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The Show Hope gift catalog has many ways for you to give personalized gifts to your family and friends that will change the world for an orphan!

What better way to celebrate the Christmas season than to share the gift of family with those who don’t have one? You can help provide lasting love and life-giving care to orphans in distress… and share the blessing of doing so as a Christmas gift to those you love!

Using the Gifts of Hope catalog is simple!

Step 1: Browse the online catalog to shop for gifts.

Step 2: Select the gifts you want to purchase.

Step 3: Share the blessing with the gift recipient using an ecard or giving card!

Give the gift of hope today!

Featured Gifts:

A Forever Family for an Orphan	Care for an Orphan with Special Needs	From the Chapmans…

Amy Melton is a Physical Therapist with STAR Physical Therapy and is part of the August medical team at Maria’s Big House of Hope. Physical therapy was recently identified as one of the most pressing needs we have at MBHOH, and we are so grateful for the STAR team to be out there and help these kids who so desperately need therapy.

“We have been here at Maria’s Big House of Hope now for 2 days, and when I woke this morning, I thought, ‘I GET to go to work today, how awesome!!’  The joy, love, and laughter is abundant, and God’s presence spreads through this holy ground like wild fire.

“Today we worked side by side with the staff physical therapist.  She has been very instrumental in setting a developmental plan in motion, and we were able to provide additional insight into how the staff can all work together to facilitate the physical therapy needs.

“Each day there are one or two children who capture me and fill me with excitement about their future and the great ways God is working in their lives, including bringing medical teams here to provide care on multiple levels.

“My last treatment today was with a girl named Jessica. She is 4 ½ years old, and has a form of cerebral palsy.  Initially, she was very hesitant and appeared somewhat fearful as we approached her.  However, after just minutes, she was smiling, laughing, and even learned to say my name. Keep in mind I am speaking English, and she speaks Chinese.  Even still she could repeat what I said and said “Amy” just as plain as you and I would say it.  She was fascinated with my camera as well.  She flashed me smile that I will never forget and it will hold a place in my heart forever, and for that alone, I will be forever grateful to STAR and Show Hope for this experience.

“We have three more days here, and I cant wait to go to bed just so the next day will hurry and get here and I can go back to work….now how many of you can say that about your job?

“I end my day with these lyrics in my head ‘…Our God is healer, awesome in power, Our God, Our God…’ –Chris Tomlin”

-Amy Melton

A special thanks to all our donors and sponsors who every month enable these amazing kids to receive the most excellent care in a loving family atmosphere at our Special Care Centers!

The orphans at Show Hope’s Special Care Centers are well known for their unconditional love. They don’t care what the world thinks of you, whether you are cool or not, or whether you win awards. Unfazed by Justin Bieber’s new haircut, which has stirred up controversy with his fans, or his loss of the Grammy for Best New Artist, the children at the special care centers still love Bieber!

In fact, Judah, who is at Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH), won’t let his lack of understanding English or his Arthrogryposis, a condition that limits the use of his joints, prevent him from singing and dancing along to one of his favorite songs! In this video, he is joined by Jessica, Jaelynn, and Isaac. Even non-Bieber fans’ hearts will be warmed by their beautiful rendition of Justin Bieber’s hit song, “Baby.” Thank you to all the Show Hope sponsors who are allowing these children to thrive in this loving and fun family atmosphere!

As your heart opens to these MBHOH super stars, we encourage you to pray these children will be matched with forever families so they can experience a lifetime of love!

A star-studded cast is teaming up with the Nashville Symphony to present Cinderella: The Enchanted Edition to help advance Show Hope’s mission of meeting the most pressing needs of orphans in distress around the world. It will be a “one night only” concert performance with colorful costumes, a flourish of makeup, a dash of dancing, and a good measure of magic.

Featuring Broadway stars such as Alli Mauzey who starred as Glinda from Wicked, Anthony Fedorov who was an American Idol finalist, Gary Morris, who played Jean Valjean in Broadway’s Les Miserables, and the Nashville Symphony, this special evening is sure to be a memorable celebration of the important work that Show Hope is doing. The night will also feature GRAMMY Award-winning artist Steven Curtis Chapman as well as many others!

Friday, April 15th, 2011 7:00 pm
Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Nashville, TN

Tickets available now!
Call 615-687-6400 OR

1. Visit the Cinderella event page at the Nashville Symphony website.
2. Click “Purchase” and select your seats.
3. Login or create an account with the Nashville Symphony to continue with your purchase.
4. Complete the checkout process as instructed.

