Family
Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot
The film Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot illustrates America’s foster care crisis and what families can do to alleviate it.
Today, nearly 400,000 children are in the foster care system in the United States. These vulnerable children have been removed from dangerous living situations, with many experiencing neglect or abuse, and placed in foster care for their safety and well-being.
Foster care should be temporary, but…
While foster care is aimed to be a temporary solution to aid families in crisis, many children cannot return to their homes. Across the nation, there are around 100,000 children who are waiting to be adopted.
Angel Studios’s latest film, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, sheds light on the challenges these brave children face and the courage of foster families who work to provide them with safe and loving homes.
Released in theaters nationwide this summer, Sound of Hope is inspired by the powerful true story of 22 families who adopted 77 hard-to-place children in the East Texas foster care system.
The film takes place in the small town of Possum Trot, Texas, where Reverend W.C. Martin, and his wife, Donna, lived with their two biological children and led the 100-member Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in the heart of the community.
After her mother’s death in 1996, Donna Martin felt a strong calling to help children in need. She recalled, “[T]he Holy Spirit said, ‘Think about those other children out there that do not have what you had with your mother.’” It was then that she called an adoption agency, where she met Susan Ramsey, a Texas social worker whom Donna Martin referred to as “one of the angels in this movement.”
Starting with one family
With Ramsey’s help, the Martins adopted four children from the overwhelmed local foster care system. Through their example, the Martins encouraged, motivated, and inspired other families in their Bennett Chapel congregation to adopt dozens of children in need of a home.
As Donna Martin said in a recent interview with USA Today, “[O]ur 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.”
With steadfast faith, a vibrant community, and an abundance of love, the families of Possum Trot embraced these vulnerable children and welcomed them into their homes.
“We all became one extended family,” W.C. Martin said. “Adoption is not an easy thing, but it’s a rewarding thing.”
The film features the challenges and joys that come with being an adoptive parent, which the film’s producer and director have personally experienced. Rebekah and Joshua Weigel, who wrote, directed, and produced the film, adopted two children of their own. For the couple, telling the story of Possum Trot was what Joshua Weigel called “a heart project” that brings attention to an “issue that’s very dear to our family and has changed our lives for the better.”
Call to action
In an interview with Catholic News Agency, Rebekah Weigel said, “We have a foster crisis in
America right now,” but “that shouldn’t be the case.”
She said to CNA, “We have all the resources, we have people, we have social workers. We have so many churches on every corner we could easily turn this around if the church steps forward and really takes this call.”
At the film’s end, W.C. and Donna Martin and actress Elizabeth Mitchell (who plays the late Ramsey) call on audiences to take action to ensure that every child has a loving home.
“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” is an inspiring film that shows how the power of faith, love, and family can transform the lives of children in need of a place to call home.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.
Ambassador Callista L. Gingrich is President and Chief Executive Officer of Gingrich 360, a multimedia production and consulting company based in Arlington, Virginia.
She is a former United States Ambassador to the Holy See, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 16, 2017, sworn in by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on October 24, 2017, and credentialed by Pope Francis on December 22, 2017. Gingrich served in Rome as ambassador until January 20, 2021.
During her tenure, Ambassador Gingrich worked to advance and defend international religious freedom, combat human trafficking, provide humanitarian assistance, and support the role of women religious around the world.
Gingrich is a New York Times best-selling author. She is the author of the Ellis the Elephant children’s American history series and co-author of Rediscovering God in America. Ambassador Gingrich is also the producer of nine documentary films including, “The First American,” “Nine Days that Changed the World,” and “Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny.”
Gingrich graduated cum laude from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1988. In 2018, Ambassador Gingrich was awarded an honorary doctorate from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida.
In 2020, she received the title Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX by Pope Francis, the highest distinction conferred by the Holy See on laypersons, in recognition of her contributions to the Church and society.
And in 2023, she received a Luther College Distinguished Service Award for admirable service to society.
Ambassador Gingrich serves as the President of the Gingrich Foundation. She also serves as a Member of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Board of Trustees, a Member of the Ave Maria School of Law Board of Governors, and a Member of the Richard Nixon Foundation Board of Directors.
Previously, Gingrich served as a congressional aide in the U.S. House of Representatives and as the President and CEO of Gingrich Productions. She sang for two decades with the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and played French horn with the City of Fairfax Band in Fairfax, Virginia for over three decades.
Ambassador Gingrich is married to Speaker Newt Gingrich and resides in Naples, Florida and McLean, Virginia.
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