heron

heron, originally uploaded by MaryD SN-MN.

We are blessed to have a park about a mile from our house, where we can walk under tall trees and enjoy the birds which congregate here. This was one of my favorite pictures from our walk today, and here's a link to the other 13!

February 7: Decker Update

Dear friends,

It hardly seems possible we arrived here in Dakar a week ago! We completed our packing in time to get a few hours of sleep before we left Minnesota on the 29th. Friends from our support team helped us get our things to the airport, and saw us off with love and prayers-- even though it was 5 a.m. and very cold!

February 2: evening sight

evening sight, originally uploaded by MaryD SN-MN.

We are here, in Senegal! Dave and I drove to a spot near the ocean, and I thought it was funny to see these cows grazing right there! We are unpacking and sorting and cleaning... recovering from jet lag, and happy to be back here! We've connected with many friends and colleagues so far. More of an update will be coming soon, but this is just so you will see that we are here!

January 25: Update

Dear friends,
We are so thankful for your prayers and encouragement! Enough support has been committed that we will be able to keep our tickets for January 29! Please pray for us as we pack up the house where we've been living, and prepare to leave for Senegal on Tuesday!

January 16 Update

Dear friends,
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf! We are excited to see all that God is doing. Our support is at 96%... we still need a bit over 300/month... please keep praying with us as we wait for God to bring it all in! Meanwhile we are working on shopping and other preparations for our hoped-for January 29 departure.

Invitation

Saturday night, at Bethlehem Baptist Church, from approximately 7-8:30 (following the 5:30 worship service) our support team is hosting an open house for our family. Please join us if you are able, for light snacks, and a time of fellowship. We'll be sharing a bit about our ministry in West Africa, and would love to have as many of you as possible join us!

Please keep praying as we look to the Lord to complete our preparations to return to Senegal. We are still praying for monthly partners to fill in our monthly support...

In His love,
Mary
for the Dakar Deckers
--

January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

We are excited to see what the Lord will bring into our lives in 2008! We are scheduled to return to Dakar on January 29, and our support is getting closer... We still need monthly support partners to pledge a total of $657 per month-- but all of our "one-time" needs have been met! (Of course, if someone would prefer to help meet the monthly support needs with an annual gift, that works too... the remaining need would be pledges for $27,594 which would be divided over the next 3 1/2 years...)

We are thankful for all of you, and will look forward to the day when we can send updates from DAKAR! Meanwhile, thank you for your continuing prayers!!!

With love, and joy, and HOPE IN GOD---

The Dakar Deckers

Christmas Eve family photo

Christmas Eve, originally uploaded by MaryD SN-MN.

Christmas eve: handsome guys!

handsome guys!, originally uploaded by MaryD SN-MN.

December 28: Decker Update

Dear friends,

This has been a very special Christmas week, with our whole family together! We have so enjoyed seeing extended-family members from both our parents sides of the family at Christmas celebrations, and we've all enjoyed the extra-snowy white Christmas! Today seems a bit sad to me, as we prepare to send Danny back to Miami tomorrow. We love being with him, and will miss him again when he goes.

There is another reason I'm feeling sad today-- we have had to delay our return to Senegal.

December 21 Decker Update

Dear friends--

We are so happy to have all our children home! Joey arrived last Friday morning (after being snowed in in Newark on his way home from Northern Ireland) and Danny arrived Wednesday night! Danny's girlfriend Leah is with him as well, and her 2 1/2 year old daughter Alexis-- so we have a full house which includes a toddler-- and it's wonderful!

Many of you have been asking what's happening with our support and proposed return to Dakar-- the 15th has come and gone.

Monday December 10: update

The numbers have changed again! One time gifts still needed: $7,196. Monthly support still needed: $1,672. Deadline: Saturday...

update

The Decker Dispatch below went into the mail today, and meanwhile we have updated information! God is at work, and in fact the one-time need of $12,700 as reported in the letter is down to $9,100 as of this afternoon!

Decker Dispatch

THE DECKER DISPATCH
December 2007

From Darkness Into Light
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

A colleague of ours in Senegal recently shared about a friend of hers that has heard of Jesus and the Gospel many times, but does not understand. This colleague reports that they have the same conversations repeatedly, yet for this woman the words seem to not even register at all. “It’s as if her ears are literally made deaf,” our colleague reports. We all begin our lives in darkness and, until God intervenes, there we remain. We are so thankful that God has sent his son to bring light into the darkness!

From Minnesota to Senegal
We long to return to Senegal as scheduled on January 7th to continue our work as part of the team sharing the light of Christ in West Africa.