Families in a rural Texas town adopted 77 children. This couple led the way.

When Donna Martin’s mother died, the floor of the Baptist church caved in. It was an apt metaphor for her grief. She fell into a depression. To hear her tell it, God answered her prayer by impelling her to open her heart by adopting a young brother and sister. It wasn’t easy. She and her husband, Bishop W.C. Martin, were church leaders and weren’t well-off. They already had two children. One of the adopted children tried running away. Later, they adopted two more.

But their sense of love and compassion inspired others in the rural East Texas church to open their homes. In all, 23 families in Possum Trot, Texas, including the Martins, adopted 77 of the most difficult-to-place children in the regional foster system.

A new movie, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” opening on July 4, tells the story of the Martins and their town. The Monitor spoke with the couple via video call. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

How did the movie come about? 

Bishop W.C. Martin: Rebekah Weigel, one of the producers, said, “I’ve been crying all day long. I read about your story.” She said, “We are in Hollywood. My husband and I, we do movies. And have you all thought about doing a movie?” 

I don’t believe that anyone expected for it to be as big as it is. It has gotten to be way, way, way beyond our imagination.

We don’t call it a movie. We call it a movement. We believe that God is going to use this as a catalyst to open doors to hundreds and thousands of children to have a lovely home. 

The movie was filmed in Georgia. Were you on set? 

Bishop W.C. Martin: Through the whole process, we were right there. When everything was said and done, it showed a glimpse of Possum Trot today, where all the families have gotten together. They all have families of their own. To me, that was the crowning of what we had done.

Donna Martin: It was like déjà vu, if you will. The movie was so well presented as our life. Taking us back to the transitioning of my mother from this side of life to the other side. Taking me back to those moments where for months that I hurt. There was so much pain and a sense of loss. I know today that God had a greater plan and a purpose. So on that particular day, [I was] just crying out to Him. And the Holy Spirit, the Lord, says back to me, “Give back. What about those children that didn’t have what you had?” So being able to bring children in, who had been abused ... and put in unhealthy situations, I had to give back to them. 

Donna, can you tell me what you learned about prayer? 

My mother was a prayer warrior. She always prayed over us, but in a sense, I did not have that kind of faithlike relationship with God. Because I had my mom. I had this person that I could go to. She would always give you the biblical word, [an] encouraging word from the Lord. But yet you still felt that gentle mother’s compassion and nurture. So, after the loss of my mother, I think I could probably explain it as faith unknown. I went through a period of just learning to trust Him one on one. 

Bishop, what did it take for you to get on board with adopting more children? 

I’m not a fighter! I may resist something, but if it’s something that seems right, I’m going to kick in somewhere. And I think that, for the most part, this is what I did after I saw that it was going to be. So I decided I’d join and tag along and see what the end is going to be. To be honest with you, I’m glad I did. God knows what we don’t know. And sometimes we just have to be obedient. 

Donna, you grew up in Possum Trot in a family with 18 children. What can you tell us about life in such a busy household and how it shaped you as a person?

My mother was a very fun person. My dad was like a quiet person. He was a hardworking man. He didn’t really set ground rules. My mother was the teacher, the trainer, the example. She just taught us how to respect each other, if you will. ... If one gets upset, then you don’t get upset with them. It was forbidden in our house to fight verbally and physically. We learned how to definitely love each other. Unconditional. 

Courtesy of Bishop W.C. Martin

Bishop W.C. Martin (center left, in collared shirt) and his wife, Donna (center right, in white), gather at a reunion with their children and their families.

After you adopted Mercedes and Tyler, can you tell us about some of the most difficult challenges you faced? 

Mr. Martin: Mercedes ... she stole food. She hid food. She hoarded food. And the only thing that I can consider was that Mercedes had been hungry with no food. She was going to make sure that her and Tyler won’t go hungry anymore. And lying. I mean, she would steal and lie so beautifully that you had to believe her story. But even in the midst of that, she was so smart. Those kinds of challenges really bring you to your knees. ... She’s not doing that anymore. She’s a mother now herself. She got two girls.

For those in your congregation, adopting children comes with financial obligations, a lot of demands on one’s time. So what effect does that unselfish act have on the existing family? 

Mr. Martin: I really believe that it was a movement of God. As a result of it, even though the trauma came, even though the heartaches came, we were able to just kind of ease through it and not lose anything. Not losing our mind and not losing our other family.

Ms. Martin: My husband and I came from very, very humble beginnings. So when you’re born making do with what you got, you know how to keep food on the table. We’re blessed to have a garden. We’re blessed to raise pigs. We’re blessed to go and kill a squirrel, fish. So when it came to food, it was like it was always enough. We used what we had. Now the challenge with that [was] some of our kids are not used to eating that kind of thing. ... One of my children, Tyler, he said, “Mom, how do Black people eat that? How do you eat those greens? How do y’all eat those peas? I don’t want that.” He just wanted milk and cereal. We had to start making him the things that he asked for. 

There were times when lights got turned off. We had it hard. I thank God that [my husband is] not a prideful man. He will go and ask for help from churches and people. You know what you’re doing is saving a child’s life. It was never to feed our ego or to satisfy us. ...

As humble as our beginning [was], and the few pennies that we didn’t even have to put together, we made it. When God is for you, through obedience, he provides. And for those of them that gave to us, and ministries that shared with us, and sent Christmas [gifts] and donations to keep lights on ... we say from the depths of our heart, “Thank you so very much.”

You’ve gone across the country encouraging people to adopt children. Is there one story that stands out to you of how you touched the hearts of someone, and they adopted a child?

Mr. Bishop: I had a situation – I think it was up in Ohio – they had about six children that had been in the system practically all their lives. They are teenagers, and they needed a home. ... When I left from up there, I got a call and said all six children had found their home. Things like that are what blesses my life. 

We had a situation here about four or three months ago where one of the young ladies that we adopted – who had a very, very rough life – she went and adopted one of the families in Detroit. And right now she’s got a bachelor’s degree. She’s begun to work on a master’s degree. We were at the [movie] screening together. We were walking out of the movie theater, and she looked up at me with tears, and she said, “Bishop, thank you all for saving my life.”