Faith Takes the Train

In New York City, young Faith and her mother return home on the train from Grandma’s house. Faith passes the time munching on a delicious sandwich, gooey with honey from Grandma’s beehive.

Suddenly, Isaiah, her former neighbor, calls out, “Good evening! My son and I have fallen on hard times. Could anyone please spare some change? … A bite to eat?”

When Isaiah looks at Faith and the sandwich she is holding, the young girl feels her heart thumping as her compassion is stirred. She knows what she wants to do. In her lunch box, she finds the last piece of her sandwich and whispers to Isaiah, “Would you like a snack?”

Isaiah accepts Faith’s gift and blesses her for her kindness.

Faith’s imagination expands and she wonders, “Does Isaiah like grape jelly? Or marvelous mint? Does he like smooth peanut butter? Or one with a crunch?” As her questions pile up, Faith envisions a feast with her mom, Isaiah, and his son around a table heaped high with hundreds of sandwiches.

Before Faith and her mom leave the train station, she wonders if she will see Isaiah again and asks, “Can we bring an extra sandwich tomorrow?” Her mother agrees that it is a “delicious idea.”

In an author note, Kesi Augustine relates how she witnessed the impact of COVID-19 on her community and how it contributed to an increase in poverty, hunger, unemployment, and homelessness. She notes that, though the government didn’t offer enough support for everyone, ordinary people came together to care for their needy neighbors. Her experience in banding with others to offer help inspired her to write “a story about care.” She set her story on a train “because sometimes the neighbors who need our help are seated right beside us. … What if we lived in a world where we nourished everyone with love, sweetness, and dignity? Let’s imagine together that our life is one long train ride. There’s a seat on this train especially for you. How will you show your care to the other passengers?”

Illustrator Mokshini’s buoyant, vivid rendering of life in New York City combines with Augustine’s tender narrative to show how kindness changes the giver and the recipient. Christian children and the adults who read to them will hear echoes of Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, in which the king tells those who have been faithful to him by feeding the hungry, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40).

(HarperCollins)