365+ children in California are aborted every day, many at taxpayer expense. Ever since Dobbs Last year’s decision, California was outspoken in speaking out against the issues surrounding pregnancy centers and the issue of life. On this episode of Care Net TV, Roland Warren, President and CEO of Care Net, sits down for an interview with Janette Chun, Executive Director of Birth Choice Centers based in Temecula, CA.
We were inspired by Janette’s passion and calling to serve families. You can see his passion in this interview. Listen to Roland and Janette’s conversation as they talk about serving in California and the importance of supporting families and fighting for life while giving compassion, hope, and help to those facing pregnancy decisions. Find parts of the conversation, access the full video, and be encouraged by Janette’s leadership and ministry.
Interview with Janette Chun, Executive Director of Birth Choice Centers
Care Net TV Spotlight: Birth Choice Centers
WHO: Birth Choice Centers
What: Birth Choice Centers offer support to people facing pregnancy, parenting and reproductive health concerns. They offer free pregnancy verification, provide accurate, evidence-based pregnancy information, value the role of fathers in their children’s lives, prepare people for parenthood by education, enabling people for success with material assistance, and comforting the experienced. a pregnancy loss.
Executive Director: Janette Chun
where: Temecula, CA (3 locations in the surrounding area)
“An Unbelievable Thing” CA Government Working Against Pregnancy Centers
The following are excerpts from an interview with Roland Warren (RW) and Janette Chun (JC). Watch the video for the full interview.
Roland Warren (RW): Why don’t you start by telling us about what you see on the ground in CA, and what your efforts are in relation to the challenges you and your colleagues in CA are facing?
Janette Chun (JC): It is an incredible thing that they are coming after the pregnancy centers because obviously we are a great addition to the community, providing the services that our families need through the pregnancy centers. I’ve noticed an absolute fervor against anything that contradicts California’s “abortion on demand at any time” narrative. The fact that they’re going after us—it’s not like we’re making a huge dent even in the work of Planned Parenthood.
So that we can keep a pulse on what’s going on, I’ve gotten involved in the political world here so I can meet all the members of the City Council, all the members of our school board in every city that we’re in. in, and make a great effort to get to know our assembly members. Then we can pray and ask the Lord what we should do and how we should do it.
Called to Serve: Janette Was Invited to Join the Board and Later Became Center Director
RW: Tell me about the history of your center, how long you’ve been there and what life is like in Temecula.
JC: I started in 2013. I didn’t know that we had a pregnancy center in our area. A friend asked me if I would join the board because I shared my testimony about being pregnant as a teenager and the struggles I had—how the Lord helped me overcome them. At the time the center was going through a transition. The executive director was leaving, and the board went through months of interviews trying to find the right person. I then felt the Lord telling me to throw my hat in the ring and I didn’t want to do that.
To be perfectly honest, my youngest son graduated from high school in 2013-2014 and my husband is a teacher. I wanted to take the entire Summer off and simply enjoy life after raising three children—one of whom has special needs—which is a huge challenge. I thought this was my time to go, have fun, and enjoy the rest of our time together. But that is not what the Lord planned.
I have been a lay biblical counselor for a long time, and I have counseled teenage mothers in church and elsewhere. I also did a lot of crisis counseling. After several board meetings, the Lord would not allow me to leave a meeting. My stomach hurt so I couldn’t leave; I had to sit down. My friend who was the board president at the time asked me if I was ok. I explained that the Lord would not leave me until I threw my hat in the ring. He said, “Finally, we’ve been waiting for months!”
That literally started the journey for me. Two months later, I was hired as the executive director of that center. The center ran into trouble, and it took several years to get it out of trouble. But that’s how I started my journey. I was reluctant to listen to God. But I think that’s part of my testimony—that if I follow what God tells me to do, God has a bigger plan than my own comfort and convenience. The tools that He raises in us, He intends for us to use for His Kingdom.
I had to decide, do I like Janette’s way of vacation in the Summer? Or do I want God’s Kingdom way of living and obeying Him? After several years of serving this role, the center near us was closing down, so they asked us to take it over. Then, there is a mobile ministry that needs someone else to manage it. We also took it. Then, a few years after that, we went to Palm Desert Center because they came and asked us to take them. Now, we’ve had all these centers for five years since I started this journey and it’s incredible, but it’s definitely a journey of God.
Focus on Fatherhood: Fathers are Silenced but Need to Be More Involved.
RW: What are some new programs or initiatives that you and your team are especially excited about?
JC: Two years ago, we felt the Lord calling us to strengthen a fatherhood program. We worked hard for it. It took a long time. We had a vision for it and we are praying for it. Just now, after two years of diligently working on this program, we are starting to have volunteers who say, “The Lord has led me to come and be a part of this program.” We should involve fathers more. There was an effort to silence them. They had their child. They must have a voice. Whatever their spouse or boyfriend chooses to do with the baby, they should have options to talk to someone about it.
We just signed off on a men’s grief and loss program. We have a gentleman who will lead the program; he was a counselor for many years and a pastor. It’s like the field of dreams—if you build it, they will come. We prayed and prayed and now the requests to join the program are starting to pour in. The men are desperate for healing. They are desperate to talk to someone. Desperate for a voice. They have long been told to shut up, but they have a pain inside, and it needs to be addressed. The men needed the Lord to step in and give them help to get through that difficult journey. Men need a voice.
Thank you, Janette Chun, and Birth Choice Centers, for fighting for life and providing compassion, hope, and help by serving families in Temecula, CA.
