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In 1939, almost 50 years before the Des Moines skywalk system began to take shape, Eddie Davis moved here from Mississippi and started shining shoes downtown. And he's still doing that today-even at age 93. But in the nearly seven decades Davis has been in Des Moines, he has done a lot more than polish countless scuffed shoes. In fact, this retired pastor has been sharing the message of Jesus Christ with his customers-and with the world-ever since he opened his first can of Lincoln shoe polish. "Shoe shining is my job," Davis says as he sits on an elevated chair in his small, cluttered shop in the skywalk. "But this is my pulpit. This is where I talk to people about Jesus." His business, Eddie Davis Shoe Shine, is not his only ministry. The Eddie Davis Community Center, located at the western edge of the Valley Junction area, is a nonprofit organization established in the mid-1990s that offers many free services to the community-meals, medical care, clothing, legal services, and educational programs. "The Eddie Davis Center ... does some of the (most) good of anyone for underprivileged children," said Bill Knapp, a Des Moines real estate developer, in a 2005 Des Moines Register article. The community center also houses Valley Community Church, which holds weekly worship services, Bible studies, and Sunday school. "Church is my life," Davis says. "But my hope is in Christ Jesus, God's son-not in a denomination." The Eddie Davis Community Center got its name from the man who, for years, helped those in need throughout the Valley Junction neighborhood by delivering food baskets-from about a dozen in the 1960s to more than 500 by the 1990s. It's the same man who was pastor at Prayer of Faith Church of God in Christ when the Valley Junction Residential Association began operating a food pantry there and making plans for a new community center in 1991. And, it's the same man who continues to share Christ's love with people from his humble shoe shine shop in downtown Des Moines. "I meet everybody here," Davis says. "I meet people a lot of pastors would never meet. I'm in the best spot in town to talk about Jesus." And Davis has faith that talking to people about Jesus really will make a difference. "I'm trying to change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ-that's the only thing that will change the world. It changed me. It can change anybody," he says. When he's not talking to people about Jesus, he's talking to God directly. "I pray all the time-even when I'm sitting here," he says. "I pray without ceasing." And he's always ready to share a verse with any visitor. He grabs the Bible off the stand beside his "pulpit" and pulls out a magnifying glass to read the small print. "Psalm 34: 17," he reads. "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."
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