PHOTOS BY STANLEY LEARY
Who’s going to be the hands and feet of Christ in the middle of this community? Who’s going to bring the gospel and put it in their footpath?
By Adam Miller I
t was a wonderful day for Ben and Kelly Hays when their fi rst-born son, Landon, entered the world. “He was this robust 10 pound, 10 ounce baby boy. Looked like the picture of health,” Ben says. “But on the second day of his life, we discovered that Landon was born with a pediatric liver disease.” Heartbroken and almost crippled with fear, Ben and Kelly were confronted with the question of how to give their baby boy a better life through medical care. “We said we don’t care where we go,” Ben says. “We just want our son to be well.”
God sent them to the Texas Medical Center in Houston. “We were two extremely terrifi ed young parents going through a really hard time dealing with this illness with our son,” Ben recalls.
Multiple surgeries and procedures made the hospi- tal a second home, but it also opened the eyes of these faithful parents to the mission work to be done in the Houston medical community. For many years “mis- sions” had been a recurring thought for them, though they “never knew the ‘where’ or ‘when,’” says Ben. “God said a couple of things to us through that,” Hays said. “That I’d never belong long-term on the international mission fi eld. And that you don’t have to go to the international mission fi eld. You have one right here in front of you.”
While praying for his son, Ben began praying for the hundreds of doctors, nurses, technicians and students he passed while walking the medical center’s campus. “The thought hit me, Wow, who’s going to be the hands and feet of Christ in the middle of this community? Who’s going to bring the gospel and put it in their foot- path?” God used their journey with Landon to open their eyes to the mission fi eld around them. Ben soon realized God was calling him to plant a church. In 2008 the North American Mission Board ap- pointed Ben and Kelly as church planter missionar- ies assigned to Houston’s medical center, the largest collection of healthcare providers in the world. The Church in the Center launched in September 2009
and meets on the 8th fl oor of the Hilton Houston Plaza in the Texas Medical Center. “We felt the need to put the church right in the heart of where the people are,” Ben says. “The chances of the very busy doctor, resident, intern or med student who doesn’t have a car making their way to a suburban church is very unlikely.” The Church in the Center reaches people from all groups and walks of life. From California to places such as India, China and Africa, the medical center staff is an international community and mission fi eld. “Some grew up in church but have a huge spiri- tual vacuum. Others have never been exposed to the gospel,” Ben says. “There’s a need that cries out for a church that is contextualized for this community.” Ben started meeting people by throwing block par- ties in nearby apartment communities where students and hospital staff live. He even offered a weekly free lunch inside the medical center.
“If we’re going to grow a community of faith in this part of the city where we have a high percentage of non-believers, we’ve got to be on the street level.. “If churches and Christians will step out of the busyness of maintaining life and take time to look around and ask themselves, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ ‘Who am I surrounded by?’ I think we can all go into the world and share the gospel.” Ben and Kelly’s son, Landon, is now fi ve years old and still battling the disease. “It’s been a beautiful place to live in that fear that necessitates deep faith,” says Ben. “At the end of it all, God is God and He knows what He’s doing. We don’t regret the oppor- tunity He’s given us to glorify Him through a diffi cult situation.” OM
Adam Miller is associate editor of On Mission. ACTION ITEM:
To view a video about Ben Hays and The Church in the Center, visit
www.onmission.com.
ON MISSION • Fall 2010 29
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