The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia
God called me to the smallest nation in Africa for three reasons!
TLDR: I have arrived in western Africa after God called me to The Gambia for three reasons and confirmed His call by having someone else purchase me a one-way ticket…
After twenty-six hours of transit—just as the evening sun set over the Banjul International Airport—I arrived in The Gambia on a one-way ticket.
One year ago in November of 2022, I woke up early one morning and heard the Lord’s voice announcing “The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia”. I wrote down what I heard, and drifted back to sleep.
I must be honest: at the time, I had no idea The Gambia was a country.
In my travels, I find that it’s easy to learn the local geography when you’re in the area. I can tell you precise locations of countries in Europe, Latin America or Asia because I’ve wandered extensively through these corners of the earth. I’ve yet to explore Africa beyond the norther tip of Morocco (when I was robbed by hash farmers in 2005 while studying abroad in Spain), so, I have much to learn about the local geography of the land I will call home for the next few months.
Two weeks after I first heard the call, I heard it again.
“The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia.”
After I heard the three names a second time, I began to investigate.
Turns out, The Gambia is the smallest country in all of Africa. Am I being called there? Am I being asked to pray for this tiny country? Am I just making it all up? I didn’t receive immediate answers to my queries, so I left the words with the Lord and asked Him to confirm for me.
As time went on I learned a few more interesting facts. While The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa, it is also the country in Africa with the densest Muslim population. Estimates show that 95-98% of the country is under the influence of Islam!
Also interesting is the fact that much of the African slave trade originated from the mouth of The Gambia river. A year ago, I didn’t even know such a river existed. Now, I cannot help but see a deep spiritual connection: once a country where freemen were stolen and shipped around the world to become foreign slaves, now The Gambia has become a nation enslaved locally by an oppressive religious regime.
Lord, we pray for FREEDOM for this nation in Yeshua’s mighty name!
I believe that part of my assignment in this land will be that of repentance. I am uniquely qualified for this task as I come from a family in Texas that owned slaves. A small gravestone on the edge of the Alexander cemetery leaves physical evidence that at least one of my male relatives was sexually involved with an enslaved woman.
An indescript stone with two simple words announces a legacy of hurt: “Slave Baby”.
Unlike many of the horror stories that we hear of slave owners in the South, the reports I’ve uncovered about the Alexander family leave them in relatively good standing. There are still stories passed down among the elderly black population in my hometown that speak to how much my white family cared for the local people. That’s not to make an excuse for the misdeeds of my ancestors. Rather, it’s to give credit where credit is due.
When other families in our small-Texas town still refused to interact with their dark-skinned brothers and sisters, my family was hosting weekly town-ball tournaments on Sunday afternoons where everyone was invited. Maybe that’s because my family’s land was on the outskirts of town, just over the tracks from the part of Burnet still known today as “the dark side”. Perhaps our proximity created opportunity for inclusiveness.
Nevertheless, I am benefitting from those generational blessings passed down, as I am now the funny colored stranger in a foreign land.
Why am I in this foreign land? Why did I come? Why did I say “yes” to The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia? And… why do I always hear it in threes? That answer arrived about six months ago after a lovely night’s rest. I woke up in the cool of the morning and walked with God before I opened my eyes.
That may sound absurd to some of you, but this time of day is most precious to me: the moments just after waking when my mind is alert and listening, yet my eyelids have not yet separated from their slumber. I listen to the ambient noise around me, soak it in and with eyes closed approach the King.
He is always there in my time of need. He is always eager to be with me and treat my weakness tenderly. He is always as close as the whisper of His name. It is in these moments of stillness that I talk with Him, asking questions about what He has for me this day. I ask silly questions, the kind a boy asks his loving Father. Some days I share what’s on my mind; some days I just listen, and some days I simply sit in awe.
This particular day, I stayed in this state of conscious awakeness with the King for several hours asking questions and being refreshed. One of the questions I had was with regard to The Gambia… Why do I always hear it in threes: The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia?
The response came quickly and backed with a wall of peace:
“You won’t know until you go. I’m calling you to The Gambia for three specific reasons. You’ll know all three of them when they happen. The third one will tell you where to go next.”
Helpful, and thought-provoking. Later that day I called my dear friend Julia Quick, who has since passed on to be in permanent-status with the King. She laughed and told me God was not giving me the details, but asking me to go in faith.
