Katie Davis: Missionary in Uganda

She paints readers the vivid picture of children sleeping in piles like dogs on dirt floors, mothers who brewed alcohol to make money feeding their children the mash from which it is made to dull the pain of starvation, and crowds of people who haven’t eaten for days fighting like savages to access a pot of beans. She admits that many times she felt overwhelmed at the work there is to do. This portion of the book reminded me of my mission trip to Guatemala during my freshman year of college. On the day our group went to the local street market, I had dozens of villagers following me around the market, begging me to buy their product. I ended up using all of my money that day because I had such a hard time saying “no” to these people. I remembering collapsing on my bed that afternoon, mentally exhausted and heartbroken because I could not do more for the villagers who really needed the money to feed their families. Connecting this memory with Katie’s experience brings me the understanding that in the social work field, as well throughout life in general, we cannot reach every person who needs our help, no matter how hard we try. What we can control is the love we show the people we interact with and the action we put into making a

Before joining the Humanitarian Industry Jessica Alexander was a former University of Pennsylvania graduate whom, after her mother died did not want to work in the corporate arena. Instead Jessica Alexander traveled to many different countries which include: Rwanda, West Darfur, North Darfur, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Sierra Leone and Haiti. While traveling, Jessica found love, dismay, disgust, happiness, and frustration– a mixture of emotions that she exemplified in through her actions, thoughts and narration.

“I have learned that something happens when one makes herself available to God: He starts moving in ways no one could imagine” (Davis 43). Such was the case for Katie Davis in her heart-warming novel, Kisses From Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption, co-written by Beth Clark. Katie’s nonfiction memoir speaks passionately about her move to Uganda: here she strengthened her relationship with Jesus, adopted thirteen little Ugandan girls, started a nonprofit ministry, and so much more. Katie’s unique journey teaches about sacrifice for the Lord our God and about following Him wholeheartedly with reckless abandonment. Consequently, Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis is a hopeful story that teaches readers about God’s love for us, and

accompany her on her journey of self realization. The idea of what she had going into the Congo

Everyday we all make sacrifices for people we love and in rare cases those we do not. The book Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver illuminates one family and the sacrifice they make to journey from their comfortable home in Georgia to the untamed jungle of Africa’s Congo to preach as Baptist missionaries. The story takes place in the 1960s during the withdrawal of Belgian influence in the Congo. One of the family members Orleanna Price the wife and mother of the family sacrifices everything she has to make this journey that her husband so willfully accepted. Through her sacrifice it shows us what she values. This is shown through the sacrifice of her agency, way of life and her happiness.

Martha Arual Akech had a happy childhood in an urban setting as a Dinka girl. When war came to Martha’s village she began the journey to safety as a “Lost Girl” with her family and her fellow refugees during the Second Sudanese Civil War. In the beginning of Martha’s section, she and her fellow lost girl’s are severely dehydrated and in the search of drinking water.Martha describes, “We felt so tired and ill that we’d find a spot to lie down and say to ourselves, ‘this is it, I am not going to make it. I can go anymore’… When at last we came to a creek with plenty of water, I was very, very sick.”(Akech, page 41). Therefore, this displays that Martha and her fellow refugees are severely dehydrated and believe that they will die walking the rigorous journey to water. However, no matter how low the light may shine Martha and her comrades use their hopes and dreams to motivate through the rough times they face. Furthermore, at the end of Martha section, she is going to school and everything seems so difficult and different, however, with lots of effort and studying she passes. Additionally, in Martha’s section, it states, “The classes were really hard for me, too… Everything I had to do every minute of the day was new- the culture, the schoolwork, the customs… I managed to graduate from high school, and

A Long Walk to Water is a novel by Linda Sue Park, a true story of a young boy named Salva in war-torn Southern Sudan who survived despite all odds and the inconceivable challenges he encountered. Park shined light on the innumerable obstacles he faced as a Lost Boy. The Lost Boys are the thousands of young men who dared to make the journey to safety and refuge in Ethiopia by foot. Salva, only eleven years old when the war began in 1983 between the Muslim Arab north and the non-Muslim and non-Arab south, had to survive the rigorous environment. Survival factors like determination and will, motivation, persistence, and endurance made it possible to get through the many challenges.

“That’s why they were only taking a few things at a time; they weren 't really coming for ivory and paintings. They wanted me!” Even when she wasn’t in her room she was always afraid of something. “I always dreaded that my parents would divorce. It was my third biggest fear, right next to the fear that one of them would get abducted by heartmen on the road to Sugar Beach, or my first fear, that I would get sucked into the lagoon by neegee.” Out of all three fears only one seemed to happen. Her parents relationship finally came to an end after a lot of fighting, disagreement, and cheating. “Daddy, I hold your foot, don’t leave us. Daddy, please, I beg you” she cried that day. From then on, except the servants and cook, “it was only women at Sugar Beach.” Even after dealing with something so hard in her life that wasn’t even what affected her the most.

