The Dalenburg Family

Adam, Jennifer, Joseph, Samuel, James

Saint Mark was pleased to be able to host the Dalenburg family on June 25th and 26th. Saint Mark supports the Dalenburg's work in Senegal, West Africa though the Mission Society. At the Saturday evening dinner we were treated to slides and discussion that gave us all a much better insight into the life and work of this industrious family. On Sunday Adam spoke of how all of us have the ability to carry the Christian message into the world. Jennifer presented Saint Mark with a memento sand painting that illustrates the location of their ministry. We greatly appreciate the time the Dalenburg's took to visit Saint Mark and we will continue to follow their work when they return to Africa.

The 2011 mission is underway

Just arrived at Rock Sound International

Sunday: A restful day for us - enjoyed "skyping" with St. Mark during Celebration service this morning, then worshipped at Tarpum Bay Methodist Church, which is connected to the Mission House where most of us are staying - only a two-hour service there.

After a great lunch of chicken, peas and rice and slaw, 1/2 of our group went to the Island School at Cape Eleuthera and the other 1/2 went to Lighthouse Beach - the 3.5 mile dirt/gravel/rock road hasn't gotten any better!  The Island School gang joined us late afternoon, then we all returned to the Mission House for showers/dinner and devotions, with an early night to get rested for a full day of work tomorrow.

The Caribbean from 2nd floor of the mission Our first work day has been a wonderful success and the team seems to have bonded very quickly.  Before I go any further I want to ask for prayers for Sandra and Richard Lowe and their son Tanner.  Tanner has been having abdominal symptoms with vomiting for several months.  After many lab tests the only results that indicated any abnormalities were related to elevated liver enzymes.  Tanner insisted that his Mom and Dad continue plans to be on the mission trip even though he was scheduled to have a liver biopsy this morning.  When we returned this afternoon Sandra learned Tanner was admitted to the hospital after his liver biopsy and CT scan due to not feeling well and suffering a lot of pain.  Tanner had a seizure late this afternoon.  He was immediately seen by a neurologist and had a CT scan of his head again thankfully all the CT scans were negative as well as all the other tests but they do not have the liver biopsy that will take 2 or 3 days.  Sandra and Richard will fly out tomorrow am to Boston.  We ask for travel mercies.
	The team had a busy day divided into five work areas:
One worked on Mrs Lois's home in Palmetto Point that had the porch blown away by hurricane Irene two months ago - that team got a new porch framed up ready for roofing!
Another team worked on Brenda Lee's home in Governors Harbour, also damaged by Irene - doing mudding of sheet rock that had been hung by others, sanding and painting - two rooms finished ready for flooring.
3 of our teenagers went with Carolyn Keese to Tarpum Bay Primary and worked with individual children in 4 different grades.
Chris and Anna spent the day with the assistant superintendent of education of the island to develop ideas for a Clemson foreign exchange program in May.
Blake spent his day with Robyn Curry of Island Journeys doing web site updates.

Alex has already made a new friend - Trell       
 
      
 
Lois' home upon arrival		Lois' home today     
 
   
 

Dominick's bedroom		                      Brenda Lee's bedroom

                                                              



Another great day for the St. Mark team:
1.  The team working on Ms. Lois' home in Palmetto Point almost finished today - see before and after pictures above.
2.  The team working on Brenda Lee Petty's home in Governors Harbour almost finished today - see before and after pictures above
3.  Casey, Waverly, Andy and Carolyn continued in the TB primary school
4.  Anna and Chris competed most of their exploratory work toward a May Clemson student experience
5.  Blake worked on web pages for Island Journeys and SEEP (South Eleuthera Emergency Partners)
6.  Marla, Carolyn, Janet and Lynn led two workshops for cancer survivors at the Cancer Society, with a tremendous response by the locals

We got this note from Sandra Lowe last evening:

We made it (to Boston) without any problems. He has has no more seizures but has developed a fine tremor and will have MRI of the brain tonight. EEG is normal. Had gastric emptying today but no results yet. Please, please keep him in your prayers. Thank you all. All our love to everyone. Sandra 

