May 2026 Prayer Letter
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It’s been a very busy and productive last few months in many areas of our lives and the ministry. Praise the Lord for loving us and continuing to work and grow and strengthen us in all that we do.
In February we were part of a wedding for a young couple. I preached the wedding, and Sarah was healthy enough to organize and help put the food together. Thank you for the continued constant prayers for her health; it has been great to see her continue in the right direction and be able to get through the bad days that she has in-between.
I met a pastor last year who has been in the ministry for 30 years and has been a licensed psychologist for almost the same amount of time. After seeing the immense need for people’s mental and emotional help dealing with the horrible traumas that occur here in Mexico, he pursued how to actually help people overcome the abuses they have endured.
Sadly, this is something that we as pastors/missionaries, especially here in Mexico, deal with all the time. In March, after talking with many pastors in the area, we put together a one-week intense class specifically for those in ministry on how to deal with these issues correctly, according to the Word of God. It honestly was a very intense week, but it helped us and many other national pastors greatly. Lots of insight on how to spot these issues in the church and properly deal with them.
In April we had a quinceañera, a 15th birthday party, that represents the transition of a young girl into a young lady. Instead of the normal party they do here, we offer the young ladies the opportunity to make vows with the Lord in front of the church to preserve their purity and sanctify themselves for the Lord as they continue to grow and mature into adulthood. This one was special as the father presented a promise ring to his daughter and gave a vow promising to lead her and help her with the transition in young adulthood and eventually give her hand in marriage to the right man.
The first weekend of May we held our annual missions conference for the work here. In 2019, the church took on the new concept of faithfully supporting missionaries through prayer and finances. They have continually grown in missions with a heart for praying and giving to the 8 missionaries we support. This year was the first time that we had missionaries return on furlough that they have supported throughout the years. What a blessing it was for them to finally see the fruit of all their labor through the years and encourage them to continue in the great commission!
As for the rest of this year, our family is going on our first official furlough since deputation in 2017.
We have not seen the majority of our supporting churches in almost 10 years. We also have not raised any additional support for ourselves in that amount of time. Praise the Lord for always meeting our needs, but with almost 10 years of inflation and new medical expenses to help Sarah have quality of life, it has become very apparent that we need to raise more support for longevity here on the field. We are also very excited to present the vision that God has given us for the ministry here in Mexico. Please pray with us that churches would be edified and God would have His way.
Brothers and Sisters, keep up the good fight!
The Russell Family- Adam, Sarah, Kendra, Braden