Turning sorrow into hope

You may recall a few months back when the popular Christian singer Stephen Curtis Chapman revealed that his youngest daughter had been killed in a car accident. Since that time, the Chapman family has mourned and there has not been much news. But now they are speaking again and they have chosen to use this tragedy to give hope for other children.

Shaohannah's Hope, the adoption and orphan care ministry founded by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, has named their new special needs children's home in China after their five-year old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, who died in an accident earlier this year.

Located in Luoyang city, eastern China, Maria's Big House of Hope will care for orphans with medical impairments such as cleft palate, clubbed feet, blindness, and urological and neurological disorders.

Maria's Big House of Hope is currently in the building stages ahead of its October opening. Funded by Shaohannah's Hope and managed by New Hope Foundation, the six-floor, 60,000 sq ft facility will be equipped with everything required to care for orphans with special needs. This will be the biggest of its kind in China, able to provide for over 100 children at a time.