God Called, She Answered

Amazima Ministries is an organization that has received a lot of media talk due to a book called Kisses from Katie. This book was written by Katie Davis and tells the story of her journey to the founding Amazima Ministries. In the book Katie also tells about her adoption of fourteen girls. Amazima in Lugandan means “truth” and that is a very appropriate name for this organization and it’s mission.

While in Uganda the team had the opportunity to join Katie and her daughters for dinner of Rolexes and cassava. When we arrived the girls ran to greet us and four of them proceeded to take Claire, Shelby and I to their “house.” They were making pancakes and pizza by using play kitchen pieces and flowers and leaves. We ran around that house so much I kept forgetting which door my shoes were at and eventually just ran around barefoot.

The team at Katie's House with Katie and her daughters

When dinner was called the girls, Katie and AnnaBliss all sat at the huge table that is also used for school during the weekdays. The team sat on couches nearby. Some of us sat on the floor and soon Katie joined us on the floor too. The food was great. Cassava is a root that is prepared like French fries. It was great! After dinner the girls began taking their showers. Those who weren’t getting ready for bed, we played Ninja. It’s amazing the competiveness that is between those sisters when it came to playing Ninja. I can proudly say that I held out until there were only four of us left: me and three of Katie’s daughters. Sadly, I was not match for the Davis Girls and was out in the next round.

One Saturday, we went to Amazima for their weekend feeding program. The kids all come from around the area. The kids are part of a sponsorship program and must be enrolled in school in order to be in this program. Check out Amazima’s website www.amazima.org to learn more about this life-changing program.



Katie surrounded by kids at Amazima



The day began with playing with the kids and getting ready for chapel. Once all the kids were assembled under the thatched roof of the pavilion, Uncle Raoul introduced Agnes, one of Katie’s daughters. The girls were going to perform a skit but first some fun. Agnes was the host of a dance off competition and the kids had a blast dancing, laughing and having a great time! After the competition, the girls did a skit about David and Goliath. It was a great skit and the kids really paid attention to the story being told. After the girls finished, we were called up. Tina introduced all of us and then told the story of the Seven Days of Creation. This story telling included fish faces, making rain and numerous animal sounds. I can imagine what the ark sounded like with all the animals making noise.

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Making a fish face

After the story we told, we helped the kids make bracelets to remind them of the Seven Days of Creation. I loved doing this because the kids were so eager to make the bracelets. Even though some of them didn’t understand English I was still able to show them they did a great job by giving them a thumbs-up in which they would return with a huge grin on their face. Tina surprised the kids with a “sweeties” or candy. In this case the candy came from two huge bags of DumDum suckers. The kids were so polite and waited patiently for us to hand them a sucker. Once the kids had a sucker they went to go play while lunch was finished.


Passing out DumDums to the kids

Sarah, me and Adam

Adam styling in my shades

I met Adam; a special needs kid who is just as sweet as he can be. Adam gave me a tour of the property. We went to play the drums for a while before going to the playground, the forest, the sticks pile and even met some of his friends. All the kids loved Adam and Adam loved my camera. He would walk around wearing my sunglasses and taking pictures with my camera. Adam loved to give hugs and I probably got four from him while I was at Amazima.

A picture taken by Adam





Adam and his friends

The lunch bell rang and the kids lined up to wash their hands before getting their plate of rice, beans and chicken. I was given the honor to stand between two of the helpers and pour beans on top of the rice while the women placed a handful of chopped chicken on top of the rice and beans. The serving pace was fast but we “Muzungus” kept up and the Ugandans were laughing at how fast we caught on to their speed.




Happy Servers: Paige, Cate, Lynley, Shelby and Sarah

When all the kids had plates, the servers were allowed to get a plate. I only got rice and chicken as I am not a fan of beans. There were no forks or spoons or knives. It was normal to eat with your hands, so I did. We were on a tight schedule so we didn’t have a chance to say a long goodbye. Some of Katie’s daughters walked us to the van and many of the kids waved as we drove away.

I am so thankful for Katie Davis and her ministry. She has many staff members on her team that make the ministry possible. Generous donators also help her ministry too. A huge fundraiser for the program is the magazine necklaces that have become a rising fashion statement here in the States. Please be in prayer for Katie’s ministry and the children who are in the program. Please pray for the kids who do not have sponsors in hope that they will get that lifeline. Also, thank you for your donations of buying the necklaces.