Episode 69
A Better Life: Randy Davis's Mission to Help Those Seeking Recovery and Healing-Part 1.
Bishop Julius C. Trimble is the Resident Bishop of the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church.
Bishop Trimble has the personal mission to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential. It is his commitment to his personal mission that led Bishop Trimble to create the “To Be Encouraged” Podcast along with co-host Rev.Dr. Brad MIller.
Bishop Trimble says, “I am compelled by Jesus to share with you an encouraging word or two about Jesus, theology, the Bible, the pandemic, the environment, racism, voting rights, human sexuality, and the state of the United Methodist Church.”
To Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble is to be published weekly and is available at www.tobeencouraged.com and all the podcast directories.
https://www.inumc.org/bishop/office-of-the-bishop/
In this episode of "To Be Encouraged," hosts Bishop Julius C. Trimble and Reverend Dr. Brad Miller sit down with special guest Reverend Randy Davis. Reverend Davis is the founder and executive director of Better Life Brianna's Hope, an organization dedicated to providing help and hope to those seeking recovery from addiction.
Throughout the episode, Reverend Davis shares his incredible journey and the inspiration behind his organization. He emphasizes the importance of finding peace of mind, heart, and a relationship with Christ in order to move forward in recovery. Here are three key takeaways from the episode:
1. Empowering Leaders: Better Life Brianna's Hope not only provides support and resources for individuals struggling with addiction but also focuses on empowering qualified leaders within the community. They offer training several times a year, allowing individuals to gain the necessary skills to effectively help others on their recovery journey.
2. Lessons from Personal Experience: Many of the leaders within Better Life Brianna's Hope have personal experience with addiction. However, Reverend Davis himself does not come from an addiction background. Instead, he has a deep compassion and experience supporting family members who have lost loved ones. This highlights the power of empathy and understanding in making a difference in the lives of those affected by addiction.
3. The Prayer of Brianna: Reverend Davis introduces the powerful and widely shared prayer of Brianna, the prayer that has become a foundational document for Brianna's Hope. This heartfelt prayer asks for strength, guidance, and forgiveness, acknowledging the struggles and desire for a better life. Reverend Davis relates this prayer to a biblical verse, emphasizing the faith and hope that can be found in the midst of addiction.
In addition to these takeaways, Reverend Davis shares the inspiring story of how Better Life Brianna's Hope began, the challenges they have faced, and their dedication to mental health and the recovery community. He also invites listeners to check out his book, "Recovery Conversations with Randy Davis," as well as their podcast, which airs every Friday at 6 AM on major podcast platforms.
Join Bishop Trimble, Reverend Dr. Miller, and Reverend Randy Davis in this enlightening and encouraging episode of "To Be Encouraged," as they share stories of hope, transformation, and the power of community in the face of addiction.
Transcript
And hello again. Good people. This is the
Speaker:to be encouraged podcast with Bishop Julia
Speaker:See, Trimble, the podcast where we look to offer an encouraging word
Speaker:to an often discouraged world. I'm your co host, reverend, Doctor Brad
Speaker:Miller. Our guest, today is reverend
Speaker:Randy Davis, retired a pastor in Indiana conference with United Methodist
Speaker:Church. He is the founder and executive director of a
Speaker:better life Briannas Hope. He's a ball state university
Speaker:graduate, a US army veteran, Vietnam war vet. We sent thank you for
Speaker:your service. And, and but his present passion,
Speaker:what we're talking about here today is involvement in the recovery
Speaker:community. He's the founder and executive director of
Speaker:recovery movement, the particular program of Better Life, Briannas
Speaker:Hope. And among the other things he's been involved with is
Speaker:over, a 100 celebrations of life service
Speaker:for those who died from overdoses or other things
Speaker:related to substance abuse, and he is devoted to mental
Speaker:health. We thank you for being our guest here today with us. Randy
Speaker:welcome to, to be encouraged. Thank you very much to
Speaker:both of you. I appreciate this opportunity to share what we
Speaker:are, what we're about. and just to spend this time with
Speaker:both of you. Much appreciated. Bishop, can you give us a welcome
Speaker:and any thoughts you wanna have about Randy before we jump into his story here?
