By LINN ANN HUNTINGTON
Caring Heart Center
Citing a “lack of crisis pregnancy resources in the Hays area,” a local organization is seeking to fill that need.
The pro-life Caring Heart Center is offering a series of free classes for those interested in learning how to minister to those facing an unplanned pregnancy.
The free 12-week “Making Life Disciples” classes will be offered from 6 to 7 p.m. Mondays from Aug. 24 through Nov. 9 at North Oak Community Church, 3000 Oak St.
Pearl Brown, who is organizing the class, said, “The purpose of this class is to equip participants in how to minister to mothers and fathers facing unplanned pregnancies. This class is open to all in the community who would like to attend.”
Brown said some of the topics the class will address are “the relevance of the Gospel in addressing abortion, information about abortion procedures, relationship building skills, and alternatives to abortion.”
In an interview, Brown said, “Abortion is the intentional taking of human life at its most vulnerable stage, in the womb. The growing cultural normalization of abortion is a violation of the sanctity of human life as communicated in Scripture and, from even a secular perspective, is not representative of the kind of society that I believe any of us truly want to be a part of--one in which we ourselves are taken care of and nurtured when we are in the most vulnerable stages of our lives.”
Brown said those wishing to preview the course materials may go to Right Now Media and look up "Care Net-Making Life Disciples” at http://www.care-net.org, a Christian pro-life ministry.
According to its website, Making Life Disciples is “a ministry resource designed to equip the church to offer compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women and men facing pregnancy decisions. It is a practical ministry response to the abortion crises.”
The classes will be led by Brown, Sherrill Weeks, and Hilary Logan, all of Hays. Brown said, “We come from a variety of professional backgrounds. Our main qualification for running this study is we were called to by the Lord and are acting in obedience to Him. He is the one truly leading it.”
Class registration and additional information are available from Brown at abundant.life.ministry3@gmail.com. Registration will continue through the first night of class, Aug. 24, she said.
According to its website, www.partnersofchc.org, Caring Heart Center is “an interdenominational Christian organization whose members are united by our core values, shared faith, and passion for the mission and vision of Caring Heart Center.”
The center’s mission is “to offer hope and help to women and families with an unplanned pregnancy through practical support and compassionate advocacy and to empower families to honor life through proactive community outreach and programming,” the website said.
Currently, the center has a five-member board and a bookkeeper. At press time, five churches in Hays, Ellis, and Ness City are involved with the center, and Brown said she expects that number to rise.
According to the timeline on the website, the center hopes to be open to the public by January 2027.
The Salina Pregnancy Service Center has donated an ICU Mobile Unit and an ultrasound machine to the Hays center. The website said that the Hays center plans to offer the following services, all of which will be free and confidential:
Brown said there are numerous crisis pregnancy centers across Kansas, but none near Ellis County. That is one of the reasons the group chose to organize a center is Hays, she said.
“Abortions in Kansas are at an all-time high; abortion is now more accessible than ever via abortion-inducing drugs, and women are often left with little information and little support as they make abortion-related decisions,” she said.
Brown cited the following statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s “Annual Summaries of Vital Statistics” report: “For the last 10 years of data reported by the state, Ellis County has recorded an average of 25 abortions. In the last year of data, which is from 2024, Ellis County recorded 30 abortions, the highest number since 2017.”
For now, the center is training volunteers and building relationships with churches and other community organizations, the website said.
Other priorities are fundraising, seeking a medical director, getting medical policies and procedures in place, securing professional liability insurance, securing a parking spot for the mobile unit for services, and developing an operating schedule.
The Hays center will start with an all-volunteer staff as a mobile medical ministry and then re-evaluate after its first year of operations about the readiness of moving into a building, the website said.