Taking Kids By the Hand

On that corner, Sarah felt compelled to pray—with three requests. First, she wanted to do what God wanted her to do wherever He sent her. Second, she prayed, “God, give me the toughest assignment. Give me the kids that nobody wants to work with.” Third, she asked God to provide financially and confirm her desire to attend Moody.

A few weeks later, blessed with an unexpected financial gift from a friend, Sarah was accepted into Moody’s Master of Arts in Urban Ministry program. She showed up on the Chicago campus in the fall of 1999.

The graduate program gave her experience in urban ministry—leading Bible studies in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, taking a mission trip to Asia, doing street evangelism on the West Side, and serving at Pacific Garden Mission’s homeless shelter.

Sarah knew God was calling her to the city.

“He had taught me not to worry, just to go out there and do ministry, and God will take care of everything,” she said.

After graduating in 2001, she started working for the Chicago Park District in Seward Park, playing basketball with kids and telling them about Jesus—at the very place where she’d prayed two years earlier.

That’s also where she met Donnita Travis, who walked up one day and told her about the Christ-centered after-school program she’d started with The Moody Church. “I work with kids in mind, body, and soul,” Donnita said. “I’m starting a fourth team—another group of 22 students. Will you come on staff with me?”

Sarah’s yes began a friendship with Donnita and a journey with By The Hand Club For Kids that continues more than 20 years later.

More than 7,000 kids have been a part of By the Hand since the program launched in 2001, with 1,700 currently enrolled—and Sarah has touched a lot of those lives.

One of the first kids Sarah enrolled was Tasha Childress, a sixth grader who was referred by her school principal to By The Hand because she was performing below grade level.

Even though Tasha felt loved and welcomed at By the Hand, she liked to fight and curse and told herself the club wasn’t for her. But each day after school, Ms. Sarah would show up to transport Tasha to By The Hand.

“She would be in trouble at school, and I’d show up at the principal’s office,” Sarah recalled. “And Tasha would say, ‘What are you doing here?’” At other times, Sarah would run into her at the grocery store or drop by her grandma’s house.

“It was just me being present, just me being in the community, serving the Lord,” Sarah explained.

“You’ve got to build relationships. And the only way to do that is to be present in their life, whether they like it or not.”

"Tasha didn’t like it for a while. But because of that faithfulness and consistency, she finally was like, ‘Okay, Ms. Sarah is legit. She’s here. She’s not going anywhere, so I can start trusting her.’”

Today Tasha has a degree in criminal justice from Indiana State University and is working at the State’s Attorney’s office in New Orleans, helping people who have been victims of crime.

“Having Sarah in my life has been a true blessing even 20 plus years later,” Tasha said.

One way Sarah gets to know the students is by playing basketball and other sports with them. “I love sports, so it’s a great way that we can connect,” said Sarah, who had a full-ride college scholarship for basketball at the University of Indianapolis.

Whether tossing a football around or taking a pie in the face for good attendance, Sarah loves to have fun with the kids. She drives an orange truck to match By The Hand’s logo and keeps a stuffed, red Clifford dog in the back seat, in honor of the Big Red Team she used to direct.

Sarah’s devotion to students means she goes the extra mile to build relationships with them and their families—dropping off groceries at a needy family’s door (“because I love you and Jesus loves you”) or awarding a student with a little money for getting good grades. On Fridays, she picks up a high school student named Dequauna and takes her to school with a beverage from Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, “just so we can stay connected,” Sarah says.

When Sarah first started working at Cabrini Green, kids went to church. “Your grandma or somebody made you go to church. Now no one goes to church,” Sarah said. “Some of our kids don't know who God is. They don’t know who Jesus is. There's just no spiritual culture at all.”

To fill this void, kids at By The Hand learn the gospel and how to share it through Hope for Kids, a curriculum Sarah chose to increase Bible literacy. She gets Bibles from donors as well as from Bible League International to give to the students. She has taught them theology, such as God’s attributes of omnipotence and omniscience.

More recently Sarah has become part of a writing and advisory team partnering with Bible League International to create curriculum that reflects urban culture.

She also takes every opportunity to share biblical principles and pray with students. When a student told Sarah he was being bullied and planned to punch the classmate the next day at school, Sarah was able to diffuse the situation with a biblical conversation. “Let’s talk about this. What does Christ want us to do? How can we handle this?”

Because students who come to By The Hand Club often lack resources to live an abundant life, Sarah works hard to improve the quality and availability of services.

“If a child comes up to me and says, ‘Ms. Sarah, my tooth hurts,’ or ‘my glasses broke,’ we can take care of that, or ‘Ms. Sarah, my mom lost her job,’ we can help Mom today,” she said.

When she found out kids were getting their teeth cleaned through a state program but still had cavities unfilled, she prayed with other staff members and found a dentist with a mobile dental clinic. “He comes to all the sites and does everything. He’s amazing,” Sarah said. She also expedites eye exams for the students and works with local organizations to get glasses made quickly for those who need them.

Ultimately, “the reason why we do all of that is to share the love of Jesus with our students and our families,” said Sarah, now vice president of programming operations for all six By the Hand locations in Chicago.

The holistic approach is making a remarkable impact on By the Hand students. The organization reports that 91 percent of students passed their classes last quarter, the graduation rate for seniors is 100 percent, and 67 percent of graduates started higher education. More importantly, 74 percent of By the Hand students say they have a personal and saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And if they’ve been in the program for five years or more, 96 percent say they have a personal relationship with Christ.

“In the last couple of weeks, we had 29 kids come to know Christ,” Sarah said, “so that’s why we’re here.”

Sarah continues seeing her education at Moody impacting her work today.

“What Moody taught me both through my scriptural studies and the example of my professors is to be present and engaged in my ministry. When I started at By The Hand, we didn’t use Uber apps or rely on emails. We gave students a ride ourselves and used that time to build a deeper relationship with them. We went to the schools to visit with our students’ teachers. God often gave me divine appointments to run into a teacher needing school supplies or a principal who’d pull me aside and ask for prayer.

“Christ humbled himself to be present in my life. It only makes sense for me to follow His lead to be present in the lives of others. Then I get a front row seat to watch God’s goodness at work, transforming lives one student at a time.”