Accustomed to reading slick, highly-edited narratives, I was initially taken aback by this book’s homespun, unpolished prose. I kept checking the publisher credits (Tyndale Houses/Focus on the Family) to assure myself that this book was, indeed, produced by a major player in the Christian publishing industry.
Intrigued to discover how a book that read like a transcription from someone’s dictation made it into print, I looked at the Acknowledgments (you can learn a lot about book from the Acknowledgments, endorsements, and introduction).
There I discovered familiar names such as Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Tom Delay, People magazine, and—you guessed it—Oprah Winfrey.
Mystery solved. When big names back a book, publishing houses often reap big bucks. But why would all these big names be so enraptured by this story, I wondered. I dove into Small Town, Big Miracle
And I got swept into the story. This 128-page book relates the true story of how the members of a little church in Possum Trot, Texas, adopted 72 of the toughest kids from the foster care system.
Bishop W.C. Martin, pastor of Bennett Chapel in Possum Trot (you gotta love the name of that town), tells about a single mom who adopted two boys…about grandparents who adopted 2-year-old triplets. And he matter-of-factly shares how he and his wife, Donna, biological parents of two (one of them, brain damaged since birth), were challenged by God to adopt kids who needed families with lots of patience and lots of love.
Donna and W.C. and Donna’s sister, Diann, adopted five children among them, sparking an interest in reaching out to orphans—an interest that would revolutionize their community.
W.C. told members of his congregation that they could (and should) adopt, too, but they’d have to take some classes that required a 120-mile round trip for 13 weeks. The financial burden of traveling was too much for the families, many of whom were poor. So W.C. asked Child Protective Services to hold classes in Possum Trot.
CPS responded that they required at least 10 families to start such a class. W.C. said, “All right, then.”
At their first class, 23 families showed up.
W.C. Martin doesn’t sugarcoat the stories he relates. When he describes the abuse several of the children endured before they were adopted, I literally sobbed—great, heaving sobs at the sheer hell these kids lived through.
Martin doesn’t skirt around discussing the problems these children brought with them into their new homes, either. Adoption caseworkers warned the families: “They may start a fire in your house. They may steal from you, lie to you, tear your house up. They don’t understand love, so they’re going to create all kinds of chaos.” For these kids, learning to trust and to accept unconditional love has been a painful process—one that will continue for years.
Martin’s blunt, yet gentle honesty makes for a compelling story. His little church epitomizes the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
As I read about how the members of Bennett Chapel persevered and supported one another, I began wondering, “If kind-hearted folks from one of the poorest counties in Texas could do this, I wonder what my huge, wealthy church congregation could do to support foster kids? What would it take to light a fire in our hearts—to commit to creating a better future for abandoned, abused children?
I know what W.C. Martin would say: “It takes a God-sized dream.”
During National Adoption Awareness Month, I encourage you to contemplate whether you’re willing for God to work a miracle through you…through your church. Could God be nudging you to become a foster parent? To provide respite care? To adopt a child? To support someone who’s adopting? To start an orphan care ministry?
Read Small Town, Big Miracle
For more information about how to get involved in the life of an orphan or to mobilize your church, visit:
Or…read my new book:
The Adoption Network: Your Guide to Starting a Support System
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I met the bishop in person at a meeting for Korean American adoptive parents. He is very nice and interesting!