It’s a story that needed to be told, says “Sound of Hope” writer and producer Rebekah Weigel, because Possum Trot is not just another small Texas community near the Louisiana border, but a town that chose to live out God’s command to care for the orphan. 

“This is such an amazing story,” says Weigel, an adoptive mother herself, adding, “we need to see more churches step in” the way that Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church did.

Back in the 1990s, W.C. Martin, the pastor of the small church in Possum Trot, and wife Donna felt the Lord call them to adopt a child. Martin began preaching to his rural church about what the Bible says about adoption, and the congregation was moved to action. In total, 22 families in the church adopted 77 of the hardest-to-place children in the foster care system. 

“There’s probably only a couple hundred people in the community of Possum Trot, an unincorporated area,” Weigel says, “but, you know, they took it seriously, and they did it together as a community. And I think that’s something I really loved about this story, was just the sense of doing it together, like bearing each other’s burdens, and, you know, when one was weak, they came together, and they helped each other, and I think we need more of that.”

Now, the inspirational story of what happened years ago in the little community of Possum Trot is hitting the big screen on July 4 in the feature film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.” Angel Studios is distributing the film. To learn more and purchase tickets, click here. 

Weigel joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the true story behind the film and the experience of telling such a moving story through film. 

Listen to the podcast below: