Most of us have thought about how we might answer the question, "After you die, how do you want to be remembered?"

Tom Davis 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."

A passion for orphans
The following year, Tom and Emily adopted Anya. When Tom returned to the orphanage to tell Anya her adoption had been approved, two other girls ran to him, grabbed his leg, gazed up at him with pleading eyes, and said, "Papa, Papa."

"It broke my heart," Davis recalls. "I could tell those girls were thinking, He adopted Anya. If he knows we want a family, maybe he'll adopt us, too."

Tom might have adopted those two little girls if he hadn't had another orphaned child waiting for him back home—Emily's younger sister, Hannah Chynoweth. When Emily and Hannah were 13 and 6, their father was murdered by members of a religious cult to which he belonged. Nine months later, their mother committed suicide. Emily, Hannah, and their four other siblings came under the guardianship of a family from their church.

After Emily and Tom married, Hannah, then 15, asked to move in with them. "My sister and I had a strong relationship, and she understood my trauma and emotional needs," says Hannah, now 25 and out on her own. "Tom didn't have any obligation to me, but he willingly took me in like I was part of his own family. It was very healing for me."

Hannah arrived in the Davis household only a few weeks after Anya. Tom and Emily, then ages 26 and 22, suddenly had a houseful of kids: Hannah, Anya, their biological son Hayden, who was

11/2, and another baby on the way. (Anya is now a nursing student in San Antonio.)

Becoming an instant father to two orphaned girls birthed in Davis a lifelong passion for fatherless children. Davis convinced the church he pastored to sponsor a Russian orphanage. He began volunteering at Children's HopeChest (www.hopechest.org), a ministry with the mission of "creating a world where every orphan knows God, experiences the blessing of family, and acquires the skills necessary for independent life."

Davis began leading mission trips to Russia and encouraging others to sponsor orphans. When Children's HopeChest invited him to join the staff in 2001, he and his family moved to Colorado Springs.

Today, as president of the 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, 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. Hannah, who was on an 11-month trip around the world, joined them in Swaziland.

"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.

Difficult but rewarding
"Simple acts of kindness are all it takes

to change a life, a community, even a nation," says Davis. He urges people to "be a mom or dad, brother or sister, to someone for just a day at a time."

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. "He meant that I'd wrecked his life for the 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 most needy, 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.

Whenever Hayden accompanies his dad on overseas trips, he gives his shoes to children who don't own a pair. During a recent trip to Africa, Davis noticed Hayden playing soccer—barefoot.

"He'd done it again," says Davis. Not surprisingly, Hayden and a friend are organizing a shoe drive at their school. They plan 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. "When he opens up a present, he gets so excited. He says, 'This is incredible! My friend in Russia is going to love this!'"

Son Gideon also shares his dad's heart for orphans. One day in the car, Gideon spontaneously burst into prayer, asking God to be the father of orphans in Africa who don't have a dad or a mom.

Tom and Emily continue to open their home to orphans of all ages. In 2005, during a trip to Russia, Davis's interpreter was Lena Petrushina, a university student who had grown up in an orphanage. Tom and Emily decided to provide funds for Lena to rent an apartment while she attended university in Russia.

After she graduated in 2006, Lena moved in with the Davis family and got a job at Children's HopeChest. To Tom and Emily's delight, Lena met an American man whom she's marrying in May. Tom, of course, is walking her down the aisle and performing the marriage ceremony.

Lena says she has learned the meaning of family during the two years she's lived with Tom, Emily, and their children.

"I came out of a bad family—my father left when I was a baby and my [alcoholic] mother was in prison and lost her parental rights," Lena explains. "But by watching Tom and Emily with their kids, I'm learning how to function in a healthy family relationship. I feel as if Tom and Emily are my parents."

Hannah Chynoweth agrees. "Tom's not old enough to be my dad, but he's always played a fatherly role in my life and been my protector."

"I don't know where he got such a passion for orphans," Hannah continues. "Probably from marrying an orphan and 'inheriting' several others."

For Davis, the motivation to care for the fatherless is a mixture of heartfelt compassion and obedience to God. Jesus lived and breathed a "What can I offer?" 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 we inspire others to do the same," says Davis. "What more of an invitation do we need?"

Laura Christianson (www.laurachristianson.com), the author of The Adoption Decision and The Adoption Network, writes from Snohomish, Washington.

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