Book Review: Scared: a Novel from the Edge of the World

I have an “Author” friend. He just released his 4^th book, his first novel. Tom Davis is his name. He’s a former Youth Minister and was one of the men that helped “steer” the 2007 World Race that I was a part of. I’ve known about his most recent project, SCARED: a Novel on the Edge of the World, since those “Race” days.

I excitedly pre-ordered my copy from Amazon before I left the States for Ukraine. In May, I noticed an opportunity to download the novel in PDF from the publisher so I’ve had the book in digital form for a couple months. I had been putting off reading it just because I don’t like reading 300+ pages on a computer screen. There’s nothing like curling up with a paperback, right? But I stayed in a comfortable hotel last night and with no English Language programs on TV I read SCARED. I’m glad I did. Today I’m ordering 5 copies for my church!

It’s about the plight of orphans and the plague of AIDS in Africa- in the tiny, beautiful country of Swaziland, in particular. Our Western mindset would have us believe AIDS is a homosexual disease. Thinking like that releases most of us from worrying about it because we don’t fall into a behavior category that puts us at risk. AIDS in Africa is no more a homosexual disease than the Potato Famine was a French Fry problem!

It’s complicated. Regardless of where it came from or how it started- there are forces at work in much of Africa that exacerbate the problem to Biblical proportions. Ignorance and lack of Education, lack of adequate healthcare and in more instances- just non-existent healthcare, myriad customs and traditions among myriad people groups that hinder communication, corrupt governments and all-talk-no-walk relief organizations, the kind of extreme poverty that we see on late night infomercials but have become anesthetized to, and then there are spiritual forces that can’t be easily explained to a Western thinker.

This is a biased book review. I admit it. I know Tom and I know his heart. His 2^nd and 3^rd non-fiction books (Confessions of a Good Christian Guy, Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds) were sort of run-of-the-mill to me. His first book however, Fields of the Fatherless, established him as a voice for Orphans. SCARED is Tom’s first novel and I think establishes him as a real-deal writer who makes a difference in the world. With the exception of the main character, photojournalist Stuart Daniels, SCARED reads like the front-page of today’s paper, or maybe more accurately, like the blogs of missionaries I know who are at this moment working in Swaziland.

I was gripped by it the same way I am when I read one of John Grisham’s novels set in Memphis, New Orleans, or all across Mississippi. Part of Grisham’s appeal to me is that I know these places, these names. The same was true for me reading SCARED. It’s set largely in Swaziland and I know these places. I know these names. I know these faces. So does Tom. Intimately. God is using his organization, Children’s Hopechest, to care for and keep alive thousands of orphans in that tiny country, raising them to be God’s answer to the crises in Africa.

I read the novel last night in one sitting. It is fast-paced and heart-breaking. It doesn’t preach; it simply tells a gut wrenching story convincingly. There’s courage and cowardice, humanity at its worst and at its best. There’s redemption and hope and inexplicable, unconsolable loss. I cried. I felt gritty-dirty. I felt anger. I felt like I could be fulfilled if I were in Swazi right now holding and feeding an orphaned child.

Read this book. When you turn the last page-stop and pray. Then immediately do something with your wealth- find a way to give- there are suggestions in the back of the book. Go to my friend Seth Barnes’ blogsite and click on the “Swaziland” tab. If you’re not affected by these stories then please see a doctor. You have a heart problem.

This won’t be a spoiler…another novel is in the works featuring the main character on assignment in Russian exposing the international child-sex trade. Children’s Hopechest has been there many years. Tom know’s whereof he writes about.

Still Camping...

Camp Friendship- Camp 1, Week 2- Tuesday, June 23.

If it weren’t for my dated “Utmost for His Highest” Journal I don’t think I’d have a clue what the day and date is. In a two+ week-long camp, the days definitely run together! My original plans were to work this camp and then join some friends near Kyiv to “experience” a couple of different camps. Right now I’m leaning towards just staying here at Camp Friendship until time to go back to the States at the end of July.

I mentioned in my last blog that there’s usually some sort of “stage program” from the kids in the evenings. Yesterday marked the anniversary of the “former Soviet Union’s” entry into World War 2 so there was a very nice, patriotic program last night that included testimony from a local woman in her 80’s that served during the War. World War 2 was not a good time for Ukraine (or Russia). Hitler was every bit as prejudiced and hateful towards the Slavic People as he was Jewish People. He was out for annihilation and extermination. As hard as WW2 was for America, it was a whole different ballgame to fight a war on your own turf; it was beyond brutal for everyone involved.

Last night we watched video and slide shows depicting what it was like during those years and then ended the night with our daily Slide Show from camp- it was a stark contrast. Add to that the fact that the kids were sitting in a pavilion that was once used to indoctrinate children into Communism, and that they were looking upon a stage that now has a mural of Jesus loving on children and the contrast is even greater.

