The Daily Signal - New Angel Studios’ Film Brings Message of Adoption and Hope to Big Screen

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

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.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foster care adoption is, you know, it's a tough issue. There's a lot of pain in foster care adoption, a lot of brokenness. But as someone who has a strong faith, you know, I feel like we're called into those hard places to do the hard things. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, July 2nd. I'm Virginia Allen. And that was Rebecca Weigel, the writer and producer of the brand new film Sound of Hope, The Story of Possum Trot. Angel Studios is distributing the film. it tells the incredible true story of a church community in Texas where 22 families decided to adopt

77 of the hardest to place children in Texas's adoption system. This is powerful. It's really a beautiful story of not only the power of adoption, but also that cost of adoption and a community really taking up that call of what does it look like to follow the command in the Bible to care for the order. orphan. The film releases on July 4th, so you can get tickets now. But let's go ahead and get to my conversation with Rebecca Weigel as we discuss how this film was produced, written, and the amazing people, the true stories behind it. Sound of Hope, the story of Possum Trot. Stay tuned for

my conversation right after this. Hi, I'm John Carlo Canaparo. And I'm Zach Smith. And we host SCOTUS 101. It's a podcast where you'll get a breakdown of top cases in the highest court in the land. Hear from some of the greatest legal minds. And of course, get a healthy dose of Supreme Court trivia. Want to listen? Find us wherever you get your podcasts or just head toheritage.org slash podcasts. Case is submitted.

Well, I must say that I have not been this excited for a movie in quite a long time. Possum Trott tells the true story of a church in East Texas that decided that they were going to live out. 1-27 and care for the orphan. After that, 22 families adopted 77 children from the community. Those were children that needed homes, that needed love, and those individuals stepped up to that challenge. Angel Studios is distributing the film, and Black Panthers, Leticia Wright, is one of the executive producers. Here with us to talk about the film Possum Trot is Rebecca Weigel. She's one of the writers and the producers of the movie. Rebecca, thanks for being.

being here. Thank you. It's so good to be here and talk about Possum Trout. We're so passionate about this and so excited to see it come to theaters on July 4th. Well, it's neat to see a story that has been maybe told a little bit in the news. When I googled it, there was, I think, an article back in 2008 that ABC News had done on Possum Trot. People magazine reported on it in 2012, but this hasn't been really broadly known until now, until we see a film hitting the big screen. When did you first hear about what was happening in the Texas town of Possum Trott?

Yeah. I mean, when this happened about 25 years ago, they were on, you know, Oprah and Good Morning America, Today Show. And so it was pretty widely publicized. And a lot of people had heard about it, especially in the foster adoption community. I heard about it. Our family adopted two of our kids back in 2013. And, you know, we were, our church wasn't really that important. involved in foster care adoption and that process really opened our eyes to what was happening

with kids all over this country. And so I started trying to get more churches involved, getting my church involved, getting churches across Los Angeles involved. And I was looking for a speaker for a pastor's event. And I came across the story and I was like, oh my goodness, like, how come I haven't heard of this story before? This is such an amazing story. And I brought Bishop Martin out to Los Angeles and I had him speak for these pastors.

And when he spoke, like, the place erupted. I mean, there was a standing ovation. All these churches started getting involved in the foster crisis in our city. And I was like, I went to my husband. I was like, I think we need to tell this story. Such a powerful story. And we need to see more churches step in the way that they stepped in. Tell us who Bishop Martin is.

Give us the backstory of possum trot and how this came to be an issue for that church that they said yes to foster care and adoption. Yeah. Well, you know, it actually started with First Lady Donna Martin. So she was the one who instigated the story. And she, after the death of her mother, and her mom had 18 kids. So after the death of her mom, she was really grieving. And the Lord spoke to her and said, give back.

I want you to foster and adopt. And so she went to her husband, convinced him to do it. They stepped in. They started fostering and adopting kids. They actually have a special needs son named Princeton. And then they ended up calling their whole church into it. And their whole church stepped in and started fostering and adopting. And it ended up that 22 families ended up adopting 77 of some of the most difficult to place children in the Texas child welfare system.

Wow. Wow. And this is a pretty small community, small church, right? Right. Yeah. I mean, this is in deep east Texas in the woods, possum trout. There's probably only a couple hundred people in the community of possum trots, an unincorporated area. 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 the 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. I think all of us are longing. There's a lot of disconnection right now in our communities and our society. and, you know, to see a community come together and do something incredible. And then when they did this amazing thing, the world took notice, you know, and I think that's something I'm passionate about as someone with a strong faith is really to see, you know,

that when we step out in faith and obedience and we do what we're called to do, the world's like, who are these people, you know? Who are these people that will take in the hardest to place kids and care for them? And, you know, and then the story ended up, you know, making national headlines. Yeah, yeah. As we were talking earlier before we hit record, you told me that it took about eight years from the first seeds of, man, we need to make a movie about this, starting the writing process, all of that to now finish product. What has that journey been like for you and your family? Yeah, it's been an incredible journey.

