Many of the children here at New Hope in China are healing from surgeries or waiting to have them, and it is such a privilege to hold a child and to be able to pray over them specifically or to pray for the nannies who care for them. In our devotion the other night, our team talked about how it isn’t by chance that God calls us to “visit” the orphan in their need, because as anyone who has held an orphan knows, the overwhelming statistic of over 130 million orphans in the world becomes 1 orphan in your world—you know them by name and love them—they are no longer a part of the nameless, faceless statistic we often quote. Those children are real, they steal your heart, and you are compelled to love as the Father loves.

We have also had the chance to do some work around New Hope Foster Home and spent a day cleaning out a storage shed that houses many of the donated items for this home among other things. At times the donations may not be needed immediately, things like old air conditioners or heaters, extra furniture, or various other item, and in recent months the large storage shed had become packed full of these types of things. One of the staff at New Hope said he had gone to the garage a few times to try to work on this, but realized about 15 minutes later there was just no way to do it! The 20 of us spent the day clearing out this shed, which was no easy task to undertake!

When they first opened the door, I thought it could potentially take us the rest of the week to clean it out! By mid-morning it became evident that we would have it completed by the end of the day! Hanna, a team member from Washington State, laughed and said at some point during our endeavors that “many hands make light the work”, and I don’t think that saying ever had more meaning to me than at that moment. That truly came alive to me as I realized all that we had been able to accomplish by mid-afternoon and seeing the end in sight. It was such a huge blessing for our team to be able to do this work for New Hope, enabling the nannies to get into the storage area to see what items they could use for the kids and hopefully lifting an overwhelming task off the minds of the staff.

Please be praying for our team as we continue to seek God and serve His children here in China!

The Show Hope “China 3 Team” (the third team Show Hope has sent this summer) met up in Newark, NJ for the first time on July 31 before our long flight to Beijing.  Our team, ranging in ages from 14-26, was traveling in from all parts of the United States to serve at Maria’s Big House of Hope in Luoyang and at New Hope Foster Home in Beijing.  We planned on having a team meeting the night of the 31st in Newark before heading to China the next day, but due to weather conditions, many on the team were not able to arrive in NJ until late on the night of the 31st.

Despite the many long delays that day, the rest of the team thankfully made it in! We were able to have a little time of fellowship as a group that evening, and it was clear that God’s hand was already evident by the ways in which He enabled each person to be a part of the trip.  I kept picturing each person as a part of that Verizon Wireless commercial with a whole network of friends, family, and church body standing behind them as they set off to serve in China.  The body of Christ is truly a beautiful picture to behold.

Since arriving in Beijing about 4 days ago, we have been spending time with the precious children of New Hope.  I have enjoyed watching our team members as they have each begun to connect to the children and the staff here.  God always seems to draw the heart of each person to a different child and we often joke that “someone” else is holding my baby right now. In God’s wisdom, He brings different giftings and talents and personalities together to serve His children, and I’ve loved watching the way in which He works as a matchmaker between servant and child.  We’ve also been able to get down and dirty, working and serving by cleaning out the shed, but I’ll write more about that tomorrow!

This morning we will spend the day with the babies here at New Hope and then set out to visit some local foster families who care for some of the older children.  Although we have been enjoying authentic, delicious Chinese food from area restaurants or food prepared by the wonderful cooks at New Hope, I think the team is looking forward to heading into Beijing tonight for some Tex-Mex in the “ex-pat” section of Beijing before we board the overnight train to Luoyang.

I am looking forward to visiting Maria’s Big House of Hope with great anticipation.  Having worked at Show Hope for 4 years now, I have been a witness to the vision for this care facility and God’s amazing provision through His people for this new aspect of our ministry that will change the world for many children in need!  I know from the teams who went before us that many, many blessings in the forms of little ones named Hudson or Theo will be there to greet us!  I will also be carrying some precious cargo in my luggage: a blanket for Hudson from Mary Beth, a few little onesie outfits for little Theo, a letter and pictures to drop off for a young girl in the process of being adopted from a local orphanage, and many many hugs and kisses as well from those who have gone before us.

