Katie Davis

I gave my last speech today and it one to inspire. I talked about Katie Davis and here is what I said...

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

a heartbreaking story

Here is a post I found on the kissesfromkatie blog. If you would like to read the short version of her story click here. The post is an old one but I as read it, it triggered many emotions that i needed to feel, so here it is for you to read.

“Who will sing my lullaby?
Who will hold me when I cry?
When I awake and no one’s there
Who will sing my lullaby?”

Africa is a beautiful place, a place that I love to call home. When writing, I try o paint a picture of this Africa: a place where people love each other and the Lord, a place of hope and resilience, a place of blind faith, of renewal and life. But today, I want to tell you a story that breaks my heart. It is my hope that it will break yours too. I hope that tonight you will struggle with your warm shower and home cooked meal as you ponder the question, “Why me? Why am I so blessed?” I pray that this story could challenge you, could make you long for change. Africa is a beautiful place, but today, let it break your heart.

This is the story of Sumini. Sumini is a 5 year old girl that looks no older than three. Her cheek bones, hip bones, rib cage and shoulder blades poke out in the places that an American child would be cute and chubby. Her hair is not the jet black it should be but rather gray-brown from malnutrition. It is 4 am. Sumini is sleeping restlessly next to me in my bed (probably on the only mattress she has ever seen in her life) with a 105 degree fever. Sumini is dying. Just last week a lively, blissful little girl in my kindergarten class, now she tosses and turns helplessly leaving me to pray harder and longer than I ever have in my life. My heart physically hurts in my chest.

5 days ago Sumini walked the three miles to school with a very high fever. Guessing it was malaria, I took her to the hospital and was right. They gave me her treatment but only after warning me that with malaria as far along and severe as hers combined with severe malnutrition the chances of her survival were slim. So here I am. Just watching her breathe and knowing it could be last. And I’m sad. And I’m angry. And I’m scared.

Sumini loves to sing. When she does her voice is small and beautiful and full of joy. She also loves to color. She has gone through two whole coloring books and several of my walls since she has been with us these last few days. She is always eager to help; t\when she got here she found a jerry can and wanted to take it to the lake to fetch water. (She was shocked to learn of a tap, that water could just flow out of the sink right there in my house!) She is learning her alphabet and to pick different colors out of her box of crayons. She is just a child. She could be your child. She could be you. She could be me. Instead she lives in a dirt hut the size of my little shower with her grandfather who is just about too old to move. She goes days with food. She walks miles to school even when she is sick. Before school, around 5 am, she walks a mile to the well and then back again with 20 pound of water on her head (and she barely weight\s 60). THAT could be your child. THAT could be you. THAT could be me. She didn’t choose the life she was assigned and you didn’t either. So what if the roles were reversed? What if you were small and scared and dying in Africa of a totally preventable and curable disease and she was sitting comfortably at your computer with a mug of coffee?

When the disciples asked Jesus what the blind man did to deserve his condition, Jesus replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened to him so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3) Poverty is not a sin. I believe it is a condition, a circumstance that allows God’s work to be displayed.

Sumini smiles at me. In the dark, her black face blends right in and all I can see is the bright flash of her teeth. Sumini will not die – not today, because God has put me here to make sure of that. God has put me here to hold her. God has put me here to give her a sponge bath every hour and ibeprophen every four. God has given me the provision to be able to afford the malaria treatment her grandfather cant. God has woken me that I may spend tonight praying vigilantly for the welfare of this child. But what about the others? What about the countless other children who will wake up tonight scared and burning with a fever so high it will kill them? Will anyone notice them? Will anyone even care? Who will sing their lullaby? Who will hold them when they cry?

Every circumstance is an opportunity for God’s work to be displayed. Will we do His work? Will he be displayed in our lives? Sumini could have just as easily been you. How will you change your world today?

