Time to Leave

Sitting in a motel room while attending our Kansas District Council is where we find ourselves today. Last week we shipped our household goods to Togo, West Africa and we also moved out of our home. We were told it could be from four to six months for our household goods to arrive in Africa because due to the weak US Dollar most containers and ships are taking American goods to Europe and very few are going to Africa. So we find ourselves somewhat homeless at this time. At least we are between homes at this time. We are sort of living out of our car for a while. After District Council we will be traveling and saying a few farewells to Vickie’s family and my family before we fly out on the 5th of May. It is very strange knowing that your life at this moment is reduced to the suitcase you carry
Our two kids, Ryan and Cristi, have been with us for the last couple of weeks and we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time together. Ryan is leaving tomorrow for five months in Alaska and a tour director and trainer for Holland America. This is our first, and one of the hardest goodbyes we will have. At any age, they are still your children. After goodbyes to other family members we will be leaving Cristi at the airport in Wichita on May 5th. Cristi will begin her itineration process as she has received her ministerial licence and she has also been appointed as a Missionary in Training to Eurasia and she will eventually be living in Istanbul, Turkey. She has a year and a half of traveling and raising her support ahead of her. She will be basing out of Russell, Kansas.
Vickie and I have felt an increasing passion in our hearts for the people in West and Central Africa that God has called us to minister to. We continue to pray for the region of our calling and we find that a love has already developed in our hearts for the people there. We are well aware that they are the ones who have to accept us and we will be entering into their world. We ask God to give us the wisdom to Love as He Loved and to completely give ourselves to His work and His people. We are going there to serve Him and them.
Please pray with us as we face the many challenges ahead of us in the next few weeks and months, such as long flights through Atlanta and Paris, learning French, adapting to a third world environment, facing diseases and health issues, separation from our families, feeling alone in a crowd and other unexpected adjustments. I keep telling myself that even at our age we are still adaptable. I guess we will see.
This entry has seemed to be never-ending as I guess I am a bit reflective at this time. We do really appreciate all the prayers and support from everyone. We will try and put more entries on this blog as we experience life in Lome, Togo. So until later, God bless you all.

“With God all things are possible!”

We have finally received our official release from AGWM to leave for Togo West Africa. PTL! Our monthly budget is not complete, but we are trusting that God will provide the balance needed and meet the needs.

Vickie and I are delighted to be preparing for our soon departure. Of course it will be a bitter/sweet event. We are ready to return to Africa and fulfill the calling that is on our lives. But we are not looking forward to leaving our children, parents and other family and friends behind in the States.

Now comes the monumental task of packing (again), virtually shutting down our life in the States, dealing with cars, a house, shipping, vaccinations (ouch), saying those hard “goodbyes” and much more. Then there is the other side when we arrive in Lome, Togo. Setting up our house, getting to the process of living and existing in a third world country where we do not speak the language (yet), just to mention a few of the challenges. We have to learn the money system and the exchange rate for the West African Franc. I think the exchange is somewhere around XAF445 to one American $1.

Our son Ryan will be leaving soon to work in Alaska for Holland America. He is training tour directors as well as directing tours himself. He has found favor with the company and he really enjoys the interaction with the clients.

Our daughter Cristi is now a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God and she is preparing for her missions appointment to Istanbul, Turkey. She is leaving on February 29th for a ten day trip to Istanbul and Tajikistan. She will begin her itineration in May of this year.

Vickie and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has blessed us with your prayers and giving to make this ministry possible. Our hearts are heavy as we become more and more aware of the incredible needs in Africa for clean and safe water. Something that we take for granted. The needs across Africa for water solutions are overwhelming.

I saw a woman in the Namib Desert struggling up out of a dry river bed carrying a bucket of water in each hand, a bucket of water on her head and a baby strapped to her back. I had not seen water anywhere in the area and at that point I had no idea how far she had come or where she was going. About 2 kilometers down the road I saw an old military type tent out in the desert and near it was a man sitting under a bush with several goats near by. I thought to myself, survival is a very real issue out here. Water makes all the difference between life and death. Oh Lord, a fresh water well would change their lives. The Africa Oasis Project can help these people. Let us have the opportunity and the provision to do it.

Again, thank you to all of you who have expressed your concern and support through prayers, financial offerings and calls and letters of support. We appreciate each and every one of them.

We will try to keep up with this blog a bit more as we go through the next months on our journey back to Africa.

Blessings,

Mark and Vickie

Birthday Greetings,

Actually it is my birthday tomorrow. How old? Let’s put it this way. If I am middle age I will live to be 112 years old..

BUSY
Vickie and I have had an incredibly busy couple of months. Along with ongoing missions services and ministry, the first week of October we found out that the house we have rented for five and one half years was going to be sold. After a day of “what now God?” we began to see His hand at work. There were so many blessings that happened in the next couple of weeks that we were just amazed.

• What do we do with our household “stuff”? A dear friend, a true Christian business man, graciously agreed to purchase a 40 foot container for us to store things in when we move to Africa.
• Where will we live? Our son Ryan suggested that we consider moving to Springfield, MO for the remaining few months to be near him and our daughter Cristi. What a great idea! Ryan was also able to help us find a house and we are totally enjoying getting in some “kid connection” time. Ryan and Cristi are both very busy but they seem to find time to squeeze in some of Mom’s home cooking.
• The Kansas District Women’s Conference came along the first weekend in October and in spite of having a household to move Vickie found time to decorate the stage for the conference.
• Just for fun I threw in an unexpected gallbladder attack on Saturday, October 6th and spent the day in two different hospitals. On the 10th of October I had my gallbladder removed. The Dr. told me not to “lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk”. RIGHT! With us in the middle of a move? I wish. Our container arrived two days after the surgery.
• Trips to New Mexico, Nebraska and Missouri all seemed to blend together as well. I feel like we have “frequent flyer miles” with U-Haul. And of course, ITNERATION GOES ON!

