Sarah Romero Yetter gleefully interacts with girls on the steps of First Evangelical Free Church of Los Angeles, where she helps direct a S.A.Y. Yes!® Center.
Sarah Romero Yetter’s summer days in a church ignited her love for working with children. A Cru® summer mission in college brought her to serve with an outreach for kids in Los Angeles, California.
She couldn’t have anticipated what followed in later years.
Sarah’s experience with S.A.Y. (Save America’s Youth) Yes!® — a Cru ministry and after-school program that helps inner-city children find success and follow Christ — developed into a big-picture vision.
“God was really building into me this life calling that was involving raising up a generation to also invest in the city and be serving the city,” Sarah says.
Watch how God led Sarah from the beginning of her involvement with a S.A.Y. Yes!® Center to her leadership now as an executive director of S.A.Y. Yes! Pico Union in Los Angeles.
Sarah serves in the Pico-Union Westlake area of Los Angeles, a densely populated neighborhood where many Central American immigrants start a new life. By getting to know the children, helping them with their schoolwork and providing an alternative to joining gangs, the S.A.Y. Yes! Center comes alongside families as they face change and language learning.
S.A.Y. Yes! Centers holistically support children who have needs in their communities. Leaders provide academic help, food, recreational activities and biblical content.
Along with the center in the Pico-Union Westlake area, the ministry works with local churches in 37 cities across the U.S., in addition to international locations, and it also emphasizes mentoring relationships. Those involved take part in children’s and families’ lives with the goal of guiding them practically and spiritually, one step at a time.
As you notice the needs of those in your community, how can you use the passions God has given you and serve holistically?
For insight as you ponder this question, see ways you can reach those around you or learn more about S.A.Y. Yes! Centers.
Video courtesy of Cru® Inner City.
Rachel serves as a journalist with Cru®. She grew up in Minnesota, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a degree in journalism in 2014, and has since lived across the country and overseas. She loves sharing real-life stories.
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Ted loves zigzagging the globe, capturing photos and stories of what God is doing. Originally from California, he serves as a missionary photojournalist with Cru® in Orlando, Florida. Ted also ministers to international scholars who come to Orlando to study.
Contact MeRead more from the September 2019 issue
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