PRICELESS: The new book by Tom Davis

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Priceless Release Day and Press Release

It's finally here - the official release day for my new novel, Priceless! To celebrate, I wanted to make you a special offer: If you will walk into your local bookstore and purchase a copy of the book, I will send you a signed copy of any of my other books for free. All you have to do is send an email to [email protected] that contains your address. You don't need to show any proof, we'll take your word for it. My hope is that after reading this book, you will be so moved by the plight of girls who are caught in human trafficking, you will rise up and do something that helps set them free. Thanks for supporting my books and for being such incredible advocates for those who have no voice. 

Here's a copy of the press release describing the content of Priceless.

Visionary Global Minister Tom Davis

Exposes Human Trafficking, Sex Trade in Priceless

8.4 million children are sex trafficking victims

2 children are trafficked every minute

Up to 300,000 prostituted children live on the streets in the U.S.

COLORADO SPRINGS—Child sex trafficking is not a topic that likely receives much discussion time at the water cooler or around the Sunday School table, but it’s happening all over the world—and in our backyard. Online news items are full of examples of sex trade, from the most recentCraig’s List controversy to sex tourism to other countries. Halfway around the world or right next door, the sex trade is big business and it affects more persons than you can imagine. In Priceless, the latest book in the EDGE OF THE WORLD series, visionary, author, consultant, speaker, and child adoption advocate Tom Davis tells the hard truth about child sex trafficking, one of the most harrowing and growing problems of our time, in a fictionalized account that will inform, shock, and motivate readers.

In the follow-up to Davis’ widely acclaimed book, Scared, American photojournalist Stuart Daniels goes from Africa to the heart of Russia. Stuart’s work has great meaning, as he educates people about social injustice around the word. His Russian trek gives him the opportunity to save the lives of two girls. But the mission becomes more than he bargained for when he soon becomes the key player in a plot to rescue countless girls helplessly trapped in Russia’s seedy and lucrative sex-slave industry. Davis is hands-on with this type of vital ministry in real life, and through the pages of Priceless, readers will walk along with main character Stuart and see just how real and deadly it is. Will Stuart have the courage, the strength, and the faith to do what he must for the sake of these girls? 

Priceless is a novel that is thoroughly compelling because it incorporates many of the first-hand experiences Davis has had via his ministry, Children’s HopeChest, a global effort that impacts people daily by caring for orphans. This story is dark, but Priceless also shows that the seeds of hope, faith, bravery, and love exist in the most deprived and sordid situations. Readers will garner compelling information from the excellent AfterWords section of the book, which includes questions, answers, and ways readers can get involved. Priceless is a book that will not allow you to remain unaffected or silent. Proceed cautiously; Priceless could change your life.

For more information visit www.sheispriceless.com.

Priceless by Tom Davis

David C. Cook

ISBN13: 978-1-5891-9103-7

June 2010

278 pages, $14.99

www.sheispriceless.com

Media Contact:

Jeane Wynn

Wynn-Wynn Media, LLC

P: 918-283-1834

F: 918-512-4409

[email protected]

A Little Girl Named Magdala

My close friend and partner in crime against poverty is in Haiti right now. Seth Barnes asked me to post this so all of you could pray and help the children his team is ministering to. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Down muddy, potholed streets, behind a high wall is the Son of God orphanage.

 We walked through the building and into the back courtyard, 126 orphans sat in rows doing school under a tall Zaman tree. In 2002 Dr. Maccine Hyppolite saw a group of orphan children near his house. He took them into his home. Word got out and the orphans kept coming.

 

An engineer declared that his three story building should be condemned, but Dr. Hyppolite feels it's solid. "Just a little rebar and concrete to reinforce the beams and it will be OK." As we walked through the building, an orphan girl smiled at me. Something in me said, "Go talk to her." I grabbed John to translate and asked her name and age.

 

"I'm Magdala and I'm ten. I've been here three days." I asked her if she had parents and I thought John translated, yes. At that I felt a little relieved - my mind doing some strange triage, parceling out the compassion, "OK, I'm off the hook here. If God had a special assignment for me, she'd be a pure orphan." And I moved on.

 

The orphans, eager for adult attention, crowd around you and play all kinds of hand-slapping games. One little boy clutched my pants. I told one of the orphanage workers that I was impressed at how he reached out for affection. She said, "That's my boy. His father died in the earthquake." I wasn't quite sure how to respond - be sad for her, or affectionate toward her boy as he sought to fill his father gap.

 

Later, unable to shake the feeling that God wanted more out of me with Magdala, I went back and asked her a few more questions. She said, "After both my parents died, my aunt took care of me. And then she brought me here." It hit my spirit for some reason. Four years ago God told me to make room for his orphans in my life. And we have a lot of them in Africa. So, what did this interaction with Magdala mean?

