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!

first pic from our conference!

Just getting home from a conference, and will blog soon... but had to share this fun picture I took the first day! This was right outside our huts! NOT in a zoo!!

note

So, why did yesterday's devotional reading seem so helpful to me?

• It helps me so much to be reminded on a regular basis that GOD is God and I am not.
  
• HE is the giver of all good things.
• I am ungrateful if I thank Him for good things, but fail to trust Him in difficult providences.
  
• I need to know every day that He gives and takes away, and that He grieves with me when I grieve.
  
• He knows we will have troubles in the world, AND He truly has overcome the world! I know this, but I'm quick to forget.
• A daily reading like that helps me to focus on what the Bible tells us is TRUE.
• And I am content and joyful when my focus is on the truth!

daily light

The words from this daily devotion really fit my need today. I love it when that happens!

a needed reminder

Jeremiah 32: 17 Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

This is a reminder I really need, as I am looking into travel arrangements and possibilities for visiting members of our team in another country. It's not far geographically, but flying there seems next to impossible! But with God, nothing is impossible, so I need to believe that if He wants me to go, He will make it possible.

Jesus said, “... All things are possible for one who believes.” [and my response] “I believe; help my unbelief!” (from Mark 9:23-24)

thoughts on choosing a focus.

For every picture, the photographer has a choice about where to focus the camera. The same scene looks very different when one focuses on the background instead of the foreground. Something stark and bleak can look beautiful in a well-composed photo, when a skilled photographer has captured the scene. And I'm reminded that it's true for how we perceive and interpret situations in our lives as well.

Depending on where we choose to focus, the same event can be viewed as a tragedy, or as God's providence.

I've felt so sad this week at the death of Ben, an M.K. in Kenya, but so appreciated that in the midst of their grief, his family has kept their focus on God's trustworthiness.

They've helped the many people worldwide who followed Ben's sudden illness and prayed for him to trust that Ben is in the hands of the all-powerful God who loves him-- and grieves with them as well.

Here's an article, Why God Doesn't Fully Explain Pain from our home church pastor which has really helped me this week.

And for a "change of focus", here's a link to pictures from our recent days at the beach. I enjoyed experimenting with the camera... and the reminder of how focus changes the picture was a timely one for me.

DeckerUpdate July 15

Dear family and friends,
Time has been going so quickly these days, more than a month has passed since the last update on our family. It doesn't seem that long! We have had a good summer so far. We spent five days at a little beach house, with Jacob and two of his friends to keep him company. It was a restful, peaceful, relaxing time. Just what we needed!

Since then: Dave's been working in the office daily, on all the background details that are so critical to supporting our ministry teams in Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal.

Update: Ben Home With The Lord (Please keep praying for this family!)

Dear friends, thank you for praying. We just received this update.


(this was written by Ben's grandfather)

Ben Home with the Lord

Dear Family and Friends,

We just had a call from Dan[Ben's father] in South Africa. He reported that Ben did really well for the first 3 1/2 hours of the flight. Then, his heart developed problems. The team on the plane did everything possible to revive Ben, but the pulse stopped and nothing could be done. The plane had been on the ground about 20 minutes when Dan called. He was still at the plane and trying to determine what to do. He really has no one in South Africa to turn to for help. He needs immediate prayer for wisdom and he desperately needs God's presence and strength. Judy[Ben's grandmother] found this wonderful verse in Psalm 54:4. "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one that sustains me." We are praying this for Dan and Lynda and for the dear children. We are also claiming it for our entire family.

At times like this it is so wonderful to have Jesus, whose eye is on the sparrow. We know He is grieving with us. He has not failed. Once again life has triumphed over death. We have total confidence that Ben is 100% well and we will see him again. God is good all the time and even Ben’s passing comes through His loving hand.

If any reading this message do not know the Lord or has wandered from Him, we plead with you to come to Him. At such times in life, there is nothing like knowing that one’s sins are forgiven and that Jesus is able to present us faultless before the Throne of Grace. That is what He has done for Ben. He has done it because He loves Ben, not because Ben deserved it. Oh what comfort we have despite the tears.


Our family wants to thank all of you who have prayed us through this time of pain. Your messages have brought solace and encouragement. We have felt the love of literally thousands and have thanked God over and over again that we are part of the family of God.


To God be the glory!


(If you would like more details about this situation, or would like updates, here is their website .)

urgent prayer request: Ben in Kenya

Dear friends,
please be praying for a young man (age 20) named Ben. He is a missionary kid who graduated in 2006 from Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. Our friends were his dorm parents, and have written asking for prayer. His parents/mission are trying to med-evac him to South Africa-- he needs heart surgery and they don't think he could make it to the States... please pray.

Ben had open heart surgery because of a strep infection that went bad in the fall of 2005. He's done amazingly well since that time, an athlete playing soccer for a college in the states. He came out for his brother's graduation and to see his family and alumni friends about two weeks ago. But he got an infection in his heart and because of that, he has had a stroke.

The infection seems to be spreading, and his condition is increasingly unstable.
>From Ben's grandfather: "Despite the condition of Ben and the stress on the family, we continue to trust God. We know that God's eye is still on the sparrow and Ben is immensely more valuable to Him. Jesus is totally trustworthy and whatever the outcome, He will be there with grace and comfort. We continue to believe that in HIs perfect will Ben can be healed, but we also want what will bring Him glory and honor. We find that at such a time as this, there is tremendous comfort in knowing Ben is in the hands of His loving and all-powerful God."