Children's HopeChest and Ethiopia

Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living

Today Mr. Federal Express man delivered two boxes of the brand new Fields of the Fatherless. This is the first published edition, the previous Fields was self-published. It looks great, has a new cover, study guide, and new chapters including stories of how others lives have been transformed by walking in these fields. It will be available on Amazon any day, but there is still time to receive an extra 5% discount if you pre-order. Hope you enjoy it, and please tell your friends. Quantity discounts are available, just shoot me an email. Here's a picture of me, Hudson (2), and Lilly (4) aka Snow White.

WHAT I HAVE

May 11 is The Day of Pentecost. It is 50 days after Easter Sunday and 10 days after Ascension Thursday. It is the day when the Church around the world celebrates the Holy Spirit coming in power so that we may be witnesses to the new life of Christ.

Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. - Acts 2:45
Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. - Acts 3:6

The early church was known by their generosity. Christianity was even criticized as a "religion of widows and orphans." As we celebrate the church on the Day of Pentecost, let's seek the same criticism and live with the same life-giving generosity. There are millions of orphaned children waiting for you to give them what you have. Give what you have.

SELL

1. Choose a personal item of value (a leather coat, an electric guitar, a video game system, a canoe, jewelry, furniture, a collector's item, etc.)
2. Sell the item. You can use whatever method is most familiar to you: eBay, Craigslist, a yard sale, a consignment shop, or the classifieds.
3. Collect the money.

GIVE

1. Go to www.hopechest.org; choose "GIVE" and fill out the form or follow this link.
2. Write "What I Have 2008" in the Notes/Child Reference Number field.

PROMOTE

Click on the links below to download promotional materials for use in your church, small group, or school. There are several versions of the poster formatted for different sizes and usages. Feel free to re-post this information all over the Internet too (on Facebook, your blog, MySpace, or wherever your online home is.)

What I Have powerpoint slide - POWERPOINT SLIDE
What I Have 11X17 poster - Download What I Have poster
What I Have 8.5X5.5 bulletin insert - Download What I Have bulletin insert
What I Have 8.5X11 flyer - Dowload What I Have flyer

These funds will be directed toward the most urgent and strategic programs in holistic and long-term orphan care in Eastern Europe and Africa. Some of those outreaches could include:

Feeding programs
Educational initiatives
Health care
Community development
Spiritual discipleship

If you have any questions, email Daniel Clark at: daniel@hopechest.org or call him at (719) 955-4009.

Children's HopeChest is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

ADL - Catch Up

I've been traveling so much, I can't keep up with myself! Ethiopia people, an update is at the end of this blog.

Last week I was hosted on the Lesea Broadcasting Network's, The Harvest Show. A wonderful group of people to meet - the focus was my recent book release: Confessions of a Good Christian Guy.. Then off through Indiana to Winona Lake where our dear Lena will live when she marries Greg in two weeks! I spent time all day with Greg and his wonderful parents, soon to be our in-laws. Wow, that's weird to think about.

Then off to Chicago to do two Moody radio programs for Red Letters, then back home. Currently I'm in Atlanta.

Thanks to all of you who emailed about Ethiopia. Here's the skinny: the plans are to start the process of opening the country now and taking a trip sometime in the next 6-12 months. This stage is about raising funds to hire staff, buy vehicles, and begin the humanitarian work of distributing food, clothes and initial programs. We are also connecting with churches and business who are interested in sponsoring orphanages in Ethiopia. Each community here in the US will sponsor an entire community there, helping to provide not only food, but spiritual development, education, medical/dental, and emotional support. For more info please see our website: www.hopechest.org. This will provide holistic, sustainable programs for the kids in a way that cares for them the way a family would. There's something special about Ethiopia. There are a lot of committed people who have adopted, willing and ready to help in any way. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm about this project. You are the ones who will help make this successful. We'll have a conference call to connect us for those who have responded.

THE NOVEL IS DONE and turned in!!! Looks like it will release in the spring of 2009. I'll keep you updated on ideas for the cover, plans, etc., as it rolls out.

ADL - Washington DC

A Day in the Life (heretofore: ADL) took me to Washington DC on Thursday and Friday. Daniel Clark, outreach director for Children's HopeChest and I met with Senator James Inhofe of Okalahoma. We were supposed to spend just ten minutes together but an hour and a half later, we were still meeting. Senator Inhofe is an amazing man, a Christian, and the biggest advocate for Africa we have in the Senate. He has an adopted granddaughter from Ethiopia, which was exciting to find out since we are beginning plans to start programs in that country..

That evening I spoke and Daniel led worship at National Community Church, better known as Theatre Church at one of their locations, Ebenezer's Coffee House, close to Capitol hill. My friend Rose has pictures and info about the night on her blog. The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn speaking at the Joint Council for International Children's Services conference. There were some wonderful people attending, I made many new friends and saw some old ones like Janie VanDyke from Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids and Scott Brown from Gladney Adoption in Ft. Worth.

A lunch with my friend John, a pastor at NCC, and off to the plane. Whew! This weekend was full with three soccer games and four basketball games with our kids.

