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.

https://www.ablbh.org/about

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.

https://www.ablbh.org/about

Transcript
Speaker:

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

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble
Be Encouraged with Bishop Julius C. Trimble
An Encouraged Word for A Discouraged World