One of the major themes throughout Katie’s story is the intimate connection between spiritual wealth and physical poverty. She first realizes this idea when she goes back to the United States after having lived in Uganda for an extended period. While in Uganda, she was relatively poor, but she felt spiritually rich. Since she didn’t have the comforts of a modern Western life, such as abundant food, entertainment, or widely available medical care, she put her faith in God to provide the things that she and her family needed. Instead of turning to the world for sustenance, she relied on her faith to get her through each moment.

However, when she returned to the United States for her semester of college, she fell into the entrapment of comfort. She tried to entertain herself with parties, ate an abundance of food, and bought material goods, but she quickly realized that when she readily had all these needs met, she didn’t turn to God for anything. As a result, she was physically wealthy but felt spiritually impoverished. In contemplating this situation, she says, “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.