December 8: DeckerUpdate

Dear friends and family,

"What hope we hold this starlit night,
a King is born in Bethlehem.
Our journey long, we seek the light
that leads to the hallowed manger ground

Emmanuel, Emmanuel.
God incarnate here to dwell.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel.
Praise His name Emmanuel!" (from Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship by Chris Tomlin.)

This Advent season we are thankful to rejoice in the hallowed manger ground where Jesus came to dwell among men. Because of His life, and death on our behalf, we can appreciate the joy of Christmas now as well as the joy of eternal life with Him!

December 3: Nativity set

December 1: beginning to look like Christmas...

November 26: Thanksgiving in Dakar

We are thankful for so many blessings! This year our team Thanksgiving group was much smaller than the previous years, because we are missing several families who have left or are on home assignment! But we enjoyed a lovely meal, complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and our overseas traditional chocolate cream!

Holiday Traditions in Dakar: Turkey Bowl

One of our fun holiday traditions here is Turkey Bowl. The day before American Thanksgiving, school ends at noon, and the afternoon is spent in an American Flag Football tournament. The junior class serves great food, and people hang out to eat and watch football. This year Jacob didn't play, but enjoyed eating and watching games with his friends, while Dave refereed some of the kids games as well as playing in the mens game. I think this picture was after his touchdown!

November 22: holiday preparations

On the way home from a retreat weekend, we watched preparations for the holiday Tabaski which is at the end of this week. Huge lots filled with rams for sale... and once you purchase your ram, how do you get him home?

November 19: for sale in your neighborhood...

Small lots are filling quickly with rams to be sold for the Tabaski holiday coming up at the end of this month! This one is just outside our office window.

October 30-November 1: Senior Outreach

Dave and Jacob took off Friday after school for a weekend of work, play, and reaching out to villagers in Senegal with most of the DA Senior Class and sponsors. It was a great experience for them, and Dave took some wonderful pictures. Click to see more of them on flickr or more yet (with captions!) on Dave's facebook album.

October 23: Harvest Fest

The Dakar Deckers were all involved in the 2009 Dakar Academy Harvest Fest Down-Under! Jacob ran a "chicken chasing" booth with one of his friends, which seemed to go over well with the little kids. The bigger kids had fun when the chickens escaped from the pen! I clipped the wings of one rooster, hoping to keep him in the pen, but he managed to jump out anyway. Dave kept busy grilling, relieving kids at their booths so they could get a bite to eat, and selling drinks... while I walked all over the campus helping out and troubleshooting as needed. We had a great time, and we're all tired out now that it's over! We feel privileged to be senior class sponsors, and love working with these students!

October 17: rain!

After three weeks without a drop of rain, we got a downpour last night. Dave and I were almost finished with our nice dinner at a restaurant near our house when the deluge began. We waited about 1/2 hour to see if it would let up, but finally decided we needed to leave. The drive home was a challenge, with flooded roads and a low car. In several places I thought the car would float away! This pic is after the worst parts, but still gives an idea of how much water came down! (It doesn't look as deep as it was in reality but this gives you at least a sense of it!)

October 5: scenes from Liberia

Dave arrived home on Friday afternoon, so glad to be back on his scheduled return-day! This is not something we take for granted when traveling around West Africa!

His trip went well, with many hours of talking and listening to team members. Please continue to pray for their leadership needs! (The acting director is leaving earlier-than-planned because of health concerns.)

He was able to be part of a "men's night out" with the SIM'ers there... they brought sandwiches to the top of the Ducor hotel and got ice-cream afterwards.

He also got to visit with some of our many Liberian friends-- who are the reason we love Liberia so much!

Update September 25

Greetings from Senegal (and Liberia!)

We feel blessed and privileged that our ministry in West Africa involves providing quality leadership and administrative support to missionaries working in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Liberia.

This week, we'd like to ask you to pray for Dave as he spends time in Liberia.

on the way to school...

We've had a lot of rainy days recently, and the roads aren't made with drainage in mind since most of the year is so very dry!

Decker Update September 3

Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

That was one of our Bible verses at breakfast yesterday morning, and it's an encouraging verse as we wait for the Lord through some hot and humid days in Dakar!

August 29: Goree Island

We went out to Goree in the late afternoon with a young lady who has spent two months as a short-term missionary in Kaffrine. It was fun to hear about her experiences in different village and many ministry opportunities she's had during her time here! And, despite the intense heat and the sad history of the island, we all enjoyed some of the beautiful sights at Goree.

Decker Update August 22

Decker Update

Dear friends and family,
Greetings from HOT, HUMID Senegal! We are in the hot months, knowing that in November a breeze will blow away the humidity... but until then, we sweat, drink lots of water, and try to stay cool!

We are so thankful for the many ways God has blessed us over the past months!

August 9: at home in Dakar

a little list for this Sunday afternoon

Things that make me happy to be back in Dakar:
--seeing Dave again (he came straight back to Dakar and missed the Minnesota/Wisconsin part of our trip!)
--finding a "welcome home aunt mary" message on my Dakar cell phone
--my cat
--my own quirky kitchen with all my important stuff life my coffee grinder, my garlic press, "my own" space (it was fun to be a guest but it's really fun to be in my own kitchen again!)
-- the anticipation of seeing special friends at DA and in the community!