To me it seems that this country- independent for less than 20 years- is still on the brink. The newfound freedom and democracy has yet to completely take root. Maybe it will; maybe it won’t. I don’t want to take the opportunity I have to be here for granted; I see it as a window of opportunity. A window through which the Lord is pouring out his blessings. Everyday I see a constant snow-fall of fuzzy seeds from the trees on campus and I am reminded of God’s grace being poured out and of seeds being planted in the hearts of these children. Their world is being changed, even for those that don’t know it yet.

Oh, and on another note: I just learned that my middle niece just had her second child- a little girl named Hazel. I now have 2 great-nieces and 5 great-nephews. And they are all Great! Congratulations Ashley and Eric.

Camp Friendship

Camp Friendship, June 16- somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Lugansk, Ukraine.
I am having a blast. And I am sore all over. I arrived at Camp Friendship about 4 days before the 1st Camp began with the intent of serving any way I could. I spent 3days cutting grass with a push mower and it was nearly “Mississippi” hot.

On Saturday, nearly 300 children ages 6-14ish arrived for Camp 1- it is two weeks long. There are probably 80 workers at this camp, most of them Ukrainian and most of them working in the Kitchen, the grounds, keeping the furnace going for hot water in the showers and laundry room, being Dorm Parents and Interpreters. A team of about 15 young people and a handful of adults from ServantLife in Birmingham are also staffing this Camp.

My “job” now that camp has begun is 1) clean the pool in the mornings, 2) work in the Camp store just before lunch, 3) Run the Frisbee Golf Course after lunch, 4) Be a Lifeguard at the Pool from 4-6 and when I’m not Lifeguarding, then I help with an English Class for 8 or 9 year old boys. During whatever free time I have that coincides with the kids’ free time, then I just hang out with kids. I think all of us “Americans” are connecting quickly with individual kids. I have about 4 that look for me every day to throw the Frisbee or play guitar or whatever.
While the weather was steamy hot the first few days here it has cooled off considerably. It’s beautiful during the day and downright cold at night. It’s nice!

The kids are kept pretty busy. We start our day with a Flag Ceremony and the Pledge of Allegiance at 8:15 followed by breakfast. From then until lunch the kids rotate between Bible Studies, Crafts and Music. After lunch is nap time for the little kids and organized recreation for the big kids. They have “semi” free-time after 3 pm- I say “semi” because there are several organized activities happening during this time- Frisbee Golf, Ultimate Frisbee, Futbol, Ping Pong, Volleyball, English Classes and other games and activities. Dinner is at 6:30. After that is a Worship Service, followed by games and competitions and a talent showcase from the kids. It rocks.

D-Day, My Dad's Birthday!

Today is my Dad's 77th Birthday. I don't know how that happened any more than I know how I got to be 44! The older I get the more I can see that inside all the "old folks" that I know is the same person they were when they were young. You can see it in my Dad's eyes when he's telling stories.

He's a great storyteller, My Dad. I don't know when I became aware of that- sometime in the last 15 or so years I guess. I didn't notice it or know of it when I was a kid. Honestly, I don't know where it comes from because basically my Dad is an introverted, "Silent Generation" kind of guy with definite "GI Generation" characteristics from growing up close to all of that. Of course he grew up in a great place during a great time- a time that bred heroic tales. Can you imagine being a 9 year old boy when WW2 began and watching all your brothers go off to fight? Can you imagine turning 12 on D-Day?

He's always insisted that he has no desire to leave the USA (and he's a world-class spokesman for the State of Mississippi!) But I think he'd love some of the places I've seen. So much of the world is what MS must have been like when he was a kid. In rural Ukraine people still draw water from a well, cook over coal or wood and go outside to take care of business. With my Dad's gift of gab I could see him carrying on for hours on end with these old men and women in Ukraine!

In the weeks following Kim's death, he and my stepmother lived with me for several weeks. It got to where some of my "youth group" would come over, even when I wasn't home, to ask him to tell stories.

• Running over a mailbox while checking out girls on the lake.
• M-80's or some such firecrackers at a high school basketball game.
• Him playing Harmonica in a band in high school!
• Itching Powder in the ductwork of a local (minority owned) honkey tonk.
• Attempting to jump an Army jeep over a ditch.
• The one about the Bobcat in a suitcase!
• Living through a gas truck explosion.
• Telling Charles Evers (a fairly famous Civil Rights Activist) about having met him before- in the 60's when Charles was marching with the NAACP and he was with the KKK- he was never in the KKK to my knowledge...but only my Dad could get away with making a joke like that!
• Talking- and just blatantly lying- his way out of every speeding ticket he ever met...and probably leaving the Trooper smiling and laughing every time!