Off tomorrow for South Bend, Indiana. Talk to you from there!

A Day in the Life - Colorado

Today was a home day - thank God! I'm desperately trying to finish my fiction book. After rewriting, editing, etc., it's still 300 typed pages. That's a ton of work by the way. It should be completely done by Monday - yeah! Throughout the process the story has completely changed, including a major twist at the end. It will release spring of 2009.

I spent much of the day in meetings and phone calls. Giving across the country is down and at Children's HopeChest, we are feeling the economic crunch where people are losing money in the stock market and afraid of what the future economy holds. So, if you are thinking about giving, now is a great time to help us keep our programs going to the thousands of orphans we serve.

ETHIOPIA PEOPLE - I had a call with Russ Weir, a friend down in Houston today. He and his wife Angel, have a huge heart for Ethiopia. We are beginning the initial process of gathering everyone who has a heart for this country to help us open it. Please email me ASAP if this is you. Amy and Josh Bottomly, I know this is good news to you!

We are expecting a foot of snow tonight and that is making me a little nervous for my flight tomorrow to DC. I leave at 6:00 am, that means leaving the house no later than 4:00 a. For those of you in the DC area, I'll see you at Ebenezer's Coffee House tomorrow night. (Click the name for details)

A Day in the Life - North Carolina

First of all, I forgot my camera so no pictures. Sorry about that. The golf tournament was a huge success raising money for scholarships through The Ruckus House. Ruckus House is the vision of Mike Minter (check out his website, it's very cool), Mike Rucker, and Muhsin Muhammad (he's also adopted from Ethiopia). These guys are amazing and their heart for the orphan and the poor.

After the event we stayed at the dinner hanging out with the football players who were there. Many expressed interest in really doing something to help orphans in Africa, they even want to go on a trip which I'll likely organize in the fall/spring.

I can't say enough good things about Mike Minter. He's a solid Christian that believes in giving back. He's used his influence as an NFL player to help others, and to establish businesses that make money so he can pour it back into God's business. I was inspired by what he's doing with his life and had a great time with him at his home outside Charlotte.

With only three hours of sleep, I got up at 3:30 am Colorado time to catch a flight back home. I'm totally exhausted and have a day to recover before I head out to Washington DC tomorrow to speak at several events and meet with Senator Inhofe from Oklahoma who has a huge heart for Africa and travels there ever year.

Pictures next time, I promise!

Headed to North Carolina - A Day in the Life

Today, I leave for a flight that gets me into Charlotte at midnight. I'm going with my good friend and NFL agent, Craig Domann, of Domann and Pittman Agency. We're golfing in a tournament hosted by former Carolina Panther Safety, Mike Minter who is a believer who has a huge heart for the disenfranchised. There will be NFL players from the Dolphins, Steelers, Giants, Bucs, Falcons, Patriots, you name it. This is an important time to further connect with these players to get them involved in the lives of orphans, Russia, and Africa as we are doing with Thomas Tapeh. By the way, Thomas is not longer with the Eagles, he's with the Minnesota Vikings. We will still do a shoe drive with Thomas, rallying the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis to help orphans in Africa. Then we head to the dinner that evening and off to Mike's House to watch the NCAA tournament finals between Kansas and Memphis. Craig's a huge Kansas fan so, I'm voting for them! I'll upload some pictures after the event.

Off to Hayden's competitive basketball game!

A Day in the Life

Many of my friends have asked what life looks like for me from day to day. So, starting Monday, I'm doing a "Day in the Life" for the next 10 days or so to give you a fly on the wall view of Tom Davis happenings. You'll either say, "Wow, you need to be on medication," or "you live a boring life," or "Love ya man, but I'm glad I'm not you." Whatever you think, all prayers are solicited and accepted!

Today, I'm trying to finish the second draft of my novel, Scared, which has to be turned in early next week. Sunday night, on the plane bound for Charlotte, NC. Until then, I hope you enjoy this video by Sara Groves, inspired by her visit to Africa.

Jesus' Life

I love when you read something about who Jesus really was and what he was really talked about, not some religious form we've tried to squeeze him into. What you're about to read will challenge and inspire you to be Jesus and emulate his life. This book by Richard Rohr, Adam's Return, continues to challenge me.

"Jesus' language was not formal or academic language; it was more what we would call the vernacular laanguage of the dialect, using folksy metaphors about regular life, farmers, fishermen, housewives, and daily occurrences. He was more concerned about making sense to the outcasts than to the in-crowds. He downplayed titles and pedigree status symbols. He mentioned clothing only twice, one time to criticize the priests in their "robes and tassels" and the other to say "that it is only the pagans who worry about such things." He felt free to change customs and seeming commandments. He was not a priest or even a Levite; clearly he was a layman who was not formally trained. Yet after all this, we have created liturgical orders to his honor, with detailed and enforced protocols in both Catholic and Protestant version to worship a man who never once asked to be worshiped, but only followed. We dress up for a man who tried to dress us down. We create elaborate ceremonies for a man who seldom seemed to have attended any."