association.
You’ll find Jenny teaching and speaking Biblical truth, seasoned with real life story telling, for MOPS groups and Women's Ministries. Jenny writes at jennyhowell.com, Lifeway Christian Resources, and has been featured at (in)courage, The MOPS blog, For Every Mom, and others.
She finds great joy in helping people understand the Bible! She is in the process of writing her first book.
@jenny_holzknecht_howell