I probably never told him this, but as a kid I thought he had the biggest forearms of any man ever, a product of being a hard-working truck driver and mechanic. Like so many in his generation, his education was cut-short by the demands of life. But later in life he earned an equivalency degree so he could be a Company Manager. And here he is now, 77 years old and on Facebook!

I came along a little later (8 years later) than my next closest sibling. By the time I was around, both parents were working and my sisters and brothers were about to leave the nest. I don't remember playing ball with my Dad or too many things like that. But I do remember watching him work on things and thinking that there wasn't anything he couldn't fix or build. I get a lot of that from him. I feel like I can take anything apart and often put it back together- sometimes it works afterwards! I remember neighbors coming to him for help- pulling someone from a ditch or helping with the Cotton or Soybean harvest. I hope when I grow up I'll have as much love and concern for people as he does.

I've watched him mellow-out a lot in these last few years. Maybe he's realizing that he missed some things when we were all growing up. His Mother, whom he loved like few sons have ever loved a Mother, died right around 105 years of age, so maybe now that he thinks he only has about 30 more years left he's making up for lost time by being so attentive and present to his family.

I love my Daddy. He's at a stage in life where he's a Prayer Warrior, but also a worrier and wants to make the most of the time he has... and here I am, at a stage of life (where I didn't think I would be at 44) of trying to discern God's plan for me and believing, for now, that it includes reaching the Nations. It makes being both close, and far-away, difficult.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

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The Blogs I Stalk. . . regularly

There are several blogs that I regularly stalk. Blog Stalking is a great past-time. It can be educational, inspirational and entertaining. Most of the blogs I stalk are from folks I know...but not all of them. I've even met some people and made some friends of people I was previously cyber-stalking.

My purpose here is turn-on my readership (all 3 of you) to some of my favorite blogs. Here they are, not necessarily in order of importance.

http://thesift.atlblogs.com/ This is my oldest niece's blog. She's a beautiful mother of 3 energetic boys and a precious girl and she writes with amazing insight into everyday things- especially in regard to raising a Godly family.

http://myapplecheeks.blogspot.com/ Not to be outdone, my 2nd oldest niece also writes with a great deal of dry-humor about all things family- she and her hubby have an adorable little boy and a little girl on the way.

http://pronouncedtwee.blogspot.com/?zx=f0cde57ab8045e60 My friend Thuy (pronounced Twee) and her hubby Ryan tag-team write this really smart and playful blog. Thuy was one of my "kids" in Gulfport and I had the privilege of performing their marriage.

http://hallfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/ If you've never followed an "Adoption Blog" (everyone's doing it...everyone I know that adopts, that is), then you're missing out on putting a lot Kleenex to good use. My friends, the Halls, from Birmingham are currently in Ukraine for the 3rd time in 8 years adopting a child. Follow their journey. Pray for them. Get inspired.

http://www.betheglory.blogspot.com/ (Kim's Blog) and http://tony.tbclife.net/ (Tony's Blog). More Adoption blogs. Tony (Pastor at Temple Baptist in Hattiesburg, MS) and wife Kimberly just completed adopting 4 Ukrainian siblings. Amazing, tender and tranparent stories of their journey.

http://www.sethbarnes.com/ Seth is the Director/Founder/President of Adventures in Missions (The World Race people). I think he's a pretty brilliant, thought-provoking discipler and writer.

http://theworldrace.org Go here to access hundreds of World Racer blogs. If you don't know any of them...pick one from near wherever you live and be their prayer partner, encourager- blog commenter for the year!

http://268generation.com/blog/ Louie Giglio's Passion Blog.

http://www.ellenholder.blogspot.com/ My friend Ellen, a Mississippi girl, serving 2 years in Peru.

http://reflectivereasonings.blogspot.com/ Another MS Girl. She's a heck of a lot deeper than I am and a fairly regular commenter/encourage on my blog.

http://luckyburgerboys.blogspot.com/ Dave Eliff is a kid I met last year at an IMB Conference. He's serving in Cambodia, which is one of my favorite countries.

http://kerussocharis.blogspot.com/ I could care less about Southern Baptist Politics...but Pastor Wade Burleson, a former IMB Trustee brings a lot of things to light...and on rare occasions he brings his hobby for Historical Research to the table.

http://allthingsmaroon.wordpress.com/ I don't have any idea who this guy is- most of his blogs are about Mississippi State University sports with a few random topics thrown in.

http://buzzardroostus.wordpress.com/ Don't know this guy either, but I feel like I should! Another MSU Sports blog from a Baptist Preacher perspective.

http://www.nems360.com/pages/insidemississippistatesports The NE MS Daily Journal's Beat Writer for Mississippi State...this is where I get the scoop!

http://mrsec.com/ Here's the scoop on SEC Sports in general.

That's enough for now.

