April 9: pelicans in the park

more pictures of the pelicans in Hann Park here.

Decker Update April 5

Dear friends and family,
Easter greetings to you:  The LORD is risen!  We are so thankful that we serve a Savior who is alive and active today!  Serving Him (through serving missionaries by offering quality leadership and administrative support) with SIM in W.Africa has been our privilege since 1989, and we look forward to serving Him with SIM in other locations in the future. 

We have kept busy with ministry and family life.  Last week we participated in the SIM-Senegal Spiritual Life Conference.  Dave and I each facilitated a session, and I was involved with program planning and program evaluation as well.  It was a great joy to gather with SIM'ers from several places in Senegal, and join them in worship, rest, fun and enjoying one another's company over meals and free time. 

We enjoyed a visit from our friend Anika from our home church, who spent her vacation here and helped out with the children’s program at the SLC.  We also managed to visit some interesting places in Dakar while she was here.

Family update
We are thankful for so many answers to prayer.  Danny has started a good job in Miami, and is learning a lot and enjoying the process. Please pray for him as he balances his time between work and his family. 

February 25: sights and sounds of Dakar

A friend of ours found this video on YouTube and I thought you might enjoy seeing a few minutes of Dakar life.

February 13: Happy Birthday to an amazing 22-year-old!

We love you Joey! 

February 12: W.A.I.S.T. preview!

Tomorrow W.A.I.S.T. (the annual West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament) begins.  Dave is playing on a team in the competetive league,  and coaching DA's j.v team which will play in the "social" league.  DA's varsity will contend in the competitive league, and there's another DA community team playing in the social league.  Lots of games to watch, lots of friends and family cheering on their teams!  (And passing out ice and ibuprofen!) 

If two of the DA-related teams make it to the finals which are played on Monday, DA will declare a school holiday to allow staff and students to play in the last game...  and fans to cheer... fan tension is high on Saturday and Sunday hoping the teams will win them a free day on Monday!

Here's one picture from last year, and links to photo-sets from the two years before that if you'd like to get a sense of what the next few days might be like!

W.A.I.S.T. 2008

W.A.I.S.T. 2007

January 26: DeckerUpdate - Liberia report

Dear friends and family,
We are so thankful for your prayers as we work with SIM's Western Africa Area, which includes the countries of Guinea, Senegal, Cote d'Ivore and Liberia.   Our purpose is to serve missionaries by offering quality leadership and administrative support.  Many of you have been involved in our life and ministry since our very earliest days of living in Liberia, and you know how special that country is to us.  Last week Dave returned from a trip to Liberia, and here is his report.  God is clearly at work, and the need for prayer is very great.  Please join us in praying, as this week and this season is very significant for the ministries there.

With thankfulness for your partnership and your prayers,

Mary for the DakarDeckers

Dave's Liberia Report
Last week I returned from a visit to Liberia, where rebuilding following the devastation of an extended civil war continues.  Signs of progress are visible all over, as are obstacles to progress.  This is true on the national level, and also in the church, and at ELWA, where SIM partners with Liberians ministering through radio, health care, and education.

January 23: why missionaries need encouragements!

This came from a letter written by Lisa Hicks, a good friend of mine:  a career missionary woman, in a member care role...as she listened to some of the faith-stretchers experienced by a short-term team who was in West Africa for 10 days. 

"... They had just shared some of their faith stretching experiences on the trip and so I suggested that when praying for missionaries, they remember their experiences ... and then multiply them by years.  Here are some examples.

Missionary Life in West Africa (and anywhere) . . .

January 22: encouragements

Sometimes we are surprised (though we shouldn't be!) by God's amazing timing. Yesterday was a day when the internet wasn't working... well it was working at .4 kb/second... and a few other frustrating things had happened. But then, in the late afternoon we received a fun Christmas package from our Barnabas support team from our home church. We had known the package had been sent and the team had hoped for it to get to us by Christmas, and we just hoped it would show up at all! To have it arrive yesterday was a sweet surprise and a lift to us after a challenging day!

Here's an idea-filled article if you need some fresh ways to encourage YOUR missionaries! (They'll be blessed, I promise!)

January 18: campement pictures

This year, on our three-days vacation (January 2-5) at the Campement Ocean et Savane, I took mostly nature pictures. If you'd like to see the ones I didn't post on the blog, they are here.

January 17: campement sunrise #2 (jan. 5)

More pictures from our refreshing days at the campement are here!

January 16: invasion

My guard-dog informed me that we had intruders in our airspace... when I went to check it out, I found these characters glaring down on us!

January 16: campement sunrise(january 4)

January 7: crabby

I'm not quite ready to edit and post the rest of my pictures but these are such fun!

Happy New Year from the Deckers in Dakar!