Zack and Naomi Russell

Vision Conference

Despite the national airline meltdown right before Vision22, over 1,000 attendees from 78 nations made it to the conference. God worked miracles to get staff and students there!

Zack did videography and Annalei assisted him with admin/production tasks. This was a great learning experience for her. Zack and his team captured six amazing stories of God’s work in the lives of international students. We will feature these stories in future newsletters.

I (Naomi) coordinated prayer for the Children of Abraham (COA) Track, which hosts students from the Middle East. Through the Covid pandemic and zoom prayer calls, the Lord has grown my skills in leading prayer. I felt like I was in my ministry niche this year at Vision22, and I just loved it. A COA staff member wrote, “Naomi, thank you for your diligence to get us all praying even more! Jesus is so pleased with this and His Kingdom is advancing even more mightily!”

Miah was a “gofer” for the COA Track. She also prayed with me and other Bridges staff  during the discussion groups times. One evening she was invited to join a discussion group. The next morning, Miah had gone to a different session. “Mike” (a Middle Eastern Christian student) said to me, “Where is your daughter? We need her in our group! She is so wise.”

Meeting Jesus

It is typical for the COA Track to not see any decisions for Christ at Vision, but sometimes a week or two after students will accept Christ. We prayed that God would bring COA students to Christ during Vision22, and He answered by bringing an astounding six precious ones into His kingdom!

“Lisa” had a dream about Jesus before coming to Vision. She was moved to tears when she heard that God was her Heavenly Father. She came to Christ and was already sharing her testimony with others!

“Sammy” was miraculously healed of a severe headache and high blood pressure after his group leader prayed for him. He was able to stay for the morning session, which covered the power of the Holy Spirit and how to receive Christ. After the session Sammy accepted Christ! Reflecting on the conference, he said, “I accepted Jesus with my heart and my mind. The Holy Spirit lives in me, and I already feel more peace and love for others.”

I spoke with Sammy’s fiancée, “Margaret,” that evening. She understood that Jesus is God but did not understand that He died on the cross for our sins. I was able to use the God Tools app and share the gospel with her in her heart language. Her heart was open and ready, and the prayed to receive Christ with me. It was such a joy!

Another gal “Jessica” also came to Christ and so did a married couple “Rodger” and “Penelope.” God was so faithful to answer our prayers for these students!

Quotes from COA Students:

“I came thinking Jesus was just a prophet, but now I know that everything He said about Himself is 100% true!” 

“We didn’t know that Jesus is God!” – “All my life I have been thinking about purpose of life and what happens after death.” – “In my country someone could be killed for this decision so it’s not something I can decide quickly.”

“I feel weary in having to pray every day and wear this covering.”

VISION STATS

42% of students who attended were not Christians
1699 spiritual conversations took place
827 gospel presentations
20 students (including 6 from COA) placed their faith in Jesus!

PRAISE REPORTS

God was so faithful to get over 1,000 people to Vision22
Lisa, Sammy, Margaret, Jessica, Roger, and Penelope all came to Christ during the conference!
259 Christian students signed the Kingdom pledge to go, do, save, and give whatever the Lord calls them to.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Spiritual protection and growth for the new believers.
That all students who attended Vision would take the next step spiritually.
For those who are still seekers, that God would give them Spirit-led discussions with Bridges staff and volunteers on their campuses.

Walls Broken Down

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20). This is the verse that comes to mind when we think of our Cru22 Staff Conference. It was excellent! Thank you so much for joining us in prayer for the time. The conference was exactly what we prayed for: focused on Jesus and the Great Commission, unifying to our staff family, and spiritually refreshing for us and other staff.

The speakers were excellent. Zack’s favorite was Dela Adadevoh, VP of Global Leadership (pictured below). He reminded us how Christ is building us into one nation. There were walls of hostility separating us, but they have all been broken down, because God has made peace through the cross. “We don’t need any theories to help us socially integrate and do what God has called us to do.” Dela’s talk was a subtle rebuke of ideas like CRT which have caused so much disunity in the Body of Christ.

