Show Hope is the title sponsor for this fall’s “Songs & Stories” tour! In a unique songwriter’s night experience rarely seen outside Nashville, Steven Curtis Chapman will share the stories that inspired him to write both his current hits and songs that have entertained for decades. He will be sharing the stage with acclaimed and emerging artists, Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson. The tour will also be a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Show Hope and become a Show Hope sponsor to impact the lives of orphans around the world!

In addition, a limited number of passes for the fan experience called “Soundcheck and Stories” are available. This special pre-show experience includes a Q&A with SCC, an acoustic performance, and an exclusive signed poster for attendees.

The Songs & Stories tour kicks off on September 29 in Indianapolis and runs through November 3 in San Bernadino, CA. We look forward to seeing grant families and meeting new and long-time Show Hope sponsors on the road this fall! For tickets, visit stevencurtischapman.com.

9.29 Indianapolis, IN
9.30 Cordova, TN
10.6 Lancaster, PA
10.7 Milford, CT
10.8 Barre, VT
10.9 Shrewsbury, MA
10.13 St. Peters, MO
10.14 Valparaiso, IN
10.15 Pewaukee, WI
10.16 Rochester, MN
10.20 Alma, AR
10.21 Lincoln, NE
10.22 Littleton, CO
10.25 Eagle, ID
10.26 Twin Falls, ID
10.27 Post Falls, ID
10.28 Vancouver, WA
11.1 Roseville, CA
11.2 Valencia, CA
11.3 San Bernadino, CA

Additional dates may be added. Dates subject to change.

There is a lot going on at Show Hope! Short-term trip teams are coming and going, we have festivals to participate in, events to plan, campaigns to organize and grants to decide upon just to name a few. We get a flurry of web inquiries on occasion asking us, as a team, to pray for a specific circumstance, not to mention the importance of praying for each other considering the ‘weariness’ that can transpire on the this battlefield. Organizationally, prayer is a priority for us but more so than that, it is a privilege and we take those inquiries and requests seriously.

I have often heard that those of us who labor in this field of ministry to orphans have a target on our back(s) so prayer is vital knowing our victory is in Christ Jesus and the battle is won on our knees. When I am not in our office or on the road with Steven or in China or visiting a partner, I am in my home office and connect with the team for meetings through video conferencing. (Technology is a beautiful thing!) Part of my role is to set our course as an organization and one of my favorite things to do is to set our course upward to the Lord….even through cyberspace.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

Anticipating an amazing week at Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH), the Christ Presbyterian Academy student team began their adventure with a bang. The staff and students teamed up for an unforgettable 4^th of July celebration as all of the babies and their nannies were gathered together according to their respected floors and paraded around the front of the building. The CPA students decorated their new friends with face-paint, streamers, bubbles, and balloons to help highlight the fun! Cake and popsicles were the delicious finishing touch for a truly patriotic party. Once bed-time arrived for the children, the Kemp Dental group joined the students for an evening barbecue on the rooftop of MBHOH. It was a quintessential 4^th of July cookout involving grilled cheeseburgers, watermelons, and a classic Chinese original – fireworks!

Bonding with the children has been a priority held by everyone on the CPA team. Immediately, connections were made between the students and their temporary “housemates.” The rooms of MBHOH have been constantly occupied by the CPA team as they lovingly held, hugged, and high-fived their new and precious friends. In an attempt to provide an extra treat for a few of the children, the students took the initiative to creatively set-up a movie night showing Disney’s “Finding Nemo.” Each student has capitalized on every moment to engage with and care for some of God’s most beloved treasures. As a result, it has been remarkable to see God utilize the obedience of a willing group of students from across the world to love on a special corner of His creation. Lives on both ends have been subsequently changed as the hearts and minds of the students are stirred by their unique experiences here at MBHOH.

Update 2: A THIRD anonymous donor is helping us extend our campaign to August 10. This time, each new LIKE means $1 for orphan care. Help us reach our goal of 80,000 total fans by August 10!

Update 1: A second anonymous donor has agreed to continue this campaign up to a total of $45,000 if we can reach 55,000 total fans by the end of July! Please LIKE Show Hope on Facebook (note: The “Likes” of this individual post located directly above this text do not count toward total Facebook likes) and continue to share our page with friends!