 

I asked her if I could pray for her. She said yes. I prayed a blessing. I prayed protection. I imagined what her parents would say if they were still living. I felt God's care for her and my eyes began to water. And I said amen. And then goodbye. And I walked out of the orphanage still wondering.

 

I do know this for sure: God loves his children and he wants us in their lives. We may see 126 orphans under a Zaman tree. He sees Magdala.

 

If you'd like to help me support Magdala, please go here & if you give, mention her name in the "note" field. I'd like to pray for her and provide for her education.

Too Many Children in our World Suffer Appalling Abuse

Today, the UN outlawed abuses inflicted on children including prostitution, pornography, and the sale of children. I don't know why this took so long, but good for them. It's good to see world leadership stepping up and doing their part to protect kids from abusers. 

What if the church stepped up to do something radical? What if the church said, "If there are any children in the world in danger of being exploited sexually or trafficked, we will take them in. We'll find families. No questions asked."

That's the kind of Acts 2 love and sacrifice that would change the world. 

New York — The United Nations on Tuesday launched a major campaign for universal adoption of treaty protocols that outlaw the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography, and protect youngsters in armed conflict, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for full ratification by 2012.

"The sad truth is that too many children in today's world suffer appalling abuse," he told a ceremony at the headquarters of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in New York, marking the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the two optional protocols strengthening the Convention on the Rights of the Child by providing a moral and legal shield for youngsters vulnerable to prostitution and pornography or caught up in armed conflict.

"Two-thirds of all member states have endorsed these instruments. On this tenth anniversary of their adoption, I urge all countries to ratify them within the next two years."

Mr. Ban cited recent advances: the release three months ago by the Maoist army in Nepal, under UN supervision, of more than 2,000 soldiers who had been recruited as children; the UN-assisted freeing of children from the ranks of armed groups In Côte d'Ivoire; the prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of former Congolese militia leader, Thomas Lubanga for war crimes against children.

He noted, too, that fewer and fewer states now permit children to join the armed forces and reiterated his previous calls to the Security Council to consider tough measures on those states and insurgent groups that still recruit children. From AllAfrica.com.

Priceless Is Available Online

I just discovered that my new book, Priceless, is now available online. Of course, I always prefer that you go to your local bookstore and purchase the book, but if you just can't wait, you can purchase it now at BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, and CBD.com. Wow, they arrived fast!

To date, writing this book has moved me more than any of my others. It's an extremely important issue all of us need to be involved in. I will make the same offer to book clubs on a first come, first served basis: if you would like me to participate in a Q&A, I will make myself available. Shoot me an email: [email protected].

Please visit the book site by clicking here: SheIsPriceless.com. You can find all of the videos and articles we've done to date on the issue of human trafficking. There is also an ACT Page, where you can find out exactly what to do to help. 

Tell your friends, Post the trailer, or Offer a sneak peak of the first chapter. I really appreciate your help in getting the word out about the book and this issue. All of you are so amazing at being advocates for my books. I am truly thankful.

Pack your stuff, this blog's moving

Within the week, I am moving the Tom Davis blog to Beliefnet. I'll be joining the likes of Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog on one of the largest Web sites in the world for matters of faith and spirituality. Find out more about Beliefnet.

About a month ago I was asked if I would consider moving my blog to Beliefnet. They asked if I would provide social justice content--just as I have been doing for years right here.

Why did I say yes?

The voice and message of this blog will now have a larger audience. Many more people will hear about God's heart to protect orphans, defend the oppressed, and rescue the poor. By interacting with my blog through comments,  you too will have the opportunity to share how God is moving in your heart to fulfill his promises to orphans and the poor.

Some things will change and there will be advertisements. I have never had ads on my blog before, but advertisements are a part of the Beliefnet platform, and I will not have any control over the ads displayed as you read my posts. You may notice other cosmetic differences or changes to how comments are posted.

The message of this blog will continue, and grow. As a social justice blogger, I will continue to write about the topics I have for the past three years. If anything, you will see more posts from me, and more of the content you've come to expect on my blog.

I am excited for the move, and for the opportunity to find a larger audience to bring into the movement of believers helping to bring God's love to the poor of our world. More details to follow.

Russia, St. Basil's, A Video, and Priceless

Every day there is more news reports regarding human trafficking and sex trafficking. This is the exact subject of my next book. Priceless releases in 6 short days! To keep my commitment about having the book come to life for you, I'm releasing the 2nd video today to take you inside Stuart's world. This scene in Red Square is one of the most majestic places on earth. Feel free to post this on your blog to help promote the release. I hope you enjoy it.

