Africa Inland Mission | Central America

The Jobes Family
Hiram, Jessalyn, Reno & Holly

Hiram and Jessalyn grew up in Christian homes in southeastern Minnesota.  For Jessalyn, the call to missions came when she was in high school.  A visit
to Chad and a month-long stay with a missionary family there were enough to confirm that calling for her.  After high school, she completed her degree in Intensive Care Paramedicine and went to work saving lives.  She planned a trip to Tanzania to do medical work among the population around Lake Victoria, but was unable to go due to illness.  Around that time, she also met the love of her life and decided to get married.

For Hiram, the call into missions came later in life.  After high school, he attended the same college as Jessalyn and completed his degree in Law Enforcement.  Hiram and Jessalyn were married in 2008. Later that year, Hiram was hired as a patrol deputy for the Sheriff’s Office.  After working in law enforcement for a few years, Hiram also began to feel called to overseas missions.  In 2011, Hiram and Jessalyn welcomed a son, Reno, into the family.

In November, 2014, Hiram and Jessalyn were accepted as full term missionaries with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and left for the country of Madagascar.  The assignment was for two years in a program called TIMO, which stands for Training In Ministry Outreach.  During that time, Hiram and Jessalyn lived among the Antakarana, a small tribe in northern Madagascar, where beliefs are a mix of animism and folk Islam.  The Antakarana consider the island of Nosy Mitsio, where they were fortunate to live for fourteen months, to be their cultural birthplace and a place of religious importance.  However, their time on Nosy Mitsio was a struggle in many ways.  The family faced ongoing sicknesses and experienced not one, but two, medical evacuations by air.

In September, 2015, Hiram and Jessalyn discovered their family of three was going to become a family of four.  The pregnancy was full of complications, and in October, they nearly lost the baby due to hemorrhaging, but God is the Author of life and He sustained the life of the child.  In December, they began the transition from Madagascar to Kenya, where they were able to receive much better medical care.  On May 26, 2016, Hiram and Jessalyn were blessed with the arrival of Holly.

The Jobes ministry has now changed from that of church planters among the Antakarana to something much different, but the mission is still bringing the life-changing Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who have never heard it.  After a time, Hiram answered a request to return as the Assistant Crisis Consultant for AIM.  Hiram is now responsible for ongoing training in safety and crisis-related topics for AIM’s field personnel. He is also involved in the pre-placement work of opening up new locations for ministry.  In this regard, Hiram’s role is to identify potential risks associated with specific ministry locations and to formulate risk mitigation plans in conjunction with those risks.  The third part of his job is to be involved in the management and resolution of the different crises that arise for field personnel.  Their own experience with medical crises and evacuations has given great perspective and a heart of compassion for others who find themselves in crisis.

If you would like to get in touch with the Jobes family, or learn how to support their ministries with Africa Inland Mission and Central America, please contact Robert Case!