We've learned so much through the process and grown through this process. But we're tired, too. I believe that eight years is a long time to be laboring on a project. You know, and they didn't have, you know, we didn't have a studio behind us at the time. We didn't have funding. So we were doing it on, you know, weekends and evenings and, you know, writing the story and really wanted to get it, you know, really tell it authentically. And I think something that is unique about Possum Trot is that,

foster care adoption is, you know, it's a tough issue. There's a lot of pain in foster care adoption, a lot of brokenness. But as someone who has a strong faith, you know, I feel like we're called into those hard places to do the hard things. And so we didn't want a sugarcoat it. We didn't want to make it look easy because we know it isn't easy. And we felt like we needed to call people into something hard. So we needed to show some of the realities of what these kids are going through, what the parents, the foster adoptive parents go through, what social workers go through. And that was a tough thing because this film is full of faith. But it also is full of, you know, there's hard things.

You know, we show the brokenness. But I think that's what's resonating with people, actually, with the story, is seeing a film that deals with faith, but is really authentic and really is showing some of the harder things in life, but still hopeful and redemptive at the end. Doesn't sugarcoat it. Yeah. You took a step that not too many filmmakers take, and you said, all right, I actually need to go live in this community in order to make this movie. Why did you do that?

Yeah, that was a big decision for us. We had been living in Los Angeles for 25 years. And, you know, at some point in this story, we really felt like we've really got to make sure that we capture this well. Like, we really need to, for one, we wanted to honor the Martins. We wanted to honor this church, this community. And we really wanted to capture the characters well. And so we felt led to move to Deep East Texas. And so it was a little bit tough because our kids were in high school at the time.

And they had friends that they had to leave. But they were all in with us. And, you know, we moved to Deep East Texas, started going to church, Benachapel and Possum Trot. And it was, you know, they really accepted us as family. And it was, it's been a very special experience. because I've learned so much from them and from this community. They've welcomed us in. When we first moved to, we're actually in Nacadoches, Texas,

they brought the whole church to our house. Wow. And they prayed over our family, and they anointed us with oil, and they anointed our house with oil, and they went around our entire property praying. And I'll never forget that. It's been a very special time for us. It's very special.

What was the atmosphere like on set? Because as you said, so faith-filled, such a faith-filled story, and also such a hard issue. Yeah. You know, we had some incredible things happening on set. You know, a lot of the scenes, you know, were very difficult and tough. We showed some of the realities of foster care, like I was saying. But we also show the beauty of, you know, their faith and just how they got through it was with faith. You know, you don't take in 77 of some of the most difficult to place kids.

They have a lot of trauma. And, you know, it brought them to their knees and they did it together. And so there are some very powerful, there's some very powerful scenes full of faith and prayer and that you don't typically see on films. So, and people are really resonating with that. And even on set, we had people crying during scenes that they could sense. There was something different about this. And even with the church scenes, I think I was telling you as we were walking in, that we were able to bring the church out from East Texas.

And so they loaded up a bus and we brought the whole church to said. Because we really wanted, you know, like so many of the films you see that have to do with faith, like the church scenes are really kind of boring. I'm like, I just want out of there. I don't want to, you know. And so I was like, I'm not going to have, like these church scenes have to be full of power, full of life. And the best way to do that is to bring them to set. So we load them up and, you know, they got on a bus and some of them had never left East Texas before.

And where was the set located? We filmed in Macon, Georgia, most of it. And so, yeah, they came. That's a long bus ride. But they loved it. They came to set and they got to get their hair on and costumes. And, you know, and then, you know, we highlighted them throughout the film. Like you see them dancing in the aisles and, you know, praying out.

out. And so it's a real, I mean, we really were able to capture the true experience of Bennett Chapel, I feel, like, through those church scenes. And so it was. What was the hardest part of making this film? Oh, well, I think as an independent filmmaker, you're just so dependent on people who really will get behind the vision and really, you know, back what you feel called to do. And unfortunately right now in Hollywood, you know, there's, you know, there's the faith-based industry and then there's Hollywood. And we've always felt kind of in the middle of that. Like, we want to make films that reach a broader audience, that really show faith the way that we've experienced faith in a positive way. And so, you know, it definitely had as challenges. I think getting funded

was one of the top ones because on one side, you know, it was, you know, kind of take away some of the harder elements that we felt really passion, you know, we needed to be in there was to really evoke compassion for kids and what they're going through. And Hollywood's not usually, you know, into films that have strong faith messages. And so I think finding that funny was important. And something that's unique about this film is that we, I was working for an organization called Care Portal at the time. Okay.

