About Us

Exodus Provisions is a Christian bookstore in Oregon City, Oregon—about 15 miles south of Portland (see map). We deal primarily in new and used home school curriculum and study aids, classic books for children and adults, and Christian books dealing with family, theology, eschatology, apologetics and evangelism.

Since Exodus is a "home school" store, it is staffed mostly with graduates of the home education experience. The number working at any given time varies, but we try to give you the chance to meet students who have either "been there" or "are there" so that you can get a unique perspective on the home schooling experience.

A Little History of Exodus:

Richard and Cheri Mahar started Exodus in March of 1994. Starting with about two bookcases full of their own books, and a few more bookcases of things on consignment from friends, they opened up shop right across the parking lot from where we are now. With patience and a lot of hard work, they were able to develop their inventory until they outgrew their space and Exodus had to move to a larger location. During that time, they also switched from consigning used books to purchasing outright, an approach we still take. It was through their efforts that Exodus became established.

After about four years, the time needed to keep things operating became overwhelming. With their other responsibilities pressing, Richard and Cheri decided to give their nephew (Eli Evans) the opportunity to run Exodus, selling it to him on April 1st, 1998. It proved to be a good decision for all involvedin the ten years since then, we have printed four catalogs; built this website; added thousands of books to our selection (we now carry over 7,000 titles in our new section alone); and have nearly quadrupled the size of the store (the books now fill up over 100 bookcases!). (If you want to get a idea of what all this looks like, you have your chance. We have prepared a visual tour you may take. Just click here!)

About Our Name:

In the beginning, Richard and Cheri had the vision of a home school/Christian book, video and software store, and they decided to call it Exodus Multimedia Services. As the store developed, the multimedia name became more and more misleadingpeople expected them to have computer software that they simply didn't carry. So they dropped it for the shorter Exodus Provisions. But "Exodus" itself also seems to confuse a lot of folks. So why the name?

The original exodus was the departure of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. While in slavery, the Israelites, God's covenant people, were oppressed with more than work; they also could not worship God as they were commanded. We are not slaves in the same sense they were, but America has gone the way of Egypt; our government echoes Pharaoh's words: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go." (Ex. 5:2) Our slavery is subtler, yet very obvious, especially in the forms of high taxes, fascist property laws and state-run education. We have denied God His place in our lives, and are seeing the results.

But there is hope. God delivered His people from captivity then. Do you think He can do the same for us? We are convinced that the answer is a simple and clear YES!

Our Mission Statement:

To provide quality materials that help parents educate their children in the love and reverence of the Lord, and that help adults develop and promote their Christian faith in the midst of the humanist culture that surrounds us.

We intend to be part of an "exodus" from an apostate and enslaving worldview that ridicules the truth of our creation and despises our gracious Savior, and to glorify and enjoy our Maker in everything we do on earth.

About the owner:

Eli's parents pulled him and his next-oldest brother out of the public school system in 1987 (middle of his second grade year) and started home schooling them. While they started home schooling out of conviction, the Evans family loved the flexibility it offered, and would never re-enter the state-run schools (they are still teaching three of seven children at home). Eli graduated as a correspondent student from Christian Liberty Academy (CLASS) in 1997.

With the flexibility home schooling offered, Eli was blessed with the opportunities to work in several interesting occupations. At 13, he worked for a company called Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) duplicating microfiche. His employer there was quite interested in training him and taught him a lot about running a business. During that time, he developed a strong interest in music, and that led to a job at a local piano store (Carriage House Music). Eventually, they gave him the wonderful task of managing the sheet music section, which gave him much of the preparation needed for managing a bookstore. Eli was given the chance to start working at Exodus shortly thereafter (November 1997), and in April 1998 he signed papers to purchase the business from his uncle.

In March 2005, Eli married lovely "miss Amanda" (another home school graduate). They have been busy since then, welcoming Joshua to the world in January 2006 and Lucy in October 2007 (two adorable children who will also be taught at home).  To learn more about them, please visit their personal website.