As we were flying to Beijing a few days ago, the youngest member of our team, Elizabeth, from Michigan, tapped me on the shoulder and asked if she could share a scripture passage during one of our devotional times.  She said she had been just been reading and the Lord spoke to her heart saying, “This is what I want to share with you about this trip”; she shared Ephesians 3:14-21.  So, we pray this portion of scripture, confident that Christ is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Here is a quick slideshow of pics from the team!

Upset that you missed the TV Special on Maria’s Big House of Hope that aired yesterday on CBN’s 700Club?  Well have no fear!  You can watch it right here:

You can change the world for orphans through Maria’s Big House of Hope by becoming a Show Hope sponsor today >

Tomorrow, Tuesday, August 4th, don’t miss this exciting opportunity to get up close and personal with Steven Curtis Chapman and Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH)!  The 700Club is doing a feature on the Grand Opening, and you can click here and find a station to watch it >

Below is the press release with more information. We are so grateful for these opportunities to spread God’s heart for orphans and the ways that people are saving the lives of special needs orphans through MBHOH by becoming Show Hope sponsors.

July 30, 2009 On Tuesday, August 4th Christian Broadcasting Network’s daily program the 700Club will feature a segment on the grand opening of Maria’s Big House of Hope (MBHOH).

A local Chinese film crew was on hand for the grand opening of MBHOH several weeks ago, and the piece will feature Steven Curtis Chapman and his family on their trip to Luoyang, China for the exciting opening of this wonderful home that will provide life-saving care for special needs orphans.

Funded by Show Hope, this 60,000 square foot, 6 story facility will care for special needs children in the Henan area, one of the poorest provinces of China. MBHOH will offer these special children medical care, physical therepy and even life impacting surgery.

Read more about Maria’s Big House of Hope

The 700Club airs nationally on ABC Family as well as many other local broadcast stations.  Go to this link to find a station in your area:  700Club station finder

It is always inspirational to see how God is moving in hearts of families like the Tappers, who stepped out in faith to adopt in response to God’s call. They shared: “One of the worldwide issues with which God burdened me was the plight of orphans. My eyes were opened to see the reality of great need, while numerous Scriptures, depicting God’s care for the fatherless and the lonely, impacted my heart…”

Too often I don’t let the words of God impact my heart, because with knowledge comes responsibility.  However, instead of seeing this as a burden, stories from families like the Tappers help me to realize that really this is an opportunity to experience God. May I follow in the footsteps of faith like the Tappers in responding to what God would have of me!

We wanted to make sure all of our sponsors and supporters who make our grants possible got to here what this family had to say: “For all those who participate in or contribute to the work of Show Hope, evidencing God’s heart for the fatherless through your generous giving, we express our sincere appreciation. May Paul’s prayer for the Philippians be our cry today: ‘that your love for each other will overflow more and more’ (Philippians 1:9).”

Thank you for your faithful partnership in showing hope to orphans!

Read the Tapper’s full testimony >

It is so exciting to see the doors of Maria’s Big House of Hope flung wide open to welcome the least of the least of the special needs orphans! Thanks to all the supporters and sponsors who have helped to make this a reality, and to all the Show Hope sponsors who are making it possible for us to care for these amazing children on an ongoing basis! It is incredible to see what God has done with a seed of hope, watered by so many faithful, generous hearts, that is finally coming to fruition! Thanks for your ongoing support and prayers!

Show Hope is now on Twitter! You can follow us on twitter and invite others to follow us at http://twitter.com/ShowHopeNow. You’ll receive the latest news in the world of Show Hope, daily prayers so that we can come before God on behalf of orphans around the world, and even statistics and information about the plight of orphans.