In the beginning of his journey he was a regular school boy who enjoyed his life and cared a lot about his family. “ His eyes kept flicking toward the window, through which he could see the road. The road home. Just a little while longer-a few minutes more-and he would be walking on that road.”(Park 2) Just like a normal boy he doesn’t really pay attention at the end of the school day. He wanted to go home so he could see his family which he cared about very much. In the middle of the journey he is struggling to persevere and really wants to see his family, but near the end of the middle he learns to become a leader. “Uncle had always shared the animals and birds he shot with everyone in the group. But it seemed they had all forgotten that, for Salva now had to beg for scraps, which were given grudgingly.”(Park After his uncle's death it was hard for him to move on, and was struggling to keep walking. “One step at a time… one day at a time. Just today-just this day to get through… Salva told himself this every day. He told the boys in the group, too. And one day at a time, the group made its way to Kenya.”(Park 87) Near the end of the middle he learned to be a leader just like his uncle and lead more than twelve hundred boys safely to the refugee camp. In the end of his journey he has persevered through his challenges and wants to give back to others. “ As of spring 2014, Salva Dut’s nonprofit organization Water for South Sudan has drilled more than 250 wells in southern Sudan for Dinka and Nuer communities, supplying fresh water for hundreds of thousands of people.”(Park 120) After all of his journey he has learned to become a leader and help all types of people, thinking about others before himself, becoming more

When she got sent there she had nobody that she knew. Not even a sibling or a parent. She had no information on the camp so she was being forced to go somewhere that she didn’t even know about. She was basically scared and lonely. She didn’t even know if she was going to live, but she did.

Imagine being snatched from your bed in the middle of the night and forced to commit horrific war crimes at only 7 years old. In Uganda, this sadly isn’t an unusual occurrence. Children and their families live in fear of being captured and made into child soldiers against their will. Led by Joseph Kony, the Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted over 30,000 children in Uganda and forced them to fight in war. These children are forced to become brutal killing machines, and lose touch with their livelihood, morals and ultimately their childhood. A student at MHS should care about the child soldiers in Uganda because children are the future of a country. If children grow up in inhumane conditions and trained to be violent from a young age, they will grow up into antagonistic adults that our generation will have to deal with later on in life.

Think about the poverty and problems that all countries around the world are facing today and every day. As Americans we have an urge to go into these countries to help as much as possible because of that we have begun a revolution. Americans began going on mission trips around the 1960s but did not really pick up until the 1990s. The trend grew after multiple natural disasters, Americans saw and need and went, since then short term mission trips show no sign stopping anytime soon. As the popularity of leaving our comfort zones, many people have found issues with the way the trips are led to the extent of questioning whether or not these trips are really worth the amount of money and time that they consume. Through periodicals, interviews, narratives, and articles, I will show the issues and improvements that could be made to the living situations, attitude of the Americans, and relationships that are acquired during the short term mission trips.

Annalena tonelli was born April 2 1943, in Forli, Italy. She got her degree in law and became a lawyer. After some years,she became an evangelist to Kenya; Where she spent more than ten years at Wajir serving the poor and the sick. When the Kenyan government refused to extend her work permit because she protested the violence used by soldiers against the Wajir in 1980s. She then went to the city of Merca, in Somalia, and to somaliland. In the lonely town of borama, she devoted herself to welfare for the people, where she helped build a hospital; Where she took care of people who was suffering from tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS treatment. On October 5 2003 Annalena tonelli was murdered, to this day her murdered was still a mystery.

In spring of 2016, my youth group and I began planning a trip to a neighboring city. This wasn’t just any trip however, we were going on a mission. Each of us there were bound and determined to

I grew up in an environment where I was sensitive to the needs of those immediately around me; my family, my neighbors, my classmates but my world was a very narrow one. This course has taught be to look at the world as my neighbors and feel a responsibility to the health, safety and welfare of all. I used to believe there was nothing I could do about the famine in Africa or the genocide in Croatia but I now realize that ANY small step I take is a step toward a path leading to action and understanding. One of my closest friends is a Major in the U.S. Army and she has been to Croatia, Iraq and Afghanistan; I am blessed to have her in my life because through her eyes and her stories, I am more in touch with the trials of our modern day world. “Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” (Loeb, 2010).