Tuesday September 23: Rejoice in Sufferings

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” (Romans 5:3-4)

That was today's "verse for the day" and it made me chuckle a bit. In the grand scheme of things, our sufferings are pretty small.

Nevertheless we are finding it fairly stressful to be in the midst of the hottest and most humid time of year in Dakar, with only sporadically working electricity! It's discouraging when the things in our refrigerator don't stay cold... and it's difficult to sleep without the benefit of air conditioner or strong fans. (and in answer to Kristen's question from the mosque picture-- we do wake up when we hear the call to prayer-- perhaps the only benefit of not having electricity is that the mosque IS a bit quieter!)

It feels like suffering sometimes to be far away from family-- from my Mom, and Dave's Dad, from our university-aged sons Danny and Joey, from our sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews. We are sad when we can't be on hand to celebrate the arrival of new babies, and birthdays, or to offer assistance with some of life's difficulties. We miss them.

May the Lord use these small sufferings to produce endurance, character and hope in us today! May He give us the grace we need to REJOICE in these sufferings.

September 19: surprise visit!

Dave was blessed with a great surprise on his way back to Dakar from his conference in North Carolina. His time in the Atlanta airport "just happened" to be at the same time as Danny, Leah, Alexis and most of Leah's family were travelling to a wedding in Ohio! Dave only had a few minutes with them, but those few minutes were sure special! God is very good to give us these surprise gifts!!!

Welcome Levia Rose!

We are rejoicing today in the news received of the birth of Levia Rose, to our dear friends and support team members Karlyn and Haddon. Many blessings to this dear family. We wish we could be with you!

Joey update

He got a better brace, and pain meds today! (In case you missed the original post about Joey's injury, here it is.)

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)