We have exciting news! An anonymous donor has agreed to give Show Hope up to $20,000, but we need YOUR help! For every 5,000 new “likes” on the Show Hope Facebook page, $5,000 will be donated to Show Hope up to $20,000 through July 31st.

The money that we receive from this effort will help bring orphans into families through Show Hope adoption aid grants and will help provide specialized care for orphans with special needs through Show Hope Special Care Centers.

We are thrilled about this opportunity, and we can’t wait to SEE how you will engage your friends in orphan care through sharing about Show Hope. Over the next month, we’ll be posting more pictures, status updates and blogs to our Facebook page to help our new followers learn more about Show Hope! All of this energy will help our current followers redouble their efforts to care for orphans too.

Remember, we only receive funding when we reach a new 5,000 new fans milestone. If you’re keeping track, we are currently at about 10,000 fans. Let’s see how quickly we can reach our first funding goal and get to 15,000 fans! We are depending on YOU to help us, so share this post through Facebook, share our page, suggest Show Hope to friends, tweet like crazy, be creative, and have fun!

You can find Show Hope on Facebook at facebook.com/ShowHope

With the sound of cicadas in the air you know that summer is here… and with the 13-year cycle of cicadas returning to Nashville this year, it has been somewhat of a rough welcome for such a beautiful time of year. Yet with the summer comes another season of a great pastime called baseball!!

Nashville is home to the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. As you walk into Greer Stadium, you are instantly greeted with the sounds and smells of the stadium that houses over 13,000 cheering fans. At a select few games this year, fans are also welcomed to enjoy Purity Faith and Family Nights. These special nights feature concerts from some of your favorite Christian artists such as Chris August, Jonny Diaz, Jaci Velasquez, and many more!

Show Hope is very blessed to have the opportunity to sponsor all six faith nights throughout the summer. We will have a booth set up selling merchandise and giving fans the opportunity to learn more about Show Hope and become Show Hope sponsors. While it may seem like a daunting task to help 140 million orphans, let me say this: first Nashville, then the WORLD!

We had a wonderful time at the first faith night, and we look forward to seeing you all this summer at the Nashville Sounds games!

Friday, May 27th – 6pm
Friday, June 3rd – 6pm
Sunday, June 26th – 5:30pm
Saturday, July 23rd – 5:30pm
Sunday, July 31st – 5:30pm
Saturday, August 13th – 5:30pm

Typically the days leading up to an anniversary of something tragic brings forth some anxiety due mainly to the anticipation of emotion that is evoked when you “remember the day.”  For the Chapmans and the Show Hope family, we find ourselves in an emotional state beyond what any of us could have anticipated because of yet another tragedy.  Donna Daniel, Show Hope’s newest board member, and her husband Dan, tragically lost their 17 year old son Michael on Wednesday evening due to a skateboarding accident.  Our heart goes out to Dan and Donna and the rest of their family. No words that we have can console what you are experiencing.

As I spoke to Mary Beth throughout the week to receive updates on Michael’s status until he went to be with Jesus, she kept referencing the scripture “comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”  (2 Corinthians 1:4)

Three years ago today, Maria Sue Chapman went to be with Jesus.  Considering I spent a number of days at Maria’s Big House of Hope a little over a week ago, I was reminded of her legacy and often thought of her.  I became more mindful of where she is now, and as a result I find myself more grateful for the work on the cross that assures us of our undeserving but rightful place in heaven.  Life is indeed a vapor and there is suffering going on around us, and even perhaps for many of you reading this blog, but the reality is we have a greater destination heavenward thanks to the ransom Christ paid for us, death on the cross.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

Nashville’s News Channel 5 aired this special feature on Show Hope’s adoption aid and orphan care work tonight. The video segment features special interviews with the Chapmans and the testimony of the Wright family, who received a Show Hope adoption aid grant.

Read the full story at News Channel 5 >

Become a Show Hope sponsor to make more miracles possible >

Have you ever wished you could spend a day with other like-minded orphan advocates? Sometimes those of us who are passionate about adoption and orphan care feel that many people just “don’t get it.” It’s clear that churches, organizations, and individuals need a way to share their perspectives and unite their ministries to reach and help children in need. The good news is that as an answer to that need, the Christian Alliance For Orphans was created in 2008, which now includes over 80 member organizations such as Show Hope, Focus on the Family, and Hope for Orphans (a ministry of Family Life), and many others. The Alliance is a beautiful picture of “the church unified, serving the fatherless in both word and deed, bearing poignant testimony to the character of our God.”

My Show Hope co-workers and I just returned from this year’s Orphan Care Summit VII, held in Louisville, Kentucky, at Southeast Christian Church. For two days I had the pleasure of meeting many adoptive parents, some who thanked me for their Show Hope grant and eagerly showed me adorable photos of their children. I worshiped and learned from more than a thousand other people who share my love for the fatherless.

I especially benefited from hearing from highly respected Christian leaders, authors, artists, and professionals in the field as they shared their insights: Brian Fikkert, author of When Helping Hurts; Karyn Purvis, author of The Connected Child; Sara Groves, singer and songwriter; Carolyn Twietmeyer, Project Hopeful to name a only a few. But one of the most important messages for me personally came from Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance For Orphans.

Jedd made these challenging statements about caring for orphans-
It is not about taking up another cause. A gospel-fueled love for orphans entails:

1. When the going gets tough, duty, guilt, and enthusiasm are not enough. We need to be people connected to the Source.

2. When we choose to love orphans, when we open our homes, when we break into our safety accounts to give, we are forced to give up our false gods…gods of convenience, selfishness, pride.

3. We must reflect the story of how we have been adopted and taken into God’s family.

I’m grateful for the new ministry partners I met this weekend and time to spend with my heavenly Father. My prayer is that each of us will celebrate our spiritual adoption as we draw near to the heart of God and offer love and hope to the “least of these.” I hope you will join me in attending the Christian Alliance For Orphans Summit VIII at Saddleback Church in California May 2-3, 2012.

Last Thursday, several members of our staff headed to Knoxville for the second annual Hope in the Dark event. This special dinner was hosted by the Kalu Grace Foundation with University of Tennessee’s Athletic Director Mike Hamilton and his wife Beth at the helm. 600 Knoxvillians gathered in Thompson Boling Arena to learn how their contributions from last year helped 52 African children come home to their forever families through funding  43 Show Hope adoption aid grants. We even got to meet Lidya Jewett, who just came home from Ethiopia in March. The Jewett family was surprised with a Show Hope grant at Hope in the Dark 2010.

After a question and answer time about Show Hope with our president Mary Beth Chapman, Program Director Wendy Cosby and Program Manager Kathy McKinney, CALEB offered musical entertainment for the evening. The night also featured a performance by the Mwangaza Children’s Choir and Jars of Clay. Through special videos, those in attendance had the opportunity to see the impact last year’s Hope in the Dark event had in Marsabit, Kenya in partnership with Blood:Water Mission and the impact on adoptive families through Show Hope.

At the end of the night, Mike Hamilton, who recently joined Show Hope’s Board of Directors, was pleased to announce that more than $250,000 was again raised to benefit both Show Hope and Blood:Water Mission. We can’t wait to meet and SEE more families who are personally affected by this amazing evening! Thank you, Knoxville!

This week at the 42nd Annual Dove Awards, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman were honored by the presentation of the Gospel Music Channel’s first “Uplift Someone” award. Presented to the Chapmans by Tim Tebow, this award recognizes artists who have encouraged people across the nation to make the world a better place by inspiring acts of positivity and kindness. The award celebrated the work the Chapmans have accomplished on behalf of the 140 million orphans in the world through the founding of Show Hope.

One of the most inspiring experiences of working at Show Hope is getting to meet families who have received Show Hope adoption aid grants. In that spirit, several Show Hope families joined the Chapmans onstage as they accepted the Uplift Award. Dove viewers will see how Show Hope sponsors and donors truly change the lives of orphans who are able to come into loving families.

In a touching moment for everyone in attendance, these beautiful families also joined in the singing of Third Day’s “Children of God.” Mark Hall, Mac Powell, and Steven Curtis Chapman, who are each adoptive dads, came together for this very special musical performance.

The 42nd Annual Dove Awards air this Easter Sunday at 7pm EST with an encore presentation at 9. Be sure to tune in!