Speaker:Yeah. Welcome, pastor, Randy Davis, and thank you. we've talked before.
Speaker:It's been a little while, and I I really wanted to connect and get our
Speaker:listeners on the podcast to to know that there are
Speaker:people who are actually engaging,
Speaker:in in our community regarding addiction and that there
Speaker:is indeed, opportunity for people to live a better
Speaker:life and to not to struggle by themselves. I think too
Speaker:often there are too many people in our communities, feeling that they're
Speaker:facing challenges by themselves. And I think that
Speaker:you will be able to not only share share some
Speaker:stories, but also share how this ministry got started
Speaker:and, and how how how we still are grieving
Speaker:the loss of so many people, so many people, too
Speaker:soon. due to addiction.
Speaker:Well, Randy is a part of what we like to kinda say context a little
Speaker:bit. We just like to hear a bit about your faith story just touch of
Speaker:that, just a kind of an abridged version of it. How you came to Christ
Speaker:and how that eventually has led you into this
Speaker:mission and ministry that you're involved in right now. I'll try to
Speaker:keep it short. There's nothing simple about it, though. It's
Speaker:just been an incredible ride up to this point, incredible
Speaker:relationship, having Christ by my
Speaker:side and getting to walk with him. I was not
Speaker:raised in what we would call a Christian home. But
Speaker:again, lady that I became very attracted
Speaker:did 2 ended up maryngs. It'll be
Speaker:52 years ago. This August clean 1. Good for you. Take
Speaker:up. -- at work. We're proud of that. Absolutely.
Speaker:We she once Sunday morning, we hadn't been
Speaker:married long. I have a military And she said,
Speaker:I'm going to church this morning. If you wanna be with me, why don't you
Speaker:come along? Otherwise, you can stay home. I decide
Speaker:I'd rather be with her than being a home watching TV.
Speaker:I went and the story goes on from there.
Speaker:I found Christ in the Dunkirk of Bethel,
Speaker:United Methodist Church, north of Dunkirk,
Speaker:Briannas. and I was a late
Speaker:leader there. A liter just highly involved with the
Speaker:youth would fill in on occasion. And at the age of
Speaker:thirty 3. I was bivocational in construction,
Speaker:and god spoke to me one night, and I knew that
Speaker:instruction had to go and the ministry had to come. I
Speaker:sat in tears for quite some time just trying to sort it out.
Speaker:but I know now I made the right decision.
Speaker:And at our wedding, we had used the
Speaker:scripture. My wife had repeated
Speaker:it. The story of Ruth, whether thou goest
Speaker:I will go and she has been dearly
Speaker:alongside all the way. I know there are ministers who don't
Speaker:have that support, and I feel for that but I could
Speaker:not ask her to be a better minister's line. Phone would
Speaker:ring at 2 AM. She'd have my clothes out. before I
Speaker:got off the phone, and she just always been a vital part of
Speaker:it came from a solid Chris and family. We've been
Speaker:able to raise our boys that way, getting grandchildren.
Speaker:We're thankful to god for the blessings he's provided
Speaker:opportunities he's given. And that's led you eventually
Speaker:to starting and being part of Brianna's Hope. So tell us
Speaker:gives a little context here about how that got started?
Speaker:Sure. I was an active ministry for,
Speaker:let's see, 35, 37 years before
Speaker:I tired as a licensed local pastor most of
Speaker:that time. And upon my retirement, I wonder
Speaker:what is gonna do with life. I don't have woodworking skills.
Speaker:I don't have mechanical skills. My skills are
Speaker:between my nose and my chin. and
Speaker:and I can speak out in many different ways. Good matter. Right.
Speaker:I didn't say it was always the best, but that's what my skills lie.
