November 26: Thanksgiving in Dakar

We are thankful for so many blessings! This year our team Thanksgiving group was much smaller than the previous years, because we are missing several families who have left or are on home assignment! But we enjoyed a lovely meal, complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and our overseas traditional chocolate cream!

Holiday Traditions in Dakar: Turkey Bowl

One of our fun holiday traditions here is Turkey Bowl. The day before American Thanksgiving, school ends at noon, and the afternoon is spent in an American Flag Football tournament. The junior class serves great food, and people hang out to eat and watch football. This year Jacob didn't play, but enjoyed eating and watching games with his friends, while Dave refereed some of the kids games as well as playing in the mens game. I think this picture was after his touchdown!

November 22: holiday preparations

On the way home from a retreat weekend, we watched preparations for the holiday Tabaski which is at the end of this week. Huge lots filled with rams for sale... and once you purchase your ram, how do you get him home?

November 19: for sale in your neighborhood...

Small lots are filling quickly with rams to be sold for the Tabaski holiday coming up at the end of this month! This one is just outside our office window.

October 30-November 1: Senior Outreach

Dave and Jacob took off Friday after school for a weekend of work, play, and reaching out to villagers in Senegal with most of the DA Senior Class and sponsors. It was a great experience for them, and Dave took some wonderful pictures. Click to see more of them on flickr or more yet (with captions!) on Dave's facebook album.

October 23: Harvest Fest

The Dakar Deckers were all involved in the 2009 Dakar Academy Harvest Fest Down-Under! Jacob ran a "chicken chasing" booth with one of his friends, which seemed to go over well with the little kids. The bigger kids had fun when the chickens escaped from the pen! I clipped the wings of one rooster, hoping to keep him in the pen, but he managed to jump out anyway. Dave kept busy grilling, relieving kids at their booths so they could get a bite to eat, and selling drinks... while I walked all over the campus helping out and troubleshooting as needed. We had a great time, and we're all tired out now that it's over! We feel privileged to be senior class sponsors, and love working with these students!

October 17: rain!

After three weeks without a drop of rain, we got a downpour last night. Dave and I were almost finished with our nice dinner at a restaurant near our house when the deluge began. We waited about 1/2 hour to see if it would let up, but finally decided we needed to leave. The drive home was a challenge, with flooded roads and a low car. In several places I thought the car would float away! This pic is after the worst parts, but still gives an idea of how much water came down! (It doesn't look as deep as it was in reality but this gives you at least a sense of it!)

October 5: scenes from Liberia

Dave arrived home on Friday afternoon, so glad to be back on his scheduled return-day! This is not something we take for granted when traveling around West Africa!

His trip went well, with many hours of talking and listening to team members. Please continue to pray for their leadership needs! (The acting director is leaving earlier-than-planned because of health concerns.)

He was able to be part of a "men's night out" with the SIM'ers there... they brought sandwiches to the top of the Ducor hotel and got ice-cream afterwards.

He also got to visit with some of our many Liberian friends-- who are the reason we love Liberia so much!

Update September 25

Greetings from Senegal (and Liberia!)

We feel blessed and privileged that our ministry in West Africa involves providing quality leadership and administrative support to missionaries working in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Liberia.

This week, we'd like to ask you to pray for Dave as he spends time in Liberia.

on the way to school...

We've had a lot of rainy days recently, and the roads aren't made with drainage in mind since most of the year is so very dry!

Decker Update September 3

Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

That was one of our Bible verses at breakfast yesterday morning, and it's an encouraging verse as we wait for the Lord through some hot and humid days in Dakar!

August 29: Goree Island

We went out to Goree in the late afternoon with a young lady who has spent two months as a short-term missionary in Kaffrine. It was fun to hear about her experiences in different village and many ministry opportunities she's had during her time here! And, despite the intense heat and the sad history of the island, we all enjoyed some of the beautiful sights at Goree.

Decker Update August 22

Decker Update

Dear friends and family,
Greetings from HOT, HUMID Senegal! We are in the hot months, knowing that in November a breeze will blow away the humidity... but until then, we sweat, drink lots of water, and try to stay cool!

We are so thankful for the many ways God has blessed us over the past months!

August 9: at home in Dakar

a little list for this Sunday afternoon

Things that make me happy to be back in Dakar:
--seeing Dave again (he came straight back to Dakar and missed the Minnesota/Wisconsin part of our trip!)
--finding a "welcome home aunt mary" message on my Dakar cell phone
--my cat
--my own quirky kitchen with all my important stuff life my coffee grinder, my garlic press, "my own" space (it was fun to be a guest but it's really fun to be in my own kitchen again!)
-- the anticipation of seeing special friends at DA and in the community!

Things that make me sad to be back in Dakar:
-- my dish drainer is a lot more rusted out than I remember!
-- i'm not as acclimated to the heat and humidity after a month in central air-conditioning and cool Minnesota/Wisconsin!
--the anticipation of not seeing Danny, Leah and Alexis for a very long time...
-- the anticipation of not seeing Joey again for a very long time...
-- knowing that our family in the States will miss us, and the little kids will keep growing up without us being around!

P.S. One more thing that makes me happy is knowing that I will have pictures to edit and post in the days ahead, hope that makes you who read this blog happy too!