Grammy- and Dove-Award winning artist Steven Curtis Chapman, along with his wife MaryBeth and eldest children Emily, Caleb, and Will, are scheduled to appear Wednesday, August 6 on ABC's "Good Morning America." Their interview with Robin Roberts, done at the family home in TN, will air during the 8 am (ET) hour.
The family will then appear in a live interview from L.A. on "Larry King Live" on August 7th, and will be featured in an upcoming issue of People magazine.
The Chapmans will be opening their hearts about the loss of their daughter and sister Maria Chapman this past May 21st.
The decision to speak publicly was not an easy one, and these will be the first interviews the family has participated in since Maria's death.
In mid-July, Chapman returned to the stage, and has been openly sharing his feelings about losing his youngest adopted daughter.
Chapman's manager, Jim Houser, said in a press release:
"Initially Steven talked about never doing any concerts or media ever again. But quickly God began to show Steven that if he ever believed the songs he was writing, singing and recording before May 21st and Maria's loss, that they must still be true now. It's the family's hope that these appearances will serve as a chance to proclaim to a watching world what they know and are deeply convinced of even in these difficult days, the Gospel is true and faith in Christ is our Hope."
Chapman has written a new verse to his current single, "Yours," from his latest project, This Moment. "Yours" will be available for purchase via digital service providers including iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and Napster, starting today, with 100% of Chapman's royalties from the sales of this single being donated to Shaohannah's Hope, the organization the Chapmans founded several years ago to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption. As of July 2008 Shaohannah's Hope has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans in the United States and around the world.
Producer Matt Bronlewee and co-writer on "Yours" Jonas Myrin have also joined the effort with 100% of their royalties from the single going to Shaohannah's Hope. Additionally, monies received by Sparrow records from the sales of this single, after deduction of expenses and royalties, will be donated to Shaohannah's Hope.
For more about Steven Curtis Chapman, visit his website. To learn more about Shaohannah's Hope, visit the organization's website.
According to a statement issued by Chapman's manager, Jim Houser, the family had just hours before the accident celebrated the engagement of eldest daughter Emily, and were preparing for a party later that evening to celebrate their son Caleb's high school graduation.
I'm always at a loss when reporting stories like this, and my heart goes out to the Chapman family. What do you do, what do you say?
I had a chance to sit down with Steven Curtis Chapman during Gospel Music Week this past April. Chapman took time to share the story of how Maria came to join his family.
It started when his daughter Emily was in grade school, long before the Chapman family had considered adopting any children, long before Shaohannah joined their family, long before they dedicated their lives in ministry to orphans.
Chapman says that when Emily was six or seven years old, she would come home talking about a friend named Maria and how she wished Maria could come to live with the Chapman family.
Maria came from a troubled home, and her story and his daughter's concern for her inspired Chapman to write the song, "Who's Gonna Love Maria?" which appeared on his 1992 album, The Great Adventure.
Fast forward 15 or so years. The Chapman's have adopted two girls from China, Shaohannah and Stevey Joy, and Chapman was again in China doing ministry when he met a little orphaned girl with a heart condition. When he asked the family caring for her what her name is, they told him, "We call her Maria."
"And I'm like, You've got to be kidding me," Chapman says, "'cuz all I can think about is, Who's gonna love Maria, who's gonna love Maria?"
When he got home, Chapman told his family about Maria, admitting that, with five kids, adopting another child would be crazy. But the more the family talked and prayed about it, the more it became clear that God was giving them the green light to adopt one more time.
So they adopted Maria.
In a twist of irony, Chapman's label released his new album, Cinderella, just days after Maria's death. In a press release, Dan Raines & Jim Houser, Chapman's managers, acknowledge the awkward timing and add, "[A]s many of you know this edition of the album had been planned for several months, based on the success and impact of the song 'Cinderella.' Perhaps, it's more important than ever that the message of this song reach as many people as possible. May God be glorified."
Condolences can be sent to the Chapman family at P.O. Box 150156 Nashville, TN 37215.
In lieu of flowers, the Chapman family requested that donations be made to Shaohannah's Hope Ministry, P.O. Box 647 Nashville, TN 37065 or www.shaohannahshope.org/maria
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I pray the Lord gives you and your family peace in knowing that this life is not the end,you will see Maria again. Maria is at peace now in the loving arms of Jesus. She would want you to live life to the fullest. Keep on being who you are and what you are meant to be.
Praising God with you through storm or sunshine, knowing HE will NEVER
leave us or forsake us and that it is in these most difficult times HE really does carry us through it to the other side. I believe God knows every day of life that has been set before me, even before one of them came to be. In that knowing.....I trust Him. Not one seed will fall to the ground and die, without it baring MUCH FRUIT. Maria's
life will bare MUCH fruit for God's Glory. I grieve with you and pray that the God of all comforts continues to comfort you all and that very
soon HE will turn your mourning into dancing again. Don't stop signing, or dancing for Jesus.....Little Maria wouldn't want that and neither do I! Let's continue to make that "SACRAFICE OF PRAISE" to our
"GREAT AND MIGHTY GOD" and very soon it won't feel like such a sacrafice anymore. I pray for the SON to SHINE on and in you now.
Much Much love to you all!!!
I was deeply moved by your testimony tonight on the Larry King show. Thank you for opening your hearts and sharing your faith to the world. I lost a child, too. My baby girl, Angela Michelle, only 7 hours after she was born. It was definitely my heavenly Father who picked me up and carried me through that unbelievably difficult time. I felt your pain tonight. And I KNOW that God is bringing you through this in a wonderful way. Where is Maria.... she is playing with my Angela. What a lovely, lovely thought. One of the people who phoned into the show mentioned the verses from Psalm 139..... verses 13 to 16 of that chapter are engraved on our daughters tomb stone. May God bless you. Love, Carol
Don't blame God, He never said we wouldn't die. He brought your daughter down here to be a teacher. She taught you a lot in a very short time. Keep looking for those messages, like the flower and word "see" on the paper Maria was working on. We lost our young son Josh 8 years ago---23 days before his 23rd birthday---- He contacts us to say hi in many different ways, to many members of our family---we write down all these visits and meet once a year to compare notes It does get better but you never get over it. You just get through it with His grace.---Faith is easy when everything is going right---true faith is believing 100 per cent that HE knows what HE is doing with us down here. Maria was brought down for a different purpose than you. Your grief will get better--Trust in God--I will keep you in my prayers
Tragedy is the time when we are tested, and also the time when we must rely on God's promises.
As shown in 2 Peter 5-7; We exhibit self control, then we can witness, following that we will be tested to show perserverance in our faith, We press on so as to attain Godliness. That quality of God's nature living through us. Eventually we can show God's kindness and love. Then we are truly fruitful in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We too have seen tragic loss of a young one and with that event our ability to have children. That loss could not be explained. In His timing and wisdom God saw to it that we could adopt our children. He provides our comfort and our hope. He invites all of us to be adopted into his family too. He is good, He loves us.
You have a way of sharing what God wants the world to hear. This is a gift to keep on sharing. Especially in your loss of Maria. Please take heart, God has promised never to forsake us, but His ways are not our ways.
In Christ's Love,
Jess
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