Priceless - St Basil's & Red Square from Tom Davis on Vimeo.

An Ordinary Girl Rescues Two Women from Trafficking

I love this true story. All of us wonder what we can do to make a difference in some of the biggest human rights issues we face today. This woman just did it. She acted. What an inspiring story from Newsweek :

EXCLUSIVE: One Of The Heroes Behind the MetaFilter Human-Trafficking Rescue Speaks Out McKay Coppins

Late Wednesday night, Kathrine Gutierrez Hinds, 24, came across a frightening story—unfolding in real time on an online message board—about two young Russian women who, by the looks of it, were about to unwittingly become hostesses at a seedy nightclub. Now, less than 48 hours later, they are sleeping in her Chelsea apartment in Manhattan, and she is trying to keep them safe while helping them figure out their next move. In an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK, she tells her story, which, unfortunately, isn’t over yet. 

Hinds logged onto MetaFilter—a community Weblog where users share links, give advice, and discuss the news—only a few hours after Daniel Reetz, a regular poster on the site, started a thread asking for help. Reetz had discovered that two of his female Russian friends—one 18 years old and the other 20—were stranded in D.C. in very suspicious circumstances. The women came to the United States through a company called Aloha Travel, which had promised them jobs in Washington, D.C. The employment mysteriously fell through and the girls received instructions to meet a potential employer at midnight in a shady New York nightclub where they would work as “hostesses.” Reetz suspected the worst. Thousands of miles away from the East Coast, he turned to MetaFilter for help.

Hinds told NEWSWEEK she first heard about the MetaFilter thread from a friend who, like her, regularly posts on the site. She immediately offered to help.

"I read it and contacted the person who posted it and essentially said, ‘I have an extra room in New York, so if they do come to New York we’ll make it easier on everyone and they can stay with me." She wasn't the only one. Dozens of posters offered help, advice, and the numbers for trafficking support groups, but without the consent of the women themselves, Reetz was having trouble getting help from established institutions.

Meanwhile, Reetz—who was on a road trip to California when he found out about his friends' situation—was frantically monitoring the message board on his phone, calling posters who had volunteered to help, and trying to dissuade the girls from going to New York. He failed on the last count, and on Thursday afternoon they boarded a bus in D.C. and started the four-hour trip to the Big Apple.

While en route to D.C., the girls received a call from a representative at their visa sponsoring agency whom Reetz had informed of the situation. The rep asked them not to go, but the girls insisted they were fine and, according to one of Reetz’s posts on MetaFilter, "apologized for the problems I am causing." Shortly thereafter, they stopped taking his phone calls. In the same frustrated post, Reetz wrote, "If you choose to meet them at the station, be prepared for them to want no help."

Realizing the girls were reacting adversely to the parental strong-arm tactics others had tried, Hinds decided to take a different approach. "They’re young women. They want to have fun and go to New York City, so I said, ‘I can do that,’" Hinds says. "I’ll just give them another option."

Hinds texted the girls, adopting a casual, friendly tone: "It’s Kathrine, come visit me. I don’t really care what you do, let’s just enjoy ourselves in New York." She offered to show them around the city and let them store their suitcases in her apartment. They agreed to meet her at the bus station.

"I was hoping I’d get the chance to talk to them and get them to reconsider before they went to meet him," Hinds says. "You can’t control someone—they’re adults, they can make their own decisions—but I was hoping I could keep them from doing it with their consent."

She informed Reetz that they had agreed to meet her, and he put her in touch with the NYPD. The officer she spoke to was "very nice, very comforting," she says. "He essentially just walked me through going to Port Authority and said police were supposed to call me and help me set something up."

Hinds waited for a call from the police, but as the girls’ arrival time neared, she still hadn’t heard anything. "I thought the police were going to be there so I could ask them for help, but nobody called me," she says. Without the security of police protection, Hinds decided to meet the girls at Port Authority regardless of the danger that might await her—many posters on the board were concerned about tangling with the Russian mob, which they suspected were involved.

"I didn’t see the police; there was no cell-phone service in the basement. I had no idea what to do," she recalled. "I was terrified." The girls finally arrived, and the three women started on their way home. She quickly realized, however, that they were being followed. "I noticed that there were two men following us, which, as you can imagine, was pretty nerve-racking," Hinds says. "I kept thinking, I hope they’re cops."

Indeed, they were. When the women got to the street, the men identified themselves as plainclothes NYPD and spent the next two hours questioning them. When the interviews ended, they went home to the one-bedroom apartment Hinds shares with her husband. They offered their new guests the bedroom and slept in the living room, but not before Hinds notified Reetz that his friends were OK. Reetz, of course, notified the MetaFilter message board, and Hinds checked in later.

