commitment.”
“It can be hard for folks to see outside the walls of their church building,” said Matthew L. Larson, pastor of Burr Oak and Hesper Lutheran churches near Decorah. “Folks aren’t as apt to follow world events, except marquee events like the Asian tsunami.”
Nigeria is an exception. Ever since the two congregations hosted the Oyebades during a home assignment visit, members have been “diligent and generous” and engaged in Nige- ria and the Mashiah Foundation, Larson said. “When Nigeria is in the news, we have faces to put together with it and with the work of the church in a difficult place,” he added. Mary Beth Oyebade agreed: “Northeast Iowans always seem to be genuinely interested in our corner of the world.” The Oyebades’ “Nigerian Night”
at Washington Prairie Lutheran Church a couple years back invited Decorah residents for a typical Nige- rian meal of white rice and red stew. Clad in clothing they wear when they are in Jos, the Oyebade fam- ily talked about the work of the Mashiah Foundation and the Women of Hope. More than 100 HIV- positive women participate in this training program, which boosts their confidence, hones their sewing skills and prepares them to sustain them- selves and their families. Dinner guests loved the video messages, stories and songs from the Women of Hope. They were just as excited about purchasing the women’s quilted napkins, place mats, bags and table runners because Upper Iowa River Lutherans helped purchase the sewing machines. “The Oyebades wanted to relax
... and let people experience a somewhat more tactile, hands-on experience rather than a lecture and slides,” said Mark Kvale, Washing-
ton Prairie’s pastor. “It was a won- derful celebration of life in Jos.” Between visits, congregations keep the Oyebade family in their prayers and follow their newsletters. While they contemplated a confer- ence trip to Nigeria, Larson said, “we discerned that the cost of getting people there was really prohibitive and that the money we would spend would save a lot of lives and give futures for a lot of folk.”
Effective model with rural roots The all-of-us-behind-one-mission- ary model emerged from a rural area where Lutheran congregations are strong in number. Not every congregation is large—some don’t even have pastors—but pooling their resources has dramatically increased their impact.
Supporting a single relationship helps unite the Upper Iowa River Conference, geographically the larg- est in the Northeastern Iowa Synod. The only other such collabora- tive project is also in a rural, densely Lutheran area. In the Maumee Valley Conference of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, 20 or so Women of the ELCA units collectively raise $10,000 a year to sponsor John (an ELCA pas- tor) and Barbara LeMond, who serve within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong. Multiplied by the 15 or 20 years they’ve partici- pated (no one remembers, exactly), that’s about a $200,000 gift. Collaborative sponsorship has
lightened the travel load for mission- aries who are asked to visit as many sponsoring congregations as pos- sible on their biannual, two-month “home assignment.” “It’s not possible to visit all of our sponsoring congregations in one summer,” Mary Beth Oyebade said, “but having churches clustered in one general area makes the travel schedule a little more bearable.” The
Oyebades may reach 30 to 40 if they are in the same part of the country. Congregations, in turn, develop
a deeper relationship with their mis- sionary and can count on more regu- lar visits.
Lanny Westphal, director for
ELCA missionary and global church sponsorship, said 1 in 5 ELCA con- gregations sponsors a missionary. “Imagine if they invited neighboring congregations to join them,” he said. Is it an idea worth spreading? Just ask an Iowan. “Congregations are rightly proud of the fact that we do this together,” Larson said.
To learn more, visit
www.elca.org/ missionarysponsorship.
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ours. Collectively, God’s Work, Our Hands.
October 2013 31
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