Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot highlights the importance of Christians adopting

It’s no secret that the church is big on building families. However, if we are being honest, the conversation around family planning is almost exclusively centred around biological children. Sometimes it seems like adoption is a last resort for couples who find themselves in a position of unfortunately not being able to have kids of their own.

However, Sound of Hope:The Story of Possum Trot is a powerful film that aims to challenge the way the world and the church often view family planning. Executively produced by Christian actor Letitia Wright, the true story film shows how one Christian couple, The decision to adopt was spearheaded by a Christian couple, Donna Martin and her husband Bishop WC Martin couple. trailblazed the way to encourage adoption in their church congregation. Their influence led to a total of 22 families opting in to adopt children in their community.

I was raised by my grandmother, so I have experienced first-hand the power of being adopted into caring hands when biological parents aren’t able to do the job

I was raised by my grandmother, so I have experienced first-hand the power of being adopted into caring hands when biological parents aren’t able to do the job. We know that the Bible emphasises that caring for the vulnerable in society such as the widow and the orphan is something God cares about: James 1:27 says: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress). Yet I have found there is little encouragement or education in the church about caring for children who need adoption.

Sound of Hope firmly highlights the challenges that come with caring for children in the care system

Sound of Hope firmly highlights the challenges that come with caring for children in the care system, particularly older children who have experienced more trauma. Terri - who was 12 years old at the time the Martins took her in, experienced deep trauma before being placed with the family. Towards the end of the film, there was a moment where Terri broke down in the arms of her adopted parents full of tears expressing her hurt from the past, as WC and Donna embraced her fully and comforted her.

The film is laced with biblical themes throughout, with preacher, WC saying that God didn’t promise us a life of ease but that we should count it all joy when we are faced with trials because it produces steadfastness (James 1:2). He also gave the brilliant example of Moses who was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and later became the leader of the Israelites to lead them out of slavery in Egypt.

We see WC becoming frustrated because he feels other  Christians are not seeing the importance of adoption.

At the end of the film the real people behind the stories told were shown, and what they have achieved as adults. It ended with a message from the real-life Martin couple urging viewers to consider adopting children in the system looking for a loving home.

Through watching the film, I felt I was being ministered to. It felt like a representation of the Father’s heart for the lost and hurting. Sound of Hope illustrates how we as Christians are adopted into God’s family when we give our lives to him. We are born into a life of sin, prone to imperfections, yet his relentless love pursues us nonetheless. As we draw closer to him and accept his love in our lives, we become more confident in our identity and who he has made us to be. In other words, we heal.