Welcome back to Bella Vita blogs and happy June everyone! We hope your summer has been off to a great start, and you’ve been able to enjoy the warm weather. Jack McBrayer once said, “I love summertime more than anything else in the world. That is the only thing that gets me through the winter, knowing that summer is going to be there.” Winters in Indiana are harsh, but that just makes our summers so much sweeter! Speaking of sweet, the person we have chosen for this blog is a pretty sweet guy. Instead of introducing you to one of our volunteers or clients, we thought it would be fun to introduce to you one of our board members. He is a cross country and Freshman basketball coach, mowing is one of his favorite summer activities, and he’s the pastor of Bible Baptist Church. We would like to officially introduce you to James Adcock!
James is married to his beautiful wife, Rhonda Adcock, and together they have five children. James and his family moved to Knox in 2005 when he took the senior pastor position at Bible Baptist Church. Since then, he has built a reputation as an active member throughout the community. James is the pastor at Bible Baptist Church who’s mission is to spread the gospel and to make a ‘personal touch in an impersonal world.’ James is also known for being the current Freshman coach and the assistant to the JV and Varsity coaches for the Knox High School basketball team. He is also the cross country coach for the Knox Middle School team. He is also known as a master mower in the summer months and enjoys not only mowing his yard but other’s yards as well. He even mows our yard from time to time!
James Adcock has been involved with Bella Vita since the beginning. Actually, he was involved before Bella Vita officially opened. James was part of the initial group that started Bella Vita and helped in creating ideas and goals before there was a name or a vision. James’s wife, Rhonda, became the first board chair, which gave James a sideline view of Bella Vita’s early years. Currently, James serves on the Bella Vita board and has been a board member for a little over two years. Not only is James, a board member, but he is also a volunteer counselor and apart of Bella Vita’s prayer ministry for the past three years.
We asked James what influenced him to become a volunteer after years of being someone who worked in the background and what lead to him deciding to join the Bella Vita board. He told us, “Most of the board chairs and directors over the years had ties to my church, so I felt like I was always a part of Bella Vita, but not a formal volunteer. That all changed when Angie Sutton (Director) and I talked about different concepts on how to help and empower our clients. What started as a volunteer position worked its way into a board position. I really felt that being a part of Bella Vita was an extension of being a pastor. There was no guarantee any of the clients would ever enter our church, but God had called me to go, and Bella Vita became a mission field.” It’s incredible seeing how everyone’s journey to becoming a volunteer is so different and unique to that individual. Some volunteers started after a simple conversation, some came in to check out Bella Vita, and others just showed up one day ready to work.
We went on to talk about what James likes the most about Bella Vita. He told us: “I love to see people being helped. When I walk into the center and see babies playing on the floor or pregnant moms waiting for an ultrasound or couples taking a class, I get excited about the life changes that are about to take place.” Considering how long James has been involved with Bella Vita, it must be a very sober moment seeing an idea became a reality. We can only imagine the emotions that the original group of people who started Bella Vita have when they see what it is today. They can see the people we have helped over the years, and all of the babies we have been able to save along the way.
Like everyone who works at Bella Vita, we all bring in different talents and skills that are our specialty and unique to us. James brings in his personal and pastoral experiences and puts them towards our clients, one-hundred percent. He uses them when he is counseling someone, preaching at a Thursday night Bible study, and sitting at a board meeting. You would think that being a peer counselor and a volunteer would be an easy task for him, but, like everyone else, it’s anything but. There are still trying and heartbreaking days with clients, but those make the victories and successes so much sweeter.
James said: “I wish I could say I know how to handle every difficult situation, but I don’t. When faced with a difficulty that has no clear answer, I try to be compassionate and as honest as I can. I think what the clients are looking for is not perfection or someone with all the answers, but someone who cares and gives a listening ear without judgment.” We couldn’t agree more! A common misconception about being a peer counselor is that you have to have all of your ducks in a row and have all of the answers, but that’s not the case at all! Our clients need is someone to just listen to them. To make that personal connection with them and to be present with them. You don’t need to be an expert, but you do need to be open and willing to work with this person through the good and the bad times.
We asked James how people can help at Bella Vita, and he said: “The beauty of Bella Vita is they will give you the tools you need to help build your confidence before you volunteer. Bella Vita is also a ground for experimenting. Not experimenting with people’s lives but with ideas that can best help the clients or staff of Bella Vita. People may have ideas that we, as a board, have not even thought of yet. I believe if people would just pray for Bella Vita and stop by once in a while, the Lord will open their eyes to something he or she can do.” We couldn’t agree more! These blogs are proof of that. We started blogging because we had a volunteer who suggested it. James went on to say: “There are so many different avenues you can choose to volunteer in at Bella Vita. Some people come in to just wash clothes or fold them. Others come in to clean the center. A few months ago, a couple of teenage boys came to the center to rake and hedge the bushes. Every volunteer makes a difference.”
We are always looking for new ways to help our community and to continue to help, and we need your help! We need people to step up! One thing many people do not consider in a crisis pregnancy is that it involves three people: the mother, the baby, and the father. Even though we are a pregnancy center, we do take the time to focus on the father not just the mother and the baby. We offer many opportunities for our fathers to come in for peer counseling, parenting classes, mentorships, and many more. Because of this, there is always an opening for men to volunteer at our pregnancy center.
If you have read any of our past blogs, you will see that we always ask our volunteers what they have gotten out of working at Bella Vita. Since James has been with Bella Vita since the very beginning, we were excited about his answer. “Volunteering, I believe, has helped me become more compassionate for people. Helped me realize no matter great or small, we can all leave an impact on people’s lives. I have always had a love for the unborn and a passion for helping those who may be in a critical situation. I would say volunteering at Bella Vita has absolutely helped me with the ministry at Bible Baptist Church. I love directing possible new clients toward Bella Vita and also directing people to volunteer who have a heart for the Bella Vita ministry.” It is incredible to hear what people take away from their experiences because no one has the same answer. For some, it’s the emotional connections, while for others, it’s the social connections they make by making friends and getting to know our clients on a personal level.
One of James’s favorite memories isn’t a particular time or event, but experiences along the way. One of this favorite volunteer experiences that he has is being a peer counselor. James told us: “I love to sit down with a client, listen to his or her story. For that moment, I have an opportunity to share Christ and His wisdom with them. I think every time I have been able to talk with the clients, it has always benefited me more than I have benefited the client. I always leave learning and understanding more because of the clients.” That is true with everyone! Whether you work here, volunteer, or donate, we are continually learning and growing! The people who come in are looking for help, but at the end of the day, we are the ones who are changed because we get a glimpse of impacting a person’s life and making their life better one way or another. At the end of the day, we love everything that our clients put us through!
James Adcock is an incredible volunteer and board member. He works his hardest to help Bella Vita in any way he can. James and everyone else who works at Bella Vita will never fully understand the impact that they have made on our clients and us! We would not be the organization we are today without them! The hours, donations, money, labor, and prayer that people pour into us is such a blessing. James ended our interview with a beautiful statement that we just had to share with you! “God gives each of us twenty-four hours a day. We can live trying or with regret. I would rather live trying to make a difference than to live with the regret that I never tried.” What better way to end a blog? You won’t regret coming into Bella Vita, whether you need help or you want to help. We always have room! We hope you enjoyed this blog and were able to get to know one of our volunteers and board member. James Adcock is a huge blessing to our organization, and we were so happy that we were able to give you just a glimpse of everything he does for us!