2008 was a year of tumult and turmoil around the world. A massive earthquake shook China. Months later, a figurative earthquake shook the global financial system as the world credit markets ground to a halt. Oil prices climbed to record peaks over the summer and crashed with the global economy as demand vanished. Chaos in Iraq has started to wane, but the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan. As we enter 2009, it seems that there are more uncertainties in the world than guarantees.

Now that 2008 rests in the history books, it is safe to look back over the year. Here at In The Fray, we published another eleven great issues, all of which featured the hard work of our volunteers, contributors, and editorial staff. In The Fray would like to extend heartfelt thanks to each and every person who has worked to make our magazine as extraordinary as it is.

In that spirit, ITF’s editors would like to highlight a few of the best stories from 2008:

IDENTIFY: Where the Moon Is a Hole in the Sky by Jane Varley

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Buenos Aires by Suan Pineda

INTERACT: Muslim/Mormon by Farnad Darnell

COMMENTARY: The Black Church Arrives on America’s Doorstep by Mark Winston Griffith

ACTIVIST’S CORNER: Sex in Pakistan by Sarah Marian Seltzer

OFF THE SHELF: You Really Can’t Go Home Again by Amy Brozio-Andrews

IMAGINE: The Jaunt by Ashish Mehta

IMAGE: Afghanistan by Stephanie Yao

Help keep us publishing by visiting inthefray.org/donate and giving what you can. Thanks, and keep reading in 2009!

Aaron Richner I am a writer/editor turned web developer. I've served as both Editor-in-chief and Technical Developer of In The Fray Magazine over the past 5 years. I am gainfully employed, writing, editing and developing on the web for a small private college in Duluth, MN. I enjoy both silence and heavy metal, John Milton and Stephen King, sunrise and sunset. Like all of us, I contain multitudes.