The OAHE MESSENGER

Shirley Eisnach wins the Florence Krieger Award

Heather Burnham, Neice of Rolly and Colette Kemink to travel to Japan on Summer Mission Trip

  Heather spent part of her Christmas vacation helping Ken Droppers and Larry DeJong install plumbing in a home in New Orleans, LA.

  Her summer will be spent as a mission representative of the Asian Rural Institute (ARI).  She will be in Japan from June 8 through August 4^th.  The Asian Rural Institute is a school for community leaders of developing areas such as Ghana, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.  These participants learn agricultural and food producing techniques during their nine-month training program.  The main purpose of the program is to promote economic development and self-sufficiency in the lives of these participants.

  Heather asks for our prayers as follows:

• That God would work through her to promote the gospel despite the language barriers she will encounter;

• That through this experience she will gain knowledge and friendships;

• That she will grow closer to the Lord this summer;

• That there will be a strong bond among her team; and

• That there be safe travel for all the volunteers and participants.

OPC/ONIDA Men Take Mini Mission Trip 

  Pastor Rolly Kemink, Duane Jenner and Larry DeJong took time to travel to Aberdeen to assist in the city’s recovery from the flood waters.  They also spent time working with POSD to encourage others to help with recovery efforts.
 

  The Florence Krieger award is the highest award given to someone who serves at the state level of the South Dakota Retired Teachers Association.

  Shirley served as present of the SDRTA from 2004-2006. 

  Shirley has not only been very active within Oahe Presbyterian Church serving as both a ordained elder and deacon but has also spent her lifetime as a teacher, volunteer, 4H and scout leader, mentor, and leader in any activity that would provide for encouragement to others.

Come Decorate 

   Everyone is invited.  We will be personalizing and decorating our luminaries for the Relay for Life. 

   You don't have to be "crafty."  Just come have fun.

   There is a donation box in the Narthex for used greeting cards, bric-a-brac, photos, magazines with pictures, etc., we can use to decorate the bags.

   Thanks, everyone. See you there. 
[P.S. to team members: Please turn your money in that night to your captain.]

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Tyler Jordre to Graduate from Walkersville High School

ON JUNE 6, 2007

Tyler Shannon Jordre
Graduate
Class of 2007
Walkersville High School

 Along with Tyler’s graduation announcement came a letter from Lisa that is reproduced below:

  Hello Oahe Presby Friends!

  You all shared so much in the life of our family and so we wanted to send you this note.  Tyler was just 18 months old when we first entered the OPC sanctuary.  Now he is 18 yrs. old and ready to graduate.  He has a bit of senioritis happening right now with only 2 weeks of classes remaining.  We have had to explain repeatedly why he still needs to go to school even though “there is nothing to do”.  Our best answer has been “to build character”.  He keeps busy as a grill cook/pizza maker at a local pizza restaurant, working out at the Y, hanging out with friends, and spending time with his girlfriend.

  In the Fall Tyler will be attending Frederick Community College here in town and will continue living at home with us.!   I foresee a rule negotiation coming later this summer as he continues to spread his wings.  Right now he may attend FCC just for 1 year or go for 2 years and complete the AA requirements.  Either way it gives him some time to still consider his interests.  He has thought about Sports Communication or History as a major but still isn’t sure which direction he may go.  The community college route is a popular one for many kids as they complete their general classes at 1/3 [or more] the price of in-state and out-of-state universities. I’m just glad I don’t have to say ‘good bye’ just yet.

  The rest of us…?  We are all doing just fine.  Drew is finishing 8^th grade and has been doing really well although if you ask him, he’s tell you school is boring.  By the end of this year he will have earned his high school Algebra and Geometry math credits.  I’m proud of that accomplishment since Math isn’t one of my strong suits and I admire the ability/quality.  He lives to play basketball, collect sports cards, and watch ESPN.  Anything sports…he is interested.  I believe his Language Arts teacher finally resigned herself to the fact that his writing assignments will always be about sports.  He even read “Brian’s Song” this year (and his eyes were suspiciously watery when he finished).

  Shannon is still with FDA in the Center of Veterinary Medicine.  He is pretty much the expert advisor on ‘mad cow’ disease issues and works closely with other divisions and USDA on those pet food issues you’ve all heard about.  He travels to different states to train inspectors on certain types of inspections related to ‘mad cow’ and still keeps connections with the people he came to know when working in South Dakota.  He continues to keep us together…is still the family cook and laundry guru.  He continues his running although not at the pace he used to run.  Right now he is part of the governing board at our church (Glade United Church of Christ) and helps with the 1^st and 2^nd grade Sunday school class (initially as the ‘bouncer’ but now the kids like just having him there) where I teach with another lady.