It's owned by the Global Orphan Project. and we were expanding Care Portal throughout Los Angeles. It's a technology platform that connects the needs of kids and families in crisis directly with local churches and community members who can meet those needs. And so I was working in that space with the LADCFS, a lot of different nonprofits across the city. And we took the script and we gave it to the CEO of the Global Orphan Project. and we said, we kind of feel like you're supposed to be involved. Would you just read the script? And he read the script and was very moved by it.

And he said, I believe this is going to ignite the movement to care for kids all over this country. He said, I'm in, and I'm going to go to my donors and people who care about this cause. And we're going to get this movie funded so that you can make this movie the way that you feel God's called you to make the movie. And, you know, when you work in Hollywood, a lot of people say a lot of things. but he did. And he, you know, so this film was funded entirely through donations by people who really care about kids and families and really care about the cause. And they all want to be anonymous as well. So they've said, we don't want credit.

We don't know. We want to be anonymous. But because of that, the profits of the film are going to go back to help kids and families in crisis too. That's beautiful. What is the need in America right now for foster care for adoption? Well, the main need is, I mean, I feel like our hope of this film is that it brings awareness that it sets off a bomb and opens people's eyes to what kids and families are going through across this country because it's kind of a hidden, you know, issue that, you know, we hear about, but you don't know, you don't see the kids' faces, you don't, you know, and so our big hope is this sets off a bomb, opens people's eyes and that it compels them to action. It compels them to get involved. And I think when it comes to foster care adoption, a lot of people like, whoa, you know, it's like, don't talk to me about that. They walk the other way.

It's very overwhelming. Yes. You know, and it is. It's, you know, but everyone can do something. You don't have to foster or adopt to be part of this or to help with meaningful change. There are so many different ways that you can serve and you can get involved. The movie's out on July 4th. When people walk out of the theater, what do you hope?

they walk away with. Yeah. I mean, we're so grateful to Angel Studios for distributing this film and it's going to be in theaters nationwide on July 4th. You know, our heart and prayer over this film has been that it will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children do the fathers and it would really awaken people to get involved. So that's our hope is that people are moved and that they want to get involved.

serving, you know, a lot of people don't realize they can just meet needs of families that are struggling right in their community if they want to help the foster crisis to prevent and keep kids from going into the system. Like I said, the care portal is one way that people can get involved just in a practical way. We're not in every state yet, but if you look up careportal.org, you can meet tangible real-time needs. There's social workers, school districts, school districts, are putting into this, you know, care portal. And that's a huge need is just everyone getting involved and realizing that they have a part to play. Also, if there's a foster adoptive parent right there in your community or in your church,

wrap around them with support, you know, a lot of times struggling, they're tired, they need, you know, prayer, they need support, give them a gift card, send them out on a date. That's another practical way that you can help. Yeah. For the families in Possum Trot that said yes to adoption to foster care, how are those families doing today? Yeah, it's been really special being able to get to know them and getting to know the kids. And, you know, for the most part, they're doing really well. I mean, there's one of them, I'm going to be going to her track meet.

She actually runs for the University of Texas in Dallas and she's, you know, about to make it to nationals. And so there's a lot of the kids are really doing well. And some of them are still struggling. There are definitely, I mean, when you have 77 kids and, you know, I've gone through a lot, some of them are still struggling. But for the most part, they're doing really well. And they're doing so much better than they ever would have done if they wouldn't have had families. Absolutely beautiful. Again, the film is out on July 4th.

It's called Possum Trot. Rebecca Weigle, thank you for your time. really, really appreciate you being willing to share this story today and with the entire nation. Thank you so much for having me. Yes, we'd love for you to take your church, take your friends. Opening weekend is such a big deal for an independent film. You know, so let's pack the theaters, go for kids. All right.

Let's do it. Thank you. Thank you. With that, that's going to do it for today's show. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal podcast. We'll see you right back here around 5 p.m. for top news. And if you would, hit that subscribe button so you never miss out from new shows from the Daily Signal podcast. Quick heads up, we will not have any shows on July 4th because we want you all to enjoy your July 4th and spend time with family.

And hey, maybe go see Sound of Hope, the story of Pawsum Trot, if you have a little time. But we will be back with you this afternoon at 5 p.m. And of course, we will be back on Wednesday with more great content. We'll see you then. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Elizabeth Troutman. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph Fonspikovsky.

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