DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa conjures up images of a Midwestern state of green cornfields, big-time pig and dairy farming, small towns, and the fictional setting for wonderful movies like The Music Man and Field of Dreams.

“The Hawkeye State” certainly is all those positive things and more. But Des Moines – Iowa’s state capital and largest city with 500,000 people – also is plagued with the same neighborhood gangs, crime, violence, drugs, and poverty of other American cities. Just ask Jon and Mindy Jamison.

For almost nine years, Jon and Mindy, both 33, have been a husband-wife team of North American Mission Board (NAMB) missionaries, working as co-directors of Friendship Baptist Center in inner-city Des Moines. They are also state church and community ministries directors for the Baptist Convention of Iowa.

The Jamisons are two of more than 5,000 missionaries in the United States, Canada, and their territories supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American Missions, and are one of eight NAMB missionary couples highlighted as part of the annual Week of Prayer, March 2-9, 2008. The 2008 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $61 million, 100 percent of which is used for missionaries like the Jamisons.

 

Challenge just outside

“The neighborhood surrounding the Friendship Baptist Center is a poverty-impacted community,” according to Jon. “Upwards of 30-35 percent of the households are in poverty. There’s a lot of violence, gang activity, and drugs in the communities surrounding the center. So we have a challenge just outside our doors.”

Mindy Jamison echoes her husband.

“The kids get up and don’t take a bath because there’s no water. They don’t have a toothbrush or shampoo. They probably forget to take their books to school. They walk to school in the cold, and it gets very cold in Des Moines,” she said.

The center serves primarily African-Americans and Hispanics, and refugee families from Zaire, Sudan, and Bosnia.

The Friendship Center is multi-faceted. “Kids Club” is an after-school program in which children come in and get help with their homework, play board games, or sports. They also learn about life skills, nutrition, and even how to cook. And, of course, the Jamisons teach them about the Bible.

“Once we get to know the kids better, we offer a Bible study and teach them what God says about their lives and how God wants to be a part of their lives,” said Jamison. “Many times, we tell them Bible stories, and it’s the first time they’ve ever heard Bible stories.”

Mindy credits the center’s 15 Kid’s Club volunteers, who come and “pour their lives into these kids every day.” In all, some 250 volunteers support Jon and Mindy with their myriad of ministries on an annual basis.

Another huge project for the center is teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), conversational English and the ability to read.

“It’s a great way for us to connect to the community,” says Jon. “Immigrants and refugees come to Des Moines and need to provide for their families. And often they can find better jobs if they speak English.”