The Fighter
Staring down the lens of a Canon 6D camera, Hannah Deer got up close and personal with the work of Show Hope. Working as a freelance photographer for Show Hope, Hannah captured images of families who had received grants to help with adoption—many families you, the reader, would have seen and read about in similar pieces such as this.
Hannah and her husband, Andrew, were always open to adoption, saying early on in their marriage they could see adoption happening in the future. While interest in adoption didn’t start with Hannah photographing Show Hope families, she said it certainly helped the desire grow.
“Meeting some different families, especially a few families with children with medical needs, that kind of opened my eyes a little bit more to what international adoption looks like for a lot of families,” Hannah said. “I would say it definitely grew my interest.”
After having four biological children, Hannah told Andrew she was open to having more children, while Andrew said he felt, at the time, he was at “max capacity.”
“I had to get to a point where I was like, I am just going to pray when I have these thoughts,” Hannah said. “And Andrew came to me just a little bit later and said, ‘Hey, let’s revisit the idea of adoption.’ Then we started doing some research and what that looked like for our family, and that led us to international adoption.”
Ultimately, the Deers set their sights on the country of Colombia, falling in love with the culture and appreciating a smoother adoption process that they said was more accepting of larger families like theirs. (And they said it helped that they believed they could learn Spanish the quickest over other languages too.)
As adoption sometimes goes, two potential matches fell through for the Deer family, but they kept trusting God and his timing. After a couple months of hearing very little, one evening, case workers reached out to Hannah and Andrew about a little boy named Matthew who needed a home. The thing was, the Deers had to give their answer by the next morning on whether they would adopt him—which was a clear, Yes!
Fast forward six months to the summer of 2024, Hannah and Andrew traveled with their four children to Colombia, spending five weeks in country to bring their new son home. They said having their biological children with them was a major asset in helping Matthew feel at ease and creating lasting bonds from the very beginning. The Deers said traveling to Colombia as an entire family would not have been possible without the assistance of a Show Hope Adoption Aid grant.
“Show Hope was a tremendous blessing to our family,” Andrew said. “And some of the things we were able to do with Matthew and for Matthew were not possible without that Show Hope grant. It was a tremendous blessing. Still to this day, we talk about how much of a blessing Show Hope was to our family in that process in bringing Matthew home.”
When the Deers were first matched with Matthew, who was born with cerebral palsy, they knew he had medical needs, but they did not know just how vast his needs were. One file said Matthew could sit and crawl, while another file said he couldn’t do either and only said a handful of words. But the Deers said God’s hand could be seen throughout their whole adoption story.
“It’s God’s providence,” Andrew said. “We believe God had a plan for us with Matthew. It’s interesting because throughout the whole process of what we were willing to take on and not, we had said no to a child with cerebral palsy., We didn’t know with four other kids how that would work for our family. We didn’t know how wheelchairs and walkers and those sorts of assistive devices would look in our day-to-day. So we said no countless times on any paperwork. And still, we have Matthew. We truly believe that’s obviously the Lord’s plan for our family.”
Upon coming home, Matthew began 10 weeks of intense therapy, and medical costs started rapidly mounting.
“When you are adopting, there’s a bunch of people who come to you and say, ‘We personally can’t take that on, but we do believe in adoption. And we want to support you, so we want to give you money,’” Hannah said. “But so many people do not know what that looks like afterward and especially what it looks like to take on a child who is medically fragile.”
Feeling like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders, the Deers applied for and received a Show Hope Medical Care grant.
“We can’t stress it enough how much of a blessing Show Hope has been to our family,” Andrew said. “From being able to bring Matthew home to now being able to help provide that care, it’s truly a blessing to not have to worry about [the financial costs].”
Now 3 years old, Matthew does everything he can to keep up with his siblings. Using a walker and adaptive bikes, he is more mobile than ever, with his parents calling him a “fighter.” The Deers said he is also quite the joker and always keeps them laughing.
“He’ll say something to be funny but say, ‘I’m joking.’” Andrew said. “And you’re like, The fact that he didn’t know English six months ago and is now able to joke with our family in English is shocking. It’s really amazing.”
Named in memory of Maria Sue Chapman, the youngest daughter of Show Hope Founders Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, Maria’s Miracle Fund supports the growing impact of our Medical Care grants work.
With a gift to Maria’s Miracle Fund, you have the opportunity to change the day-to-day life of children and families, like the Grubbs, as well as honor the life and legacy of Maria and the Chapman family.
Will you join us and give today?
