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?
The past couple of months have been full with ministry/life. On May 15, Dave became the "interim" WAFA Director, as Dan Porch stepped down from his WAFA Director role to pack and prepare to leave Senegal with his family after six years of serving as WAFA Director. This is a one year appointment for Dave, and we wait for God's direction as to what's after that time. Please pray for wisdom for Dave in filling this role. Burt Koppendrayer is now the WAFA Treasurer, having taken up that role that Dave has held since 1992.

We have said many goodbyes in the past few weeks. The Porch family has left, with no plans to return to Senegal in the foreseeable future. Mark (WAFA Business Administrator) and Leigh Tanquist have left for a six month home assignment. Please pray for their refreshment in the States, as they visit with family and friends. Pray for their support needs to be met so that they can return in early January-- they are much-needed here! Burt and Trish Koppendrayer left last night on home assignment now as well, for one year. We will miss these families, and ask you to pray for them on home assignment, and for their timely returns-- and for us right now as the only members of the WAFA leadership team left in the country.

Mary was part of the facilitation team for a Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills workshop in May. It was a challenge and a privilege to work with people of 12 different nationalities! She has recently launched a resource blog intended for WAFA missionaries, with articles, links to resources and book reviews.

We enjoyed being class sponsors for the Juniors (Jacob's class) at Dakar Academy this past year. The years' work culminated in the Junior-Senior Banquet on May 30, a time where the juniors honored the seniors. It was a special evening, and we were so thankful for all the hard work on the part of the junior class and the other sponsors! And our juniors are now seniors-- hard to believe! We look forward to working with them during the next school year.

What's next?
Tomorrow Dave and I will travel several hours to visit our missionary families in Kaffrine. We'd appreciate your prayers for safe travel, and that we would learn much from our time with them. Pray that we would be an encouragement to them as well. Jacob will be home in Dakar, along with his friend Ben who is staying with us for a couple of weeks doing some work in this city. Now that they are seniors, we're pretty sure they can manage without us for a couple of days, but prayers are still appreciated! We will post pictures and notes from the trip on our blog.

And after that?
We are looking forward to July 3, when we will travel to the Miami, Florida, to be with our oldest son Danny, preparing for his wedding on July 18. We love his fiancee, Leah, and are so happy that she will soon be our daughter-in-law! We are glad that we will be able to spend some time getting to know her family as we stay with them for the weeks before the wedding.

We are looking forward to having our kids all together in one place! Joey is currently in Northern Ireland doing an internship as part of his college program. He was recently accepted into the Naval Aviation program (will attend Officer Candidate School after he graduates) and is very happy about that. He arrives in Miami on July 6.

Thank you!
Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and financial support. We know that the economic situation is difficult for everyone, and we continue to trust that God will provide our financial needs. Our support has dropped below 100% in recent days. We have lost at least $400/per month in support, and we have needs in our ministry-account as well. One time gifts to support or ministry would be helpful at this time, as well as new (or increased) monthly support. If you would like to know more about the needs, or about how to contribute to these needs, let us know.

With love in Christ, and thankfulness for all of you,

Mary
for the Dakar Deckers