October 2024 Prayer Letter
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
What an honor it is to serve the Lord! I believe it to be the best thing you could do with your life. It was a very busy summer for us with big exciting changes. Since we returned from Mexico at the beginning of summer I had been praying, with some fasting, for direction from the Lord as how to do the furlough we thought He wanted us to do. We went to teen camp in South Carolina in July, along with a few meetings with churches in North Carolina through mid August, but nothing was lining up in any direction to do an actual furlough. As I continued to pray and fast, the Lord made it very shockingly clear through scripture, preaching, certain situations, and godly council to go back to Washington to our home church.
Sarah’s doctor was one of the people God used, who said we needed to go back to Washington so that we could see some specialists since our medical insurance only covers Washington State. Praise the Lord, her Stiff Person Syndrome has progressed in a very positive way, along with us learning how to manage and treat her body, to give her stability. The biggest thing lacking in her recovery is her stomach issues that she has carried for years. This is the biggest reason her doctor wanted us to go to Washington; to get help with a GI specialist, as well as some other specialists.
When the Lord made it clear he wanted us to return to Washington, we spent the next two weeks cleaning up the trailer we had lived in, packing up our stuff, and getting the travel trailer ready to live in. Then we made the 3000 mile trek from coast to coast, and setup at our home church, Faith Baptist Church. The trip was full of all kinds of adventures: two different tires blowing, scorpions finding their way into our trailer, overheating issues, sickness. Nevertheless the Lord helped us through each problem and we made it! We have already setup a plan with the GI specialist to get very extensive testing done, as well as getting referrals with a few other specialists.
Our plan is still to try and be back on the field by the end of the year. We still have the same orders/calling from the Lord; it hasn’t changed since the beginning– Mexico. We are continuing to prepare for that, and the Lord is still providing for the work in Mexico! A supporting church gave us a very generous love offering towards the payment of the property for this year.
I’ve asked for continued prayer about the property deal in Mexico, and please keep praying. We are suppose to give the second of the four payments at the end of the year. Praise the Lord we have over half of the payment that is due, and we’re confident the Lord will provide the rest. But the owner hasn’t held up his part of the deal; we still haven’t received the official documents that we need to privatize the property into the church’s name. We’re not sure how this is going to play out, but we are almost ready on our end. I believe the Lord will resolve it all because it is very apparent He wants this property, but the devil is fighting it every step of the way; so please continue to pray on these matters.
Other than that, we are plugging in how the Lord would have us plug in, and being open for opportunities that He has for us. As we all know, sometimes our plan is not God’s plan; so we are keeping our affection on things above while we wait on the Lord. I always say it, but we really appreciate your faithfulness and encouragement towards us and the work in Mexico! We are praying for you!
Brothers and Sisters, keep up the good fight!
The Russell Family- Adam, Sarah, Kendra, Braden