You can also spread the word and keep updated using the Twitter widget below (requires Flash 9 or higher):

Painting the entrance to Maria's Big House of Hope

 Ni Hao from Luoyang, China!  The second Show Hope team has successfully arrived here in China and we have had a busy first few days of our trip!  After waking up on the morning of July 17^th, we headed into Beijing for a day of shopping!  For those of you that are not very familiar with China, shopping is a completely different experience in China.  You bargain for your price, making shopping a bit of a competition and a game!  The team had a blast getting great deals on little treasures to take home for friends and family.

Later on the evening of July 17^th, we truly had a unique cultural experience.  We took a night train down to Luoyang, China.  Traveling by train isn’t the most popular method of transportation in America, so for some of our team members this was the first time they had ever been on a train.  The train ride was an experience . . . but making our way through the crowded train station was quite the ADVENTURE (keep in mind our group consisted of 23 people)!  After eating a bit of breakfast and boarding the bus, we arrived at Maria’s Big House of Hope on the morning of July 18^th.

We have been working like busy little bees from the moment we arrived here.  I have been so impressed with this group.  Not only have they been quick to fill in and help wherever needed regarding work projects, but each person has also been so gracious toward one another.  I am thankful for the team’s unity and know that it is completely a gift from God.  Satan would like nothing more than to cause dissention in and among this group!  Please continue to pray that the team will remain unified with one another, loving each other well and therefore being witnesses of the great love we have experienced through the gift of Jesus Christ!

One of our team members, Taylor, putting up a crib mobile!

Audra working hard assembling a crib mobile . . . smiling the whole way through!

We have finished so many little projects since arriving early Sunday morning.  We have painted all sorts of butterflies, flowers and ladybugs in the entrance of Maria’s Big House of Hope!  We want this place to be joyful and colorful as one enters; just as joyful as the love that God has lavished on this special little spot in Luoyang, China.  We are continuing to work by adding artwork to the exterior of the building! 

We had the opportunity of assembling 100 crib mobiles and putting them on every crib in Maria’s Big House of Hope.  The preschool that Maria attended as a child donated all 100 crib mobile in her memory to this special place.  What a joy it was to walk into each room, place the mobile on the crib and watch the babies’ faces light up as they watched the mobile spin around and play music.  It was also a blessing to watch the nannies expressions of gratitude and joy for the gift of the crib mobile.  Crib mobiles are something that is a “must have” when it comes to decorating a baby’s nursery.  I remember helping my mom decorate Shaoey, Stevey and Maria’s nursery.  Picking out the crib mobile was an important step in the baby preparation process as it pulled the nursery décor together.  I am honored to be a part of making Maria’s Big House of Hope feel even that much more like a home.  I will never forget watching one baby, in particular, move from tears to tickled pink as the crib mobile’s music began playing softly and the little farm animals began spinning around.  He absolutely LOVED the music!  

Uncle Jim working hard on a rendition of Maria's flower.

Kristi and Elizabeth carefully hanging the precious artwork that Maria's preschool class did in her honor to help decorate Maria's Big House of Hope.

And even more than the work projects and the amazing opportunity to deliver crib mobiles to each baby’s bed, it has been a joy watching God move mightily in and through each member on this team.  God treasures his little children.  He calls himself a father to the fatherless, and when we step into the realm of orphan care, our worlds are radically rocked.  God is revealing his character in new ways to so many of our team members.  During our team devotionals, I like to ask team members to simply share what they feel God is teaching them or stirring in their hearts during their time here in China.  Just last night, one of our team members commented on this life, one of caring for the least among the least, really being what life should be ALL about.  

“’Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’”  And he said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’”  As our love for God continues to grow, we are further motivated to love others.  And as we love others well, those that might live right next door to us or those that live half way around the world, we learn new things about God – who he REALLY is and how is love REALLY changes our entire perspective.  Be blessed today knowing that God has truths to reveal to you as you love whomever God has placed in your life! 

Please continue to pray for the safety, unity and health of this team of Show Hope volunteers!  We have had an amazingly smooth trip thus far with very little sickness and unease . . . praise the Lord!  Thank you for your support!

