behind one
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Iowa and Ohio model a unique way to support missionary families By Anne Basye
That’s because not just one but every congregation in the Upper Iowa River Conference of the Northeastern Iowa Synod sponsors the ELCA missionary couple. Ten out of 28 of them are in Decorah’s 52101 zip code, which some say has the highest number of congregations in the ELCA. Since the 1970s, the conference has sponsored missionaries in Brazil, Japan and Senegal. Mary Beth Wallestad joined the list in the 1990s when
Y Basye is a freelance writer living in the Pacific Northwest. 30 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
ou can find photos of Bayo and Mary Beth Oyebade on almost any church bulletin board in the 52101 zip code.
Every congregation in the Upper Iowa River Conference of the Northeastern Iowa Synod sponsors ELCA missionar- ies Mary Beth and Bayo Oyebade and their children. The Oyebades serve in Nigeria and work with people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
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she began teaching at Hilltop School in Jos, Nigeria. Now Mary Beth Oyebade, she and her husband Bayo operate the Mashiah Foundation, a Christian nongovernmental organi- zation they founded to reach out to people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. “Sponsoring missionaries is part of the mindset and DNA of people in this area,” said Mike Massa, confer- ence dean and pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Cresco, Iowa. At its annual meeting, the confer- ence renews its commitment and sets a yearlong goal. Some congrega- tions give less than $200; others give $5,000. Collectively, they provide $25,000 a year for the Oyebades. That adds up to $274,500 since 1996, the first date for which records are available—one reason the Upper Iowa River Conference was recognized at the 2013 ELCA Summer Missionary Conference banquet. Usually the banquet honors one large donor. This year, Massa accepted the ELCA’s thanks on behalf of more than 10,000 Iowans. “It’s clearly a gift of the spirit,”
said Virginia Olson, pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Eldorado, Iowa. “Through changes in pastors, congregations still stick to their
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