‘We Wanted Those Children’: The Remarkable Couple Behind ‘Sound Of Hope’

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna on a Special Edition of Morning Wire.

First, a behind-the-scenes disclosure: We did not initially intend to release the following interview in full. We sat down with the Martins to get a few quotes for a larger episode. But what took place moved all of us so much that we felt we needed to release the full exchange as a standalone special episode. With that said, we hope you get as much out of it as we did. 

The Daily Wire has partnered with Angel Studios to bring the powerful, inspiring new film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” to theaters on July 4. The story follows Donna and Reverend Martin, who, along with 22 families from their church in a small Texas town, adopt 77 of the most difficult to place kids in the foster system. The small community demonstrated that with real, determined love, America’s most vulnerable can find hope and a better future.

* * *

JOHN: First of all, thank you both for coming on and being here in-studio with us. It’s really an honor to meet you.

BISHOP MARTIN: We’re definitely glad to be here.

MRS. MARTIN: Absolutely.

JOHN: I want to hear from your perspective, the personal experience of going through this process. Not a lot of people have this kind of thing happen — you start a movement and then you also see it made into a film and probably never, never thought this would go this direction. What were the initial seeds of this push to take action about adoption and foster care children? Where did that come from? What drove that initially? And why did this become a priority for you? 

BISHOP MARTIN: I don’t know if it became a priority. We were just obedient to the vision that the Lord showed my wife through the death of her mother. We just started doing something. He spoke the word and we obeyed the word. And I don’t know if it was something that we were looking for any big thing to come out of it. We were just doing what we thought people do, not even knowing all this was going on in this area. But then once we got involved in it, we found out that it was a worldwide problem, a worldwide situation. And when we got involved, we didn’t have a clue as to the depth of where we were going to end up. Because, we in Possum Trot — and who can imagine, in Possum Trot — here we are, embarked upon a worldwide journey. Who would have thought of that? I didn’t. I can’t speak for nobody, but I never would have dreamed that we would be in this position today. But what we did, I guess out of obedience to God’s will — he opened up doors. And God is faithful to do what he says. That’s the thing I keep looking at. I keep focusing my eyes on God, knowing that if you do his will, if you trust him and believe in him, He’s going to do the rest.

JOHN: Are there some particular Scriptures you feel really helped center you during this whole process? Are there some biblical passages that served as sort of the heartbeat of what you’ve been trying to do? 

BISHOP MARTIN: My wife may have a different one, but two of my favorite passages of Scriptures in the Bible are Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And then I love this one. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…” (Psalm 23:4). When I think about those two Scriptures and look at all that has gone on, you can see the connection that whatever we go through is working for our good. If you are in this battle of problems and situations and setbacks and heartaches and pain, it’s working for our good because God has a greater purpose. This was something that I feel that God — it was prophesied in our church. One Friday night, this woman came in and prophesied about everything that went on. And it had happened just like that. We had members in there say, “Yeah, right. Back in these woods? You telling me TV cameras are gonna come back in these woods? Ain’t no way.” But God always reserves the right to do it his way. We may think one thing, but with it all said and done, with it all boiled down — I get excited when I start talking about Him, because of what I feel and what I sense in Him — it has grown into such a massive thing in this world that it got people thinking from a different perspective. Now they see something tangible that they know, if it had not been for The Lord, we wouldn’t be right here. Now my wife may have a different Scripture on her mind that she loves, but these are my two. And I keep those in my spirit at all times. Because I know, in this world, you’re gonna go through some stuff. Whether it’s one thing or another, you’re gonna have some problems.

LISTEN: Catch the full inspirational interview with Bishop W.C. and Donna Martin on Morning Wire

JOHN: I want to ask you about that in particular. One of the things with this film is that it does not shy away from how hard this is. The kinds of struggles that are going to come when you make this kind of commitment, when you steer your life in this direction and open your arms to people who are initially strangers. How has it been for you and the community? Has this been a hard process? Do you feel like you went in with eyes wide open or have you been surprised by it?

