Encountering God

When Katie Davis was 18, she took a year to go do mission work in Uganda.  She was from an affluent family in a very nice community.  She was homecoming queen.  Drove a cute car.  Dated cute boys.  Had doting parents.  Regularly attended a good church.  And there she was in Uganda...

"It is pouring.  It is freezing.  The power has been off for days and the water lines are down.  Yet I stand in the middle of twenty-five children praising and thanking the Lord... Some stand with their hands in the air.  Others, like me, overwhelmed with awe, have fallen to their knees on the cold cement floor.  The beautiful sound of twenty-six voices lifted in prayer drowns out the beating of the rain on the tin roof.  God is so in this moment; I feel so full of His love that my heart threatens to burst.  This is not something I can explain.  This is not something words can capture.  This feeling is bigger.  The splendor of God in this room takes my breath away.  We all pray out loud and our voices mix into one, all different words, but the same message.  Thank you.  Thank you.

"... I've had people ask me why I think Africa is so impoverished, but these children are not poor.  I, as a person who grew up wealthy, am.  I put value in things.  These children, having no things, put value in God.  I put my trust in relationships; these children, having already seen relationships fail, put their trust in the Lord.  This nation is blessed beyond any place, any people I have ever encountered.  God has not forgotten them.  In fact, I believe He has loved them just a little bit extra.

" I sit here freezing and wet in this pitch-black room as the rain beats on the roof, and God is so close I feel I can touch Him.  My deepest prayer is that I could know the Lord as well as the first grader next to me.  All my senses are full of His greatness.  God's glory has fallen down into this place and is soaking us even deeper than the rain.  I never ever want to be dry."

**This excerpt is from Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis.  You can also visit Katie's blog, where she writes about her ministry.**