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. We are very encouraged by the support promises that have been received, and yet it is not enough for us to return to Dakar. We contacted the travel agency to change the tickets and found that they were really busy and pressed, trying to get closed up for a Christmas break, and so we've made the decision that we will wait until the 27th to work with them.

The bottom line is this: if God brings the needed support in before the 27th, we could still leave on the 7th of January. We are praying that this will be the case, especially because of our annual field council meetings scheduled for the 14th-16th of January in Dakar. We ask you to pray with us for this!

We still need about $7000 in one-time, up-front costs... and $787 in monthly support promises. The monthly support that has now been pledged is 90% of what we need in order to travel, and we are truly encouraged by this. It feels like we are so close! (If 16 new partners joined us, each giving $50 per month-- it would be covered! Or 8 partners giving $100... or 4 partners giving $200.. or ???) We currently have a wide range of partners, and we consider each one to be a valuable part of our support team. In addition to our church partners, we currently have many individuals that contribute amounts ranging from $10/month to $350/month. We have at least one partner who chooses to give on a quarterly basis-- and any of these options works for us, if we know what is planned.

We are trusting God to work this out in His best timing, and we are planning to enjoy the time with our families and friends here as fully as possible. We wish you the fullness of joy this Christmas, because of the Savior who has come into our world.

With love and joy in HIM,

Mary
for the Dakar Deckers