S.A.Y. Yes! is for Parents, Too

At S.A.Y. Yes!, Tonya and Zach found stability and love they had seldom experienced. Tonya was six when she first came to S.A.Y. Yes! four years ago. (S.A.Y. Yes! is the biblically-based after-school program Here’s Life has developed and made available to inner-city churches.) The next year, her younger brother Zach followed.

At home they lived in chaos, and often faced violence, so the children had retreated into depression. Their schoolwork suffered, especially Zach’s. When he started at S.A.Y. Yes!, he was failing every subject.

But at S.A.Y. Yes!, Tonya and Zach found stability and love they had seldom experienced. They memorized Scriptures that told them God loved them; they received tutoring to help them at school. They placed their faith in Christ — and their lives began to change.

Their mom, Veronica, noticed. Veronica had two other young children and was coping with a husband whose out-of-control addictions were often accompanied by violence. Through the transformation she witnessed in Tonya and Zach, she was drawn to several church programs that offered her help and hope. Soon Veronica opened her heart to the Lord.

Just then a new crisis — Veronica discovered she was pregnant. Feeling desperate — with four children and an increasingly abusive husband — she asked Melanie, the Center director, for help getting an abortion. Melanie gently pointed Veronica to Scripture, and the Holy Spirit began to reveal God’s heart to her.

Veronica repeatedly made and canceled appointments for the abortion, but she couldn’t go through with it. Even when she discovered she was carrying twins, she persevered, convinced by her growing relationship with God.

Those healthy babies are now one year old!

The abusive husband is out of the picture, and Veronica is working hard as a beautician to support her family. She and the children are actively involved in the church, and the kids continue to be nurtured at S.A.Y. Yes!

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