February 27: Best Buds

Here's Jacob with his 5th grade Best Bud-- enjoying lunch and interesting conversation together! Best Buds happens officially several times per quarter, but the relationships continue throughout the daily lives of the students.

We have loved this about DA, seeeing the older students involved in caring and positive ways in the lives of younger students.

February 26: Twenty seven years!

Twenty seven years has gone by quickly! We have been blessed by God's goodness in our lives-- three wonderful sons, the privilege of serving Him in West Africa... we look ahead with confidence in Him for our future!

February 23: ELWA Radio

Please continue to pray for ELWA Radio as they share the gospel of Jesus Christ over the airwaves in Liberia!

February 23: ELWA Academy

Pray for ELWA Academy as they provide quality Christian education in Liberia.







(personal side-note from Mary: I can't resist posting several of Dave's pictures of the ELWA Academy students!

ELWA Academy was Danny and Joey's first school. SO many memories!

And I love the sight of of Liberian kids in their school uniforms! I miss living in Liberia!!)

February 23: ELWA Hospital

Dave, Burt and Mark with Les Unruh in front of ELWA Hospital.

Please remember to pray for this hospital as they shine the light of Christ while ministering to physical needs in Liberia.

February 22: reunion with friends in Liberia

Dave is enjoying reconnecting with many friends in Liberia. This couple, Steve and Carol Kejr, have been praying, encouraging people and ministering in many different ways to those involved with SIM and ELWA ministries over many years.

Although they've been living in Charlotte, they have been in Liberia for the past several months to help out with an urgent need in the services department.

February 20: Dave in Abidjan

Dave, Mark and Burt's travel to Abidjan went well, and they spent time visiting ministries, auditing and talking with SIM-related colleagues in Cote d'Ivoire.

February 16: W.A.I.S.T.

W.A.I.S.T was a lot of fun, we enjoyed a great weekend! The DA staff team beat the DA varsity to advance to the competetive league championship, but then lost to Senegal's top team.

We got sunburned and windburned, talked to lots of people, ate some hot dogs... a fun ending to a great season!

Jacob's team in the social league lost their first two games and won the last two-- one of which was pretty crazy! Here's a link to some pictures and his note about it!

February 14: W.A.I.S.T. (West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament!)

This weekend is W.A.I.S.T.! Dave is playing and coaching Jacob's team, and two more teams from our school are playing as well. Other teams have come from around the region, and it's an exciting weekend!

Decker Update February 12

Dear friends,

Greetings from the long-lost Deckers in Dakar! We are very thankful for you who pray for us and for our ministries in West Africa-- and I hope to do a much better job of keeping you updated in the days ahead!

Here's a quick look at some of the highlights (mixed with an occasional lowlight!) from the past months... (and for each month there's a link to photos and more notes from our blog!)

February 7: Beth and Glen

I've had the privilege during the past two weeks to facilitate/coordinate Beth and Glen's visit to D.A. She is a psychologist from Canada who specializes in eating disorders, and has given of her time and energy to spend time with our highschool and middle school girls, our teachers, and dorm staff.

Eating disorders are becoming more of a concern among our girls, and we appreciate prayer as we work to help girls choose recovery, with all the hard work and sometimes the fear that comes with recovery.

February 7 : league tournaments

Jacob's team, coached by Dave, won the second-place trophy in the league tournament! It was a long, fun day of watching games...

And for some of our friends who don't believe me when I say it's COLD here-- please look at how these spectator friends of ours are dressed-- this is how we survive on these breezy cold day!

February 6: D.A. Olympic Day

It was so much fun to spend the day watching kids compete in various track and field events. Here are a few of our SIM kids during their events...

Dave took over 250 amazing photos... if you want to see more, let us know and we'll send you the link!

February 3: D.A. Olympics

We walked over to the park today after school to watch and cheer for kids who ran the 3K and 5K runs as part of the D.A. Olympics. This young man broke the record for the 5K... and it was great to see his accomplishment.