P.S. Check out my Mom’s blog for an update and more pictures: http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/marybeth

I heard this question in the most unlikely of all places yesterday. As I was upgrading my phone, the salesman, James (great guy), asked me where I worked.  When I told him about Show Hope and how we help orphans and give grants to families who are adopting, he gave me a knowing nod and simply said, “I’m adopted.”

“So tell me,” James asked, “why is it so hard for kids to get adopted these days?”

When my phone salesman asked me that, it caught me off guard, but all of a sudden the question took on a very personal quality.  I was talking to a man who told me:

• Adoption was the best thing that ever happened to him
• He found his biological mom, and he knows that the social worker who didn’t let her have him back did the absolute right thing
• The family who adopted him wanted a little girl, and instead got himself AND his brother, showing what amazing things can happen when someone will step out of their comfort zone
• He was part of an interracial adoption, and what matters is that the family loves you, not whether they are red, yellow, black, or white
• He would never have achieved what he has without adoption being a part of his story

I had to think, “Why IS it that kids who come from the same types of situations like James are so often left without the hope of a forever family?” James is married, has completed college, and has a successful job (evidenced by the fact that he convinced me to buy that phone!). Why aren’t more families able to take kids without hope and give them a future like James has?

Make no mistake, there is an enemy.  The enemy uses any tool he can to destroy the lives of God’s precious children.  That enemy will use fear, apathy, despair, and lies in whatever ways possible so that children are left without hope, without love, and without a future.  We see the effects of it when families feel they have to fight the system in order to give kids a loving home.  The evidence is there when someone hears two horror stories about the adoption process and turns back before they can hear two hundred success stories.  The proof is also there when parents enter into the adoption process without all the resources they need, and all parties end up hurt, when God intended them to experience a miracle.

Adoption seems so hard in part because there is a culture of fear surrounding adoption, whether it be the fear of having your child returned to the parents, the fear of the process costing too much, or the fear of messing up your life by adopting a child who has issues due to a bad situation (James was one of those children…).

Yet, “You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).  God gave us the Spirit of adoption, not the spirit of fear.  God never promised the roads He would lead us down would be easy, but He did promise that He would never leave us or forsake us. Show Hope has had the privilege of watching and helping over 2,000 families take those steps down the road of adoption that so many fear, and instead walk in faith, bearing testimony to the amazing provision of God and the blessings that can come when you experience the miracle of adoption.

Well, in our battle against the fear that adoption is too hard, we often have to fight the cultural mentalities that exist from the stories that pervade it.  Unfortunately, Warner Bros has decided to release a horror film that preys upon those very fears, called “Orphan.”  It only helps their advertising machine that controversy has been stirred up because of the subject matter – a child who has “something wrong” is adopted into a family who experienced the loss of a child, and terrors break loose.

Is it wrong that I hope the movie tanks and nobody goes to see it?  Is it wrong that, without seeing the film, I think that it is a harmful and grievous act to release a film that supports all the wild fears of prospective adoptive parents and all those who consider adopted kids as “damaged goods”?  You can read more about this in the Show Hope Press Release >

Instead of going to see the movie and supporting them with my money, I am going to instead visit the website: www.OrphansDeserveBetter.org to see what I can do to send a strong counter-message to the world: Orphans (like James here in the states, like my friend Enoch in Ghana, my friend “Mark” in China, and my friend Jose in Honduras) are beautiful, amazing people, created by God for a purpose, and may very well be the biggest blessing you ever encounter, especially if you choose to experience the miracle of adoption and give one of them a loving family.

You can support Maria’s Big House of Hope and change the world for special needs orphans in China by becoming a Show Hope sponsor today! Sponsors will be a part of helping the least of the least receive the love, shelter, food, medical care and surgeries they need to survive.  There is such a great need, but you can make a difference!

Watch this video of Steven Curtis Chapman and Geoff Moore explaining why you should become Show Hope sponsor, and become a sponsor today! >