On July 4, Angel Studios’ “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” opened in more than 2,000 theaters across the nation. The film follows the true story of a Texas church and the children that church members adopted from foster care.
The film is the brainchild of writers/producers Joshua and Rebekah Weigel, the team behind the sex-trafficking film “Sound of Freedom.” “Sound of Hope” shares the true story of a bishop and his wife, the Rev. W.C. Martin and Donna Martin, of the Bennett Chapel Baptist Ministry in Possum Trot, Texas.
In 1996, following the sudden loss of her mother, who raised 18 children, Donna was looking for a way to ease her pain.
“I had such unbearable pain that day. I said ‘OK, God. Either hear me out or let me die,’ ” Donna explained to USA Today. “And the Holy Spirit said, ‘Think about those other children out there that do not have what you had with your mother.’ I was overcome with such warmness. I walked back into the house, picked up the Yellow Pages and called an adoption agency.”
When she learned how many children were waiting to be adopted in the Texas foster care system, she knew she had to help. But she would have to convince her husband to get on board with her plan to bring children with troubled pasts into their home.
Once he was on board, the couple began adopting children and inspiring those around them to do the same. In all, 22 families from their church adopted 77 children — who were branded as the most difficult to adopt — in their small East Texas town.
When the Martins began adopting from foster care, they already had two biological children. They ultimately adopted four more, including brother and sister Tyler and Mercedes, and later, Josh and Terri.
“When we started, that was a struggle,” said Donna. “Because we had to transform children’s minds and hearts and attitudes. We were out of our comfort zone.”
“There were so many hoops and hurdles,” Rev. Martin told USA Today. “But we knew when God got his hands on this, we were going to come out victorious. This is the feature film of our true story. It’s the real McCoy.”
He explained that the Martins and the 21 other families who adopted “became one extended family.” He added, “Adoption is not an easy thing, but it’s a rewarding thing.”
The film showcases the types of trauma children in the foster care system have survived, but the Martins are careful not to act as though adopting the children was a magic fix-all.
“We didn’t want this to be a Cinderella story because it’s not. It was challenging,” Donna said. “We wanted to demonstrate what these children’s trauma and loss and rejection looked like before. And at the end of the day, through determination, prayer and unconditional love, how they have benefitted. We all have.”
She added, “They still have their struggles, they still have their demons. But they are doing well. So our message to the world is ‘Don’t give up on these kids.’ Give them more than second chances. Jesus gives us all chance after chance.”
The goal of the foster care program is to reunite children with their biological parents once the parents have been able to prove they can provide a safe home. However, when reunification becomes impossible, those children will be available for adoption. According to Texas CASA, of the 400,000 children in foster care across the nation, 117,000 are awaiting adoption. In Texas, in August of 2021, there were 28,753 children in foster care, according to AdoptUSKids and 5,925 of them were waiting for adoptive families.
