KISSES FROM KATIE

This moving debut memoir tells Davis’ story of moving to Uganda and founding Amazima ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of underprivileged children.

As a teenager, the author found herself hungering for an out-of-the-box experience that would allow her to do “something incredible for God and others.” She researched opportunities at orphanages and discovered a Ugandan home for abandoned babies that needed volunteers. Over the Christmas holiday in 2006 and just six months before Davis graduated from high school, she “lost part of [her] heart to a place [she’d] never been before.” A pastor whom she met during the trip invited her to teach at a kindergarten he would soon be opening, and Davis accepted. While she knew she would be giving up what most young, upper-middle-class adults take for granted—a comfortable life, college and prospects for a good career—she didn’t yet realize how much her work would change her. Davis came to love the people and especially the children in her village as much (if not more than) the members of her own family. At 19, she adopted four homeless little girls; by the time she was 22, she had become mother to 10 more. Her personal sacrifices cut her to the bone but taught her that "to be real is to love and be loved until there's nothing left.” The profundity of this young author’s commitment to God and to going to “the hard places” is nothing short of remarkable.

Though frankly evangelical, Davis’ book is still a refreshing read for those seeking the inspiration to follow the stirrings of their own hearts.