Decker Dispatch - September 2010

THE DECKER DISPATCH
September 2010

Transitions
Does it seem to you like the word “transition” shows up in our letters pretty frequently? A search of our prayer letters over the years would certainly bear that out, and this one is no exception.  One transition is to an empty nest. Jacob, our youngest, has just gone off to college, and all three of our boys are in the U.S. You’ll see a quick update on each of them down below.

Beyond that, we have also accepted a new assignment with SIM. In January 2011 we will take up residence in Charlotte, NC, and we will also take up new positions at the SIM USA office. At this point we are committed to two years in Charlotte.


This transition into a longer-term stay in the U.S. of course indicates a transition OUT of West Africa, which is no small thing after twenty-one years. We have sold our belongings and given up our rented house, along with all our responsibilities, and we’ve said goodbye to many cherished friends and colleagues. While our feelings about that are definitely mixed, we’ve seen the Lord’s hand in all of it, and we feel quite certain that this is the right move for us at this time.

New Assignment: SIM USA in Charlotte, NC
Dave will be the new Deputy Director of Finance at SIM USA, joining a Finance Department staff of about twenty. The total office staff numbers well over 100 people, all of them working together to build the church of Christ around the world by recruiting and training missionaries, networking and partnering with U.S. churches, and supporting and caring for over 700 American SIM missionaries serving around the world.

Deputy Director of Finance is a brand-new position at SIM USA. Dave will be challenged with a wide range of responsibilities, from day-to-day accounting to assisting missionaries with their finances to helping SIM USA address financial issues that we see arising in this rapidly changing world of missions.

Closing Thoughts on West Africa
(photos from 21 years of West Africa life)

Although we are by no means finished with missions, and perhaps not even with overseas service, this new assignment is a transition worthy of marking with a few thoughts concerning God’s faithfulness during twenty-one years in West Africa.

We could not have imagined, back in 1989, what was in store for us as we said goodbye to loved ones here, and then landed in the very foreign country of Liberia. Now after seven years there, followed by seven more in Ivory Coast and finishing up with seven in Senegal, we again feel as if we’ve left home and arrived in this somewhat foreign place called Minnesota. We love it here, but the people of West Africa will always hold a very special place in our hearts.

How has the church grown over the last twenty-one years in West Africa? How has missions changed?  A new era has dawned, and in fact we’re well into it. We see that illustrated in each of the first two countries in which we lived.

SIM’s media and medical ministries in Liberia (see www.elwamausa.org) are now under Liberian management, a very significant thing considering that well over 200 local employees are under their leadership and supervision. SIM partners with the ELWA Management Association and is still very involved, lending support in a variety of ways, but day-to-day management is entirely in the hands of local Christians.

Ivory Coast is now the site of an SIM sending office (www.simwestafrica.org), directed by a local African who is a full member of SIM, just as we are. This office exists to partner with the church in West Africa as they send their own into cross-cultural missions, also as full members of SIM. It’s a new era indeed, and this office illustrates the shift of the missions sending base from the West toward regions that only recently were strictly receiving missionaries.

In Guinea and Senegal we see the continuing strategic significance (and necessity) of foreign
missionaries. The church is young and small, and missionaries still focus on evangelism and discipleship. We’re so thankful for missionaries who endure a rather harsh existence in order to live out the love of Christ before those who don’t yet know him, and we long for the day when SIM’s role will shift toward partnership with a thriving church in both of these countries.


Support Situation
Some good news regarding our new assignment in Charlotte is that our monthly financial support requirement will be reduced by roughly 20%. That’s due in part to no longer needing to pay school fees for our kids, but it’s also a reflection of the high cost of living in Dakar.
These last two years have been difficult for our financial partners. Consequently our support account, which began our last term with a buffer of several thousand dollars, fell to zero by the end of last year, and is now almost three thousand dollars in deficit. We will need to make that up.

The good news is that current giving already nearly matches our new, lower support requirement. In the comings months we will gain a better grasp of our situation, but at the moment it appears we will need to add somewhere between about three hundred and seven hundred dollars per month in order to be fully supported.

There will also be some one-time needs in addition to monthly support: the move to Charlotte, setting up a household (hoping to become first-time home owners!), buying a second vehicle, helping with Jacob’s college tuition, and covering some medical costs, to name a few. SIM has recommended that we seek donations for each of these needs. Please pray for the Lord’s provision. Tax-deductible gifts to our Ministry Account may be used by us toward any of the above.

Family Update
All three boys are now off on their own unique adventures. Jacob just turned 19 and has begun his freshman year at Wheaton College, in the suburbs of Chicago. We can’t imagine a better fit for him.

Joey has just begun an altogether different adventure, going off to Newport, Rhode Island to begin twelve weeks of Naval Officer Candidate School. This begins the fulfillment of a long-standing dream, and he’s been accepted into their aviation program following the successful completion of OCS in November.

Danny and Leah have just celebrated their first wedding anniversary, and along with daughter Alexis are doing very well down in Miami.

Please pray for each of them during these exciting times.

Thanks so much for your love and concern for us. We value your friendship very much!

Yours in Christ,
Dave for the Deckers