Did you know that in South Korea, hundreds of newborn babies are abandoned on the streets every year? One couple seeks to change that statistic, giving parents a loving alternative: the Drop Box.
This month a film about the endeavor, The Drop Box, hit theaters nationwide. For three days, from March 3 through 5, viewers had the opportunity to learn about the Life-saving work of Pastor Lee Jong-rak, who saw the plight of abandoned babies in his country through the eyes of faith. Pastor Lee knew that he needed to do something to give desperate mothers an alternative and helpless children hope. He created a “drop box,” where parents who would otherwise abandon their infants could anonymously leave the babies.
After a baby is dropped off by parents, he or she is collected by Pastor Lee and brought into the community of babies who are cared for until they can be sent to the children’s hospital for treatment, sent to an orphanage, or placed with loving adoptive families (sometimes all three in succession).
Pastor Lee is committed to being a father and protector to the babies whose parents leave them in his care. “The reason I decided to become their father,” Pastor Lee says in the film, “was because God has adopted me.”
Pastor Lee and his wife care for the children and young adults themselves in their own home, which also serves as a temporary orphanage. The pastor has adopted ten of the children as his own. His own son has special needs and spent fourteen years in the hospital; taking care of his son raised Pastor Lee’s awareness of the value of all human life, and convicted him to dedicate his life to that cause.
The film was made in partnership with Focus on the Family by a filmmaker who became a Christian through witnessing Pastor Lee’s example. Watch the video below to learn more about the film:
According to the group’s Facebook page, more than 275,000 people saw the film during its brief run. Scheduled for only three days, the film was brought back by popular demand on March 11 and 16. Focus on the Family will now be offering the documentary to churches as part of their continued outreach. To learn about how to bring this powerful story to your community, visit the film’s website, here.