Sidebar: Life throws curveballs, pitches chaplain in new direction

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kent Kagarise
  • 442nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The 442nd Fighter Wing's junior chaplain, Capt. Ben Hayden, had a passion for baseball from the age of six up to his junior year in college - and was following his dream as a college pitcher until his life went in a different direction.

"I was born and raised in a Christian home but my love was baseball," Chaplain Hayden said. "My turning point came while I was climbing an average flight of stairs and my lung collapsed."

A youth pastor had a tremendous impact on Chaplain Hayden's life while he was in high school. It was the pastor's many words of encouragement, as well as family and friends who visited him in the hospital, that began to weigh heavy on Chaplain Hayden's heart.

"I realized who my friends were or who I thought my friends were," Chaplain Hayden said. "A hospital can be a very quiet place and I realized I wasn't a very happy person and some changes needed to be made.

"I asked God to change my motives and desires, and God led me into ministry," he said.

Chaplain Hayden continued to play baseball as a pitcher while attending college at Mid-America Nazarene in Olathe Kan. It was there he met an Air Force Chaplain recruiter who enlightened him to a possible career that would allow him to serve God and country.

"At that time I was thinking I might become a missionary," Chaplain Hayden said. "God has opened all doors, I walk through them and if it's not what God wants--he'll close them."

Chaplain Hayden graduated with his Bachelor's degree, received a commission as a second lieutenant and became a chaplain candidate. He did this for four years while studying for his Master's in divinity.

"This is a really good way for a person to evaluate the Air Force, as well as allow the Air Force to evaluate them," Chaplain Hayden said. "If you don't think the Air Force is God's plan for your life, you can get out before becoming an actual chaplain."

When not in uniform, Chaplain Hayden works for North Care Hospice in North Kansas City and has approximately 30 patients he tends to on a regular basis in either their homes or assisted-care facilities. The main goal of hospices is to keep a patient as comfortable as possible during their last days.

"It's a very interesting job and filled with challenges because we minister to all faiths," Chaplain Hayden said.

The demands of the job can be stressful and emotionally taxing, so Chaplain Hayden takes advantage of his time off by spending time with his wife, who is an assistant pastor herself, and his 18-month-old son.