“That is when the lights came on for me, that as the most affluent Christians who have ever lived on this planet in North America, we think we understand that there are orphans in the world, that there is a big need. But I don’t think we really internalize and comprehend the reality of what that means for these children. And we certainly don’t very often recognize that these children are a picture of our relationship with Jesus.”

Hasenbalg agreed, “Really the story of Christ is the story of adoption. In John 14:18 it says ‘I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you.’ Our adoption into Heaven was made complete thanks to the price Jesus paid on Calvary so adoption is not Plan B, it is Plan A.”

A key part of the Cry of the Orphan effort is online at CryoftheOrphan.org, which has tapped into the extensive resources of FamilyLife, Focus on the Family, Shaohannah’s Hope, and the other organizations involved in the Christian Alliance for Orphans.

CryoftheOrphan.org includes an easy-to-use tool that provides visitors with a personalized list of ways they can get involved to help orphans around the world. An updated directory of organizations involved, a Google Earth exploration tool, and facts and stories that offer inspiration and instruction on responding to the orphan crisis are also included on the site.

Projected to reach more than 25 million people within the faith-based community and beyond with its combined efforts, Cry of the Orphan is also reaching out with other endeavors, including a media blitz and radio broadcasts, including weeklong radio broadcasts that focused on the orphan crisis.

On November 17-21, popular radio hosts Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Dennis Rainey of FamilyLife Today devoted their daily broadcasts and combined their organizations’ resources to show people how they can play an important role in responding to the world’s 130 million orphans.

One specific way Shaohannah’s Hope is aiding families is by providing them with financial support through grants. Hasenbalg said grant amounts are typically awarded between $2,500 and $7,000 with an average grant amount being about $3,500. To date, Shaohannah’s Hope has assisted over 1,800 qualified Christian families from over 30 countries where adoption is legal, moral and ethical, with well over $6,000,000 being awarded.

Additionally, one of the biggest challenges for the organization is that 50 to 60 percent of qualified families seeking assistance are turned down because of the lack of funding.

Linette and Scott Montgomery of Springfield, Missouri, and their adopted daughter Hannah, 4, recently were awarded a grant from Shaohannah’s Hope. Chapman awarded the family with a $4,500 grant at his Fayetteville, Arkansas concert in March 2008. The family is in the process of finalizing a second, special needs adoption, and they plan to bring home a sister for Hannah from China in the summer to early fall of 2009.