The Kindness of the Lord

For 20 years, Show Hope—guided by our Founders, Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman— has helped more than 8,600 children come to know the love, security, and permanency of a family through adoption while also equipping and mobilizing parents, caregivers, families, students, churches, and professionals to care holistically for the children entrusted to them.

If you are even somewhat familiar with our mission to care for orphans by engaging the Church and reducing barriers to adoption, you know Show Hope’s Adoption Aid grants work is the cornerstone of our holistic approach to advocacy and support of children and families. However, Show Hope is deeply rooted in a vision and desire to continue journeying with families beyond adoption finalization, with our Medical Care grants and Pre+Post Adoption Support work. And while Show Hope’s impact reaches well beyond hundreds of thousands of children and families, the reality is, there are needs that Show Hope is unable to address directly. Yet through the prayers and support of donors, who are committed to a radical generosity that our mutual faith in Christ calls us to, Show Hope has the privilege of providing financial support to other like-minded organizations and institutions, serving well children, families, and communities who are vulnerable. 

Local Impact 

In Show Hope’s past fiscal year, from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, we had the opportunity to partner with two local organizations within the State of Tennessee. First, we were able to grant $100,000 to Empowered to Connect (ETC), based in Memphis, for their Safe & Secure TN program. As you may be aware, ETC is a dynamic network of programs aimed at increasing access to holistic care for individuals, families, and communities. One of those programs, Safe & Secure TN offers multi-disciplinary training to caregivers and professionals who are supporting children who have experienced adversity, trauma, and loss. 

Tennessee Kids Belong (TKB), a chapter of America’s Kids Belong, exists to improve the experience and outcome for children impacted by foster care within the state. Recently, Show Hope granted TKB $100,000 for its I Belong Project videos as well as its Diversity & Belonging pilot program. 

According to Executive Director Kristin Allender, “We are so grateful to Show Hope for the collaboration and investment they make in the work of Tennessee Kids Belong. Over the next year, TKB will be able to film and recruit for more children in need of a [permanent] family in Tennessee. Show Hope has also invested in a new pilot program called Diversity and Belonging, focused on equipping more diverse churches and businesses to meet the unique needs of the children in foster care.”

National and Global Impact

For some 15 years now, Show Hope and the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU (KPICD) have worked together in raising awareness about trauma’s impact on child development and in turn equipping parents, caregivers, church communities, and professionals to care well for the children entrusted to them. The unique partnership between Show Hope and the KPICD began with the late Dr. Karyn Purvis, who, along with Dr. David Cross, developed Trust-Based Relational Intervention^® (TBRI^®). TBRI is a care model designed to help meet relational and developmental needs of children and youth impacted by trauma, and for us, at Show Hope, TBRI is also, in many ways, our faith in action—an expression of how God our Father loves us through connecting, empowering, and correcting. 

Through Show Hope’s Pre+Post Adoption Support work, the results of this bond with the KPICD have led to more than 138,000 parents, caregivers, church leaders, and professionals being introduced to TBRI through Show Hope’s annual Hope for the Journey Conference (formerly the Empowered to Connect Conference) as well as more than 2,000 scholarships awarded to professionals for TBRI Practitioner Training. Show Hope has also had the privilege of further supporting the KPICD in its efforts to equip people groups and institutions in their holistic care of children, both here in the U.S. and around the globe. This past year is no exception, with Show Hope granting the KPICD $75,000 toward resource development, including the translation of training materials into different languages, as well as support for the KPICD’s Hope Connection 2.0, a therapeutic camp for children and families impacted by adoption. According to Daren Jones, Associate Director of Training & Consultation services with the KPICD, “When you support the work of Show Hope, you are not just changing current lives; you are changing generations of families. The effects of your support of Show Hope cannot be quantified on this side of heaven. The gift of hope and empowering will be seen for a long time.” 

In early March 2022, in response to the war in Ukraine, Show Hope donated a financial gift—unanimously approved by our Founders and Board of Directors—to on-the-ground relief efforts in Ukraine, led by A Family for Orphan, which exists to help children who have been orphaned find care in safe and loving families in their home countries. By the end of last year, Show Hope had donated more than $100,000 to these relief efforts. Yet as the war in Ukraine continues, there is still much work to be done. This year, Show Hope had the privilege of giving an additional $75,000 to A Family for Orphan for TBRI Practitioner development in Ukraine, tablets for trauma therapy, and summer trauma-informed camps for children displaced because of the war. 

Although the international adoption process has been stalled with the country of China for more than three years now, hope and help are still not lost. As families continue to wait, inevitable costs arise, from renewed home studies to the refilling of paperwork. In the past six months, Show Hope has been able to award a $60,000 grant to Lifeline Children’s Services (Lifeline) as well as a $20,000 grant to All God’s Children International in support of families who are a part of their China programs—some of whom are a part of Show Hope’s Adoption Aid grant work. 

“To be able to answer the calls from Lifeline and All God’s Children is such a gift to us! As many of you know, China holds a special place in our hearts, as the homeland of our three beautiful daughters,” Show Hope Co-founder Mary Beth Chapman shared. “Through this financial support, we are locking arms with others, ensuring families within the adoption programs will not assume additional costs as they continue to wait patiently for their children to come home.” 

As Show Hope looks to the future, we do so with eyes wide open and full of hope for the next 20 years. The barriers to adoption are only increasing, yet it was God who took the original vision of helping 100 children and families and multiplied it to include well more than 100,000 children and families through the totality of Show Hope’s work. He is the same God now as then, and we continue to place our trust in him as we move toward the future. 

“The kindness of the Lord is more than evident in the work of Show Hope.”

Mary Beth Chapman, Show Hope Co-founder

“The kindness of the Lord is more than evident in the work of Show Hope,” Mary Beth explained. “Though we have certainly faced challenges, those obstacles have grown into opportunities beyond our wildest imaginations. And as we look to another 20 years of Show Hope, we do so with grateful hearts for the kindness of countless donors, supporters, and prayer partners who are giving of their time and resources to further the kingdom of God on this side of heaven. Because of their generosity, Show Hope has been able to not only support children and families directly, we have been able to pour into other like-minded organizations and institutions that are, too, working to reduce barriers to adoption.”