Each year, the Defender of the Fatherless Award honors bold and sacrificial leadership that has inspired the church and transformed children's lives. Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman were recognized for the immense impact they have had in re-awakening Christians to God's call for orphan care through Show Hope.

Founded in 2003, Show Hope helps to provide waiting orphans with forever homes through financial adoption grants, as well as give medical care for orphans with special needs. Additionally, Show Hope empowers churches, families, and communities to change the world for orphans with adoption and orphan care resources and advocacy efforts.

"Christians across America and beyond are now rising to care for orphans in ways not seen in generations, and no couple has played a more significant role in this awakening than Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman," Jedd Medefind, President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, expressed. "From their compelling personal example and public witness to the far-reaching impact of Show Hope, the Chapmans helped spark today's Christian orphan care movement, and they continue to champion its amazing growth."

2012 marks the inaugural presentation of the Defender of the Fatherless Award, which will be awarded annually at Summit. The verse from Hosea 14:3, which reads "In you the fatherless find compassion," is engraved on the award to celebrate God's great love for the fatherless and how that love becomes visible when Christians reflect God's heart in action.

The Christian Alliance for Orphans' annual Summit strives has become a hub for what Christianity Today recently called "the burgeoning orphan care movement," inspiring and equipping individuals for effective adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry. It has grown from 38 attendees at the first Summit in 2004 to more than 50 times that number in 2012. Summit VIII brought 2,000 pastors, organizational leaders and ministry directors together for workshops and comprehensive sessions.

http://www.showhope.org/
http://www.christianalliancefororphans.org/

About Show Hope:
A ministry founded by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to help care for the millions of orphans around the world, Show Hope helps to provide waiting orphans with forever families by giving financial grants to adoptive families. To date, Show Hope is now an internationally recognized voice for orphan advocacy and has given more than 3,200 financial grants, affecting the lives of children from 50 different countries, including the U.S. In addition to giving financial grants, Show Hope also empowers families, churches and communities with adoption and orphan care resources and advocacy efforts to change the world for orphans.

Show Hope, expanding its remarkable worldwide impact, also provides for orphans with special needs in China through its Special Care Centers. One of these centers is Maria's Big House of Hope, a six-story healing home facility located in Luoyang, China. Opened in the summer of 2009, its mission is to provide the highest level of care for orphans who are in desperate need of surgeries and medical attention, thus enabling the children to thrive and increase the orphans' chances of being adopted. Additional centers have opened in the Henan province of China, operating in two state-run orphanages as an extension of the care being provided at Maria's Big House of Hope.

About Christian Alliance for Orphans:
The Christian Alliance for Orphans includes 120 respected Christian organizations and a national network of churches. Working together, the Alliance inspires and equips Christians to "defend the fatherless" through adoption, foster care and global orphan initiatives. The Alliance creates a shared impact no one organization, church or individual could achieve alone. United efforts to connect members include the national Summit, the Orphan Sunday campaign and monthly webinars.

For more info on Steven Curtis Chapman visit the JFH Artists Database.

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