Speaker:and through ministry, through a young
Speaker:lady in our area disappearing just 2 years before
Speaker:4. I retired. I contacted the family
Speaker:when on board. That was June of
Speaker:2014. And since that time,
Speaker:we've taken better life, Briannas hope would tell ourselves
Speaker:a participant driven
Speaker:Christ fit no. Excuse me. A
Speaker:participant driven Christled
Speaker:compassion movement for those battling in battle with substance
Speaker:use disorder. And we've, you know, raised
Speaker:that flag. We push through. We've touched lives, changed lives,
Speaker:saved lives. We've lost lives too, unfortunately. I
Speaker:don't like to mention that, but the facts, the fact we've done our
Speaker:best. but I realized not every lawyer is gonna win every
Speaker:case, not every doctor is gonna win every battle with cancer,
Speaker:but that doesn't stop us that just increases our
Speaker:resolve to continue to fight for those who want a better life, who
Speaker:wanna get out of that time of addiction. So this November will
Speaker:be nine years old, and we're going strong and continuing to
Speaker:celebrate. And, you know, following along
Speaker:those words of Christ just to follow him in it. I
Speaker:love the title of this podcast my spiritual
Speaker:gift has always been edification or
Speaker:encouragement. So I feel like this is a good fit to be
Speaker:here, and that's a it's a comfortable moment for
Speaker:me. It's quite quite a story of, mission and ministry right
Speaker:there at Bishop, and I know you got some things you Trimble I had to
Speaker:have have we engaged you about this ministry? Yep.
Speaker:Yep. Pastor Randy, thank you again for being on the
Speaker:podcast and And I've shared some of the story before
Speaker:in other venues about, the better life Brianna Hopes. Can you
Speaker:can you tell us Brianna's story if you're willing to share that
Speaker:I know it's it's kind of a sad, but there's a redemptive part of her
Speaker:story as well. And what what really began
Speaker:to this ministry to take to take hold and then
Speaker:to multiply. It's actually a ministry that's based upon
Speaker:been growing so more people can be reached, more people can be
Speaker:helped, to become to live to live free
Speaker:lives free free of addiction, eventually. Yes.
Speaker:Actually, on June 16 2014, Brianna
Speaker:Debit Keith of Dunkirk, Briannas, was reported
Speaker:as missing. And for the next
Speaker:10 weeks. There was a county wide multi county statewide
Speaker:multi statewide search for her, not
Speaker:knowing how she'd be found the family made it
Speaker:clear they recognized and realized that,
Speaker:she had addiction issues and that was probably gonna lead to
Speaker:her being found or at least with that
Speaker:that knowledge, people wouldn't know the kind of places might be
Speaker:seen. It was 10 weeks later that her body was fattling
Speaker:atop the ground covered over with brush and abandoned
Speaker:cemetery. in Jay County, Indiana.
Speaker:And at that point after having walked with her family,
Speaker:they welcomed me on board gave me carte blanche
Speaker:with anything I ever wanted to say or do with with
Speaker:her story because they didn't want anybody else to face or deal
Speaker:with they had dealt with. That time and despair,
Speaker:her mom attending church and the pain on her
Speaker:face and her body and her past her. I mean, I
Speaker:I can't imagine her being any different than she was, but
Speaker:that allowed me some very intimate moments with her family.