Things that make me sad to be back in Dakar:
-- my dish drainer is a lot more rusted out than I remember!
-- i'm not as acclimated to the heat and humidity after a month in central air-conditioning and cool Minnesota/Wisconsin!
--the anticipation of not seeing Danny, Leah and Alexis for a very long time...
-- the anticipation of not seeing Joey again for a very long time...
-- knowing that our family in the States will miss us, and the little kids will keep growing up without us being around!

P.S. One more thing that makes me happy is knowing that I will have pictures to edit and post in the days ahead, hope that makes you who read this blog happy too!

July 15: Miami trip pictures!

We're enjoying our time in Miami, having fun with family and friends. We are keeping busy, and here's a link to some of our pictures on facebook!

July 11: Danny and Leah

We had fun today taking engagement pictures for Danny and Leah... Dave took this one!

July 3: fun!

July 1: looking ahead

I can't guess whether I'll be blogging a lot or very little during the next month! We will be seeing sights that are very different than our everyday sights in Senegal, and seeing special people we don't get to see often enough! We'll definitely be taking pictures, and it remains to be seen how many and how often they will be posted here.

Dave, Jacob and I will travel tomorrow night to Miami, Florida and spend about two weeks with Danny, Leah and Leah's family before the July 18 wedding. Joey will be joining us on July 6, from England and N. Ireland. Did I mention we're excited??

Meanwhile, we need to pack (one of my least favorite jobs!) and get our household and pets in good order to be cared for while we are gone!

June 27: God of this City

Another favorite song... our prayer for our city, nation, people...

June 26: Yours -- Steven Curtis Chapman

I love this song. The first version here is the one with the new verse SCC wrote after his five-year-old daughter died last year. As we walk through dark valleys, it helps to remember who walks with us.



I'm adding the original version as well, since Tracy hasn't heard these before. This was written before his daughter died. I really like both versions!

June 25 financial update

We've been reviewing our recent monthly donor reports from SIM, including the May report that just arrived. We've been watching these pretty carefully in light of the financial crisis. We'd like to ask you to pray for our support level, because we're suddenly seeing a pretty significant drop-off.

Here are some of the current realities that we're looking at:

June 16-18 road trip to Kaffrine

(cow and goat crossing!)


















(salt harvesting)


Here's the facebook link to my photos from this trip.

June 17: in the village

During our visit to Kaffrine, Corey took us out to the village where he's working. We enjoyed meeting some of his friends, and seeing some of the realities of village life.

DeckerUpdate June 15

Dear friends,
Greetings from sunny summer Senegal! We have felt blessed that the weather has been cooler than usual so far for this time of year! We have also had good electricity, and good water (most of the time.) Those "little" things help us to persevere in this desert location!

What's been happening?

June 4: Grad!

A happy and sad night! We are so thankful for the accomplishment of the seniors, but at this ending of the school year, many people will be leaving Senegal and traveling to their home countries. So many that we love-- leave tonight, tomorrow and in the next few days... so our celebration is tinged with sadness!





































One of the fun parts of the graduation/goodbye night has been Jacob's class (now seniors!) taking a class picture-- though some are missing... this group of kids has a lot of fun together and we sure enjoy them! See last year's post-grad picture here!









When we returned to the car at the end of the evening, we found this card for "Aunt Mary", with a beautiful bouquet-- it was an anonymous thank-you note for the time and love I've shared with the students this year... what a surprise and what a treat!

June 2: a few more JSB pictures!

JSB was on our horizon throughout the school year, as the junior class raised funds to host this banquet for the seniors. All our events, such as junior-carnival, valentine-grams and others, were (in addition to being fun events for the community) fund-raisers with JSB as the goal.

So much planning and preparation went into preparing for this event... the juniors learned how to work well together as a class, the sponsors learned how to work together and how to work with the juniors... and we are thankful that it went so well! The seniors felt loved and honored, and we are so glad for that!

Often after the end of such a huge event, there is that feeling of sadness... we worked so hard for so long and now it's over... but we are enjoying the memories and the photos!

(the third photo cracks me up--Jacob and some of the guys in his class cutting loose and enjoying themselves after the party ended! )

May 30: Junior-Senior Banquet

Dave and I had a great time working with the junior class to help them plan the Junior-Senior Banquet (JSB) of 2009! We are thankful that it went very well, that the seniors felt honored, encouraged and loved! We were so impressed with the juniors and all that they did to make this an evening to remember! Here's a link to Mary's facebook photos, and here's the link to Dave's--there may be more photos to come but for the moment, we are tired and our internet is working very slowly!

May 27: Joey's News!

Quick note, Joey just called us from N. Ireland-- and he is accepted into the Naval Officer Candidate School and Aviation training... will finish his last year of college and then enter OCS after graduation... we are thrilled for him and thankful for God's evident leading in his life!!! He is VERY happy and excited!!

More as it unfolds... thanks for your prayers and encouragements!!!

