Inside the Hope for the Journey Conference
In late spring of this year, Show Hope announced that our Empowered to Connect Conference is being recast and retooled as the Hope for the Journey Conference. Building on the knowledge and experience gained over the past years, the aim of this one-day simulcast event will be to guide parents and everyday caregivers to a deeper understanding of their children’s needs.
“By introducing robust resources and sharing practical experiences of successes and failures of the day-to-day, it is our prayer that parents and caregivers will leave encouraged as they continue to journey well with their children,” Show Hope Executive Director Emily Chapman Richards said. “As more and more families within the Church have responded to meeting the needs of vulnerable children by adopting and providing foster care, the demand for practical and proven resources and tools continues to grow.”
For more than 10 years, Show Hope’s Empowered to Connect Conference has served and impacted more than 100,000 parents, caregivers, churches, and professionals who are seeking to better understand the complex needs of children impacted by adoption and foster care in order to provide much needed love, care, and security. It is this rich history on which a new chapter in our Pre+Post Adoption Support begins.
“Central to our new Hope for the Journey Conference is children,” Show Hope Director of Programs Jaimee Marks Brown said. “Their needs, their dignity, and their value are paramount to all that we do, and for us, we believe that it is vital to hear from them and learn from them as much as we can.
“One of our newest and most exciting additions to the 2021 conference is the plan to elevate the voices and experiences of adult adoptees,” Brown continued. “With these individuals inviting us into their stories, our hope is to walk away with even more insight and action steps to take in the day-to-day.”
While the conference will look different this year, we will continue to honor and build upon the legacy of Dr. Karyn Purvis and her teachings found within Trust Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®). Amanda Purvis and Daren Jones, from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU (KPICD), will lead us in exploring the Empowering, Connecting, and Correcting Principles foundational to TBRI.
According to the KPICD’s website, “TBRI is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children.” And while the intervention model is based on years of scientific research, at its core is connection. As Dr. Purvis once said, “When you connect to the heart of the child, everything is possible.”
With that conviction helping to guide us, the 2021 Hope for the Journey Conference will also introduce a brand-new learning module—TBRI and the Gospel.
In her book “Raising Worry-Free Girls,” licensed counselor Sissy Goff writes, “We need and want practical tools [for effective caregiving]. But we need more than tools. We need cornerstones.” At Show Hope, we understand the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be the cornerstone upon which TBRI principles are built.
“At our very core, there exists a deep desire and fundamental need for connection, belonging, and security found only within relationships. This eternal truth can be traced back to God creating humanity in his image. Furthermore, the image is made visible in the person of Jesus Christ as Emmanuel, God with us.” Emily explained. “As parents and caregivers we have the incredible opportunity to discover this truth together alongside our children.
“One aim, with our new Hope for the Journey Conference, is to further explore and explain how a family’s faith is lived out in everyday life when putting into practice tools that foster connection,” Emily continued. “When parents or care providers begin to fully recognize their own longings for connection, we believe they will be able to see, understand, and even empathize with their children’s.”
With a greater focus on real-life, practical insight and wisdom, the Hope for the Journey Conference will also address fostering and maintaining connections within your marriage and family. Relationships with your spouse and children are impacted by the decision to welcome a child into your family whether through adoption or foster care. And while it is sometimes challenging, it is crucial to ensure openness and honesty within your home as you process and navigate the evolving dynamics of adoption and foster care.
“As we often say at Show Hope, the adoption journey doesn’t end the day a child is welcomed home; in fact, the journey is just beginning. With that in mind, it is our prayer that the Hope for the Journey Conference will serve as an encouragement for children and families,” Show Hope Co-founder Mary Beth Chapman said. “As it has been for more than a decade, our vision will not waver in working to provide practical resources and teaching to better equip parents, care providers, and churches in their journeys to love and care well for the children entrusted to them.”
The Hope for the Journey Conference will take place on Friday, April 9, 2021, and will be available for simulcast around the globe (with a special rebroadcast period of April 16 through May 31, 2021).