  I’m working as a Conference Planner for a consulting company in Rockville.  I’ve been there for 1 ½ yrs and had worked there for a summer in 2003.  It’s a lot of logistical coordination work and my main client right now is with one of the National Institutes of Health.  My company works mostly with federal government agencies but does some consulting with private businesses too.  I’m fully recovered from my kidney donation surgery.  I feel NO different than before and 2 of my incision marks are almost gone.  My friend Kim’s health is improving daily.  It is so amazing to see her quality of life changing and she is so much more active that she thought she would be 4 months after surgery.   She and I have grown closer in our friendship and we will always be connected.  As mentioned I am a co-teacher for the 1^st and 2^nd grade Sunday school class.  And following Glenda and Margaret’s example, I now lead the children’s music which is right before SS.  We occasionally sing in church but nothing serious because I am adamant that we are not a choir.  We’ve performed “Father Abraham”, “Deep & Wide”, and other fun classics.  In two weeks we get to sing in church with the contemporary band…the kids really get grooving with the drums.

  Well it’s time to end this and get the announcement in the mail.  We think of you all often.  And perhaps we’ll cross paths in July when we return for a visit.

  Always, Lisa Jordre and Family.

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Beach Party Goers
       Fill Nearly 3,000 Sandbags

  Over 30 members and friends of Oahe Presbyterian Church gathered on Thursday, May 24, 2007, for an evening of fellowship and community service. The attendees enjoyed a pot luck supper and also filled nearly 3,000 small bags of sand.  The sandbags will be used in the luminaries for the Pierre-Ft. Pierre area Relay for Life on June 15-16.

  Door prizes were won by Marijean Petersen and Marilyn England.  Best beach party attire awards went to Missy Slaathaug (ladies) and Pastor John Wall (men).  The "hardest worker" award went to Chris Nelson.

  The sand bags were filled in the church's backyard with sand donated by Morris, Inc., from 5-gallon buckets donated by Youngberg & Sons, Inc., and Ackerman Paint and Paper.  The small sandwich bags were donated by Sutley's Town and Ranch Market.  A group from OPC also helped unload the filled sandbags at Hollister Field, where the Relay for Life will be held.

  Kay Cee Hodson extends her great thanks to the Session for wholeheartedly supporting the event and authorizing the purchase of roasted chicken for the meal, all those who helped prepare for the evening and worked in the kitchen, and everyone who came that evening to share in both the potluck and the work.

Presbyterians Care! 
           New Resource For Gulf Coast Volunteers

 Volunteers are still needed to help with recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast.

 A number of organizations and church denominational programs that have been hosting sites for volunteer work teams are now leaving the Gulf.  This is also true of some churches that served as volunteer sites.   

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has committed to continue hosting volunteers in the Presbyterian Volunteer Villages for the next three to five years.  

Look for the new ad encouraging volunteer teams in the May issue of Christianity Today.

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Head down to New Orleans
Meleta DeJong

  On Thursday, May 24^th, six members of Oahe Presbyterian Church plus one OPC alumni gathered their tools and clothes [and snacks] and at 5 a.m. turned their vehicles towards the south and headed down to New Orleans.  Duane Jenner, Darin Johnson, Glenda Woodburn, Wanda Wall, Ruth Smith, Larry and Meleta DeJong put on their work attire and spent six days doing what needed to the done following Katrina’s disaster. 

  The men traveled together in Larry’s truck and the women traveled in Ruth’s Camry. 

  The first night saw the group spending the night in Perryville, Missouri. 

  We stayed at the First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans and were greeted upon our arrival by our friend, Pastor Cliff Nunn.  Deciding that we were too tired to go grocery shopping or even out to eat we decided to order in pizza and discovered an ad for the Reginelli’s Pizza Place on the bulletin board of the church.  Having called for pizza and being told it would take a while we all moved to the back porch where we sat and waited and waited and waited and waited.  While we were very patiently and hungrily waiting for our supper Nieta Nunn stopped by to visit and casually told us that there was a Papa John’s only a block away.  We groaned in unison but still had to wait for our pizza which did finally arrive and disappeared so fast we barely knew it had ever been there at all.

  The next morning (Saturday) Cliff showed us the way to our week long work project [in the Lakeshore neighborhood] and there we stayed for the remainder of the day.  We worked on the home of a lovely woman by the name of Yolanda.  The home was in the Lakeshore neighborhood and there were very few homes that showed any sign of activity in the entire area.  Yolanda had been living in a FEMA trailer but had begun to feel unsafe when a carload of men pulled up into her driveway and spent several hours just sitting there by her trailer and vehicle.  For the time being she is living by an aunt of hers.