**If you are having trouble purchasing tickets online, please call the box office at 615-687-6400**

Disclaimer: Ticket availability is subject to change. Artists performing are subject to change. Tickets purchased are intended for personal use only. The resale of tickets is strictly prohibited.  The Nashville Symphony may include additional fees to the ticket price. Review all applicable disclaimers before purchasing.

Dylan and Susie

When you walk by the Cars room in Maria’s Big House of Hope, you are likely to hear the  giggles and see the wave of a cute, 17 month old boy named Dylan. His hair has the endearing tendency to stick straight up, making him impossible to miss. Dylan’s best friends, Asher and Susie, live in the Cars room with him. These friends share a unique bond because they all received corrective surgery when the Geisinger Medical team visited MBHOH last summer. They run around together, laugh, and play. As some of the oldest children in their room, these three amigos also enjoy visiting the younger babies and sweetly patting their heads.

Dylan is still getting the hang of walking, but he loves to run around the room as fast as he can. When he trips, he never stays down long. Our little adventurer is quick to get back up and rejoin whatever game his friends are playing. Thought his activities may be unconventional, Dylan is always finding new ways to entertain himself and the others in his room. He rides in toy cars backwards, climbs into his baby bouncer with one leg sticking straight up, and enjoys having his hair put in a rubberband to keep it out of his eyes. It is a delight to watch him play!

Dylan is very affectionate, and relishes being held and snuggled with. Caitlin Ruff, our long-term MBHOH volunteer, shares that Dylan is a master at blowing kisses. He has not yet learned that they are used for goodbyes, and has the precious habit of blowing kisses at random. Thanks to the life-giving medical care and nurture that Show Hope sponsors are providing at Maria’s Big House of Hope, Dylan has the hope of sharing this love with his forever family, with whom he has been officially matched. Please join us in prayer for this little guy and his parents as they wait on the final approval to bring him home!

The brave team of intrepid explorers known as our First-Ever Sponsor Short-Term Trip Team (or FESSTT for short) has safely arrived in China!  In fact, we have more than arrived, we have already conquered the Great Wall, visited New Hope Foundation, and flown down to Luoyang where we are currently spending our first day at Maria’s Big House of Hope!

But let me back up. First of all, it was only a few days ago that the majority of our team met together in Chicago for the 13 hour flight to Beijing.  We were joined there by our two Aussie members and Mikey, our in-country staff member.  From the very beginning it has been clear to me that God has put this team together for His purpose and glory.

Our team is nothing short of amazing. We have such a diverse group – different ages, different places in life, even different nationalities!  Yet as one member emphasized, what we share in common far outweighs what is different about us.  Each member has displayed a heart for God and a heart for orphans that both inspires and unifies us as a group, and even the simple willingness to be a part of this team, of Show Hope, and to go around the world to serve puts us all on the same level.

The “advance team”, as we called ourselves, went all the way along the Great Wall until we could not go any further, and it is that adventurous spirit that permeates our team and is the mark of those who will leave their homes, families, and jobs to visit the orphan in distress and pour out God’s love!  There were even some of those who didn’t believe they would take the toboggan ride down from the Great Wall who mustered up the courage and made it happen!  Bravo! I love the energy of the team, and it is the fact that we are all so different, with different skills, talents, strengths, and perspectives that I know will make this such a rich time for us.

We made it into Maria’s Big House of Hope last night and today got to tour this beautiful, wonderful home.  I was here last while it was still being built, and it is amazing to see the transformation from a place of concrete and scaffolding to a place filled with love, joy, and hope.  We got to see the operating room where the Geisinger Team performed the surgeries just a few months ago, and we get to see the little kids who received those surgeries running around, healing beautifully!

Well as we start to dig into the work here, you will hear much more from the members of the team, but please pray for us!  Pray that God will have His way with each team member: Sandy, Anjanette, Sarah, Myra, Pam, Jenn, Lesley, Bill, Kelli, Felicity, Meredith, Alex, Deborah, Amanda, Merryn, Jenny, Bridget, Wes, Dana, Kathy, Mikey and myself! It is such a privilege to be here with some of the many sponsors who are making this work at Maria’s Big House of Hope and the Adoption Aid program possible. Have you considered becoming a sponsor?  We’d love to have you on one of our future sponsor trips! More from the FESSTT in China soon!

