Fight for children begins: Bishop WC Martin calls on the community to get involved | Local news

Bishop Martin and his wife are pastors of Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Texas. Their work in inspiring their small church to open homes for needy children inspired the Angel Studios film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.”

The Isaiah 1:17 Project hosted a special screening of the film last month. The local organization invited Martin and his wife, national ambassadors for the Global Orphan Project, to speak about their lives and their community on Sunday and Monday in Princeton and Evansville as they change the face of foster care in their hometown of Possum Trot, Texas.

The Martins were guests at Oasis Church in Princeton on Sunday, at a special Monday luncheon hosted by church members and volunteers in Evansville and at a forum Monday night at the Toyota Events Center at the Gibson County Fairgrounds. The Monday events also featured locals promoting efforts to open local homes for local children.

Isaiah 1:17 Project founder Marcia Lambert said the film's screening in July sparked a local movement to ensure children who need love and stability can find it in their own communities.

The Isaiah 1:17 Project provides materials and services to children in foster care and to families who open their homes to children. It also partners with local churches and other organizations to provide support through a network of prayers, programs and respite services.

The program has grown from a few boxes of supplies in Lambert's garage in Fort Branch to a network that serves children and foster families in 11 counties across the region.

“The Isaiah 1:17 Project is a move of God,” Bishop Martin said Sunday morning. “Children who come into this world are a precious gift from God… and we must take responsibility for developing them the way God wants them to be,” he said.

“We don't have enough positive examples… a child's role models should be found in their own home,” he said, noting that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported in March that there were nearly 400,000 children in foster care in the United States.

“Politicians, government – the president cannot solve this problem,” he said. “The government is trying to do the work that the church should be doing.”

Martin said the church as a body is equipped to do this. “I have goodness and mercy and the power of the Holy Spirit. What's the problem?” he asked. “It's nothing to do with age… With Jesus Christ I can do anything… We have grandmas and grandpas who adopt children!”

Since the film came out, the Martins have traveled to two or three states every week for the past four months to talk about what churches can do. “You can't just sit by and watch thousands of children in need. You do the right thing and let God do what he's going to do,” he said. “Children need someone to love them. Is that too much for a child? How can we expect a child to know what love is if no one shows it to them?”

Martin and Lambert said there are many ways to help. Families willing to make room for a child, donors willing to help with supplies, volunteers willing to help with “meal trains” or babysitting services are just a few of the possibilities.