Through Pastor W.C. Martin's example, families in his Possum Trot, Texas, congregation have adopted 72 children from foster care.
More Photos
Today, the Martins say their adopted children --Terri, Joshua, Tyler and Mercedes -- are happy, healthy, successful, loving kids. But it has not been easy, Donna Martin readily admits. She herself was raised by loving parents, in a home where she and her siblings delighted in the company of their mother and father. Donna had no reference point for dealing with children who were emotionally and physically scarred by parents with no idea of how to love and care for their children.
"It's been rocky. It's been tough," she said. "I thought, you know, bringing them into a loving environment, dressing them up, taking them to Sunday school and the movies, letting them run and play, kissing them at bedtime," all this would be enough.
Not so. It has often been "Five steps forward, 25 steps back, but," she quickly added, "absolutely, without a doubt it has been worth it. They're beginning to learn that they have goals and standards, and can choose to do positive things." That is evident watching the Martin children with their parents; the hugs come easily, the banter is familiar and gentle, and there is the subtle self-discipline of children comfortable in their parents' love and their family's routines.
"We talk about anything," Mercedes said. "We're very close."
And while that's very satisfying to the pastor, it's not enough. It's not even enough that the dozens of children adopted by the other families of his congregation are doing well and thriving. Or that more of Bennett Chapel's members are getting ready to adopt.
No, W.C. Martin wants America to look at what his modest, hardworking, hard-pressed and sometimes overwhelmed little congregation has done --- and he wants thousands, if not tens of thousands, of American families to do the same thing.
And he's not kidding.
"I have a problem with this. I really do. We have so many children who need a place to stay," he said, the preacher in him quickly emerging when the subject of adoption comes up in an interview. The cadence of his voice shifts to that of the pulpit, his words appealing to the best in every person.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
