The Morning Center: A Much Needed Ministry

As a physician, I often hear talk about health care reform, and rightfully so; there are many aspects of our health care system that need to be improved. But I am troubled when I hear so many people asking, “What is the government going to do?” As Christians, we should be asking, “What are we going to do?” Or better yet, “What is God doing? What is God calling us to do?”

During my medical training in 1985, I had the opportunity to travel to Pakistan to do a surgery elective at a Christian missionary hospital. While there, I saw many amazing, life-changing things. One memory that stands out was the powerful effect of charity.

Even though this hospital predominantly served local Muslims, there was a respect and a tolerance for the Christian work there. This was due to the “no-strings-attached” charitable medical care given. No one was turned away due to inability to pay, and the patients were treated with respect and dignity.

There was even a native Christian convert evangelizing the Muslim patients waiting in line for medical care, and no one raised a voice of protest! One woman, who was dying of cancer and had not received proper help from local Muslim doctors, said that she came because, “at least you Christians will tell me the truth.”

The hospital is a modern symbol of health care here in the United States. The word “hospital” comes from the same Latin root word as “hospitality.” Throughout history, there have been numerous, charitable hospitals begun by Christians.

In medieval Europe, Christian religious communities, often monasteries, provided care for the poor, the leper, or the sojourner, and the care was often provided by monks or nuns. This concept carried over into colonial America. An example of this was the Pennsylvania General Hospital, chartered in Philadelphia in 1751, and started with generous contributions from the private sector. It is beyond the scope of this writing to attempt to name them all.

Even the modern nursing profession as we know it was begun by a Christian, Florence Nightingale. What other religion has given the world so much in this area? Yet many of these charitable hospitals lost their original vision a long time ago, even though they have the name of a commonly recognized Christian denomination on the sign.

Do we have to travel to a missionary hospital in another land to be involved in true charitable medical care? What can we do here? Undoubtedly, the greatest challenge we face in medicine is not cost, or availability, or even quality, but the battle for life itself. This is epitomized by the struggle against abortion. The pro-life movement is the essence of charitable medical care. Since Roe v. Wade, we have seen numerous ministries work tirelessly against this scourge. This includes not only demonstrations, prayer sit-ins, and political action movements against abortion, but also crisis pregnancy centers in support of the mothers and their unborn children. We would do well to support these efforts to the best of our abilities.

Yet as wonderful as these crisis pregnancy intervention centers are, they do have a limitation. If a mother goes to one of these centers and chooses to keep her child, most of the time she then has to seek substandard medical care supplied through government aid. A pregnant woman in need has nowhere to turn but Medicaid-compensated facilities and doctors with less than optimal care. This situation is not lost on the critics of the pro-life movement, who are able to weaken the witness of these ministries by pointing it out. I would love to see Christians silence these critics by taking up their challenge to “put your money where your mouth is.”

What does the Scripture teach us about responding to critics? In I Peter 2:12 it says, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (NASB)

The Lord calls us to good works in Matthew 5:16, saying, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” (NASB)

In Romans 12:21, Paul writes, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (NASB)

Again, there are many wonderful pro-life ministries deserving our support. But is there a next level, a next “step of faith” that we can take in this critical pro-life battle? I believe that there is just such an opportunity. The Morning Center really could be the next step in the pro-life movement.

What is the vision? To offer complete, compassionate, personalized maternity care in Jesus’ name to anyone who needs it – free of charge. The vision involves full service maternity hospitals in key urban areas to which prospective mothers could be referred.

As a physician, I cannot tell you how powerful it would be to be able to offer this ministry to a pregnant young woman struggling with a decision of whether to fight for the life of her unborn child or to cave in to the pressure of the world to take the “easy” way out. What a wonderful witness of Christian love this would be!

I believe there are pro-life physicians who would volunteer their skills, time, and resources to a ministry with this vision. They will need the support of the rest of the body of Christ to make that vision a reality.

Please consider getting involved in supporting the “Morning Center.” Visit the website (www.morningcenter.org). Pray. Be a light in the darkness. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”