Refresh!

It's the theme for this school-year at D.A. I love the song written by "Uncle Evan" and the video created by him and others to illustrate! (Look for Jacob in the last few minutes too!) (I think between 4:10-4:20 (?)

A Decker Not In Dakar

Joey spent the summer in Washington state. His last weekend there included a hike up an amazingly beautiful mountain with his roommate. He called me from up there, and told me to guess where he was calling from? I said (as always) "emergency room?" His roommate took this picture of Joey talking to his parents in Senegal from on top of the mountain in Washington state.

I received these photos yesterday, and was going to post them soon. But then today got another call from Joey-- who actually was in the emergency room this time. Turns out that he broke his collar bone during his rugby game today!

Pray for him to heal well, and sleep well in the meantime. They don't set collar bones, nor do they give pain meds for this type of injury! He's a junior at John Brown University and has been enjoying being back there.


P.S. Can you find Joey in the middle picture?

September 4: soccer field

Over the years, we've wished for a grass soccer field at Dakar Academy. Lately we've had a grassy green field-- and in the past few days it's turned into a lake!

Remember, Dakar is usually fairly desert-ish, dusty and dry... but this rainy season has given us more rain than we are used to.

Stories of Hope from Liberia

Posts on the DakarDeckers blog have been woefully scarce in recent days. Between the trip to Liberia, the start of the new school year, and the problems related to rain and electricity, I've been either too tired or too grumpy to thing of anything to share here!

I'm very thankful today to be able to point you to Stories of Hope From Liberia, new articles published on SIM's website, written about people who have been special to us over the past years. These are people I respect and love, and I'm excited for you to read their stories!
Joe (Captured By Rebels)
Moses (ReBuilding ELWA Radio)
Sis Pate (We Have Seen The Grace of God)
(Sis Pate is Ma Kortee's daughter, and one of the women I was so happy to see when I was in Liberia. She's in the third picture in this post.)

another Saturday in Dakar

• We've had many rainy days recently. Dave took these pictures from his office windows during one of them. Dakar is dry most of the year, so the streets are not really constructed with drainage in mind-- which causes significant problems during heavy downpours.
• The school year at Dakar Academy has started well, and it's been an honor to spend time with several students who are seeking encouragement, support or problem-solving-help over the past days.
• Our electricity has continued to be off about eight hours each day, and my computer is not yet working reliably... yikes! Praying that we will allow the Lord to be light in our lives even in the darkness... that His light will shine in us and through us to those to whom He has brought us!
  

Saturday

I returned home from Liberia late Monday night after a long trip, having been re-routed via Casablanca. I'm very tired, very thankful for the airline taking good care of me, thankful to be home!

Wednesday was the first day of school at Dakar Academy, and for this semester I'm resuming my role as part-time counselor. It was great to see kids and staff returning, great to meet new students and staff as well. Wednesday evening was the Open House time, and as Jacob's parents we got to meet his teachers and follow his daily schedule (in 10 minute increments.)

My laptop is not yet working, but we're hoping that it will be able to be repaired this weekend, please pray for that!

This weekend we are spending time with friends, watching a bit of the Olympics, hoping to get to the beach, hoping to get more photos from Liberia up!

casablanca

this is just a quick hello... my computer stopped working last thursday so i have not been able to blog. i am in an airport cyber cafe in casablanca at the moment, and will write more about the trip when i get home to a working computer with an english keyboard! travel in west africa... not always what you would expect!

Liberia: my friend Mary

Mary, an elementary school teacher, has been one of my best friends since 1995. She was married to one of our Liberian "sons" in 1999, and was widowed when he was struck by a car in 2004. She has been a testimony of God's faithfulness as she raises her children on her own, and looks to the Lord for provision of her needs. It was a great joy for me to spend a bit of time with her, and bittersweet to be able to visit TC's grave along with two more of our Liberian sons, Reuben and Doco.

Liberia: new growth, new beauty

My trip was short but each day I marveled at the beauty of the ocean near the ELWA beach.

During the war in 1990, all the coconut trees had been cut down... but many have been replanted and are now growing up into beauty.

May God continue to do His pruning, re-planting, and growing work in Liberia, and in all of our lives!

Liberia: Ma Kortee's girls

Ma Kortee invited me and a few friends to her house for lunch! She treated us royally with check rice, boiled plantain and gravy. We enjoyed her company and enjoyed being pampered by her too!

It was so special for me to see Elizabeth, Sis Pate, and Linda after many years-- all daughters and nieces of the Ol'Ma who has been special in all of our lives!



(I'm having trouble formatting this post with captions. )

(photo 1-- Christina, Naomi, Sheila)

(photo 2 Elizabeth, Mary, Ma Kortee)

(photo 3 Sis Pate and Linda)

liberia day 2

Ma Kortee, my Liberian "Ol'Ma"






















Valarie and Blessing






(too tired at the end of this day to write anything but will continue to try post pics-- hopefully will add text, as well as higher resolution pictures when I'm back to "normal" life.

liberia day 1: airport fun

a
These sweet girls, Alison and Kiara, were going out on the flight I came in on... but Doco worked out a way for us to see one another. What a fun moment!! I'm going to sleep.. for the first time in 4 1/2 years... in Liberia! More tomorrow if all goes well! (im going to try to upload the pics in low quality from here and will replace them when i get back to a faster connection.)

August 4: Abidjan

August 2

This week has been a bit too busy. I wanted to post pictures and a few notes from our conference. I'm still hoping to do that but meanwhile I've been finishing work for a class and preparing for a visit to our colleagues in Liberia! I'm scheduled to travel tomorrow to Cote d'Ivoire and then on Monday will fly to Liberia for the first time since February 2004! Please pray for me as I go, and Dave and Jacob as they bach-it in Dakar for 8 days!