The Drop Box

When filmmaker Brian Ivie read about a South Korean pastor who took in disabled children through a baby drop box, he knew he had found documentary gold. He started out with the goal of shaking up the film world, but in the end it was his own life that got shaken up. In The Drop Box: How 500 Babies, and Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever, Ivie tells the story of his interest in film-making, his trips to Korea to meet Pastor Lee and his household full of abandoned children, and how Ivie became a follower of Christ as a result.

Pastor Lee's story is remarkable. He literally has a box on the side of his house, with a sign that reads, "This is a facility for the protection of life. If you can't take care of your disabled babies, don't throw them away or leave them on the street. Bring them here." The box, lined with blankets, has an alarm which sounds inside when a baby is left. Pastor Lee and his wife have taken in children with every imaginable disability, hundreds of children over several decades. Ivie, moved by the story, e-mailed Pastor Lee, asking if he could come to Korea and film a documentary. Lee agreed, a friendship was born, and an award-winning documentary was made. The film will be released soon.

Ivie's book does tell Pastor Lee's story, but it's mostly about Ivie's story. He began making films as a child, using neighborhood kids as the cast. When he began work on The Drop Box, he was enrolled in USC's film school, but he admits when they arrived in Korea he was "totally unequipped to do what we were about to do, but somehow going to do it anyway." They did have some good equipment; a crowd funding campaign and some great interest from connected sources made sure of that.

The main storyline of The Drop Box (the book) is Brian's conversion to Christianity. His life turned around. Film had been his religion, but through meeting Pastor Lee, Ivie met Jesus. Ivie's enthusiasm and commitment come through loud and clear, but the story does meander, from his childhood of movie making and movie loving, too his film school experiences, his girlfriends, and, most importantly the film and the impact of Pastor Lee on his life. If nothing else, it gives a back story to the Drop Box documentary which emphasizes the power of a great story. The movie has permanently changed one life in a major way, before it was even complete. May many more be changed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

In South Korea a Drop box is set up in a ragged working class network. This drop box is not for books but for babies and it has saved over five hundred babies that would have otherwise been abandoned.

This is the story of the creators of a film about this Drop box and the babies it has saved. This is a story of Hope and Salvation, it will encourage and inspires others as well.

I give this book five out of five stars...

This kind of book gives this Christian chills. When God does a work in you that you have no ideal is happening. I call it a train wreck.

“Because in 2011, as I flew six thousand miles to make a movie about saving Korean babies, I had no ideal God was saving me”.

Being part of a story is one thing but being part of a battle is another. Brian Ivie in hearing the story of Pastor Lee in saving unwanted babies, unknowns to him, became part of the battle by sharing Pastor Lee’s story. What struck me is the longing to be a hero but to be a hero; we have to be in a battle. You are brought into Ivies’ life and his life was films. He saw greatness in making films and one has to wonder if it was because he could call the shots. He could call who was the hero or the zero. It was in films he had an ideal of how the world should be. He loved the world how he wanted to be. That included his girlfriend. In his worldview of how life should be, he became unsatisfied. His belief in God is the American view in that everyone had their way of believing and that faith was a way for a better life now. In other words, he did not have an understanding of the Gospel. This understanding came when he saw in the life of Pastor Lee and his rescue mission. True love is ugly and messy and Pastor Lee’s story in the LA times revealed the messiness of that love by his rescue of unwanted babies. Most of these babies are with disabilities.

When my son was born healthy, I never asked why. Why was I so lucky? What did I do to deserve this perfect child, this perfect life? But when he got sick you can bet I asked why! I demanded to know why? Why was this happening? Mrs. Lowe Awakenings.

A love like Pastor’s Lee is likened to how God loves us; “ this is love, that he first loved us” because God receives nothing in return. The only thing he gets is cleaning up the messes, ingratitude, maybe a praise the Lord. There are no benefits that Pastor Lee receives. Many times we are not aware that we love this way. We are a world that loves because of the benefits without thought. It is this when Ives began to change. With a new definition of what love looks like, a heart change began to happen.

With a quote from a well-known film for each chapter, what else could it be, you are brought to the cross one step at a time. With humor, a transparency and a movie buff’s dream, the gospel is open wide. It will not leave you the same.

A Special thank you to David C Cook Publishing and Netgalley for e-book and the opportunity for a honest review.

No, this is not a book about the cloud storage, Dropbox. This is a book about a remarkable man, Pastor Lee of South Korea. Who truly lives out Jesus' calling that he came not to be serve but to serve.

This book along with the movie tells the story of Pastor Lee's giving hope to babies who are abandoned in South Korea by creating a "dropbox' outside of his church so women can discreetly "drop" off their babies.

It's not just a story of this "dropbox" but of Pastor Lee's love for these babies and how he and his wife have personally taken/adopted some of these babies, who are mostly with birth defects. What was telling is that though he is not rich by world, South Korea standard, Pastor Lee and his family are rich by God's standard. His love and joy toward these babies are remarkable.

This book tell of this story more in depth but it also tells the back story of Brian's own journey. How he was once lost but through the making of this documentary, was found, like the parable of the lost sheep.

God works in mysterious ways, using the filming of this documentary to soften Brian's heart for Him.

This book is a great read and perfect companion to the movie.

The book was provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

Can you imagine an actual box lined with blankets outside a home with a bell that alerts the inhabitants of the addition of a baby? An actual live infant? Such a thing actually does exist for a home in South Korea. The drop box provides a safe place for people to place unwanted, deformed babies. Pastor Lee and his wife provides a home and love for these babies. Brian Ivie was a young, ambitious film student in Southern California who read the story of the drop box and saw it as a possible way to stardom for himself. He was sure that filming a documentary about this incredible place would win a major award for him. So he raised the money through donations and he went to South Korea. But he got more than he expected. He found God in every aspect of the filming and the drop box and in especially in Pastor Lee. Brian thought he was a Christian before he made the trip but he learned that he had been faking it through and what he found was salvation and love. He found love that knows no end. Love that does not see outward beauty but sees to the soul of humans instead. He found God. This was an incredible story and an incredible book. I wish I could see pictures of the orphanage and the infants though. Brian talks about making the film and I had wanted to see the movie and that is what motivated me to read this book. I still want to see the movie. The book is an easy read. I read it from start to finish in one sitting without stopping. Readers will likely also find this book fascinating. It is a true story of God's love and how one young man came to find it. I rate this book 4 stars and highly recommend it to readers.
I received a pdf version of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.