Speaker:It helped me to understand Brianna's
Speaker:need and in turn allowed me to come into
Speaker:connection with many folks who struggled with the same issues,
Speaker:be it alcohol or drugs. And from there, there was a
Speaker:little bit of money left over from a go fund we paid for her
Speaker:burial expenses. They gave me that $25100
Speaker:to start a program like a better life, Breanna's hope,
Speaker:And from there, when we had our first meeting, November
Speaker:5 2014 at the Red Key
Speaker:United Methodist Church, We moved
Speaker:from there to a to a bank, and then we
Speaker:moved back to the church. And we've just You
Speaker:know, we've been able to stretch out to, like, 45 chapters
Speaker:with another new one starting soon or restart in
Speaker:Huntington, Indiana. at the United Messer's church
Speaker:there. I count the United Messer's church because that's my
Speaker:background. But I understand we've got about 17 different
Speaker:denominations involved either in leadership
Speaker:or location. And, yeah, I always tell folks, you go to a town
Speaker:besides of Indianapolis, and you're not gonna find me the ecumenical
Speaker:groups that are gonna have 17 different denominations
Speaker:and you're getting it all. It's I think it's because we're
Speaker:not we're not worried about theology. We're worried about helping
Speaker:people. I've always been one who believes
Speaker:I want to be the total me that god created me to
Speaker:be, and I would have helped you do the same thing. I'm not
Speaker:asking you to be like me or to follow me by any
Speaker:means, but if you can become the you that you were created
Speaker:to be, man, we're gonna be whole lot better community,
Speaker:family, church, world. So that's gotten
Speaker:us to where we are today. as I said, we've got
Speaker:45, 46 chapters. We're in 4 different
Speaker:states, including Indiana, Ohio,
Speaker:Virginia, and South Carolina. Our South
Speaker:Carolina chapter is real near Myrtle Beach. I'd love to go there a
Speaker:couple three times this summer or, excuse me, this
Speaker:winter and give them an update on training. So we'll see if we can
Speaker:get in there and make that happen. but, we've
Speaker:sent over 2000 individuals to treatment.
Speaker:We've been able, as I said earlier, to touch change and
Speaker:save lives to bring healing to to hurting
Speaker:hearts, hurting families. We've been able to offer help
Speaker:in many different ways, and we're excited about where we are and
Speaker:what's going on today. And I just wonder what god's gonna do
Speaker:next or how he will direct us. You're one of the most
Speaker:energetic, enthusiastic leaders that I've met in my
Speaker:41 years of ministry, Randy, and I I I
Speaker:get charged and excited just here and you talk. Can you say a
Speaker:word about Brianna's prayer? I it's become a
Speaker:prayer. I I think it was a letter maybe she left.
Speaker:and and I know it's got widespread circulation, but some people may
Speaker:have never heard that maybe give us a little background to that
Speaker:and and how that's how that's been utilized
Speaker:because what she expresses It's it's the it's the it's
Speaker:the heart of a lot of people. Yes. This is what
Speaker:we call in a better life Briannas hope our foundational
Speaker:document. we require that this be used at
Speaker:every meeting where the group is together,
Speaker:use the prayer. I go into the jail each
Speaker:Thursday here in our local county. We used the prayer
Speaker:there, wherever we're together. This prayer
Speaker:was found by her mother in Brianna's
Speaker:handwriting 3 days before her body was located.
Speaker:So this is Brianna's heart in a nutshell, but,
Speaker:man, it's a large nutshell. Here's how it reads.
Speaker:Please, lord, look after me and my family. Please
Speaker:help me to do the right thing and to show people I'm not a bad
Speaker:person inside or out and help me the lord to get
Speaker:through this disappointment again. and know I make
Speaker:mistakes, but who doesn't? I don't do it to do wrong.
Speaker:I do it because I feel I have no other choice.
Speaker:I want a better life lord. I do. Please help
Speaker:me. Due to me is what you feel is best. I
Speaker:surrender to you in Jesus name.
Speaker:To me, that's pretty powerful prayer. And it's it's a
Speaker:blatant reminder of one of the verses
Speaker:I always like to use, which is Genesis 5020.
Speaker:You intended to harm me but god intended it for
Speaker:good to accomplish what has now done
Speaker:the saving of many lives. So Brianna's
Speaker:prayer has been read over TV, the radio, the
Speaker:internet, every one of our meetings. It's a
Speaker:posed her her heart, as you
Speaker:said, and it is the cry of many who are in the center
Speaker:that struggle with addiction. So that's
Speaker:that's what a prayer is about. Well, she mentions in that
Speaker:prayer, Randy, a better life. So can you say
Speaker:a word about the organization of a better life?