Fear

Restless
Audrey Assad
You dwell in the songs that we are singing
Rising to the Heavens, rising to Your heart, Your heart
Our praises filling up the spaces
In between and frailty and everything You are
You are the keeper of my heart

And I'm restless, I'm restless
'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You
I'm restless, I'm restless
'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You
Oh God, I wanna rest in You

Oh, speak now for my soul is listening
Say that You have saved me, whisper in the dark
'Cause I know You're more than my salvation
Without You I am hopeless, tell me who You are
You are the keeper of my heart
You are the keeper of my heart

And I'm restless, I'm restless
'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You
I'm restless, I'm restless
'Til I rest in You, 'til I rest in You
I wanna rest in You

Still my heart hold me close
Let me hear a still small voice
Let it grow, let it rise
Into a shout, into a cry

"Still my heart, hold me close, let me hear a still small voice"

Fear and anxiety are by far my biggest sin struggle. I worry about things as silly as forgetting my phone at home, or getting all my assignments done, or serious things like future plans or the salvation of those whom I love. As dumb as it sounds I definitely worry about the small things far more than the big things. How backwards is that?? If at any moment I can't automatically find something to worry about, I search for something to be anxious about.

So what is the root of this worry and fear? Why do I worry? It is a lack of faith and trust? It is that I don't believe God is powerful enough? By not trusting Him I'm calling Him a liar. If I don't trust Him that I am saying Romans 8:28 is a lie. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I have tried to justify my fear. "Jesus, I really do have a lot to get done and I have too many church commitments" (my most frequent) or "How can You possibly get me out of this mess I have created?" or "I forgot to bring ___ last time, what if I forgot it again?" I have truly ruined numerous blessings and joyful moments of fun with my worrying.

But, I can honestly say that in EVERY SINGLE ONE of these situations God has proven Himself to be a good and faithful God, but He shouldn't have to. I just trust Him because every morning I wake up and read in His word about His faithfulness. I should trust Him because He is the God who created the world. I should trust Him because He died so that I could live in PERFECT PEACE.

So what is my response? I am working on the that :) Jesus has been faithful in teaching me and giving me peace if I consciously choose to take my thoughts captive, but honestly its hard. However, when I do surrender to Him and choose to seek His face in those moments of overwhelming fear, He meets me, and He rescues me. I think He loves those moments as much as I do because how would we know Light if we knew not darkness?

sometimes im a dork :)

So I was reading some blogs and I really liked that they talk about life besides just orphans and Jesus. Not that these aren't honorable topics, but I thought it would be fun to just give you a picture into who I am and what I like. Most you of you know me pretty well and may know some of these things, but I thought this would be funny so here goes!

• i LOVE chocolate, popcorn, and ice cream
• basically the only channel i watch is the Disney channel
• i own all the High School Musical DVDs and soundtracks
• all the following were gifts but i cherish them: i have high school musical sheets, sweatpants, socks, and a DVD board game
• i love chick flicks, but nothing beats a chick flick/action movie
• I'm kinda an organized slob, but i try to keep it contained to my room
• i have never mopped our floor in our apartment because my wonderful roommate Natalie does (thanks Natalie!)
• i never fold my pajamas when i put them in the drawer every morning because who really cares if your pajamas are wrinkled?
• i dream about adopting little African children
• i dislike cleaning the toilet...really its just gross!
• the two times i have set off the fire alarm while cooking was when i was attempting to make mac and cheese
• i have also burnt easy mac...(forgot to add the water)
• despite my love-hate relationship with mac and cheese i do like cooking!
• i usually listen to at least one audrey assad song a day
• im like reading blogs better than checking facebook...however i still manage to check facebook at least once a day ;)
• i rarely finish books...i seriously have 5 books in my room that i have read half of, but for one reason or another have not finished...however! if i have finished it than you know its good!

So that's a little bit more about me...sometimes I'm a dork but Jesus loves me :)

Orphans in Africa Speech

I LOVE my classes (most of the time)!!

In one class I'm learning about abuse in families, which I find sad but interesting. One day in that class I showed up and we had a speaker on human-trafficking. Needless to say I was pretty excited! We also learn about attachment issues that people have when they have undergone trauma.