Yolanda’s house	Glenda and Yolanda

  On Sunday we attended worship at First Presbyterian Church and the four women sang with their choir.  Following worship and fellowship we ate a light lunch and headed back to Yolanda’s house where we spent the remainder of the day putting up insulation and dry wall.

Darin putting up drywall	Larry, Duane, Darin
Larry, Darin, Wanda, Duane	Glenda insulating
Wanda Insulating	Ruth taping

  On Monday, we gathered our tools and prepared to spend the day putting up drywall, purchasing and adding a new front door and mudding nail holes and taping the seams.  Ruth and Meleta became quite knowledgeable about taping but decided that we weren’t quite ready to go into the business. 

After Katrina this is all that remains from Yolanda’s home and lifetime of belongings.

  Yolanda discovered upon returning to her home after two months [after planning on being gone 2 days and taking only an overnight bag with her] that her home had been under 20 feet of water and that her neighbor had not fled the city but was drowned in his attic and was still there upon her return.  She had to phone the authorities to have them re-check his house.  She indicated that while in Houston she checked Google Earth for signs of her home during the flood only to discover an arrow pointing down through water.  She thought it was an error on the part of Google Earth only to discover it was not.  Her only salvaged belongings took up less than 2 square feet of space…see picture below…and she has yet to uncover them to see what is there.  Just can’t face it yet.

  We were graciously invited to dinner at the Nunn’s home, a home that the Onida group “put together” in February following the flood.  It was a wonderful evening of fellowship. 

Books on Katrina kept everyone enthralled.
Serious discussion going on	And serious food, also.

  On Thursday night, the night before our departure, Henry Kleinfeldt put on a jambalaya feed for the two work groups at the church [the other group was from Bloomington, IL), the Nunns, and the owners of the two homes the groups were working on.  It was truly a gathering of friends.

Yolanda with her flowers	The OPCers with Yolanda
Joyce, Diane and Henry	The Nunns and the OPCers
L-R  Front:  Joyce Kleinfeldt, Diane Kleinfeldt, Henry Kleinfeldt, Wanda, Yolanda, and Glenda L-R Back:  Pastor Cliff Nunn, Meleta, Darin, Larry, Ruth and Duane.

  We worked on the house every day for six days and by the end of the week it began to look like a home.  We were all very happy that we had a role in the repair of her home but we also saddened that we could not stay longer to finish the project.  As Glenda said on the way home, “Seven of us may be only have made a pinprick in terms of the disaster but we made a large difference in one person’s life.  Every empty house is not a broke life but people building new lives”  

  And that’s what it is all about.  Certainly, the city probably should not have been built there and perhaps we are wasting time repairing and rebuilding but in terms of humanity it is so very worth the time we take even if it makes a difference in only one person’s life…that person knows that the Lord is with him or her if only through the use of HIS OPC missioners.  

  We visited the Musician’s Village, a group of 75 homes being built by Habitat for Humanity and funded by Harry Connick, Jr.   Seventy-five new homes for the now homeless.

  And who benefits the most from these mission trips?  Is it the families for whom we work on the homes?  Is it the businesses from whom we make our purchases?  Is it the tourists who go to visit the cities and view the disaster?  No, it is the missioners; the workers; the ones who have the privilege of learning new talents; of making new friends; and learning new cultures. 

  The ones who chuckle instead of complain when the “mud” plops or the screws won’t go in the dry wall or the insulation just won’t squeeze where it is suppose to or the measurements for the drywall are the exact opposite location of where they were meant to be.  These are the ones who have benefited.   

  We learned to love those different from ourselves; we learned that errors can be humorous; we learned that after a day of hard work we can fall sleep with the lights on and people laughing, and most importantly, we learned that God was with us every step of the way.

  Darin commented on the way home that the trip for him was “very good” and that “the destruction is staggering and numbing—one home after another destroyed and vacant.”

  We ended the trip by meeting the loved ones who had to stay home and “man the forts”….the picture below expresses how we all felt…and the tears of homecoming.

Dad is FINALLY home!

  Was the trip worthwhile?  Most definitely!

Would we go again?  Most definitely!

Were we appreciated?  Most definitely!

Were we thankful?  Most definitely!

 

  The seven of us wish to thank all of you who supported our trip … through finances, through the rummage sale, through gifts for the church, through hugs and prayers.  Without you all, this trip would not have happened.  We bless the Lord for your kindness and your friendship. 

Thank you.

Duane, Darin, Glenda, Wanda,

Ruth, Larry and Meleta

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