Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, October 2012: SHOW HOPE'S RED BUS PROJECT CONTINUES ITS COLLEGE TOUR THIS FALL

SHOW HOPE'S RED BUS PROJECT CONTINUES ITS COLLEGE TOUR THIS FALL

Spring Leg Raised More Than $21,000 For Orphan Care,
Reaching 67,000 Students!

NEWS SOURCE: Merge PR
October 4, 2012

Nashville, Tenn - October 2012 - This past spring, thousands of students from 25 colleges throughout the southeast contributed more than $21,000 to help provide waiting orphans with forever families through Show Hope™ adoption grants. In the process, more than 67,000 students were exposed to Show Hope's Red Bus Project this spring in their newly launched orphan care program created especially for college students featuring a British double-decker-bus-turned-rolling-thrift-store. To continue their powerful mission of impacting students around the U.S., the fall leg of the tour kicked off last week and will visit 18 colleges through the fall.

The Red Bus Project was started by Show Hope, a movement to care for orphans that was founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth. From encouraging students to start their own college groups to the rolling thrift store on a double decker bus where students can purchase and/or donate clothing, the Red Bus Project is geared to unite and inspire students on their campuses to help make a difference and speak up for the world's orphans.

"Students really care about making a difference in the world and sometimes they just need someone to point them in the right direction," said Chris Wheeler, Show Hope's Director of Student Initiatives and who is overseeing the Red Bus Project. "The Red Bus Project is a way to lead students toward truly making a huge impact in the global orphan crisis through simple steps of action."

The Red Bus Project is more than just a campus tour. A comprehensive engagement campaign ensures that students continue to be engaged in orphan care activities long after the tour leaves campus.

"Our goal is not to just swoop on to a campus, have a fun event, then leave and never be heard from again," comments Wheeler. "We have a very intentional strategy in place to move students progressively towards deeper and deeper engagement in a lifestyle of orphan care. We are asking them 'What is your Red Bus?' - a metaphor for specific actions they will take to help the plight of the orphan."

A key part of the engagement strategy includes 28 student-run Red Bus Project campus groups that are launching this fall. Campus group leaders are trained and provided with tools and activities to engage the students on their campus in support of orphan care.

Wheeler adds, "Nothing speaks to a student like a student. As campus groups form, students come out of the woodwork to make their voice count."

More information is available at Facebook.com/redbusproject or RedBusProject.org.The fall tour schedule is listed below.

About The Red Bus Project:
Show Hope's college program, the Red Bus Project, was launched on March 12, 2012 as a creative initiative to engage college students in the global orphan crisis. The Red Bus Project features a mobile thrift store facilitating the sale and collection of clothes to benefit orphan care. A double-decker bus serves to draw attention on a college campus. After the tour is over, a nationwide engagement campaign provides continual opportunities for students speak up on behalf of orphans. These students form Red Bus Project campus groups to collectively make an even greater impact in their community and beyond.

About Show Hope:
A ministry to 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. Founded in 2003 by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth, Show Hope is now an internationally recognized voice for orphan advocacy and has given more than 3,500 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 Maria¹s Big House of Hope, a six-story healing home facility located in Luoyang, China. Additional centers have opened in the Henan province of China, operating in three state-run orphanages as an extension of the care being provided at Maria's Big House of Hope. These Special Care Centers 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.

The Chapmans were most recently recognized for their adoption advocacy by The Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) who presented them with the The Defender of the Fatherless Award. The Chapmans received the award this spring before 2,000 advocates of orphan care and adoption at the Christian Alliance for Orphans' Summit VIII, held at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. 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.

ShowHope.org

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