1. Appeal to emotions and create emotion
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At first WC (Demetrius Gross) opposed his wife’s request, he suggested that they take up gardening instead. PetsBut soon he feels God change his heart, and Donna (Nica King) and her sister attend a foster care orientation class, and the stories they tell touch their hearts: a boy placed in foster care after being found in a drug den, a girl placed in foster care after being forced into prostitution by her mother.
When Donna is told by members of her church that adoption could wreak havoc on her life, she points to children in need and replies, “We can’t look away.”
Donna’s sister was the first to be adopted, and Donna and WC later welcomed two other brothers into their family, Tyler and Mercedes.
In his sermons, WC reminds believers that the Bible is full of adoption stories, such as Jesus being adopted by Joseph and Pharaoh’s daughter adopting Moses, and urges them to join the adoption movement.
“Can you help me pull the kid out of the river?” he asks.
Soon, 22 local families expressed a desire to adopt – in fact, Donna and WC are hoping to adopt one more child.
“We want something that nobody else wants,” he tells the social worker.
When the social worker warns WC that some kids may be difficult to work with, Donna interjects: “A nation is not a family.” In other words, every child needs a father and a mother.
Sound of Hope is one of the most moving films you’ll ever see, in part because it doesn’t sugarcoat the family’s struggles. Sure, we get a lot of sweet moments — church members dancing down the aisle as they welcome an adopted child, and Donna’s first two adopted children quickly calling her “Mommy.” But the film also reveals hardship: WC and Donna’s third adopted child, Teri, rebel against their authority. She starts fighting. She runs away.
“I wish I’d never been born,” she tells them.
“You’re my daughter,” Donna tells her later, “…I’m not going to give up on you…But you can’t give up on me.”
The film’s final 30 minutes provide a perfect end to a seemingly chaotic journey.
Photo credit: ©Angel Studio
