“The Drop Box”

In June 2011 an article by John M. Glionna ran in the Los Angeles Times about a Christian pastor, Lee Jong-rak, who had built a depository, or “drop box” outside his home for desperate mothers to leave their unwanted babies. Lee and his wife, Chun-ja, had seen so many discarded babies around South Korea’s capitol city Seoul, that they wanted to do something to save their lives.

Thus they founded an orphanage at his church for about twenty children. And each time the bell rings, usually in the middle of the night, Lee runs to the drop box and opens the door to find an abandoned baby cacooned in the pink and blue baby blankets that line the box, sometimes with a note from the mother, and sometimes not.

Brian Ivie, who directs this new film, read the LA Times article and thought that Pastor Lee’s story would make a good documentary. He was a student at USC at the time, and was joined by two co-students Will Tober and Bryce Komae to produce the film that is opening in select theaters nation-wide for three days only, March 3, 4, and 5.

The film has already been shown at several film festivals, including the Heartland Festival, and took home the top prize at the San Antonio Christian Film Festival in 2013.

“The Drop Box” highlights the plight of tens of thousands of babies around the world who are abandoned each year. In South Korea, a very Christian country, girls and young women who bear children out of wedlock are often ostracized. If they do not get rid of their babies, the film says, relatives often will when the mother is at school. Government officials and some social workers interviewed in the film think the drop box encourages mothers to abandon their children. Pastor Lee, his wife and others do not agree. They believe they are saving lives – lives that matter. Even though many of the abandoned children are handicapped in some way, Pastor Lee, his wife, daughter and colleagues don’t care. All babies are precious.

“The Drop Box” is about a Christian family, the great sacrifices they make and the good that they do, with the help of volunteers, their church, and some government help, to make a difference in the world by caring for unwanted babies. The film outlines the challenges to this family, who are also the parents of a son, now in his 20s, who has cerebral palsy. He was not expected to live, and it is marvelous to see what love can do.

“The Drop Box” is sponsored by Focus on the Family. And if you, like me, are not a fan of on-the-nose Christian genre message movies, know that “The Drop Box” is about the beauty of life, love, faith and hope, and may move you to tears and to do something for the 150 million orphans in the world today. Cultures need to change to support life regardless of parentage or health condition because it is not only South Korea dealing with so many abandoned babies. Pastor Lee’s personal journey frames the film. He and his wife are ordinary people who live their humanity and faith in extraordinary ways.

For theaters and tickets see THE DROP BOX TICKETS