Author Tom Davis, Interview

Tom Davis currently serves as CEO of Children’s HopeChest, a global orphan care ministry headquartered in Colorado Springs. A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future–one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR.

When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.

One of the main characters in Scared, a twelve year old AIDS orphan named Adanna, was inspired by a real child. Can you tell us a little about the real Adanna and how she compelled you to write this novel?

The idea of Adanna does stem from a real girl I met in Swaziland who was twelve years old at the time. She was a gorgeous little girl filled with life. Her joy was contagious and she  just loved being around our group, hugging on various team members and playing games with us in the field.  Both of her parents had died from AIDS and she was taken in by her uncle. Sadly, she became a slave for him and his family. Neighbors complained to the authorities that she was being abused and she was removed from the home. The only issue she struggled with besides being shy when she arrived at the orphanage, was one of incontinence. They thought the poor thing had never been potty trained. They took her to the doctor to find out what was wrong. The truth was almost unbelievable. Her incontinence was a result of the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her uncle and other men he had sold her to. I walked around the rest of that day in tears. I couldn’t believe someone would treat a child is such an evil way. Then those kinds of stories became more of the norm for me on the trip. The Adannas in Africa are real kids, with dreams and hopes of a good future. A future that won’t exist unless the body of Christ gets involved in their lives.

Though this novel was hard to read in many places, one of the things I appreciated most about it was that you did not pull your punches. You unflinchingly portrayed suffering and heartbreak while weaving in mercy and hope. How did you find that balance? And did you struggle personally while telling this story?

It was quite difficult. I wanted to write a story that was honest. It is graphic in places but I can assure you that orphans in Africa and around the world experience things much worse than what you read on those pages. That was one of the most difficult realities for me to swallow as I researched and wrote the book. Thinking about the abuse millions of innocent children go through every single day is a frightening truth. There came a point in the story when I couldn’t let one more terrible thing happen to Adanna. Originally, I wanted a scene in the book where Adanna was forced to sell her body in order to feed her younger brother and sister. It happens all the time in Africa. But I couldn’t do it.

You are an outspoken child advocate and have committed your life to helping the least of these. Will you tell us a little about the ministry you lead, Children’s Hopechest – what you do and how readers can get involved?

Hopechest was started in 1994 by helping orphans in Russia. After the fall of communism, nothing was being done to help the millions of children who were institutionalized by the state. Most of the kids were kicked out at fifteen or sixteen and they didn’t have the ability to survive. In fact, 70% of the girls ended up in prostitution. The idea of Hopechest is to help these kinds of kids have the chance at the kind of life a family kid would have. We help to meet the same needs for orphans that you and I would meet for our own children – food and clothing, but also loving relationships, medical care, and perhaps most important, an education. We also specialize in helping kids make the transition out of orphanages and into young adulthood. The idea of Hopechest is to ‘incarnate’ James 1:27. “Pure and undefiled religion is taking care of widows and orphans in their distress.” That’s what we do. Connect people, churches, Christian schools, businesses, and online communities with orphans and orphanages in places like Russia and Africa. We don’t want to just drill wells and provide food, we also want to provide long-term strategies to help them out of poverty. One of the ways we do this by paying for their education all the way through college and university and by providing spiritual mentors who can walk beside them through life and help them navigate the difficult waters. There are many ways to get connected, just check out by blog: www.cthomasdavis.com or one of our websites: www.hopechest.org, 5for50.org, or www.scaredthebook.com.

While reading Scared I was struck by the characters – not just how real they were, but how they could be any of the people in my life. Which character do you relate to the most? Why?

Stuart, without a doubt. He is me in many ways. My story is the story of a man searching for meaning in life and finding it the eyes of orphans. I think deep inside each one of us is a desire to help suffering children. It’s how God made us! Our hearts should break with compassion for the Adannas in the world. Even though Stuart has had great success in his life, he struggles to live with significance. Don’t we all to some degree? Of course raising godly children and loving our spouses is our first priority. But how can we invest our lives in ‘least of these’ Jesus talks about in Matthew 25? Their is so much eternal impact that comes from feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. That’s my journey and Stuart’s too!

You’ve written a number of non-fiction books. Why did you make the leap to fiction? How was that process different for you as a writer?

The fiction leap occurred because I wanted to put story to statistics. I think people are so inundated with statistics, they eventually tune out to the real needs of the world. It’s only natural. Writing non-fiction is much easier for me. Non-fiction books are linear. I write a chapter, edit, and move on to the next. Many times, I won’t even go back to those chapters once they’re done. Fiction is completely different anial. Every word written in the first chapter has to tie in to the rest of the entire book. It’s more like a work of art. Writing fiction has taught me how to really pay attention to detail, not necessarily my strength. I tend to be a bit ADD, so that doesn’t come naturally. I really believe that writing fiction has helped me to become a much better writer overall. I guess I’ll find out when I write my next non-fiction book.

All fiction carries a message – something the author wants the audience to wrestle with. When readers turn the last page of Scared, what do you want them to take away?

“We need the poor more than the poor need us.” Yes, Jesus wants us to care for the poor and love our neighbors as ourselves. But I need to love the broken and care for the afflicted, not because I’m Biblically bound, but because it’s what I was created to do. It’s what makes me the most alive.

I was particularly fond of the character Pastor Walter. He runs the care point in Adanna’s village and does all he can to make a difference. Have you encountered a few real Pastor Walter’s on your travels? How have they impacted your ministry? Your writing?

The Pastor Walters of the world are my heroes and heroines. In every country I’ve been too, I’ve found incredible people who are changing the world around them. Most of them are poor themselves, they don’t have anything to offer except their lives. Then God takes them, just as they are, and uses them for something great. I have to tell you that most of these people are women. Grandmother’s in Russia, “Go-go’s” in Africa who literally carry their communities on their backs. They are the Mother Theresas of the world for me. I’m humbled by their commitment and courage to live by faith and trust God to use the little that’s in their hands.

Below, the real Pastor Walter shares the harsh realities of life in Africa for many children:

Your next novel also deals with a hard subject and the suffering of children. Will you tell us a little about it?

The name of the next novel is Priceless and takes place in Russia. A young girl named Marina grows up in an orphanage and is forced to leave at the age of fifteen. She thinks she has landed the job of her dreams when she applies to be a nanny in a foreign country. But her dream becomes a real-life nightmare when she is swept into the child sex-slave industry by the mafia. Much of this billion dollar industry is controlled by the Russian mafia. They steal girls right out of the orphanage because nobody will miss them. They are true ‘lost girls.’ Stuart is right in the middle of this saga too. He could lose his family, his reputation, even his life if…I better leave it at that!

You can read the first chapter of SCARED here.

The book trailer for Scared: