The Steven Curtis Chapman family supports adoption

It was a song in the heart of Chapman's oldest daughter, Emily, that inspired Steven and wife Mary Beth to adopt three daughters from China and to start a foundation to help other families adopt.

Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman rehearses at his home in Franklin, Tenn. (pop. 41,842), with a local children's choir for an upcoming tour.

"Listen to your heart," the children sing. "You will hear a song."

It was indeed a song in the heart of Chapman's oldest daughter, Emily, that inspired Steven, 42, and wife Mary Beth, 41, to adopt three daughters from China—Shaohannah, 6, Stevey Joy, 3, and Maria Sue, 2—and to start a foundation to help other families adopt. Eight years ago, Emily, then 11, took a mission trip to Haiti and was moved by the plight of the many orphans she saw there.

"That began a two-year campaign of 'If we've got room at our table, we can take another child,'" says Mary Beth with a smile.

Emily focused on China—where most orphans are girls because many families believe boys are better able to support the family and carry on the lineage—and recruited her brothers, Caleb, now 16, and Will Franklin, now 14, to the cause. One day, her still-hesitant parents found themselves wondering about the Chinese word for laughter. Waiting for a business appointment an hour later, Steven picked up an old copy of Reader's Digest and found a story about a Chinese boy named Shaohan—from shao, Chinese for laughter. The couple took it as a divine nudge for the family to stop worrying and follow the song in their hearts. Ten months later, they brought home an infant Chinese daughter and named her Shaohannah. In the ensuing years, daughters Stevey Joy and Maria followed.

"It really is the most clear miraculous experience that we've ever had," says Steven, "just watching the doors open for us."

Shaohannah appears on the cover of Chapman's album All I Really Want for Christmas, released last year, and the CD's title track tells an orphan's story. The album, Chapman's 15th, continues a 20-year multi-platinum career during which he's been bestowed five Grammy Awards and a record-setting 50 Dove trophies from the Gospel Music Association.

"We've been given such a unique platform," Steven says. "And we really believe that because we have been given much, a lot is required of us."

The Chapmans inspired friends and family such as Mary Beth's brother, Jim Chapman, and Steven's manager, Jim Houser, to adopt children from overseas. The couple also was regularly approached by other families interested in adoption but anxious about the costs.

"Mary Beth would just whip out her checkbook," Houser says. "So they decided to make it official."

In 2001, the Chapmans founded Shaohannah's Hope, a national nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families pay for overseas adoptions. Mary Beth is the executive director, overseeing the grants—generated from public donations as well as the Chapmans' own funding—that have helped more than 600 families adopt children from China, Russia, South Korea, Guatemala, the Ukraine and other countries. One such family was Gwen and Scott Oatsvall and their sons, Jeremiah, 7, and Elijah, 3. Scott, Emily Chapman's 11th-grade teacher, also was persuaded by the Chapmans' lobbying.

"She kept teasing him every day, saying, 'You have to go to China and get a little girl,'" Gwen recalls. "One day she said, 'I think you're just scared.' And that got him." The Oatsvalls brought home 17-month-old Emily Rui in April 2005, something they couldn't have done without financial assistance through the Chapmans' foundation.

"They take it to heart that God has given them this opportunity to help people," Gwen says.

"It's not about us, it's not about our names," Steven says. "It's about a movement of people recognizing that there's this incredible opportunity to be part of this miracle of giving kids a home."

The Chapmans hope to expand Shaohannah's Hope to sponsor more overseas orphan care efforts, such as an orphanage they're helping rebuild in war-torn Uganda. At home, they're surprised by how much the view of their future has changed—not that they're complaining.

"We read the Bible and see that we are called to get involved," Steven says. "And we really see this as something that we should be leading the charge in."

"It has been a joyous journey," Mary Beth adds.

Visit www.shaohannahshope.org or call (800) 784-5361 for more information.

Katie Dodd is a writer in Nashville, Tenn.

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article