I know a woman who is a mother to 14. This woman has feed 1,600 children. This woman has provided schooling for 400 children. This woman is the founder and executive director of Amazima Ministries. This woman is 22 years old. For about a year, I have been reading her blogs. Today I want to talk about how this woman, has shown courage and selflessness to influence thousands of lives around her. When Katie left the U.S. 3 years ago she was like many of us. She was young and a little uncertain of what she wanted to do, but determined to make a difference. From Katie’s story, we can see what courage and selflessness can accomplish.
Katie was 18 years old when she first went to Uganda, Africa for short-term mission trip. Five months later after graduating high school, she was boarding a plane back to Uganda to teach kindergarten at an orphanage. It takes great courage for an 18 year old to leave behind a loving family, close friends, and a boyfriend she was madly in love with. She also left behind warm showers, eight hours of sleep, a comfortable bed, and air conditioning, but this is what she gained.
A mosquito net became her security blanket . The net helps her to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes carrying malaria, among other diseases. However, she still sleeps with crickets and ants. A rat the size of a house cat lives in her bathroom and bats live in her shower. She eats cornmeal boiled in water, which tastes like Elmer’s glue, for two meals a day.
However, after posting all this she writes about all the wonderful things that are happening in the children’s lives around her. She rejoices in that she gets to teach little children and love them in a way few people ever get a chance.
After two years of being in Africa, Katie courageously took on the responsibility of being the adopted mother of three homeless orphans, ages 5, 7, and 9. Becoming a mother at age 20, to three girls who have had numerous years of abandonment and abuse to deal with, is no small undertaking.
Selflessness is one of the qualities I saw most often in Katie’s posts. Katie frequently posted about sharing her bed with sick orphans. One orphan had a fever of 105 and dying from Malaria, but she woke up every hour to give the child a sponge bath and every four to give medicine.
Since that post, she has adopted 14 girls. They all call her mom and she cares for each of their needs. This means, if one of them wakes up in the middle of the night she lays with them until they go back to sleep. Since most of them have been abused in the past this happens frequently. Her youngest daughters have become her alarm clock, waking her up at the break of dawn.
Last week Katie opened up a free clinic in her front yard to the slum community of a nearby village. In selfless ambition, Katie has also started a sponsorship program that has grown to provide over 400 children with schooling for a whole year. She has also created a meal program, feeding over 1,600 children five days a week.
Most of us are only in our 20’s. Katie is clear example that you do not have to be old to make a difference. I want to do something impactful with my life. Katie’s story shows us that if you display courage and selflessness you can impact thousands. I am not saying that you need to go and strive to change the lives of 2,000 children, but when you turn 23 or if you are over 23, how many people will say or can say, that your courageous and selfless actions have impacted them?
So that's what I wrote. Her life emulates Jesus is a very evident way. That is a what I want my life to look like. "And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:40
