Congressman Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01) introduced a resolution to honor Bishop W.C. Martin, First Lady Donna Martin, and the Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church of Possum Trot in the First Congressional District of Texas for rescuing 77 vulnerable children in their community through selfless acts of adoption, fostering, and unconditional love. Introduced during National Adoption Awareness Month, H. Res. 1572 also honors all families across America who strive to foster, adopt, and better the lives of vulnerable children in the foster care system.
“Nearly three decades ago, Bishop Martin and his wife, Donna, who already had two biological children, adopted another four, starting a movement of 22 families within the Possum Trot community to adopt or foster children without a home,” said Congressman Moran.
“Mrs. Martin was inspired to adopt after the death of her beloved mother, Murtha, who had raised eighteen children,” continued Congressman Moran. “She stated, ‘And the Holy Spirit said, “Think about those other children out there that do not have what you had with your mother.” I was overcome with such warmness. I walked back into the house, picked up the Yellow Pages and called an adoption agency.’ That’s how it began. It concluded with 77 children finding loving homes in a community that simply decided that they would do what they could and give all that they had for the benefit of the most vulnerable and needy among them.”
Watch Congressman Moran’s Floor Remarks Honoring the Possum Trot Community HERE
Specifically, Congressman Moran’s resolution:
- Highlights National Adoption Awareness Month;
- Recognizes the importance of a stable, safe, and loving home for the overall well-being and success of a child, and how adoption is an important permanency option and has changed the lives of millions of children for the better;
- Honors Bishop W.C. Martin, First Lady Donna Martin, and the Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church for their many acts of selflessness and unconditional love through adoption and fostering in the Possum Trot, Texas, community;
- Honors the many families across America who are fostering or adopting and the organizations supporting these families, including families acting as guardians or providing kinship care, and the many children who benefit from foster, kinship, guardianship, and adoptive care;
- Encourages other families to consider fostering and adopting children, or to find an avenue to support such loving families who have undertaken to foster and adopt; and
- Supports the enactment of legislation such as H.R. 8793, the Foster Care Adoption Oversight and Support Act, which would collect data on adoptions from the foster care system to improve outcomes for adopted children and their families and to identify discrepancies in resources and services to families and children.
The story of the Possum Trot community’s selflessness, love, and faith has been recounted in the recent film, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.”
Full text of Congressman Moran’s resolution can be found HERE.
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