Coupe' Potluck- you never know what you're gonna get!

I went to Odessa this past weekend. Yeah, everything about living here is an adventure sometimes.

To begin with- just buying the train tickets. I feel like I'm becoming a Pro- but in fact, it's mostly luck and/or God's good grace. I just smile and nod like an idiot and somehow end up with the right tickets! This time, I was late getting to the train station and missed my train by about 2 minutes. There was another train leaving an hour later and I thought I could probably swap my ticket for a small fee...but while I was waiting in line (apparently looking like an American!) a guy approached me and offered to sell me a ticket for the next train. After haggling a bit, I bought it for about $1.25 more than what I paid for my original ticket...but then he wanted my old one. That's when I realized that he probably got the best of me- I presume he got at least a partial refund on my unused ticket. Oh well... it would have been a bear for me to communicate what I wanted anyway!

So... I left an hour later and arrived in Odessa at 9 am Saturday morning. I shared a "Coupe'"- a small room on the train with 4 bunks with a lady that appeared to be asleep when I boarded. It was a quiet trip to Odessa. Some friends with IMB met me (and gave me a place to stay) in Odessa. The world is getting smaller over here for sure: While I was staying with one IMB couple, I ran into two other couples that I know AND ran into two girls from the SEND School that were also visiting for the weekend (they were staying with one of the other IMB families).

The two highlights of the trip were visiting Maxim's church Sunday morning. Maxim is a Ukrainian youth minister I worked with way back in 2004 the first time I visited Ukraine. As is often the case when you visit one of the smaller churches in Ukraine, you get asked to "share"- so I shared some of my testimony. The other highlight was that Maxim and I both got in touch with my friend Katya and she and her baby sister came to church. After church, I walked them home and spent most of the day with her family (communicating in broken Russian, English and Charades!)

Back in 04 I brought a team of students from Bayou View to Odessa for a week. We conducted 2-3 Children's Bible Clubs per day! At one club, I fell in love with 2 little sisters and their brother (Katya, Vika and Yura). I got to see them last year when I visited Odessa and now that I live here, I want to stay in touch.


The final leg of the trip turned out to be the most "interesting". As I boarded the train home, I opened the door to my Coupe' and discovered three women- probably all early 50's. They didn't speak English and I knew just enough Russian to get them good and intriqued. It was pretty hilarious. I don't know if one of them was "crushing" on me, or if she was interested in me on her daughter's behalf. Her daughter speaks some English, so the mother called her daughter and put her on speaker phone and we got to know one another for about an hour before we lost cell phone reception. Some of the questions included: "How old are you?", "Are you married? Have children?", "Why not?", "What do you think of Ukrainian women?" (I remember getting that question in Swaziland too!) When they learned I work with the church and with children and teens and want to work with orphans, you would have thought they just opened a box of puppies!

So funny...it's probably a good thing I didn't catch all they were saying to one another...I would hear "Mississippi", "Clinton"...and then they'd all get silly laughing.

World Race Final Debrief in Kyiv

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last blogged. I haven't been that busy...well, at times, yes I have been.

A good bit of the last two weeks was spent preparing for and assisting The World Race. F Squad was in town for Final Debrief. 11 Countries in 11 Months and it all ended here. I think it ended on a high note.

Some of the squad members arrived almost 2 weeks ago. I met Brian & Stacey Alonzo at the train station and helped them transfer to a bus so they could visit a team in Ivankiv. Brian and Stacey are launching the August 09 Squad in just a few months! I also helped them find a place to stay for a few days here in Kyiv (thank you Peipons!)

A few days later Ashley, Pamela, Tara and Jen arrived to make additional preparations. Thanks to my friend Allyson, they had a place to stay too.


















Finally, last Friday the teams arrived from North, South and West (they had been serving in Lugansk, Ivankiv and Moldova). Seth and Karen Barnes along with the Hindes and the Shearmans also arrived. It was a long day but everyone got picked up and transported to Dozvillya- the retreat center about 30 minutes south of Kyiv.

I was blessed to serve them a little bit, spend time with them, worship with them, get some "debrief" time myself with Seth and attend their final WR Banquet. They cleaned up nicely!

My friend Stephanie Fisk- who traveled with B Squad in 07 was the Squad Leader. What a star! She just completed her 2nd World Race in just over 2 years! Also helping with this Debrief was Allison Johnston-she was the C Squad leader that shadowed A & B back in 07 and she launched the G Squad currently in Romania.

So there ya go. A busy couple of weeks.

I have 7 more classes! Yahoo! Still don't know for sure what I'm doing this summer but the plans are, Lord willing, to split time between working with camps around Kyiv and down South in Lugansk.

Tomorrow night I'm hitting the overnight train to Odessa for a quick visit with some friends- will be back in Kyiv early Monday morning for my last full week of classes.