at the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home

Since the purchase of the Boyhood Home of Joseph Bates in 2005, it has been lovingly cared for by three dedicated retired couples, all Adventist heritage enthusiasts! Duane and Kay Galland served during 2006 -2007; Chet and Bettie Jordan 2007-2008; then James and Dolores Wright who, arriving in 2008, served straight through to the end of 2016! Our new site directors, Lloyd and Dora Hallock, have moved into the caretakers’ quarters and are now ready to welcome you! As we say “Farewell” to the Wrights and “Welcome” to the Hallocks, I want to share some of their thoughts with you. James and Dolores say, “As former site directors at the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home, we want to thank God for allowing us the privilege of serving in that capacity. We were blessed spiritually, mentally and physically. Spiritually, when we looked at what faith and love for Christ our pioneers had, and met people from all over the world as a result of their dedication and efforts, we can only praise the Lord for His grace and guidance.

Mentally, as we studied and learned of the struggles and perseverance of our pioneers, it made them alive to us. We realized they were real people who were real in their faith and determined to find Bible truth. Physically we were blessed as we related the stories, some of which took place right here in this house. We experienced the salt air, sights and sounds of the waterfront young Joseph Bates saw and heard so many years ago. We were taken back to a time and place where the seeds of the Gospel message were planted and the 7th day Sabbath truth was added by Bates as one more building block. These manifold blessings will be for the edification of our Christian experience for the rest of our lives.

If you want to enhance your Christian walk, volunteer your time and talents at one of our AHM sites. Re-live Adventist history while receiving many blessings, Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically! I would like to add a ‘Thank You’ to Elder Lloyd and Dora Hallock for alerting us to the need for help at the Bates Home in 2008!” Lloyd and Dora say, “After 45 years of service as a pastoral team and 10 years in the district where the Bates house is located, we retired last June (’16) and volunteered as site directors at the Bates Home. Dora, also recently retired, has enjoyed a career as a nurse, earning several degrees and being a member and contributor to several organizations as a clinical-nurse-specialist in the field of oncology.

During our ministry we saw how important it is to stay in touch with our roots. We find many in our congregations who have limited knowledge about the dedication of our pioneers or the origins of our faith. Our passion for AHM was stimulated by a tour of Adventist historic sites in 2005. That tour was the first to visit the Bates home after it was acquired by AHM. We have known and appreciated all the previous site directors who were members of our church.” “For the past 8 years our New Bedford church has hosted an annual Sabbath afternoon ‘Adventist Heritage Sabbath’ on the Bates house grounds, inviting all area churches to participate and interact with their church history. Unfortunately for the last two years the house has been closed for tours because of restoration. But the story can still be told and 100s have taken advantage of the outdoor opportunity to learn about the dedication, sacrifice and zeal of the early pioneers. The exciting news for the Bates site is that a fullfledged museum and gift shop are being planned.” “Over and over again we have seen the power of AHM sites to revive people and provide faith-building experiences as the lives and history of our remarkable pioneers are shared. We look forward to sharing these stories with many seekers who visit this site. May God be glorified by this ministry.