BISHOP MARTIN: We went in blind, not knowing the ins and outs and the pros and the cons. The children themselves have a new demeanor on life. And I often say this: how does a child know what love is all about when no one ever taught them love? How does a child understand the beauty of a mother and a father when nobody ever spent the time to teach them? How do they know how to love God when no one shows them? So these are struggles. They have all kinds of baggage — lying, stealing just whatever you can name. They come in with that mindset. And they come in like a rubber ball, bouncing from one place to another. But you know, I thank God for my wife. I thank God for Bennett Chapel Church and the community as a whole. Because what happened here, in the midst of all those struggles, in the midst of all them setbacks and all the crying and all the tears and all the heartaches — all I can say is, “But God.” But God was right there. And he helped us through the whole process. You use the term process. And one of the things that we all have to do is stay in the process. Because we may not know what the end is going to be, but if we just stay in the process, bless his name, we will surely see the hand of God is moving in our lives.

JOHN: And have you seen a transformation with these children?

BISHOP MARTIN: First lady, you want to answer that?

MRS. MARTIN: Yes. I’m just amazed. It just goes back to the Scripture that says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Ephesians 3:20). I am amazed with these kids. I’m amazed that their struggle has turned into triumph. I am just grateful for the opportunity that The Lord allowed them to come into our life. And I’m also amazed with the pain that I suffered through the loss of my mother at the age of 36-years-old. I was saying to the Lord, three or four months after she passed — transitioned, rather — that no child should lose a mother. No child should be left without a loving mother. Because when you have a mom, it’s like Jesus, it’s God. You feel protected, you feel loved, and you feel that you can go to her with anything. And whatever you take to her, she’s gonna make it alright. She never condemns, but she trains and she nurtures. And coming from a family of 21 siblings, raised with 16, watching this lady, my dear, darling mother, individually love us and not compare us — she taught us how to care for each other; taught us what the word of God said; to think of others more than yourself; to always give back; do the best you can do and never try to be anybody else, just be who you are. Do the best you can so that if you’re digging in a ditch, you take pride in that. And when somebody walks past and sees that ditch, they know Donna dug that ditch.

So, through my pain, I was just crying out to The Lord saying, “God, no child should lose a mom.” And when he spoke to me, he said, “I’ve heard you, but she’s with me.” All I was thinking about for those months was myself. All I was thinking about, when I was alone, was that I couldn’t go any further. So I looked up to The Lord one day and I said, “Okay God, today is the day. Either you heal me or let me die.” Literally, I thought I was going to die. I thought my husband would come home and find me on the kitchen floor. But God moved upon my heart and I stepped out the back door and He said, “I’ve heard you. Now think about those children out there who did not and will not have what you had in a mother. Foster and adopt. Give back.” Now, to what magnitude to this point? Here we go again: “Now unto him who is able…” I would have never thunk it if you’d have told me. I would say, “No way.” But we were full of compassion, dedication, and determination. Now, He didn’t say get just kids whose parents left them, but get those hard-to-place kids that wouldn’t fit into a home. Because you know what to give back, you know what was given unto you. You know what I can do, if you will let me do it. And we wanted those children, our community wanted those kids. Because we understand struggle. Possum Trot understands struggle. We understand not having a luxury life. But the most important thing is the love of Christ and loving one another, accepting one another. We understand that. So, I’m amazed when I look at them now, and no matter what, there’s always going to be challenges. How can you get healed from that kind of rejection? That never leaves you. But when you take Jesus Christ, you give them hope, the sound of hope, the kind of hope that needs not be ashamed, that will rightly divide the word of truth. The word of God says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” (Psalm 27:10). So he’s preparing a people, he’s preparing a nation. Take these kids, because as my husband says, they didn’t know what to give. They could only give out what was given to them. Some of them are grown and have children and they’re still hurting. But we knew and we did what The Lord asked us to do.

And it was hell and high water, if you will. We didn’t know, because I came up in a time, I’m a ‘61 baby, and I came up in a time when if mama said it, you did it. Whether you like it or not, you didn’t question it. If your mother said, “You show some love,” or if your mother said, “You give that shirt, you turn the other cheek,” you did it. You know? So, I’m just amazed. I believe it’s not about us. It’s not about Bishop W. C. and Donna. It’s not about Bennett Chapel. It’s about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) That Son gave his life so that He may have other sons and daughters. So we gave our life. We gave up our agenda through our hurt, our pain, and our brokenness. And we suffered and talked through. And I’m sitting on this side of it right now and saying, “God, nobody but you — could nobody do this but you.” And to know the plan that God has was bigger than what I could have ever imagined, ever think. I am excited that this hidden message is being known. Anyone who sees it, and hears it, they hear the sound, they hear the cry. They know, we know. Even those that haven’t even thought about adoption, that took their husbands and their wives and said, we want to start a family. Yet, if you don’t hear the sound of those children out there that haven’t had a chance in life and what you give your very own, then it’s going to contaminate the good. That’s why God said, forget about yourself. Let’s reach out of ourselves. And I’m so grateful. If I have ever been grateful for anything in my life, this is it. I am grateful that the Lord allowed a people to go through the struggle and the pain and give a voice to this nasty enemy, that “…comes to rob, steal, and kill.” (John 10:10). But Jesus said, “I have prayed for you.” (Luke 22:32). I’m amazed.

