Anne Reed
AFA Journal staff writer
June 2015 – Memphis, Tennessee, has contended for the title “America’s Most Dangerous City” for a number of years. Perhaps it is best known for Graceland, the former home and mansion of Elvis Presley. But the realities of Memphis are often dark, desperate, and destructive.
In addition to high incidences of violent crime, chronic poverty also plagues the area. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the Memphis poverty level has averaged 26.9% from 2009 to 2013. The rate has escalated in recent years, making Memphis one of the poorest cities in the nation.
A light appearing
In 2011, the health sharing nonprofit organization Samaritan Ministries decided to shine some light into the city by providing free full-service prenatal and maternity care for women in the urban and under-served areas. After two years of planning, the Morning Center officially began seeing patients in August 2013.
“Initially, the idea was to build a 50-bed birthing center,” Les Riley, executive director, told AFA Journal. “But it is evolving as we see what the needs are.” And the response of local hospitals was surprising. Rather than seeing the Morning Center as competition, a couple of them offered to deliver babies at a discounted rate.
When the Morning Center staff reached out to local congregations, some church leaders began to offer clinic space in their church buildings. A van was purchased to enable the staff to simply carry a clinic from one location to another. And a local businessman gave the ministry a high-end ultrasound machine worth over $100,000.
The Morning Center currently operates clinics in three Memphis locations with a full staff: supervising physician, nurse practitioner, sonographer, and administrative and support personnel. Some are paid, and others volunteer their time and expertise, all to lavish the love of Jesus Christ on women and unborn children who desperately need it.
Not afraid
Two clinics are located inside church buildings, and another operates from Warren Apartments on Clementine Road in South Memphis, an area named “the most violent neighborhood” in 2010. “So, that’s where we go,” said Riley with a radiant smile. “The first day we went there, we heard gun shots. But I don’t think I’ve ever felt threatened.”
In recent years, something has begun to change at Warren Apartments. The complex was purchased by Global Ministries Foundation, a nonprofit organization that buys distressed properties, cleans them up, and provides affordable housing as well as training venues to help residents become productive and fulfilled citizens in their communities.
One apartment in the complex has since become known as the Red Door. Behind that red door are a number of Christian ministries, including a medical exam room. The mission is led by Eric Watkins, director of Engage Memphis, a ministry of Faith Baptist in Bartlett, Tennessee. Watkins has a heart to see those in troubled and forgotten communities redeemed for the glory of God.
The Morning Center team arrives at the complex on Monday mornings before a women’s Bible study begins and sees patients in the afternoon. Clinic patients vary in stages of care from prenatal to post-natal care, and others walk in for a quick pregnancy test.
From death to life
Most patients at the church clinics are referred by pregnancy resource centers and have already decided to parent. But at the onsite clinic at Warren Apartments, women are often vulnerable to the abortion industry.
“Last year we delivered 50 babies in Memphis,” said Riley. “There were 8,500 abortions in the city, so that’s a drop in the bucket. But that’s the way God works. Despise not your small beginnings – He uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
“When 50 grows to 200, every one of those 200 women will represent families impacted by the gospel. And as it grows to 1,000, the Morning Center could put the Memphis abortion industry out of business. We are like a little mustard seed that expands and fills the whole city.”
The Morning Center now sees as many as 73 patients and delivers up to eight babies monthly. Overjoyed by the growing numbers, Riley regularly reminds the staff, “If we give world class maternity care and put them right back in the same environment with no heart change, no worldview change, they are going to be back in six months, and probably in worse shape.”
Once the staff begins meeting with these women, they find a wide range of issues that need to be addressed. “So we try to be a conduit,” explained Riley. “We want churches to come along and share the gospel with the women – to help them take care of the children, and minister to the dads.”
Being the body
Several local churches participate in One by One, a ministry that partners with the Morning Center to provide mentoring for expectant moms. Thorough training is provided to mentors who then turn to help expectant moms develop spiritually while gaining practical understanding about motherhood and everyday life. The mentorship lasts through the first year of the baby’s life. “The goal is to help the mother become self-sufficient,” explained Vickie West, Volunteer Ministry Coordinator at Leawood Baptist Church. “The One by One Ministry is mentoring 79 women in the Memphis area and it’s growing.”
Leawood Baptist also provides a baby store where moms mentored through One by One can shop using a point-based system. As the Morning Center patient flow continues to increase, the staff expects to see more churches in the area adopt mentoring and baby store ministries.
The idea is to have enough clinics so every patient can walk or get a ride. “We also try to put the clinics on a bus route, and we can give them a bus ticket if they don’t have a ride,” Riley said.
Another aspect of the growing citywide ministry is adoption. About a dozen families have called to offer a home to babies needing a family. And the ministry was able to facilitate the first adoption in recent months.
Riley said 85% of Morning Center donations come from outside the city of Memphis, from individuals, churches, and organizations. In addition to in-kind donations, the average monetary donation is $48. Yet, Riley believes they will eventually build a multi-million dollar hospital.
While the Morning Center applies for some private grants, no government funding is requested or received. “We must get out of the mentality that the government’s resources are unlimited, and God’s are limited,” explained Riley.
The whole idea of the Morning Center is utterly ridiculous. It’s preposterous, but God is in the business of doing shocking things to bring Himself glory – through His church.” 
Morning Center
3638 Macon Rd
Memphis, TN 38112
901-209-0195
662-760-8695
morningcenter.org
Les.Riley@morningcenter.org
Samaritan Ministries (parent ministry)
6000 N. Forest
Park Drive
Peoria, IL 61614
samaritanministries.org