"The police kept asking me, ‘What’s the next step?'" recalls Hinds. "I said, 'I have no idea how we’re going to feed them. I have no idea how any of this stuff is going to happen, but at least they’re OK.'"

Hinds is unemployed, and the apartment isn't meant for four. In a upbeat MetaFilter post about their sightseeing plans, she made an offhand comment about feeding two extra people. The response was overwhelming.

"Someone asked for my PayPal so I gave it to them," Hinds says, her voice breaking. "I’m going to cry about it—so people have been sending money. We’ve gotten $3,500 since last night. Multiple [posters] in New York who speak Russian have been coming to socialize and hang out with them."

The girls aren’t out of the woods yet, though. Hinds says Aloha Travel contacted them Friday and tried to persuade them to fly to San Diego. Worried that they would fall into a similar trap, Hinds persuaded them to stay and do some sightseeing with her.

"We’re going to the Empire State Building today," she says. "I told them not to worry about money for a while because they have some here."

Indeed, members of the MetaFilter community have been offering everything from translation services to hugs and beer, and have accompanied the women on sightseeing tours and social calls. Meanwhile, Hinds says that the State Department is investigating the situation, and the NYPD is following up as well.

But for now, the women are safe. Hinds, Reetz, and the other MetaFilter posters involved in their rescue are heroes, and people across the country are feeling a little bit better about humanity—and the Internet.

Absolutely Shocking - You Must Read This Article

As we go about our normal lives, the global problem of child prostitution has come to roost right in our cities. This is clearly the most disturbing piece I have read about what is happening in the United States. Dan Rather has just released a report that girls as young as 10 years old are trafficked in US cities. What's interesting is that he mentions that we all think this is only happening in places like Moldova and Thailand. Not true.

He also brings to light how pedofiles find these children. You guessed it, Craigslist. I wrote in This Post how important it was for us to speak out and act about what this company is doing to allow this. Here a direct quote for the article: 

"How many children are being peddled on the streets of Portland and in other cities and towns, to say nothing of the Internet (Justus and other law enforcement people say Craigslist, along with other Internet sites, are major factors in the spread of child prostitution)."

This should disturb you. I pray it disturbs you to action. Go to SheIsPriceless.com and join our fight to help prevent and rescue girls and children from these traffickers. 

The full article can be found here. The video of the report here.

Dan Rather - Child prostitution has become a national problem in this country. Yes, I know that you have trouble believing that. You don't want to believe it, so you tend not to.

"Widespread sex trafficking in children?", you may be saying to yourself. "Sure, it happens overseas in places like Thailand and Moldova, and while there may be some of it here there's not that much of it in our country."

Based on a months long investigation and some reportorial digging, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. We all are. We're in denial.

In covering news for more than 60 years, I'd like to think that few stories shock me anymore. But this is one of them. We ran across it late last year and the more we dug, the more disturbing it became.

Eighty-year-old men paying a premium to violate teenage girls, sometimes supplied by former drug gangs now into child sex trafficking big time? You've got to be kidding. Nope. That's happening and a lot more along the same lines.

The business is booming. One of the worst areas for it runs along lines running roughly from Seattle to Portland, to San Francisco and Los Angeles, to Las Vegas. But no place in the country is immune.

To pick just one example among many, Portland, Oregon is without doubt one of the nation's treasures. It has been voted one of the best places to live and work. But according to police, the city and its outlying communities has become a hub for the sexual exploitation of children. In a recent nationwide sting by Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Portland ranked second in the country for the number of rescued child prostitutes. And according to Doug Justus, the workhorse sergeant in charge of Portland's tiny Vice Detail, many of the children caught up in this are middle class kids from the area.

Priceless Contest Winners Announced

Watch the video to find out if you are a winner!

Priceless Book Giveaway! from Tom Davis on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes Video from Priceless

I went to Russia and recorded five videos of the exact locations from scenes in Priceless. Why? I wanted this book to come to life for you. For example, instead of just talking about the Church of Kazan off of Red Square, I wanted you to see it and walk in it. Who knows, maybe we'll do a Priceless trip to the exact locations? Anyone interested?!

Here's the first installment from the very opening of the book. We'll run the contest through today, Thursday, then pick the winner on Friday morning [Click to enter]. Your book will be Express Mailed so you'll have it early next week. I'm so inspired by your comments, I think I'll run a few more contests! Thanks everyone. As I read what you wrote, I was touched and very thankful for every single one of you. 

Don't forget to visit SheIsPriceless.com to download resources to help girls who are trafficked and stay up to date about what you can do. 

Priceless - Ismailova Hotel from Tom Davis on Vimeo.