In my speech class I got to give speeches about why teenage birth mothers do or don't choose adoption and how to become a foster parent. My latest assignment a persuasive speech and i choose the topic of why help ORPHANS IN AFRICA!! :) My class is well acquainted with what I want to do with my life.

For every speech you must write an outline with every word you want to say. So I thought I would post my latest assignment as just an informational on orphans in africa if you would like to read up on them.

I. United Nations Child’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, is an international organization created by the United Nations to support children in need all over the world. In 2009, they published a report indicating stating that there are around 48 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A. 48 million is the combined population of New York State, Texas, and Tennessee

B. These orphans face many extra challenges in life.

1. Orphans are likely to have many health problems.

a. Malabika Sarker conducted a study in Uganda that was published in an international medical journal. This study showed that in a two week period orphans were sick more often than non-orphans, but did not seek medical treatment more than non-orphans.

b. When discussing this study with Karissa Hrbek, a fellow college student who spent a month working with orphans in Africa, she said that many orphans face mal-nutrition. Although they get one or two meals a day, it is usually corn mush, which has no nutrients, so their immune system is very weak. Therefore, they are more likely to die from a common cold or diarrhea.

2. According to Emma Guest, a woman who moved from England to South Africa about 15 years ago, orphans are deeply impacted by AIDS. Guest published a book in 2000 that contained stories of people she has met who are orphans or have interacted with orphans in some way. After more research she published another a few years ago. In her second book, Guest discusses how many parents die due to AIDS and their children are left homeless and forced to live on the street. These children have become known as “street children”.

a. A man who runs a non-profit organization that provides housing for street children interviewed in Guest’s book says that many street children die young answer they have no one to care for them. Some are raped, or forced into prostitution in order to survive.

b. Most street children sleep with burning sticks to keep them warm at night and they can leave burn marks.

c. Many street children are forced into child labor such as human-trafficking, household servant, or working in factories.

II. You are probably wondering how a college student can possibly help orphans living on the streets in a continent that is thousands of miles away. There are actually quite a few ways you can help.

A. You can sponsor a child, which means sending money once a month to support an orphan in Africa.

1. The Raining Season is an organization that has an orphanage in Sierra Leone, Africa. (SHOW IMAGE) Their website provides information about four different ways to sponsor a child through this organization.

a. You can provide a child with medical care for $30 a month

i. This provides daily vitamin shakes for nutrition

ii. This also includes any medication they might need and the chance to be seen by the pediatrician who comes once a month.

b. You can also provide funds for a child to get 3 meals a day for $40 a month.

c. For $40 a month you can also give a child school supplies and help pay for qualified teachers who are trained to work specifically with these children who have been orphaned.

d. For just $20 a month you can provide a child with clothes and toiletry items.

e. What is unique about this organizations sponsorship is that you can Skype with the child you are sponsoring. You can talk with them and see exactly what your money is going towards.

2. You may be thinking that you are a poor college student and are thousands of dollars in debt; you cannot afford to support a child.

a. What if you got a few of your friends together and that if you each gave $5 or $10 a month.

b. You could also cut out something like coffee on campus or eating out one night a week and set that money aside for child sponsorship.

3. By sponsoring these children in orphanages, you are allowing the organization to use their funds to buy more beds or give more to those living on the streets that they do not have room to provide housing for.

The fact that I can talk on a subject I'm passionate about and be able to see how i might someday apply what I'm learning in my classes to actually caring for orphans, makes the thousands of dollars I'm spending to sit in classroom for 4 years a bit more bearable :)

Seasons

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,
for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9

I went on a walk at Ada Hayden Park tonight to watch the sunset. Two years ago I would not have thought of this to be as wonderful as I currently think sunsets and sunrises are. Then I got to thinking about how I love where I am in life right now. I love what I am learning and I love the community God has put my in. I also thought of some friends who are probably not able to say that right now. Cue the thought of seasons.

We all go through seasons. Seasons of tremendous growth, seasons of learning, seasons of application, season of pain and darkness, seasons of waiting, seasons of anxiety, and seasons of joy. I have not gone through all of these seasons, but some are definitely more enjoyable than others!

