May 5, 2009

CHICAGO – Maryn Olson grew up in an Iowa town of 300 people, but her world is anything but small.

Although not yet 30, many consider her a model of "faith in action" because of her tireless work battling social injustices rooted in a compassion for others.

At Olson's alma mater, Indiana's Valparaiso University, financial aid officer Phyllis Schroeder remembered the 2002 graduate's involvement on the prayer team.

"We could count on Maryn to keep us alert to those social justice issues that needed to be addressed," Schroeder said. "She knew what was going on in the world, the nation and on campus."

Over the years, Olson's worked to end childhood hunger in Vermont. She's rallied for battered women in Indiana. She's championed Lutheran HIV/AIDS ministries in Africa.

"If we believe that human beings are created in God's image, then the way we care for everyone is a reflection of how we care for God," said Olson, 28, a member of Peace Lutheran Church, Ridgeway, her hometown in northeastern Iowa.

Olson moved back to her hometown last year and now advocates for people affected by an immigration raid in nearby Postville. A year ago May 12, nearly 400 undocumented workers were arrested at a kosher meatpacking plant that employed more than 900 people.

The plant is bankrupt and several of its leaders arrested. Most of the arrested undocumented workers were deported. Several women caring for their children are still detained in Postville and dependent on charity for food, rent, medical care and other costs.

"People are deeply, deeply traumatized," Olson said. "Some children never got to say goodbye to their parents. Other children stopped talking for months. Yet, in the midst of incredible brokenness, there are experiences of profound faith. It can be a child finally speaking a word."

Olson is the third of five children born to the Revs. Ginny and Phil Olson, once missionaries in Senegal. They co-pastor three Ridgeway area congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). All of their children work in service positions – education, public health, medicine and ministry.

"Maryn is passionate about justice," Ginny Olson said. "That's her ministry."

Maryn Olson graduated summa cum laude from Valparaiso, but many best remember her drive to help others. "She was always caring for members of society under the radar of the rest of the world," said college roommate Laurel Seim, Aloha, Ore.

Olson moved from London to Iowa last fall after earning a master's degree in public health in developing countries at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She planned to stay with her parents only until she found a job in public health, ideally in Africa. Then Postville beckoned.

"We want her to come back. She brought comfort and hope. She taught people how to survive," said Rosinah Manthule, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Olson serves as response coordinator for the Postville Response Coalition. In that role, she works with civic, religious and other organizations to help the hundreds of people who lost jobs or had families torn apart by the immigration raid.

"Maryn has certainly added energy and brought her skills at unifying and communicating, too," said the Rev. Stephen P. Brackett, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Postville.

Mary Klauke, Dubuque Catholic Archdiocese said: "It's in her heart to be helping people."

ELCA News Service