Roughly 25,000 migrant farm workers travel through Hope, Arkansas each year. These migrants are mainly Hispanic-Americans who travel the north central region of the continent following seasonal farm work. Hope is the central point of their travels and is thereby the location of both governmental and Southern Baptist support services.
The Migrant Farm Labor Center is a government operated facility. The facility provides a 12-hour rest stop for migrants to rest briefly during their long journey. The Hope Migrant Mission Center is located near the Farm Labor Center.
Volunteers and student summer missionaries work with the director to provide ministries and services to the migrant families. Personal hygiene items, donated by churches, mission groups, and individuals, are provided free of charge to the migrant families. Bibles, New Testaments and other Christian literature are also distributed.
Volunteers make this ministry possible. Interested individuals or groups can call for details about volunteer ministry opportunities. Visitors are also welcome to come and tour the center. To schedule a visit, please call 870.777.8219, or e-mail the center director.
To make donations of clothing, personal hygiene kits, or ministry materials, please contact us for our needs list.
More about the center
Thousands of migrant farm laborers passing through the Hope Migrant Mission Center every year receive Gospel tracts, New Testaments and Bibles from migrant center staff and Arkansas Baptist volunteers who ask each migrant how they “intend to get to heaven.”
Marcela, who was excited to receive a salvation bracelet that was included in the youth kit, said “I put this bracelet on in April soon after we left Hope and it was on my wrist the entire time that I worked in the hot sun. It reminds me that no matter how hot it may be and no matter how thirsty I am, Jesus is my ‘Fountain of Living Water’”.
Located near Hope, Arkansas, the Migrant Mission Center has been an ongoing ministry of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention since 1972. More than 300,000 migrant farm laborers have passed through the doors of the Center, that was originally located southwest of Hope on Highway 67.
Funding comes from the Dixie Jackson State Missions Offering, the Cooperative Program and donations from churches and individuals.
Volunteers give many hours filling hundreds of bags with soap, deodorant, toothpaste, crayons, coloring books and witnessing materials. Clothing for adults and children is sorted, folded, sized and placed on racks. All of this is provided so that migrant children and adults can walk away from the Center understanding that Jesus Christ loves them.
The Hope Migrant Mission Center provides an opportunity for Arkansas Baptist churches to become involved in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who need to hear the Good News. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “...To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”
1 Cor. 9:22 (NIV)
How you can help
Your donations of these items will help us show migrant farm laborers that Arkansas Baptists care about them and their families.
Travel– size items: shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, hand lotion, and .85 oz tubes of toothpaste.
Regular-size items: hand soap, men's and women's combs and brushes, wash cloths, disposable razors.
Bags: We use two sizes of cloth bags, 12” x 12” and 10”x 10” (finished sizes). Please use either heavy cotton or nylon draw strings.
“Color Me Book” and “Use Me Book”: These are given to children ages 4 – 11. A
sample that you may reproduce will be sent to you upon request.
Baby Items: shampoo, powder, lotion, and baby oil.
You may also give a donation for purchasing Bibles, tracts or other items. Please mail your check or money order, made payable to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and clearly marked for the Hope Migrant Mission Center to the ABSC Missions Ministries Team, P.O. Box 552, Little Rock, AR 72203. Please be sure to designate the purpose of the donation.