In this episode, we hear from Katie Davis Majors – author, mother of 14, and founder of Amazima Ministries. Katie shares compelling reflections on how difficult, and beautiful, it can be to live extraordinary lives in the midst of ordinary days.
In this episode, we'll explore:
Habits that help you to keep your heart close to God’s in the thick of daily life.
How Katie has experienced the transition from “big” undertakings for God to “small” acts of faithfulness.
Choices that help us find gifts in sorrow.
The little things that matter most in serving our neighbor.
Key Quotes
“God took away my optimism, but replaced it with a hope in Him…Optimism is so dependent on outward circumstances.”
Katie Davis Majors
“Pain draws us closer to God…to turn to God because He’s the only one who could possibly understand our hearts…He’s really the only one who’s experienced the full extent of human pain and human suffering.”
Katie Davis Majors
“Sometimes I think it can be easier to do something when there are going to be a lot of applause and a lot of people looking on…It can be much harder to just do the everyday tasks and to do them wholeheartedly and to do them with love…especially when nobody’s looking.”
Katie Davis Majors
Resources and Guests
Katie Davis Majors
Mother, Writer and Founder of Amazima Ministries
Katie Davis Majors moved to Uganda over a decade ago with no idea that it would be the place that God chose to build her home and her family. Today, she is a wife to Benji and mom to her 14 favorite people. Katie and her family invest their lives in empowering the people of Uganda with education, medical care, and spiritual discipleship. Katie is also the founder of Amazima Ministries, an organization that cares for vulnerable children and families in Uganda. She was voted Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year Reader’s Choice Award Winner in 2012. Katie is the author of Daring to Hope, and the New York Times bestseller Kisses from Katie.
Jedd Medefind, Host
Jedd Medefind loves journeying life with his wife, Rachel. He relishes wrestling matches with his five children—Siena, Marin, Eden, Lincoln, and Phoebe. Most of all, he desires to reflect the heart of Jesus Christ in all of life.
Jedd has seen (and experienced!) that lives are turned upside-down when Christians begin to reflect God’s heart through adoption, foster care and service to orphans worldwide. This kind of love transforms not only vulnerable children, but also those who open hearts and homes to them. Churches begin to look different, too, as the entire community pulls together for children who’ve known great hurt. Finally, the change touches even onlookers, who encounter the Gospel not only in words, but made visible before their eyes.
Desiring to spur this kind of transformation through the Church, Jedd serves as President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.
Through CAFO, more than 225 respected organizations unite in shared initiatives, along with a wide network of churches. CAFO’s membership works in tandem to inspire and equip families, churches and organizations for effective service to vulnerable children and families — from adoption and US foster care, to aid and empowerment programs worldwide.
Prior to his this role, Jedd served in the White House as a Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, leading the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In this post, he oversaw reform efforts across the government to make community- and faith-based groups central partners in all Federal efforts to aid the needy, from prisoner reentry to global AIDS. As described by the Harvard Political Review, these reforms “fundamentally changed the government’s strategy for improving the lives of the downtrodden…”
Previously, Jedd held a range of posts in the California State Legislature. He also helped establish the California Community Renewal Project, which strengthens nonprofits in some of the state’s most challenged communities. He has worked, studied and served in more than thirty countries, with organizations ranging from Price-Waterhouse in Moscow to Christian Life Bangladesh.
Books written by Jedd include Upended and Four Souls. He also writes articles and op-eds for publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post to Comment Magazine, and engages radio interviews with both faith-based and mainstream outlets, from NPR and Al Jazeera to Moody Radio. Jedd’s most recent book, Becoming Home, offers a brief-yet-rich exploration of how families and communities can embrace vulnerable children with wisdom and love through adoption, foster care, mentoring and more.