I had the opportunity to watch an extremely thought-provoking movie, Inception, and let me say this: it did not disappoint. Easily one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer from a director whose vision and aptitude at crafting a surprising and compelling story continue to deliver, Inception was intellectually engaging and entertaining. I would not officially endorse it, but for those who want to discuss it, here’s a chance! Leave your comments below and let us know what you think!

Inception follows the story of a man named Cobb who is an “Extractor”, which means he enters people’s dreams and extracts sensitive information from their subconscious. One of the extractor’s team creates a dream world, and they connect to one another with tubes that feed a chemical compound so that Cobb and his team can interact with their victim in a dream that the victim perceives as reality. After a botched job, the victim of an extraction turns out to be a potential client who was giving Cobb an audition. Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is then tasked to accomplish “Inception”, which is basically the opposite of “Extraction.” He must enter another person’s dream and place an idea there that the victim believes is his own.

The movie deals with a really interesting, complicated, and detailed “dream world” that Christopher Nolan, the director, slowly reveals throughout the movie. Never too cerebral, and excellently paced, the movie unravels its mysteries without overwhelming you, and though questions remain when all is said and done, the dream world with its rules and guidelines feels real without ever coming across as contrived.

For this extremely difficult job of inception, Cobb assembles a “dream team” of dream specialists, and the movie begins to follow the plot movements of a con man or caper movie like “Ocean’s Eleven.” This makes the movie enjoyable, but at its heart, the movie never lets go of its gravitas and wrestles with compelling ideas and questions in unique ways. At the most basic level, Cobb wants to get home to his kids, but he is racked with guilt over an incident that happened to his late wife. That wife, Mal, continues to haunt him in his dreams and ruin his efforts to accomplish what he sets out to do in dream world.

Moreover, the question of “what is real” is woven throughout the movie as Cobb must use his “totem”, an item only he knows about, which tells him if he is in someone else’s dream or if he is in the real world. Cobb’s totem is a top, which spins forever in a dream state but eventually topples over in reality. The movie flawlessly weaves various story elements, characters, and themes together, delivering such a punch at the end that it is hard to believe anyone would walk away without wanting to discuss it with someone.

You might be asking yourself, what does all this have to do with Show Hope and adoption or orphan care? Well… (more…)

We received our first email from our team of young people heading out to Maria’s Big House of Hope to serve the children there!

By: Anna Haas and Caroline Greene

Thursday night the team met up in Newark where we ate dinner together and got to know each other. Then Friday morning we began our journey to Beijing. After 13 hours of flying we were greeted by Mikey Shook and Emily Richards who took us to Hope Healing Home. Upon arrival, Robin Hill gave us a tour of the home. We were able to spend some time with the babies before heading to the Mongolian style tents, called yurts, to sleep.

Early Sunday morning, we attended an international church service and then spent the afternoon at the Great Wall. At the Great Wall, we all got our first chance at bargaining and practicing Mandarin phrases. Below is our first team picture at the Great Wall.

That evening we caught the overnight train from Beijing to Luoyang, where many of us had to embrace the squatty potties and very friendly fellow travelers.

This morning we arrived in Luoyang and came to Maria’s Big House of Hope. We will be here for a week and have many exciting activities planned. We look forward to getting to know each other better as well as the babies and nannies!
These are our awesome team leaders Katie and Wendy that have been doing an awesome job at leading our trip.

Please pray for the team while they are over there!

MAY 5th UPDATE: The show will go on! Due to recent flooding at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, “Cinderella: Enchanted Edition” will now be presented at Allen Arena at Lipscomb University. All previous ticket purchases will be honored, and additional $30 tickets are available by calling the Allen Arena Box Office at 615-966-7075. Click here for more details.

A star-studded cast is teaming up with the Nashville Symphony to present Cinderella: The Enchancted Edition to help Show Hope raise awareness and funds to care for orphans in distress. It will be a “one night only” concert performance without scenery but with colorful costumes, a flourish  of makeup, a bit of dancing, and a good measure of magic.

Cinderella has the same title as Steven Curtis Chapman’s hit song inspired by his daughter, Maria, who passed away in May of 2008. The Chapmans saw this as the perfect way to commemorate her life and celebrate the mission of Show Hope.

Friday, May 14th 7:00 pm
Allen Arena
Lipscomb University
Nashville, TN

Additional $30 tickets are now available at the Allen Arena Box Office or by calling 615-966-7075.

Thank you to all our Show Hope sponsors who sent in Christmas blessings for the kids at MBHOH! They have received your Show Hope Christmas tree drawings and encouraging notes, and you have certainly brought smiles to their faces! Here is a slideshow of your blessings in action: