Daily Prayer: Emmanuel, God with us, thank you for breaking into history to redeem all things.

Merry Christmas from Maria’s Big House of Hope and all of us at Show Hope!

As we are developing the Show Hope Student Initiative, some very exciting plans are surfacing! I’ve been amazed at just how strategic and creative students truly are. Recently, several students approached me with the idea of starting Show Hope sponsored orphan care clubs in their schools! This is such a beautiful concept because students spend the majority of their waking hours at school. Reaching students on their own turf with the message that “you can make a difference in the life of an orphan” has the potential of being life-altering for everyone involved!

After much prayer and planning we are launching “The Movement” in high schools here in the Nashville area this coming spring semester! In addition to raising awareness of the orphan crisis, these clubs will be action-oriented. The goal is that the clubs will take on fundraisers and work projects for adoptive families, local foster care and global orphan care. Our hope is that by fall of 2011 we will be able to make these available in high schools across America! If you’re interested in starting “The Movement” at your own school in the future, email me at: wheeler[at]showhope[dot]org

Vinnie, a Ugandan mother, woke early in the morning before sunrise to tend to her garden one day back in March of 2007. Vinnie has three sons and a daughter whom she cares for as a single mom. Vinny’s husband died of AIDS several years prior, and she has been working diligently to care for her family ever since. She planned to work in the garden on Thursday night, but recalls feeling that she needed to wait and wake early Friday morning to care for her crops.

It was still dark when she arrived, and in the midst of her work she heard what she thought to be a cat. The sound continued, and it soon became apparent that what she was listening to was not the faint cry of a cat. After following the sound to investigate, she found a 5 pound or less baby girl who had just been born and immediately abandoned, still attached to the placenta. Vinny took the baby girl home, cleaned her up, and decided that she would take her in as her own. God had given her a very wonderful gift that day. From that day forward this precious little girl would be known as Gift. Gift is now 3 ½ years old. She is full of joy and energy! The picture at the top of this post was taken during my recent visit to Uganda.

December is a month where gifts are abounding. We take gag gifts to White Elephant nights, we buy presents for friends and family, we wait to see what gifts will be under our tree on Christmas morning. The story of this precious little girl reminds me that gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and are not necessarily the way we expect them to be sometimes. Let us all with open arms be willing to accept the gifts God has for us this Christmas. And hey, if you want to give a gift to Show Hope this time of year, we’ll take that too!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

One of the best gifts that comes with being involved in the work of Show Hope is the opportunity to see children, once struggling and in need of critical care and healing, come not only to a place of survival and health, but also to the place of permanency in the love of a forever family.  Last night, as the rest of us were sleeping (or in my case, should have been except for the excitement), four families held their children in their arms for the first time, children who were helped by our special care centers!!!

Asher, Oliver, Susie and Victoria are the little ones who just met their families for the first time.  We are endlessly thankful to see this day come at last and wanted to pass this wonderful news along to our Show Hope sponsors who had such a big part in their journey to a forever home.

It is easy to sometimes forget that each one of us directly contributes to this work and makes a life-changing impact on the lives of these orphans.  On behalf of the Chapman family, the staff of Show Hope and Maria’s Big House of Hope, and the families who have welcomed these children at last, we want to extend our deepest thanks.

As you pray for the transitions of these four precious children into their forever families, please remember to pray for other children who have been matched and are awaiting the arrival of their own forever families. Pray, too, for children like Isaac, Carissa, Theo, Judah and Jessica who face additional challenges in their adoption because of their special medical conditions and age.

Thank you for your part in seeing these little ones home safely!

Thank you for our scarves Heidi, Lily, Mariah, Rhea and Jona!

Those of us in Middle Tennessee are all bundled up today! We had our first “winter storm” of the season yesterday. For anyone who lives where snow and sub-zero temperatures are the norm during the winter, our little storm is probably laughable. For most southerners, however, this is a major event! With ice on the roads, snow on the ground, and today’s high temperature at 19°F, we send our thanks to some very thoughtful friends of ours…the nurses at MBHOH!

When Mikey visited Nashville from China last month, he delivered scarves to the ladies at the office. We each picked out one of these gifts, and the men chose scarves for their wives. We are glad for the blessing of sweet friends halfway across the world whose love of the children and the work of Show Hope is so abundant. Thank you for our scarves, Heidi, Lily, Mariah, Rhea and Jona!

While the scarves in our staff picture were a special treat from China, you can order a scarf from the Show Hope store for yourself or for a special Christmas gift. The proceeds from the Show Hope branch scarves (pictured at right) help to make the work at our special care centers possible, and can help keep you warm this winter too!

Show Hope would like to thank In Ian’s Boots for donating shoes to the children at Maria’s Big House of Hope as well as the Show Hope Special Care Centers in Jiaozuo and Zhengzhou!! The shoes made a stop in our offices before being sent to China, and the staff here loved opening the boxes and seeing all of the adorable RileyRoos shoes just as much at the staff at MBHOH did!

