Teen in an Emotional JAM Reaches Out
Titus was beside himself, rage welling up deep within his soul. Instead of acting out of his pain, the teenager picked up his phone, searching for an ongoing text thread with his spiritual brothers, a group of boys who attended a sports camp last summer. “I’m angry. Please pray for me,” he typed. Titus went […]
Majoring in Community
How does a young woman go from living below the poverty line to a prestigious university to helping build the next generation of leaders for her church and community? Londa Bradshaw is the Youth Coordinator for S.A.Y. Yes!® for the Cru® Inner City team in Los Angeles. S.A.Y. Yes! is the after-school discipleship curriculum Inner […]
Loving Outside the Box
Childhood friends C.B. and Aaron were on different paths until a Box of Love helped C.B. see how he could change his life for the better.
Dishing Out What She’s Learned
After graduation, S.A.Y. Yes! student Gloria was motivated to give back in profound ways, including volunteering to teach a culinary class.
Reading Between the Lines
Jerry and Regina were determined to see their two young daughters turn the page when it came to mastering their ABCs but it was clear they were struggling. Despite Alyssa and Angel’s best efforts, their reading skills faltered and Mom and Dad feared what it might mean for their future. The Hispanic couple knew that […]
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Deion traipsed inside the doors of Chicago’s Agape Center, a safe haven from neighboring, but not always neighborly, streets. Though most of the facility’s staff has changed, the commitment to ministry within the four walls is much the same as when Deion’s mom enrolled during her teens. The after-school program is one of more than […]
A ‘Frozen’ Faith Begins to Thaw
Melanie Lamar might as well have been a dentist, since trying to get and keep the girls’ focus on Jesus was like pulling teeth. Sometimes it was just as painful. Melanie had such high hopes when 7-year-old twins, Tamara and Tali, returned to the S.A.Y. Yes!® center after dropping out of the program last summer, […]
Working Through the JAMs
Dominic plodded along a ruddy track, each step of his pristine sneakers made more miserable by the heft of his campmate — a half-foot taller — straddled across his back. His T-shirt, drooping from sweat-dampened folds, bore the words, “I Prove U wrong,” an impromptu message in markers. Boasting white hipster glasses, Dominic paused frequently […]
Schooled in Love
A special needs second-grader who can’t cope with online learning plus a fatigued father who spends long hours working away from home plus an overwhelmed mom trying to navigate the needs of her boys in their newly adopted homeland equals a formula for despair. One green backpack filled with school supplies is a catalyst for hope for the first-generation Guatemalan immigrants. […]
Body of Work
“The first time I saw him he looked like a wannabe gangster,” Gustavo said. When Gustavo Villatoro first set eyes on Omar, the child carried himself like many of the boys from the neighborhood. It wasn’t so much the clothes, but the exaggerated sense of swagger. It was a path that Gustavo could have easily […]