James 1:27 states:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Last week I had the chance to meet up again with Tom Davis, CEO of Children’s Hope Chest. Hope Chest works with orphans in various countries around the world including South Africa, Swaziland, and Russia. There mission is

to advocate a munity munity” partnership model. While many great organizations exist to provide individual sponsorship opportunities, we believe that holistic sustainable change in the munities occurs when munity partners with another.

Tom is a great Christian man,father of 7, and a untiring advocate of the orphans around the world. He is also a prolific writer. You can visit his blog and look at his books here.

As a think tank, Acton spends a lot of time thinking about poverty and wealth creation. It was great to spend some time talking with Tom about his experiences in the developing world and his work with orphans and vulnerable women. As Tom says, a lot of evil things happen when there is extreme poverty. His work gives concrete examples of why wealth creation, rule of law, and an entrepreneurial culture that gives people the opportunity to unleash their creativity and make a better world for themselves and their families is so important.