Speaker:is that not what we all want? a better life so so
Speaker:say. Yeah. I believe that's all my heart. That's where our
Speaker:title came from. Was from her words
Speaker:and her hope, Brianna's hope for those
Speaker:words. I, you know, I I see people
Speaker:fight through this battle all the time. We've dealt with thousands.
Speaker:it's just a fact trying to be arrogant there are many
Speaker:groups who deal with folks who are struggling with addiction,
Speaker:but the fact to me, the addiction starts
Speaker:with a choice I believe a better life starts with a choice
Speaker:too. sometimes we don't know how to make that choice. So where
Speaker:to make that choice? people come to us very raw,
Speaker:very real, kind of in a sloppy state of life, but we
Speaker:respect that. and try to help them find
Speaker:their pieces, P IECESs
Speaker:and their piece, PEACE.
Speaker:And I know for a fact you do that through Christ.
Speaker:we're we're a Christ led organization, as I
Speaker:said, We don't force feed that to anyone, but we're
Speaker:going to live our witness before you. We'll
Speaker:use our words. We'll use our style. We're gonna hope pray you come
Speaker:on board and we can get you in his fold as well.
Speaker:So so tell me how is how are the meetings
Speaker:organized? Who leads the group? I mean, obviously, you're not in
Speaker:46 different places running these running these
Speaker:chapter, these groups, So so what what's required? Do you need
Speaker:a location? Do what do churches do that that that
Speaker:sponsor a group or host a group? And who who keeps that
Speaker:that how do people fan out about? Find out about this?
Speaker:Or -- Well, we're we're very active on social
Speaker:media. and the word in the addiction
Speaker:community travels as fast as the word in
Speaker:the drug using community. when they find
Speaker:success, they find help, they find hope. They're ready to bring
Speaker:a friend on board. And that friend may live several miles
Speaker:away. They may wanna attend the meeting for a while, but then the drive
Speaker:and the time element gets beyond them. So we
Speaker:probably at least 3, maybe even four times a
Speaker:year, have a training that we invite
Speaker:perspective, leaders to. We'll
Speaker:explain who we are what we're about, we'll give them
Speaker:guidelines, we'll provide materials,
Speaker:and that's how we're able to you know, to spread
Speaker:out as we have to get us qualified in
Speaker:leadership as we can many times. It's people who've been there and
Speaker:done that and have the scars to prove it. I do not
Speaker:come from an addiction background. but I come from a
Speaker:background of compassion where I've dealt with those
Speaker:family members who have lost a loved one, and it's become very
Speaker:real to I know how to hurt with them. I may not
Speaker:know what the true meaning of using that drug or
Speaker:alcohol is. but I know about your heart. And
Speaker:I want you to have peace of mind, peace of heart
Speaker:relationship with Christ and be able to move forward
Speaker:from there. Randy, my understanding is you've got
Speaker:some some different rules that maybe some groups, other
Speaker:groups have. in terms of whether people can participate. I, for
Speaker:example, if a person is what if a person is inebriated
Speaker:and still comes to a meeting. Are they welcome? What if a person is
Speaker:still using and they've been invited by someone who's maybe further along
Speaker:the recovery process so would they be
Speaker:in the same crowd or the same gathering? How does that, you
Speaker:know, some programs you can't stay in the housing transitional
Speaker:housing if you're if you're using or you can't come to the
Speaker:group session while you're high and, I I'm just
Speaker:curious. I'm speaking as a person who who doesn't really
Speaker:know. I understand.