BISHOP MARTIN: One of the things that I also want to share is that adoption is nothing new. I mean, God himself showed us in the Old Testament that adoption was the only way we were able to get back to God, was through adoption. I think it’s in Ephesians 1:5, where it talks about how it was God’s good pleasure through his son Jesus to adopt us that we are able to get back to God. Anybody believing in God, whether they like it or not, they’ve been adopted by God himself. It’s kind of like God called a people to make up, to utilize, and to demonstrate: What I’ve done for you, you can do it for another. The doors that I opened up for you — because I brought you out of the muck and mire, I brought you out of pain and hurt and sorrow — you can do it for another. And this is the thing that we are missing. This is what we don’t see. Only thing we see is a whole lot of the bad, hard-headed children. You expect that. You look for that. Because why? Well, if no one teaches them, and shows them, and loves them through their hurt and pain like God —He did the same thing for us. He loved us through our hurts, our pain, because we’ve all been just as messed up. But had it not been for the Lord on our side, we’d still be jacked up, messed up, and tore up from the floor up, but God saw fit to give us another chance. Why can’t we, as a people, give a child that never had a chance — why can’t we give them a chance?

JOHN: I can barely speak. We have to wrap up. That was amazing. Thank you guys so much for sharing this. God bless you guys. You’re doing amazing stuff. I hope millions of people watch this movie.

BISHOP MARTIN: We believe.

JOHN: We believe it. Thank you so much. God bless you.

BISHOP MARTIN: Thank you.

* * *

Listen to the full interview with Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna on a Special Edition of Morning Wire.

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​[[{“value”:”

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna on a Special Edition of Morning Wire.

First, a behind-the-scenes disclosure: We did not initially intend to release the following interview in full. We sat down with the Martins to get a few quotes for a larger episode. But what took place moved all of us so much that we felt we needed to release the full exchange as a standalone special episode. With that said, we hope you get as much out of it as we did. 

The Daily Wire has partnered with Angel Studios to bring the powerful, inspiring new film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” to theaters on July 4. The story follows Donna and Reverend Martin, who, along with 22 families from their church in a small Texas town, adopt 77 of the most difficult to place kids in the foster system. The small community demonstrated that with real, determined love, America’s most vulnerable can find hope and a better future.

* * *

JOHN: First of all, thank you both for coming on and being here in-studio with us. It’s really an honor to meet you.

BISHOP MARTIN: We’re definitely glad to be here.

MRS. MARTIN: Absolutely.

JOHN: I want to hear from your perspective, the personal experience of going through this process. Not a lot of people have this kind of thing happen — you start a movement and then you also see it made into a film and probably never, never thought this would go this direction. What were the initial seeds of this push to take action about adoption and foster care children? Where did that come from? What drove that initially? And why did this become a priority for you? 

BISHOP MARTIN: I don’t know if it became a priority. We were just obedient to the vision that the Lord showed my wife through the death of her mother. We just started doing something. He spoke the word and we obeyed the word. And I don’t know if it was something that we were looking for any big thing to come out of it. We were just doing what we thought people do, not even knowing all this was going on in this area. But then once we got involved in it, we found out that it was a worldwide problem, a worldwide situation. And when we got involved, we didn’t have a clue as to the depth of where we were going to end up. Because, we in Possum Trot — and who can imagine, in Possum Trot — here we are, embarked upon a worldwide journey. Who would have thought of that? I didn’t. I can’t speak for nobody, but I never would have dreamed that we would be in this position today. But what we did, I guess out of obedience to God’s will — he opened up doors. And God is faithful to do what he says. That’s the thing I keep looking at. I keep focusing my eyes on God, knowing that if you do his will, if you trust him and believe in him, He’s going to do the rest.

