DAKOTA CONFERENCE
Phyllis Alexander: Ministering to Those in Need
P
hyllis Alexander of Rapid City, South Dakota, says she asks the Lord to open doors for her, but to not let her walk through them before she says a word for Him. However, things were not always this way. In 1932, Alexander was born to an Adventist family in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, weighing 3 pounds, 2 ounces. She was barely breathing and turning blue as her father prayed, “Thank you for giving us this child for the short time we have her.” But that short time turned into years, as Alexander took a deep breath of life. As she grew up, Alexander’s parents provided her with an
Courtesy Phyllis Alexander
Adventist education when it was available. She attended Bethel Academy’s final year before its closure, then went to Wisconsin Academy’s first year of operation, where she graduated in 1950. “I wanted to be a doctor after I graduated,” she says, “but I knew it would be too expensive, so I decided to become a nurse.” Even becoming a nurse was difficult, so she began by working for a doctor and took LPN classes by correspondence. She trained for her bachelor’s degree at Hinsdale, but had some unpleasant experiences. “I was very hurt,” says Alexander of her experience at Hinsdale.
While working the evening shift, she saw actor Jack Paar on the black and white television saying, “If you want to be loved, wanted and needed, join the Air Force.” So Alexander did just that. “I went to Chicago on the Burlington Railroad and joined the Air Force. I loved everything about it,” she says. However, her lifestyle changed, and she gave up on the Adventist Church. During this time, Alexander met her husband and married in March of 1959. I want to know more about that Thirty-seven years later, Alexander rediscovered her
relationship with the Lord. “My husband came down with leukemia in 1991,” she explains. He had retired after 26 years in the Air Force, and they were stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base outside of Rapid City, South Dakota. He was in and out of treatments and remission, but he eventually said to her, “We have to find a church so we can find a pastor to do my funeral service.” They visited several Sunday churches, but each time he would say, “There is something about that I don’t like.” Alexander said she was directed by the Lord to say, “How about I call the Adventist pastor?” As soon as she said it, she was upset with herself for saying it. She wanted nothing to do with the Adventist Church. They ended up contacting the Adventist pastor, and he came and left a Bible. Her husband’s reaction was, “I want to know more about that.” Pastor Dennis Shafter became their pastor, providing hope on her husband’s deathbed. One day while visiting her husband in the hospital,
During her time as Dakota Conference ACSDR director, Phyllis Alexander worked closely with South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Matthew Michels. 12 OUTLOOKMAG.ORG OCT 2019
