Sweet Grace

Well, this will just be a quick post but is one I had to write! Many of you know Katie Davis and Amazima Ministries but some don't. Katie is a 20 year old girl who went to Uganda when she was 18 to teach kindergarten and ended up staying. She now has 13 BEAUTIFUL girls that she is in the process of adopting. They all have been abandoned or relinquished by their families. Katie is their mama now. Can you imagine?



But more than that Katie also has a sponsorship program in her community where she sends around 400 children to school and feeds them. In addition, she feeds the Karamajong people meals weekly. I won't take the time to share her entire story but you can check out her blog where you will instantly get a picture of her heart and love for God.

When I was in Uganda I had the absolute joy of meeting Katie and her girls. When I say her children are precious that really doesn't do it justice. They are the most well behaved, thoughtful, kind, fun, loving children I have ever met. We shared a meal together and they all sat at the table together helping each other, being respectful and kind.

I believe that Katie's reflection of God's love to them has changed the lives of these girls. I think the picture of the inside of her gate at the house best sums up what her family exisits to do:




While I could go on for hours about the impact Katie is having in Uganda I mostly wanted to share my total joy over getting to meet little Grace. Grace came to Katie unable to walk, talk or feed herself. Katie was told that Grace would never walk because she was paralyzed. Katie asked everyone to pray for Grace - that God would touch her legs so she could walk. I have to say that my heart just broke when I read about Grace. I prayed for her for weeks. She was constantly on my mind so I just prayed for her. Back in March I sat down at the computer to check Katie's blog like I do every few days and read the following words:

"Grace can WALK. Not well, just a few steps with bent legs, but she can walk. Two weeks ago Grace came to our family and her grandmother explained to me that she was "lame". At three years old she could not stand, walk, hold her spoon, or complete a sentence. Unbelieving I took her to a doctor who said she had "ascending paralysis" meaning her legs were paralyzed and the rest of her would slowly become that way. Something didn't resonate in my spirit, and being that these doctors have been wrong before, I (with all my medical knowledge, ha) decided not to believe them either. Where was the fun in that anyway? We began stretching little Grace's legs, helping her eat, cuddling her constantly, and covering her in prayer. Grace began pulling herself up on the furniture. She began to take a few steps holding onto my hands. Today she walked about ten steps alone before she had to sit down. Grace can hold her spoon, and although she makes quite the mess, she can feed herself. Grace laughs about 13 out of the 14 hours we are awake each day. And Grace can say a full sentence without stuterring, "I lub lou mommy."

I read those words with tears just streaming down my face. Why am I so surprised when God answers prayer? I was on a high for weeks after that post from Katie. I was thrilled for little Grace to have such an amazing story to tell of how God touched her legs and healed her. And I was completely thrilled to step off the bus in Uganda and be able to see Grace walk to me!



God is so good! I was so blessed to be able to hold sweet Grace in my arms after praying for her for so long. Please keep these precious girls and Katie in your prayers as they face many challenges. I know their desire is to just be light wherever they are and to love God with their lives.