Right now I'm in the season of learning and tremendous growth. The last few years have been learning what a life sold out for Christ really looks like and that has affected my walk with God causing tremendous growth in my life.

However, I cannot stay in that season forever. I know that I will someday move into a new season. I probably come to the dreaded season of pain and darkness. Yuck! Then I got to thinking about a friend who is currently there. I thought about all the things God has taught her and how He has been sooo faithful through it. God reveals Himself through every situation and draws us closer to Him not matter where we are or what we are going through. So through a season of pain, although it will be hard, and any other season God decides to lead me through I know...

"One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: "Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love"; and, "You reward everyone according to what they have done." Psalm 62:11-12

When I am able to grasp this verse I can truly refuse to be fearful no matter what comes my way. He loves me and walks before me. Every where I have been and anywhere I go He has been there. He goes before us, so I walk behind Him praying that He would protect me and teach me about Him. I want to know Him more. If that means hardship (and I'm sure it will), then I pray I would have the strength to seek Him in it and trust that He is truly a good and faithful God.

Click here to see a video of one of my all time favorite songs...How He Loves Us

An Uncomfortable Life

You Can Have Me
The Sidewalk Prophets


If I saw You on the street
And You said come and follow Me
But I had to give up everything
All I once held dear
And all of my dreams
Would I love You enough to let go
Or would my love run dry,
When You asked for my life


When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?


Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love You can have me
You can have me


If Your all You claim to be
Then I'm not losing anything
So I will crawl upon my knees
Just to know the joy of suffering
I will love You enough to let go
Lord I give You my life,
I give You my life!


I want to be where You are!
I'm running into Your arms!
And I will NEVER look back!
So Jesus here is my heart!

I love this song! It is the desperate cry of my heart that I would be able to have the humility, boldness and obedience to do what is required to live this song out in my life.

This past weekend I went to a retreat to worship and learn about God about with 500 other college students from the Ames area. Jesus showed up and it was AMAZING! I wanted to blog about the main thing God taught me.

I went to a breakout session on Social Justice. They talked about the prophet Amos who I have never heard about before although it is a small book in the Old Testament. The guy speaking said that the American church was great example of the people Amos was talking too.

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.

¹² For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous, take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.

So, what I gather is that we (American Christians/American in general) are INCREDIBLY blessed. Not only with material things such as food, clothing, and money, but we also have the Gospel and a Bible an arms reach away if we so desire to seek it out.

This sessions for me was motivation to try to reach out to those who have less than I do. I want to live an uncomfortable life. This means serving when I don't want to or to going somewhere that would require more of me, or giving in way that would be uncomfortable. All this because God says "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4 So I'm asking God, what do you want that to look like in my life?

I'm still working on that. I'm hoping to go to grad school and get my Masters in Social Work to get involved with adoption or whatever God's purpose is for me. I also hope to go serve at an orphanage in another country at some point. But I'm praying He would show me more what "uncomfortable" looks like in my day to day life.

I see people all around me living life uncomfortably. One of my closest friends transferred to Iowa City last year to be part of a church plant there. You can bet that was uncomfortable! Many families from Cornerstone are adopting children from Africa. One crazy family is adopting 3 kids! She was just telling me the many ways God has used their adoption to teach them and to teach others! "A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." Proverbs 22:9

When people step out in faith God is faithful to provide. That is how I want to see God's faithfulness in my life, but He can't do that unless I step out in faith. This doesn't mean that it will be easy or that I won't fail a time or two but God clearly states that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. When I mess up it is humbly. I look at the situation and see that I did one of two things: 1)did not trust God 2)did not acknowledge Him in that situation. But God's grace is sufficient however and I continue living my life, learning from my mistakes.

I keep praying that I would see God's work. I think that when I live life uncomfortably He will have more of an opportunity to do just that. He will also reveal Himself and bring glory to His name through every situation. Isn't that why I am here in the first place, to glorify His name??