On Friday night in Tyler, a special prescreening was held for a film about a small rural church in the East Texas town of Possum Trot that forever changed the lives of 77 foster kids.
"We are so grateful and thankful at this point," W.C. Martin, reverend at Bennett Chapel Baptist Church Family, said.
It was a big night for Reverend W.C. Martin and his wife Donna.
"Oh my goodness, it’s surreal," Donna Martin said.
The Fostering Collective who according to their website, "exists to recruit and shepherd Christ-centered families in East Texas to bring hope to children in foster care," hosted an invitational prescreening of a new film inspired by Rev. Martin's Church in Possum Trot. The 200-person congregation came together to adopt 77 at-risk foster kids.
"If the people in Possum Trot, in our little, small church in the woods, can do this, what can a church like this (Green Acres) do? In a time like this?" Rev. Martin said.
The Martins were inspired to help adopt all these kids after the passing of Donna’s mom. To overcome her grief, Donna turned her focus toward providing love as a mother herself.
"God has just told you to do something that would change you. I had no idea that he had a plan, a major plan, bigger than what I could have ever imagined," Martin said.
Once Possum Trot gets a wider release later this summer, Rev. Martin hopes that the film’s message is one that audience members all over the world can really take to heart.
"I’ll be honest with you, everybody can’t adopt. But everybody can be a part, do something that is going to help this process along. And I believe that there’s going to be a total change throughout this nation when they see this because this is going to grab the heartstrings of many people," Rev. Martin said.
"The Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot" will get a pre-release in Tyler on June 19. It’ll then be released to general audiences on July 4.