Let me first state the the efforts Katie is making to provide relief from suffering in Uganda deserves five stars. Hands down. I am sincerely impressed by how she is choosing to live her life. When Katie graduated from high school, she chose to go to Africa to not only serve those in need with the basics of food, water, shelter and medical care, but she also is on fire to share her love of Jesus Christ with everyone. Her faith sustains her through things that are upsetting and overwhelming. I respect all of this a lot.
My issues with this book stem with not only with the unbelievable repetition throughout the book but also the sense that as a white Christian person she is superior somehow, although she does, over and over, give all the credit to God. I especially had a hard time with all the talk about her daughter's brown faces, "chocolate" faces, why do we always have to talk about how they, the recipients of her charity, are black skinned? I don't know why that rubbed me so wrong but it did.
The audio was really hard to listen to. The reader has a very strong Chicago accent that accentuated Katie's otherness instead of bringing me with her to Africa. She also sounds so YOUNG. And yes, Katie is young, which is another thing that makes the story grate on me a little bit. She is so inexperienced and yet she somehow raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to put so many children in school without that much seeming effort. Again, not downplaying what she's trying to do.
What I wanted was more stories. Stories of the people she helped, changes she saw. Mostly I was told over and over that God is good, He helps us when we're broken and He heals our wounds. Please know I AM NOT MOCKING THESE STATEMENTS. I believe them myself, deeply - I have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and How he can change lives. It's just that I wanted a different kind of book, I guess. Not fair to Katie, maybe, but there you go.
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