Sunday May 24 (from Joey!)

The Deckers are scattered around the world at the moment.

This is the photo I received from Joey today, the house where he is staying in Northern Ireland. He's interning with a group of students doing a study course in Belfast for the next six weeks or so.

Looking from our desert-ish home in Senegal, we are STUNNED by all that green grass!!

May 9: Mother's Day dinner out

Dave and Jacob took me out for a Mother's Day dinner. We ate brochettes and grilled shrimp at Chez Fatu, and watched amazing waves! I love the way the lighthouse looks when it's getting dark...

May 8: fun Friday

We had fun this afternoon with (little) girls (and their parents) over for tea. We girls enjoyed a lovely table and banished the guys to the living room, where they put up a sign for a "boys only" meeting! Then we got to attend another performance of to the "Seussical" (this spring's musical) at D.A. So great to watch kids who have worked hard for months perform so well!

May 3: baptism service at the beach!

Jacob was baptized today at Bel-Air beach, along with 9 other DA students! It was a very special way to celebrate this sunny Sunday with many friends! We are thankful for our community here.

April 24: Goree Island

Dave took the auditors out to Goree Island today after the audit was finished. They've worked hard for five days, and need to see at least some of the historic sites here. He took some amazing pictures (as usual!) Here's the link to see the rest of them!

April 24: twitter updates UPDATE

So, I'm finding that I like doing updates on twitter. If you are following this blog in a feed-reader, you won't see the updates. But if you're interested, you could subscribe to the twitter updates on your feed-reader too! Here's the link to subscribe to my updates for this blog, DakarDeckers, and here's the link for twitter updates on my "lifesights(plus)" blog as well. (Note that there are different updates for each blog...)

April 23: last Saturday's outing!

Last Saturday, Dave, Jacob and I went with a friend to Cap Manuel, to explore, hike, and take pictures. Those outings get us out of the sandy, dusty concrete reality of everyday life! If you'd like to see more pictures of this fun place, here's the link to my photoset on flick'r!

April 20: Twitter Updates

So, less than a week after telling someone I didn't see the point of Twitter, I'm trying it out. I've set up a space in the sidebar of the blog for these micro-updates. That way, even if I can't take the time to edit and /or post photos, I can at least make notes about the reason why, and/or what else is going on! Twitter limits me to 140 characters. So I won't take a long time over these updates! Some how it feels less intimidating than that whole big empty space of a normal blog post... let us know what you think!

April 2-5 SLC

Four days and three nights, time away from the daily routine! We had our annual Spiritual Life Conference with our SIM-Senegal team, and it was a wonderful time of refreshing!

Worship, singing, sessions in God's Word, discussions of diversity and unity, considering team issues... as well as time in the swimming pool, playing and walking in the forest and on the beach, fellowship over meals... we were thankful and blessed by our time together!

We love being able to spend time with these families, especially the ones living out of Dakar that we don't get to see on a regular basis!

If you'd like to see more pictures, here are the links to my photos on flickr.

SLC (people, animals, pool, dinner....)

and SLC Wildlife-- (I had so much fun taking pictures of monkeys and other animals that I needed to make a separate set of them alone!)

March 26: in the desert

Our family had a very cool overnight in the desert with some friends... amazing sand dunes, camels, sunset views... it was a unique experience for all of us!

If you'd like to see more photos of this amazing adventure, here's the link! (to my photoset on flickr.)

And here are links to Dave's facebook albums.
Dave's desert camp album #1

Daves desert camp album #2

Enjoy!

DeckerUpdate March 25

Greetings from Senegal!

It's been a little over a month since our last update, and we have continued active and busy during that time. We are based in Senegal as part of SIM's Western Africa Area leadership team. Our vision is to see joyful missionaries effectively spreading a passion for God's glory in West Africa, and that we would serve them by providing quality leadership and administrative support. Dave's two-week trip to Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire last month gave him face-to-face time with our missionaries in those two countries, and has increasingly clarified his vision of their needs. Please pray for him as he continues to train and support the people in each of those countries.

Here are some of the photos from his trip:
Dave in Abidjan
Liberia: reunion with friends
ELWA Hospital
ELWA Academy
ELWA Radio

March 21: refreshing beach day

Dave and I spent a few hours relaxing at the beach today. (Jacob was off at another beach with his friends.) We relaxed and were refreshed by the beauty of the waves, rocks, sunshine and cool breeze!

March 13: Jr. Carnival!

One of DA's biggest traditional events is Jr. Carnival. Each year the juniors choose a theme, and work together with sponsors and staff to present a fun evening for the DA community.

This year's theme was"Lord of the Rings" -- and the carnival was complete with lots of booths for kids, an "amazing race" type event called "The Race to Mordor", good food, and the traditional "jail"-- pay a little money to have your friend or sibling arrested and locked up for awhile!

These events are fund-raisers for the class, as well just plain fun for the DA community.

The Deckers were EXHAUSTED at the end of the evening, but thankful to have been part of a great team working together for this event-- many parents, school staff, students, as well as a group of players from the Wheaton College football team on their spring break ministry trip. Fun!