My (Naomi’s) favorite was Heather Holleman. She encouraged us to embrace our “Sent Identity” as believers. The Father sent Jesus, who sends us. She shared some wonderful stories of God’s powerful work through personal evangelism, and reminded us, “God continually invites us into the work of evangelism.”

We were most encouraged that our organization is starting a sending focus to North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Being on staff with Bridges, people from this region of the world have long been on our hearts. We are so excited about this and want to do all we can to help give lift to this sending focus. Zack is exploring new opportunities in this area.

Water Walk Challenge

Annalei and Miah were blessed to join the CruStu program for middle and high schoolers at Cru22. They received training and encouragement in evangelism. They also raised funds for the Water Walk Challenge.

All the CruStu students walked 3.7 miles from Lake Michigan taking turns carrying five-gallon buckets of water, just as women and girls in impoverished nations have to do every single day. The CruStu group raised $20,000 for Unto (Cru’s humanitarian aid ministry) to drill & repair wells in 15 countries.

Bridges…Back on Campus

With Covid restrictions lifted, our Bridges Campus Staff are back into the full swing of welcoming international students across the nation. This season is a “sprint” for our staff. As a member of the National Bridges prayer team, I (Naomi) have been on zoom calls to support our staff in prayer. Please join me in praying for our campus staff.

HEALTH UPDATE

Naomi’s Epstein Barr (Mono) symptoms are improving; she’s able to do more. But Zack caught Covid in mid May and then again late July. He is still dealing with Covid brain fog and is in need of healing.

PRAISE REPORTS

Cru22 was a time of spiritual refreshment, healing and encouragement in evangelism.

God spoke clearly to both of us at Cru22 and encouraged our big girls in evangelism.

Cassia’s friend got baptized recently, inspired by Cassia’s own baptism!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Zack would be healed from lingering Covid brain fog.

Complete healing for Naomi.

God would be glorified in carrying Bridges staff through this busy welcome season.

God to guide Bridges staff to spiritually open students.

Zack to make connections in exploring new ways to reach students from the Middle East.

Cassia’s Baptism

On June 5, Zack had the great joy of baptizing our youngest daughter, Cassia. She has talked about getting baptized for several years, so was more than ready. The first thing she said when she came up out of the water was “I can’t believe I am baptized!” She read her testimony in front of the church beforehand, and we wanted to share it with you…

When I was not a Christian, I was doing a lot of bad stuff and I wasn’t even caring about it. I didn’t say “I forgive you” or “I’m sorry.” I heard about Jesus from my parents and my big sisters and church and Awanas. I learned that my sin is bad. And that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. He took it away. He has forgiven me. On the third day, he rose from the dead.

When we were driving home from “Mom’s Prayer” Mommy asked me, “Cassia, do you want to ask Jesus into your heart?  and I said yes and asked Jesus into my heart. And it made me change and I was not super bad. And now I say, “I’m sorry and I forgive you.” I will go to heaven after I die because I believe in Jesus Christ and I know He will take me up there.

Many of Cassia’s friends were able to either attend her baptism or watch the video online, and it’s spurred several conversations about Jesus. We are praying for her friends who were excited for her but don’t know the Lord yet.

Adejoke’s Story

Zack just completed a very powerful testimony video of my friend, Adejoke, from Nigeria. She was told by friends back home that sharing the gospel was something that only special Christians who were “called” were allowed to do. She always wanted to share the gospel, but thought she wasn’t special enough to do it. Through our Vision conference in Atlanta in 2019 (when I met her). She was taught that all Christians are called to share the gospel, was trained in sharing it, and shared it for the first time.

Her video below. Please take a moment to watch this video and be encouraged by Adejoke’s story.

Cru22 Staff Conference

Our family will join thousands of other Cru staff and staff kids in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 16-23 for Cru’s biennial staff conference. The last time we all gathered was in 2019, pre-pandemic. We have friends that we are very eager to see, but we both feel apprehensive about the content of the conference. In 2015, 2017, and 2019, the conference had some controversial speakers and topics. This led to a lot of hurt, pain, and division among the staff, and has also resulted in many leaving staff, on both sides.