JOHN: Are there some particular Scriptures you feel really helped center you during this whole process? Are there some biblical passages that served as sort of the heartbeat of what you’ve been trying to do? 

BISHOP MARTIN: My wife may have a different one, but two of my favorite passages of Scriptures in the Bible are Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And then I love this one. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…” (Psalm 23:4). When I think about those two Scriptures and look at all that has gone on, you can see the connection that whatever we go through is working for our good. If you are in this battle of problems and situations and setbacks and heartaches and pain, it’s working for our good because God has a greater purpose. This was something that I feel that God — it was prophesied in our church. One Friday night, this woman came in and prophesied about everything that went on. And it had happened just like that. We had members in there say, “Yeah, right. Back in these woods? You telling me TV cameras are gonna come back in these woods? Ain’t no way.” But God always reserves the right to do it his way. We may think one thing, but with it all said and done, with it all boiled down — I get excited when I start talking about Him, because of what I feel and what I sense in Him — it has grown into such a massive thing in this world that it got people thinking from a different perspective. Now they see something tangible that they know, if it had not been for The Lord, we wouldn’t be right here. Now my wife may have a different Scripture on her mind that she loves, but these are my two. And I keep those in my spirit at all times. Because I know, in this world, you’re gonna go through some stuff. Whether it’s one thing or another, you’re gonna have some problems.

LISTEN: Catch the full inspirational interview with Bishop W.C. and Donna Martin on Morning Wire

JOHN: I want to ask you about that in particular. One of the things with this film is that it does not shy away from how hard this is. The kinds of struggles that are going to come when you make this kind of commitment, when you steer your life in this direction and open your arms to people who are initially strangers. How has it been for you and the community? Has this been a hard process? Do you feel like you went in with eyes wide open or have you been surprised by it?

BISHOP MARTIN: We went in blind, not knowing the ins and outs and the pros and the cons. The children themselves have a new demeanor on life. And I often say this: how does a child know what love is all about when no one ever taught them love? How does a child understand the beauty of a mother and a father when nobody ever spent the time to teach them? How do they know how to love God when no one shows them? So these are struggles. They have all kinds of baggage — lying, stealing just whatever you can name. They come in with that mindset. And they come in like a rubber ball, bouncing from one place to another. But you know, I thank God for my wife. I thank God for Bennett Chapel Church and the community as a whole. Because what happened here, in the midst of all those struggles, in the midst of all them setbacks and all the crying and all the tears and all the heartaches — all I can say is, “But God.” But God was right there. And he helped us through the whole process. You use the term process. And one of the things that we all have to do is stay in the process. Because we may not know what the end is going to be, but if we just stay in the process, bless his name, we will surely see the hand of God is moving in our lives.

JOHN: And have you seen a transformation with these children?

BISHOP MARTIN: First lady, you want to answer that?

MRS. MARTIN: Yes. I’m just amazed. It just goes back to the Scripture that says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Ephesians 3:20). I am amazed with these kids. I’m amazed that their struggle has turned into triumph. I am just grateful for the opportunity that The Lord allowed them to come into our life. And I’m also amazed with the pain that I suffered through the loss of my mother at the age of 36-years-old. I was saying to the Lord, three or four months after she passed — transitioned, rather — that no child should lose a mother. No child should be left without a loving mother. Because when you have a mom, it’s like Jesus, it’s God. You feel protected, you feel loved, and you feel that you can go to her with anything. And whatever you take to her, she’s gonna make it alright. She never condemns, but she trains and she nurtures. And coming from a family of 21 siblings, raised with 16, watching this lady, my dear, darling mother, individually love us and not compare us — she taught us how to care for each other; taught us what the word of God said; to think of others more than yourself; to always give back; do the best you can do and never try to be anybody else, just be who you are. Do the best you can so that if you’re digging in a ditch, you take pride in that. And when somebody walks past and sees that ditch, they know Donna dug that ditch.

