The church in the center

By Adam Miller

A critically ill infant, a desperate prayer and a call to missions: God is working through missionary Ben Hays to bring together the most unusual of ingredients to build a church in the most unusual of places – the Texas Medical Center in Houston.  (View video) 

For years Ben Hays and his wife, Kelly, served in local churches, but for many years “missions” had been a recurring thought. Though they “never knew the ‘where’ or the ‘when,’” Hays said.

Then their son, Landon, was born.

“He was this robust 10 pound, 10 ounce baby boy. Looked like the picture of health,” Hays said. “But on the second day of his life, we discovered that Landon was born with a pediatric liver disease.”

God sent them to the medical metropolis of the Texas Medical Center in Houston as “two extremely terrified young parents going through a really hard time dealing with this illness with our son.”

Multiple surgeries and procedures made the hospital a second home, but it also opened the eyes of these scared parents to the mission work to be done in the Houston medical community.

“God said a couple of things to us through that,” Hays said. “That I’d never belong long-term on the international mission field. And that you don’t have to go to the international mission field. You have one right here in front of you.”

While praying for his son’s health, Hays began praying for the doctors, nurses, technicians and students he passed while walking the medical center’s campus. He soon realized God was calling him to plant a church. The Hayses were appointed as church planter missionaries on April 1, 2008 by the North American Mission Board.

Ben and Kelly’s son, Landon, is doing well now and so is The Church in the Center , which launched in September and meets on the 8th floor at 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,” Hays said. “The chances of the very busy doctor, resident, intern or med student who doesn’t have a car making his 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 field.

“Some grew up in church but have a huge spiritual vacuum. Others have never been exposed to the Gospel,” Hays said. “There’s a need that cries out for a church that is contextualized for this community.”

Adam Miller is associate editor of On Mission.

North American missionaries minister to people groups

As a young man living in India, Vivek Arora had a dream he would someday find a book that would answer all his questions and that he would be instrumental in bringing people together in a way that would let them live in harmony. He discovered that book years later when he came to faith in Christ while reading a Hindi translation of the Bible. As for people living in harmony, he believes the Great Commission is God’s plan for that.

Today, Vivek and his wife, Manisha, are church planting missionaries in Boston, reaching out to the international community that has gathered from around the world in one of America’s great cities.

“We are reaching out to international students and professionals,” Vivek says. “Many come here from their countries for two or three years. If we can reach them for Christ the impact will be greatly multiplied when they return to their home countries.”

The Aroras were among the 119 missionaries and chaplains commissioned by the North American Mission Board on Oct. 5., in Denver, Colorado.

Those commissioned reflected the diversity of the mission field and the missionaries going to that field: Prasad and Vandana Aghamkar minister among the South Asian Indian and Nepali communities of Louisville, Ky.; Ken and Thurleen Bain reach out to Native Americans in Arizona; Chuy and Maria Avila are reaching Hispanics in Laredo, Texas; Jali and Sundus Dawood minister to the Arabic community of Dallas; Harold and Barbara Lunsford minister to oilfield workers in Wyoming; Pedro and Dionisia Escobar are reaching Latinos in New Mexico. All of these missionaries work through state convention partners to most effectively link national priority with local strategy while maximizing efficient use of Southern Baptist resources.

As North America's population grows increasingly diverse and complex, the greater the need for missionaries and chaplains who can reach specific people groups. Pray for these missionaries and others who God has called to reach people in North America.