In Ian’s Boots was founded earlier this year by Holly and Don Miller in memory of their son, Ian. Their mission is to provide new and gently used shoes to children in need, and the Millers’ passion and compassion is evident. We are delighted that In Ian’s Boots worked so closely with us from start to finish to determine what types and sizes of shoes were most needed in our special care centers!

If you would like to donate supplies to Show Hope’s special care centers, we invite you to review the list of the items that are currently most needed.  If you happen to have an item that falls outside those listed, please contact Cathy Troyer to see if it can additionally be helpful to the care of these children.  We’re thankful to In Ian’s Boots for doing just that and for the wonderful shoes MBHOH kids are enjoying as a result!

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Isaac turns 4 tomorrow!

As so many of us continue to reflect on the Thanksgiving celebrations we shared with our family and friends last week, I wanted to take a minute to share a little glimpse into the celebrations that happened at Maria’s Big House of Hope as well.

We have much to be thankful for…and today, I find myself especially thankful for the smiles on the faces of these beautiful children. As you watch the slideshow and join us in giving thanks for the  the lives of these children, we ask you to pray that each one of them might one day experience the love of a forever family. We also particularly celebrate the life of Isaac this week, who will turn four years old tomorrow!

Updated 12/16/2010: Steven Curtis Chapman’s Huckabee performance of “Meant to Be” will now on December 18.

Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman will head to New York City to visit Fox & Friends for a LIVE interview tomorrow, Friday December 3. SCC will be singing his new song “Meant To Be” heard on VeggieTales’ new DVD It’s A Meaningful Life. The DVD also features the voice of Stevey Joy Chapman as “Emma the Rhubarb,” and special Show Hope bonus features. Bob and Larry are showing hope this Christmas through an exciting partnership between Show Hope and VeggieTales! Visit our VeggieTales page to watch the “Meant to Be” music video and learn more about how you can be involved.

The Chapmans are also taping a segment for Good Morning America that will air December 30; and Huckabee, an appearance that is slated to air December 11. Be sure to check your local listings for on-air times.

It was a beautiful way to begin my day.  Recently, when I came into work, a note was waiting in my inbox from Mikey Shook – Show Hope’s liaison to MBHOH.  Mikey’s note was short…just long enough enough to tell me that the Newlin family had just visited MBHOH.  Having that little bit of information immediately brought an unexpected joy to my heart that hadn’t existed moments before.  Through that little announcement, I was reminded of one really beautiful aspect of this work….seeing children, who once hung on the edge of even their most basic survival, now coming to a place of hope, security, permanency, and a future.

How did the Newlin’s visit bring all of this to mind?  If you look closely at the face of their daughter, you may start to realize that this little one in their arms is actually someone you may already know….MAE!!!

Mae holds a very special place in the history of our special care centers as she was the first child at MBHOH to have completed the full cycle of care offered having received pre-surgical care, necessary surgery, and post-surgical care while at MBHOH.  In March of this year, Mae left MBHOH’s care in order to be processed for adoption.  Now, that long-awaited day day has come!

As you can imagine, it was a sweet gift for all the MBHOH nurses and nannies who had earlier loved and cared for Mae to now see her in the arms of her forever family.

WELCOME HOME TO YOUR FOREVER FAMILY, MAE!

We are Chris and Christy, and we have been married for 9 years. In the spring of 2004, we were told our chances of having children biologically were slim. Although we didn’t know much about it at the time, we started looking into adoption. After finding an agency we liked and attending their informational meeting, we both knew this was what God wanted us to do! We got started on the paperwork right away. The next summer, as we were packing for vacation, our phone rang. It was our social worker, who called to tell us we were chosen to be the parents of a baby boy who was born that morning. Two days later, we met our son and brought him home!

Two years later, in the summer of 2008, we began to feel God leading us to adopt again. The road to Kati was a little longer and a little bumpier, but she is so worth it! This time it was a lot tougher to pull the finances together since Christy was at home with Drew. We knew God would provide, but there were times that we started to question whether or not we should be doing this. Every time He gave us the reassurance. We learned about Show Hope from our agency and decided to apply. When we found out we would be getting a grant from Show Hope, we were so excited!

Kati was born with an esophageal defect and spent two and a half weeks in the NICU after she was born. The grant we received from the generosity of Show Hope sponsors took away the stress of trying to figure out how to pay the remaining adoption expenses and allowed us to stay focused on our baby girl. Now she is a year old and is happy, healthy and adds so much joy to our lives!

Thank you, Show Hope, for assisting us in our adoption journey! Drew and Kati are such blessings to us and it has been amazing to see how God has worked to bring each of them into our lives and our family!