And, while I did not have the details, I finally had some answers:
1) Go. I am called to go to The Gambia. I held the words for six months before I had confirmation about why I was hearing them!
2) Don’t try to figure it out. Before I go somewhere new, I often spend time investigating possibilities, not so much creating a plan, but exploring different scenarios. What was clear about this mission is that anything I do to prepare will be pointless. He has the plan already in place.
3) There will be three reasons. This is the purpose of hearing it in threes. The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia. Each one of these was a unique call with a specific purpose! And I will know each of them when they happen.
4) There is a next location. The Gambia is not the end of the mission, it is the beginning, a launching point for the next grand adventure. Where? TBD!
While I now had some answers, I was still missing the timing piece. I’m supposed to go. Great! But when? When shall I depart?
I gave the words back to the Lord and told Him to confirm with me.
Shortly after this, the leader of our camp from Burning Man—Chief Eagle Feather—called me. He was asking if I planned on joining our theme camp again this year. I love this ministry. It’s important in the Spirit realm and I truly believe that if Jesus were walking the earth today, He’d have an epic art car cruising through Black Rock City with throngs of desperate truth-seekers following Him.
While He’s not walking these dusty streets, He’s called us to be His hand and feet, so it’s an honor once a year to explore the creative outlet that Burning Man provides. While I love this community, I refuse to go if God is not calling me there specifically. So, sadly, I told Chief Eagle Feather that I would not attend this year as God was calling me to The Gambia instead.
So I waited for God’s confimation. Nothing! No indication from the Most High as to when I was to depart for Africa.
And then, three weeks before Burning Man, God gave me two dreams back-to-back. I rang the chief and shared my dreams. He said the intercessory team had been praying about who was to fill in our last camp spot. There was one ticket left!
So… I made one phone call and asked God to provide the provision to attend. A simple response was needed from a ministry supporter: Go? or No?
Go! The answer came via phone after days awaiting an answer to a lingering email.
If you want to know more about that epic trip to Burning Man (when the floods came), I shared about this years exploits at an event in Austin which you can watch here. But, this entry isn’t about Burning Man, this is about how I came to end up fasting and praying in The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia.
When we returned from Burning Man, there was a certain grace on The Gambia that had not been there before. I began praying daily about a departure date. God is faithful.
One morning I woke up and I heard God say, “Book your ticket. Arrive in The Gambia before November 11.”
That’s quite specific, so I got online and began to search for a ticket. Again, I knew nothing about The Gambia at the time, but I had learned enough to know there was an international airport (airport code BJL for anyone that would like to be a part of what the Lord is doing on the West Coast of Africa). I found a ticket for a reasonable price and began to check out. I would leave November 9 and arrive the evening of November 10, just before November 11.
When I got to the page to enter in payment details for my flight I heard God again: “Don’t book your ticket.”
Now I’m confused. First I heard “book your ticket” and then “don’t book your ticket”! I know who the author of confusion is, so I stepped away from my computer and gave these words back to God.
My prayers were now much more pointed: “Lord, you are the one calling me to The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia. If you really want me to go, I need confirmation for two things: 1) that I am supposed to go and 2) that I am supposed to go at this time.”
With that, I gave it back to the Lord and went on about my day.
A few hours later a text arrived… My phone buzzed with the greeting of a faithful intercessor who gets incredible visions from the Lord. If this text had come from anyone else, I might have doubted it was an answer from the Lord, but I’ve seen Emma repeatedly get incredibly precise, accurate information about people she’s never met when working with her at the deliverance table at Luke 4:18. She loves the Lord, is fully surrendered and walks the walk.
The text she sent me said this: “I was praying today and God told me to buy you a ticket to Africa. Are you going to Africa?”
Yes. Yes I am. I even know the date.
So… all that to say, God called me to The Gambia, The Gambia, The Gambia.
He called and I answered, because I know He is faithful. When we are walking in His ways, He provides everything we need, even a one-way, first-class ticket to the other side of the world.
It’s an honor to have you with me on this JOURNEY.
I pray that the testimonies from my adventures will bless you and encourage you in your own faith walk. The single biggest thing you can do to support me is to subscribe to the AL3XAND3R update and share it with your friends.
If you have any comments, I’d love to hear from you!