BUDGET
“How is the budget raising coming?” Understandably, this seems to be the most often asked question. After a slow start, the last few months have been very good, thanks to many of you. If we were new candidates we would be on the field by now. The candidate budget is considerably smaller than the veteran missionary budget. The candidate starts from zero and the veteran builds on their already existing budget. BUT, we have the challenge of raising a veterans budget but starting from zero like a candidate. So obviously, we have the biggest challenge of all. Currently we are approaching 75% at this time. Monthly support is our primary need at this point. If you can help us finish this budget off with any amount of monthly support please go to: http://worldmissions.ag.org/agwm_commit_form.cfm
God is good and He supplies. I heard it said once that if “it is God’s will then it is God’s bill.” He is providing and He has perfect timing. Thank you so much for your support and your prayers.

BROCHURES
This is actually about our newsletter but I needed another “B” word to go with “busy” and “budget”.

We are currently mailing our last newsletter for the year. With some help from friends I am gong to attempt to attach our newsletters to this blog. No guarantees. My previous attempts to email newsletters have been a dismal failure, but I will not be deterred from trying again. Please pray.

Seriously, Vickie and I are excited about the calling on our hearts and we are honored to serve with the Africa Oasis team of missionaries. The needs for fresh water and the Living Water of Jesus Christ in Africa are overwhelming. Fortunately we have the opportunity to meet both those needs with your help.

Vickie and I want to take this opportunity to wish you the most blessed Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. May our gift giving make us ever mindful of the wonderful Gift that was given to us on that joyous morning.

Always your missionary servants,

Mark and Vickie Alexander

Welcome, First Time Guests

Greetings to all of you who have just received our latest newsletter and are seeing our blog for the first time. We are still new to this medium but we will try and keep up with it as we can.

We are involved in several missions’ conventions this fall and we continue to crisscross the region holding missions services and sharing out burden for the Africa Oasis Project and the impact it has on the continent of Africa.

This coming Sunday (Sept. 16th) we are holding a service in Greensburg, KS. Vickie and I recently saw a group of people that had on T-shirts that said something like “From Greensburg, Thank you Kansas”. What a great spirit they have after the tragedy they suffered. May God continue to bless that community, the Assembly of God church and their wonderful Pastor, Christa Zampfe as they continue to rebuild.

Peace in the Midst of the Storm

From the Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina to Greensburg, Kansas after the tornado, distruction is evident, but so is resilient spirit of God's people. We had the opportunity to see both places and we were amazed at the devestation. But we also thought "our God is bigger than that." We held services in Crestview, Florida and we are scheduled for a missions service this month in Greensburg, Kansas. We can tell you that God has blessed so many people with their lives and their overcoming spirit. Our God is gracious. Even in the midst of the storms.

Greetings to Everyone,

Vickie was just doing some figuring today and she calculated that she had traveled over 7,000 miles in the last 17 days. All by car. That is life on the "itineration trail."

People have been so gracious as we have been in services across the country. We meet so many "new, old friends". New acquaintances that quickly become old friends.

More and more churches do not have traditional Sunday evening services in this day and age, so what we have been doing instead is making appointments to meet with Pastors and/or Missions Committees to share our heart for the Africa Oasis Project in West and Central Africa. So far these meetings have been very productive and encouraging.

With the recent change in our assignment our financial budget has been increased due to a higher cost of living in Togo. This brings with it many new challenges. The greatest need we have at this time is MONTHLY SUPPORT. There has been a wonderful outpouring of interest and desire to help with the Africa Oasis Project as we have traveled across the country. This is fantastic. But, we cannot minister to the people in need or start any projects UNTIL WE ARE IN AFRICA.

Please take advantage of the link to the top,right that will present you with the opportunity to make a monthly commitment online. This would be a tremendous blessing.

Until next time,

Your Missionary Mates

Mark & Vickie Alexander
AGWM Missionaries
Africa Oasis Project
West & Central Africa

Update

UPDATE

Let us give you a bit of an update as to our situation.

If you received our most recent newsletter you may know that Vickie and I have recently been reassigned, geographically. Instead of Ethiopia we will be living in Lome, Togo, West Africa and working across the West and Central Africa Regions. Our assignment is still working with the Africa Oasis Project, but now in the 23 countries included in these two regions.

We are very excited about this change and we continue to feel the passion in our hearts to reach people in Africa with the Water of Life using fresh water as an evangelism tool.

The change in location and assignment has brought with it many other changes as well. Our monthly support budget has increased by 14% and the cost of living in Togo is 50% higher than Ethiopia. Of course that has a tremendous impact on everything related to our fund-raising and our departure date. Many of our friends ask the obvious question, “When are you leaving?” That is a good question. We have fulfilled our medical requirement and will soon receive clearance, and we have met our project funds cash requirement. Now the only hurdle left for us is the monthly support. Our goal is to raise about $435 this month in monthly commitments. We are currently trusting to leave for Africa around the end of the year. This is subject of course to the budget.

Another change is the fact that we are learning French instead of Amharic. This is a challenge for these “old dogs” but we are doing our best to “learn new tricks.” We just received our language class software for our computer and we are excited about the language ahead of us.

We are still driving about 5,000 miles a month and in May we spent over $700 for gas. We have had mission’s services from Delaware to Arizona and from Wyoming to Florida and many states in-between. What a joy to meet people all across the country that love God and love missions.

May God continue to bless every one of you.

Your Missions Servants

Mark and Vickie Alexander
Africa Oasis Project
West and Central Africa