Please join us in praying that this year’s conference would be focused on Jesus and His Great Commission, unifying to our staff family, and spiritually refreshing for us and other staff. We really need the Lord to speak to us personally as well as Cru collectively.

As we drive to and from Milwaukee, all the way from Austin, we are facing unusually high costs at the gas pump, grocery stories, and overnight lodging. Would you please consider making a special donation to our ministry? You can give right here.

UPCOMING

We are traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Cru22 staff conference.

PRAISE REPORTS

•Cassia chose to get baptized!
•Adejoke’s video is complete, and more importantly, she is trained and excited to share the gospel with many others.

PRAYER REQUESTS

•God would use Cassia’s baptism to lead others to Christ.
•Adejoke’s video would spur others on to evangelism.
•Cru22 would be a time of spiritual refreshment for all staff who attend.
•Cru22 would be a time of healing and reconciliation.
•God would speak clearly to both of us at Cru22.

Refugees and Immigrants

As Ukraine has dominated headlines, you may have heard that six million people have left the country as refugees. Estimates are that 100,000 of them will come to the U.S. In addition to this, approximately 76,000 Afghan refugees came to the U.S. last year.

When refugees come here, we have a wonderful opportunity to reach them with the love of Christ. Zack has finished editing a new video series for EveryInternational to train Americans to reach refugees and immigrants. 
Some of the new topics:

• Befriending a Refugee Family
• Biblical View of Immigrants
• Partnering with Christian Immigrants
• Understanding and Reaching African Immigrants
• Journeying with Your Friends
• Three Stages of an Immigrant’s Experience
• Using ESL Classes Effectively
• Understanding and Reaching Hispanic Immigrants

If you are interested in viewing any of the training videos, everything is free on the website everyinternational.com. You just need to create a login to access them. I (Naomi) just watched Biblical View of Immigrants, and it was wonderful. I was literally tearing up at the end of the video.

Because Zack and I are not currently on a campus team, the majority of our interaction with internationals is with immigrants. Through our kids’ school, we have been blessed to befriend immigrants from Vietnam, Honduras, Morocco, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Kashmir, and Ethiopia. Pray we can reach them with the love of Christ.

New Friends

People from the Middle East have become even more near and dear to our hearts, as the Lord has placed us at a school where all of our kids have friends in their classes who come from this part of the world.

With Cassia’s upcoming baptism, I (Naomi) have had the opportunity to talk to three Middle-Eastern moms: “Faye,” “Allison,” and “Molly” about the meaning of baptism and the free gift of forgiveness that Jesus offers us through his death on the cross. (They believe that Jesus never died, but that he was an honored prophet who was taken to heaven like Elijah.)       

Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, ended in early May. This period follows a lunar calendar so the exact date of the last night, called the Night of Power, is uncertain. Most devout followers will stay up praying all night the last ten days of Ramadan to make sure they don’t miss it. They deprive themselves of food and sleep to gain Allah’s favor.

“Faye” and her husband “Ferris” are extremely devout. At the end of Ramadan, I spoke with Faye. She said they were up all night for the last few days, praying and hoping that they will be accepted and forgiven.

What this mom of young kids puts herself through in an attempt to earn God’s forgiveness! I shared Bible verses with her about the rest and free gift of forgiveness that Jesus offers, but she responded with a common belief that the Bible has been corrupted. Please pray that Jesus would speak His truth to her.

UPCOMING

• Cassia’s will be baptized on Sunday 6/5 
• Zack is taking a virtual seminary class on Church History this summer.

PRAISE REPORTS

• The new video series on refugees and immigrants has been released!
• Our kids are gaining a heart for Middle Easterners through friendships at their school.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• God to use Cassia’s baptism to lead others to Christ.
• Zack would be refreshed spiritually by his Church History class.
• The new EveryInternational video series would train many to reach immigrants and refugees with the gospel.
• Our kids would continue to pray for and share Christ with their friends.
• Faye, Allison, and Molly would long for the freedom and rest that Christ provides
• Ferris and Faye would know the Bible is not corrupted.