Upcoming Changes to Show Hope’s Work in China and Care Centers Program

To the Show Hope Family:

In 2000, when Shaohannah Hope joined our family through the miracle of adoption, we began to pray that we would one day be able to help provide care for orphans in China as a way of expressing our gratitude to a country that had given us so much. We soon returned to China to welcome Stevey Joy and Maria into our family. In the midst of the Chapman family growing, God stirred in our hearts to begin a work to care for orphans by engaging the Church and reducing barriers to adoption—a desire that took root in 2003 with the beginning of Show Hope. 

Shortly after Show Hope’s genesis, we were introduced to Robin and Dr. Joyce Hill and their work with New Hope Foundation, a charitable organization established in Hong Kong to provide “loving care and arranging medical treatment and palliative care to orphaned children in China.” Show Hope has provided financial support to New Hope Foundation for more than a decade, granting more than $33 million to help fund multiple Care Centers throughout China. Thanks to generous donations entrusted to Show Hope—many given to express love for our family after the passing of our daughter Maria—we have funded the building, the vast majority of furnishings, and the ongoing operational expenses of Maria’s Big House of Hope, Show Hope’s flagship Care Center in China, since its opening in 2009. 

When Show Hope began supporting the work of New Hope Foundation, we did so with open hands, trusting the One who opens doors no man can shut and shuts doors no man can open to guide and direct us (Revelation 3:7). We’ve understood the invitation to help care for children in China as a unique opportunity—one that may not always exist. Therefore, it is humbling to consider the impact this work has had to date. More than 2,700 children have experienced the dignifying work of the Care Centers in China, and more than 800 of those children have joined their families through adoption. What an incredible honor it has been to SEE miracles happen. Show Hope’s Board of Directors has sought to steward well and honor this invitation for the season we have been given. 

After much prayer and careful consideration of a myriad of factors and insurmountable challenges related to supporting international efforts in China, Show Hope’s Board of Directors has unanimously decided not to sign a new agreement with New Hope Foundation after fulfilling all current financial commitments, ending Show Hope’s funding to the Care Centers in China. Show Hope is in the process of evaluating how to best utilize our Care Centers program in a way that serves orphans and children who have joined their families through adoption in alignment with our mission. We look forward to sharing more with our Show Hope family as that work takes shape. 

Going forward, Show Hope intends to fulfill all financial commitments to New Hope Foundation, as laid out in our 2019–2020 agreement, through June 30, 2020. In order to mitigate any direct impact on the work of New Hope Foundation, Show Hope is providing a six-month notice of this decision, allowing New Hope Foundation’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership time to make necessary strategic and operational decisions for the future. 

While there is an appropriate sadness and understandable heaviness as this season comes to a close and the historical expression of Show Hope’s Care Centers work begins to change, we celebrate what God has accomplished and look forward with great expectancy to what He has in store.

We are humbled and grateful that so many people have joined us in helping make the important work of Show Hope and the Care Centers possible. We want to thank the Show Hope family for their faithful prayers and generous hearts—they are vital to the ongoing mission of Show Hope. All donations received by Show Hope and allocated for Care Centers prior to June 30, 2020, will be used to help Show Hope fulfill our financial commitment to New Hope Foundation.

The big, blue, cloud-covered building with six-petal flowers in China, honoring the life of our daughter Maria, has served as a beacon of hope underscoring Show Hope’s care and concern for China’s most vulnerable children. We believe the life-changing work God began at the Care Centers in China will continue in the lives and legacies of thousands of children impacted by the care they received and for many, the families they are now with at home. We, along with the staff at Show Hope, look expectantly toward the future as we seek to further invest in the lives of orphans and children who have joined their families through adoption. We also look forward to sharing more with the Show Hope family in the coming months.

We are praying for God’s grace in the days of transition ahead as we trust His ways are higher than our own and that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). 

With thankfulness for the past and hope for the future,

Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman,
Founders, Show Hope 

Emily Chapman Richards,
Executive Director, Show Hope