Speaker:We tried to To somewhat be the
Speaker:church to people. My understanding is church is that door is
Speaker:open to anybody who will walk through it. you
Speaker:come in the best or the worst of sitters. I don't
Speaker:know if there's a difference between the two. Okay? Or you
Speaker:come in that you know, that that Christian
Speaker:disciple who was who was fallen in the last
Speaker:week. the out pretty word you use there
Speaker:is still. Yeah. Regardless of what's
Speaker:going on in your life, we still want you at the meeting because we live,
Speaker:we can have an impact. You're still using. We've had
Speaker:so many people tell us if you to kick me out of this
Speaker:meeting, the first six times I came when you knew I was
Speaker:high, I wouldn't be in recovery today.
Speaker:And one of the keys to our meetings has been. We offer
Speaker:a meal before most every meeting. That brings
Speaker:folks in. Some of them get to best meal they'll have all
Speaker:week because they're just they're in a situation to
Speaker:where they just can't take proper care of
Speaker:themselves. But then if that meal will keep you
Speaker:coming back, you keep coming back until you find
Speaker:something that old you even stronger again. Absolutely.
Speaker:So what's been the are are you keeping you know, everybody talks
Speaker:about metrics and measurements. And how do you know it's making a
Speaker:difference? what's the answer when people ask you, oh,
Speaker:funders, that they wanna provide funding and say, well, how how
Speaker:do you know it's making a difference? Is there a way
Speaker:of tracking that? It it's a very difficult
Speaker:thing to do to truly track it as you could
Speaker:with some situations. because what
Speaker:is success? What is the measurement in this? Another
Speaker:day being sober is a success as far as I'm concerned
Speaker:for our folks another day of being clean or staying out of
Speaker:jail. Is there a failure if you go to jail?
Speaker:what how do we look at that? but we've gotten to the
Speaker:point where we have enough testimonials,
Speaker:enough stories, enough names. We can bring
Speaker:people I could bring a list onto this show. I
Speaker:could bring a screen of people that would far go
Speaker:beyond your your abilities to sit there
Speaker:comfortably and listen. we put help
Speaker:to lead people out of the dark some others
Speaker:out of the fire, and we just recently,
Speaker:I've gotta go ahead and plug this now
Speaker:we just recently created this book.
Speaker:Recovery conversations with Randy Davis.
Speaker:We have a podcast that airs every
Speaker:Friday on all leading podcast
Speaker:stations It comes on at 6 AM on Fridays. We're
Speaker:now into about podcast 93. And again,
Speaker:it's called Faith in your recovery.
Speaker:and we have taken some of our most
Speaker:listened to stories from that experience
Speaker:and put them in written form to where somebody
Speaker:who will never listen to a podcast, somebody who will
Speaker:never attend a meeting can have almost a
Speaker:manual. For success, a manual
Speaker:for hope, be it for yourself, your
Speaker:child who's struggling with addiction, your parent
Speaker:who's going through the battle, a brother or sister, a friend, or
Speaker:a family member of any time. And it's
Speaker:got stories in there of a young lady who was a full blown
Speaker:alcoholic at the age of fourteen. She's now
Speaker:found sobriety. It's got one of a fellow in there
Speaker:from the Decatur area who lost the entirety
Speaker:of his 20s to incarceration.
Speaker:And now he's leading a major recovery group, and
Speaker:He will tell you his his favorite three words
Speaker:are god's got this, and he lives
Speaker:that. He has that that faith and that
Speaker:belief. So we can give you a string of -- And
Speaker:then just if there's also just those anecdotal stores are
Speaker:great, but there is some some some metrics on the,
Speaker:a blbh.org website 45
Speaker:chapters, 39, 4 in Ohio, 1 in
Speaker:Virginia, South Carolina, over 900 in attendance.
Speaker:a 1750 people assisted in treatment,
Speaker:eighty people employed by recovery organizations,
Speaker:700 commitments to Christ, 27,000
Speaker:people served from k through 12. I think those are
Speaker:pretty impressive statistics, right there. And we know where
Speaker:it started with one small community in Northern Indiana, and it
Speaker:spread pretty far. So I think we've got
Speaker:good anecdotal, anecdotal stories in the
Speaker:book and in the podcast and what we're sharing here today, but also some good