So, through my pain, I was just crying out to The Lord saying, “God, no child should lose a mom.” And when he spoke to me, he said, “I’ve heard you, but she’s with me.” All I was thinking about for those months was myself. All I was thinking about, when I was alone, was that I couldn’t go any further. So I looked up to The Lord one day and I said, “Okay God, today is the day. Either you heal me or let me die.” Literally, I thought I was going to die. I thought my husband would come home and find me on the kitchen floor. But God moved upon my heart and I stepped out the back door and He said, “I’ve heard you. Now think about those children out there who did not and will not have what you had in a mother. Foster and adopt. Give back.” Now, to what magnitude to this point? Here we go again: “Now unto him who is able…” I would have never thunk it if you’d have told me. I would say, “No way.” But we were full of compassion, dedication, and determination. Now, He didn’t say get just kids whose parents left them, but get those hard-to-place kids that wouldn’t fit into a home. Because you know what to give back, you know what was given unto you. You know what I can do, if you will let me do it. And we wanted those children, our community wanted those kids. Because we understand struggle. Possum Trot understands struggle. We understand not having a luxury life. But the most important thing is the love of Christ and loving one another, accepting one another. We understand that. So, I’m amazed when I look at them now, and no matter what, there’s always going to be challenges. How can you get healed from that kind of rejection? That never leaves you. But when you take Jesus Christ, you give them hope, the sound of hope, the kind of hope that needs not be ashamed, that will rightly divide the word of truth. The word of God says, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” (Psalm 27:10). So he’s preparing a people, he’s preparing a nation. Take these kids, because as my husband says, they didn’t know what to give. They could only give out what was given to them. Some of them are grown and have children and they’re still hurting. But we knew and we did what The Lord asked us to do.

And it was hell and high water, if you will. We didn’t know, because I came up in a time, I’m a ‘61 baby, and I came up in a time when if mama said it, you did it. Whether you like it or not, you didn’t question it. If your mother said, “You show some love,” or if your mother said, “You give that shirt, you turn the other cheek,” you did it. You know? So, I’m just amazed. I believe it’s not about us. It’s not about Bishop W. C. and Donna. It’s not about Bennett Chapel. It’s about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) That Son gave his life so that He may have other sons and daughters. So we gave our life. We gave up our agenda through our hurt, our pain, and our brokenness. And we suffered and talked through. And I’m sitting on this side of it right now and saying, “God, nobody but you — could nobody do this but you.” And to know the plan that God has was bigger than what I could have ever imagined, ever think. I am excited that this hidden message is being known. Anyone who sees it, and hears it, they hear the sound, they hear the cry. They know, we know. Even those that haven’t even thought about adoption, that took their husbands and their wives and said, we want to start a family. Yet, if you don’t hear the sound of those children out there that haven’t had a chance in life and what you give your very own, then it’s going to contaminate the good. That’s why God said, forget about yourself. Let’s reach out of ourselves. And I’m so grateful. If I have ever been grateful for anything in my life, this is it. I am grateful that the Lord allowed a people to go through the struggle and the pain and give a voice to this nasty enemy, that “…comes to rob, steal, and kill.” (John 10:10). But Jesus said, “I have prayed for you.” (Luke 22:32). I’m amazed.

BISHOP MARTIN: One of the things that I also want to share is that adoption is nothing new. I mean, God himself showed us in the Old Testament that adoption was the only way we were able to get back to God, was through adoption. I think it’s in Ephesians 1:5, where it talks about how it was God’s good pleasure through his son Jesus to adopt us that we are able to get back to God. Anybody believing in God, whether they like it or not, they’ve been adopted by God himself. It’s kind of like God called a people to make up, to utilize, and to demonstrate: What I’ve done for you, you can do it for another. The doors that I opened up for you — because I brought you out of the muck and mire, I brought you out of pain and hurt and sorrow — you can do it for another. And this is the thing that we are missing. This is what we don’t see. Only thing we see is a whole lot of the bad, hard-headed children. You expect that. You look for that. Because why? Well, if no one teaches them, and shows them, and loves them through their hurt and pain like God —He did the same thing for us. He loved us through our hurts, our pain, because we’ve all been just as messed up. But had it not been for the Lord on our side, we’d still be jacked up, messed up, and tore up from the floor up, but God saw fit to give us another chance. Why can’t we, as a people, give a child that never had a chance — why can’t we give them a chance?

JOHN: I can barely speak. We have to wrap up. That was amazing. Thank you guys so much for sharing this. God bless you guys. You’re doing amazing stuff. I hope millions of people watch this movie.

BISHOP MARTIN: We believe.

JOHN: We believe it. Thank you so much. God bless you.

BISHOP MARTIN: Thank you.

* * *

Listen to the full interview with Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna on a Special Edition of Morning Wire.

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