Wednesday:
As we approach the middle of our time in Eleuthera it is amazing what has been accomplished by this team.  We began this morning with a very overcast morning- it rained last night and was raining this morning.  We had a short sharing time this morning and it was an opportunity for Bob and I to share with the team how outstanding they have been.  The team has bonded early as we work, pray and do a lot of laughing together.  It is exciting having 4 teens on the trip.
	Today was a big day for Anna Baldwin and Chris Peters as they presented their educational workshop on information technology to over 20 eager teachers from through out the island.  A teacher from each school was represented and Anna and Chris both said they were like sponges.
	The team on Ms Lois site, Rick and Ann Bender, Ann Sullivan, Craig Letson, Peter Salis and Diane Caster had to dodge rain drops, but were able to complete their roofing and porch job.  Ms Lois had a smile that couldn't be wiped off.  She has had a tarp on since the storm in late August.
	The team at Brenda Lee's house was divided with Alicia, Lynn Stein, Marla and myself completing the project - we got Brendalee in her bedroom and a lot of furniture back in place for her and her son.  She is a cancer survivor with one leg - so neat to be able to help her.  Her home was badly damaged by the storm
	Casey and Waverly were at the Day care today or sort of daycare.  It is a two room house with about 25 children infant to 3 y,o. they seemed to like it. Tomorrow Casey wants to go back to 
the Exceptional Children's school and work where she worked on Tuesday.
	Andy and Bob Stein and Bob Dobson and Bill Caster and Alex Baldwin worked on a new project in Tarpum Bay - the others had been about 30 min away.  This project includes replacing a door and two windows blown away by Irene with nothing in place in hte upstairs window.
	Janet Evatt and Carolyn Keese have continued helping in the schools and Carolyn was present for the IT presentation.
	Blake Herring continues his work on web page development for our host Island Journeys and has the admin person on Facebook now.
Tonight we all went to Tippy's, a local restaurant on the island, and we took our hosts from Island Journeys.  We had a wonderful fellowship and again seem to enjoy being together and learning about the people of Eleuthera.  We experienced an aspect of Bahamian life - one of our vans died on the way home, so we all piled onto 4 cars of Island Journeys folks.  We continue to offer prayers for Tanner Lowe and his family.
	Thanks for your prayers that the mission will continue to be focused on the people we have the opportunity to serve.

Thursday:         

Thursday evening had the majority of the team enjoying conch salad, conch fritters and mac and cheese followed by sharing time and devotions. Lynn drove Blake, Carolyn and our tech teaching duo of Chris Peters and Anna Baldwin to Preston-Albury High School, the high school on South Eleuthera for their third and last presentation. This has been a very successful experience for teachers and children on the island. This afternoon Anna, Chris and Carolyn presented the program to junior and senior highs outside. Anna said this was the first time she had ever presented a program outside. Rick's took a team on a new challenge today - roofing a home with storm induced leakage in Rock Sound - the most difficult part of the job was finding the site! That's a long story, but that team of Rick, Anne, Ann, Craig, Bill, Peter, Diane and Alex with help of Trel (local) put new shingles on the roof in 5 hours! They then visited The Ocean Hole - a "bottomless" pond in Rock Sound. Those taking the plunge were Ann leading the way along with Alex, Craig, Bill and Rick. I, Lynn drove Alicia, Lynn Stein to Brenda Lee's home to finish some flooring and completed that. While Lynn S. and Alicia worked at the house Janet and Lynn D met with Shaun about a potential grant for the Cancer Society and then met with Juanita Pender, Pres of the Cancer Society to share some grant pointers. Bob, Andy, Waverly, Casey and Bob (PM only) completed the work at Lily Hunt's home in Tarpum Bay - the door and two windows work well now. Marla, Anna, Chris, Alicia and Waverly painted the underside of the roof sheathing on one side of the Prep in Tarpum Bay. Blake spent most of the day getting SEEP, and other sites up to speed on the web, he has really worked hard on this project. Another busy and safe day of beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures on this beautiful island! Tomorrow we will use the day to travel as they say in Eleuthera down North for exploration, eat lunch on Harbor Island and return to Governor's Harbor for Homecoming of this settlement and our dinner for the evening. We spoke to Sandra tonight and were pleased to learn Tanner was home, I could hear little Mason in the background. The good news is all the test continue to be negative. The doctor's are continuing to look at some hereditary conditions that would reflect the slightly elevated liver enzymes. If this is confirmed diet and life style changes should be a doable thing. Continued prayers as this is difficult to not know for all. We will not send a message tomorrow night, pray for traveling mercies as we will rise early Saturday for a 8:10 flight out of Rock Sound with about 5 hour layover in Nassau (including customs) and arrive in Atlanta at 3:52pm. Our team (we don't think we left anyone behind) made it to Nassau after a 5:45 am wakeup call to depart Tarpum Bay at 6:45 for Rock Sound Airport. See you when we get home - it's been a great week with a GREAT team!!

Low Country Boil

The last Church Family Night of the Summer was a Low Country Boil, good music and a presentation by the participants in our International Mission to Eleuthera. Along with the good food the "Rocking Horse Band" With Matthew Phillips, Alicia Spivey, Jeff Pearson, John Beatty and Mike Walker kept the evening lively.

                          Rocking Horse Band                                                   A few slides to get started

After the meal the Eleuthera Mission Team talked about their experiences. Peter Salis explained the work on the Tarpum Bay Commnuity Center. Sandra Lowe and Alicia Spivey recounted their work in teaching first aid and CPR to the local people. John and Martha Steele complemented the whole crew who worked on wiring and painting in the Bannerman Town Center.

                     Bannerman Center                                                                   Tarpum Bay Community Center

Anna Balwin told about and idea of partnering Rock Sound Primary with Blue Ridge Elementary. Pauline Adams described her tutoring work and the people she met. Mike Walker's topic was picking up trash. Andy, Mike and Matthew created a song about "Pickin' Up Trash". They performed the song at the schools to teach the children, but the St Mark audience got right into it also. Bob Dodson answered a lot of questions and talked of the possibility of a return mission next year.

The Team !!

The Dalenburg Family mission to Senegal is part of the Mission Society. Saint Mark has provided financial support to this family since their arrival in Senegal about three years ago.You can visit their wesite here. This Summer Update was received from the Dahlenberg Family on June 17th.