Ben ZumMallen

If you’ve met Ben already and haven’t figured it out yet through his accent, he hails from the great state of Oklahoma. Ben grew up on a large farm in a small town named Okarche (OK for Oklahoma, AR for Arapaho, CHE for Cheyenne). He has three older sisters (20, 18, and 15 years older). That’s what happens when your parents are married for 72 years.  So, what did they do on the farm? Raised cattle, grew wheat, and did a lot of praying.  When Ben wasn’t driving a tractor, a truck, or a combine he attended a Lutheran grade school, then onto the local high school where his class had 25 students total. After high school, he bucked the trend of going to the farm college and went to the University of Oklahoma (OU) and studied Architecture.  

After college, his job took him to Northern Virginia for about eight years and then in 2005 to North Carolina. He met his beautiful wife Elizabeth in 2010 and they married in 2011.  In 2013, they had Sam, James in 2015, and Adelyn in 2017. His family began attending Hope in 2015 and we’ve been stuck with them ever since. Ben is still doing Architecture and Elizabeth does everything else. Along the way, Ben has had many ups and downs, but through life’s journey, Christ has always been a part of his life. He knows God has always had a plan and a sense of humor and has led him to where he is today.  If you see Ben around and are curious, please feel free to ask him about all the in-between bits of his life. He’d love to get to know you better and share more of his story.