Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors

Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors
224 pages

"When Katie Davis Majors moved to Uganda, accidentally founded a booming organization, and later became the mother of thirteen girls through the miracle of adoption, she determined to weave her life together with the people she desired to serve.  But joy often gave way to sorrow as she invested her heart fully in walking alongside people in the grip of poverty, addiction, desperation, and disease.

"After unexpected tragedy shook her family, for the first time Katie began to wonder, Is God really good? Does He really love us?  When she turned to Him with her questions, God spoke truth to her heart and drew her even deeper into relationship with Him.

"Daring to Hope is an invitation to cling to the God of the impossible--the God who whispers His love to us in the quiet, in the mundane, when our prayers are not answered the way we want or the miracle doesn't come.  It's about a mother discovering the extraordinary strength it takes to be ordinary.  It's about choosing faith no matter the circumstance and about encountering God's goodness in the least expected place."  --from the publisher

Katie is an amazing young woman with an adventurous faith.  It is impossible NOT to admire her.  This book is about wrestling with God, and it is straight from her heart.  It is a vivid and inspirational window into her personal life and ministry, however, it is somewhat repetitive.  Still, reading a few chapters might restore your faith in humanity and/or encourage you to do something extraordinary.

Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful by Katie Davis Majors

Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful by Katie Davis Majors-209 pages

I really enjoyed Katie's first book, Kisses from Katie, so I was looking forward to reading this. This one is just as good and did not disappoint. Katie chronicles the recent things God has taught her and done in her life since her last book was published. She has gotten married and added a biological son to the family. She has truly shown God's love to so many in Uganda through their suffering and, sometimes, through their healing. Her story is an inspiration and encouragement.

Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis with Beth Clark

Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis with Beth Clark-280 pages

My mom read this book and recommended it (and actually left her copy for me to read last time she visited). I wanted to read it for last month's memoirs and biographies challenge, but didn't get around to it, so I decided to read it this month. I really liked reading this book and didn't want to put it down. It has really changed my outlook on life and what it means to do missions work and to truly do what God has called us to do. Katie Davis leaves everything behind in the U.S. and moves to Uganda shortly after graduating high school. She ends up adopting several young Ugandan girls and sponsoring hundreds to go to school and get proper health care and such. She creates a non-profit organization called Amazima (which means truth in Luganda) Ministries to help sponsor even more kids to get an education and live "better" lives. Throughout her time in Uganda she her faith is tested and stretched and God blesses her immensely and touched many Ugandan lives through her. Overall, I could not put this book down and recommend it to anyone interested in missions work of any kind, here and/or abroad. It has really opened my eyes and changed my outlook on what living in "third world" countries is really like and what God has called us to do.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis -- 288 pages

Katie had her life planned out, complete with college aspirations and a boyfriend whom she loved, but her world was rocked during a week-long trip to Uganda. After that week, she decided to spend a year in Uganda before college, before resuming normal life. She never went back to normal life.
Today, Katie runs the non-profit organization she started, "Amazima", which sponsors children in poverty, and she is also mother to no less than thirteen young girls while taking care of hundreds more. Her heart and hands are full and overflowing.
This book isn't professionally written, but the story speaks for itself and I was overjoyed to read about such a young woman fully devoting her life to God.