Most of us have thought about how we might answer the question,

"After you die, how do you want to be remembered?"

Tom Davis, a pastor in the States, already knows his answer.

"I want to be remembered as a committed husband and father, and as a man who was an advocate for the fatherless—who did something to help the poorest of the poor."

Davis says he doesn't want to merely "stand before God with my accomplishments," and hopes that when he meets Jesus face to face, he won't feel tempted to list the five books he's written, the 10 years he spent as a youth pastor, or even his current position as president of Children's HopeChest, an international orphan-care organization.

"I want to know there were orphans whose lives were transformed because I did something tangible to show them the father-heart of God."

Davis's own transformation began in 1997, when he and his wife, Emily, took 30 kids from their Texas youth group to Vladimir, Russia, where they hosted a camp for 150 orphans. "For the first time, I saw what God's broken heart for the poor looked like. There were all these beautiful kids who God loved, but who had no chance for survival outside of someone helping them."

Tom and Emily asked each other, "What can we do?" They wanted to "throw all those little girls into a suitcase and bring them home." But they sensed God calling them to make a difference in the life of one 10-year-old named Anya. "We couldn't bear to think of her as a statistic—as one of the 70 percent of girls who would leave that orphanage and become a prostitute."   The following year, Tom and Emily adopted Anya.

Becoming an instant father birthed in Davis a lifelong passion for fatherless children. Davis convinced the church he pastored to sponsor a Russian orphanage. Davis began leading mission trips to Russia and encouraging others to sponsor orphans. Today, as president of the Children's HopeChest organization, the 37-year-old Davis focuses on motivating individuals and churches to get involved with orphaned and vulnerable children in Russia, Swaziland, and South Africa.

For the whole family
The entire Davis family is passionate about orphan care. Last summer Tom, his wife Emily, and their five youngest children—Hayden, 11; Gideon, 8; Gracie, 6; Lilly, 4; and Hudson, 2,  all Tom and Emily's biological kids—traveled to Swaziland and South Africa along with several other families. "We went to Care Points (gathering places where orphaned children receive several meals per week)," Davis says. "My kids played soccer with them, and my daughters did their hair."

Emily loved cleaning the children. "They were so dirty," says Davis. "No one cares for them. We cleaned them up with wipes, put cream on their faces, and put new clothes on them. It was overwhelming to watch my two little girls take a friend by the hand, bring her over to the clothes, and help her pick out a dress."

In Swaziland they visited five young sisters whose parents died of aids when the oldest child was 13. The girls had been left to fend for themselves, with no money for food or education. After buying the girls food and clothes, the Davis family decided to financially support them. The girls call Tom and Emily their "white American Mama and Papa," explaining that in Africa, "Mama" and "Papa" are the people who love you and provide food and school fees.

He recalls the day a pastor friend accompanied him on a visit to a Russian orphanage. A little girl grabbed the man's hand and shadowed him everywhere. At the end of the day, Davis's friend approached him and with tears streaming down his face announced, "I hate you."
"I knew what he meant," Davis says. "Being involved with orphaned children totally transforms ones life, and life never again remains ordinary."

Davis's friend caught God's heart for the fatherless; he returns to the orphanage once or twice a year to visit his young friend, and his congregation now sponsors three orphanages in Russia.

Churches come alive when they allow their love and compassion for God to overflow into the lives of the neediest. Davis believes. "There's nothing more important on God's agenda than caring for the sick and the hurting, the poor and the orphan. There's nothing more rewarding than giving our lives to those who need the most help."

Living their mission daily
Davis's own children have developed a deep sense of the hardships faced by children who grow up without a mother and father, and they're determined to do what they can to help.

Hayden, Davis’s son and a friend organize shoe drives at their school, planning to send the shoes to African orphans.
Whenever his birthday rolls around, Hayden has a party—for orphans. "Everyone brings gifts for the orphans, not for Hayden," says Davis.

For Davis, the motivation to care for the fatherless is a mixture of heartfelt compassion and obedience to God. Jesus lived and breathed a "Ministry of compassion" mentality, says Davis. He always took the time to help someone in need. "Christ-followers are called to do the same."

When we pour our lives into the lives of orphans through giving sacrificially of our time, energy, and physical resources, "we glorify God, and display the passion and love of Jesus.”

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