Zack and Naomi Russell

Into the Sea

Life has changed drastically for us in the past month, and we know it has for you as well. I (Naomi) had a difficult time adjusting to all of Cassia’s at-home school assignments (nothing like normal homeschooling!), juggling Zoom calls for all the kids (pictured below), and facing shortages while buying groceries exclusively online. The Lord keeps drawing me to 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Despite all the difficulties and heartbreak of this season, He cares for us.

During my Holy Week reading, I (Naomi) was reminded of Jesus’s words: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt…you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matt. 21:21-22). The coronavirus curve is a mountain. Please join me in praying that it is miraculously thrown into the sea.

Openness and Boldness

I (Naomi) have joined a daily Bridges International prayer call (next picture) for the coronavirus. It has been so good for me to lift these desperate needs up to Him with others.

When I was given the chance to lead, I invited Zack’s good friend, David Showalter a missionary/pastor in Italy, to join our call. He gave us a glimpse of the future by sharing about overrun hospitals, people dying alone, and grieving family members unable to hold a funerals. He said Italians, normally a prideful people, are realizing their fragility during this time. As a result, they are much more open.

Another day, Benjamin, a student from the Middle East, joined our prayer call. He asked us to pray for boldness to share his faith with his parents back home. He also told us that right now is a very strategic time for Christians in his country to share their faith. The government is very busy dealing with the coronavirus, so they won’t punish Christians as harshly. Please pray God would empower these Christians to step up in boldness.

Praying for You from China

 We received this prayer letter from a fellow Bridges Staff member who is back in China: “Now people here in China are doing prayer chains designated each hour…and a 40 day prayer guide is also being posted everyday to pray for you and all other countries who are affected by this pandemic…I hope this could encourage you that your brothers and sisters, unmet even, are praying for you and your country.”

A Chinese missionary named “Jonah,” who is a dear friend of ours, sent us this note: “I’m very sad that the U.S. is suffering from the Coronavirus so badly currently. It’s just so unexpected, and I can only imagine this must have a huge impact on your life. I felt deeply sorry that you have to go through such a huge storm which might lead us into a winter season. I pray the Lord will be with you in a more special way through this hard journey! May God show His protection and provision to you in such a challenging time!”

UPCOMING

Zack is currently working on new digital evangelism tools. One is a video for a tool called Conversation Art Cards, which encourages spiritual conversations around classic works of art. A second project is a series of videos that train people how to use an evangelism app called Honor Restored. Two other videos tell the story of how God worked in the lives of international students.

PRAISE REPORTS

• We’re (mostly) adjusted to “crisis-schooling”
• Italians are opening to the conversations about Christ.
• Christians in the Middle East are under less persecution.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Many Italians, New Yorkers, and Middle Easterners would come to Christ in this season.
• Benjamin and Christians from his country would share Christ boldly.
• Quality time and wisdom in ministering to our kids.

Ministry with My Mom

It was so life-giving for me to attend Vision Conference with my mom. I (Naomi) absolutely love befriending and sharing the gospel with international students. Pictured above is a photo that my mom and I took with two Indian students that we struck up a conversation with. I’m so thankful that my mom could attend Vision and learn more about their culture (and other cultures too!). She is excited to befriend and minister to internationals at Colorado State University.

My Small Group

I really enjoyed my time leading a small group of seekers in the Multi-Nations track. It was so fun to get to know these young women. They are pictured above (left to right) Kaeum, Jenny, Juri, and Miho.

Kaeum was very open to the spiritual things. She is Korean but grew up in China, so she had never heard the gospel before coming to America. At Vision, Kaeum did a lot of listening and processing.

Jenny is from China. She was very beholden to atheism and even some buddhist ideas, but was open to listen. At one point she verbalized that she was making excuses to not believe in God.

Juri is Japanese. Of all my girls, her heart was the most open and receptive to the gospel. But she missed several discussion sessions because of sickness. The staff from her campus told me about similar things happening, that she was very open, but “circumstances” were stopping them from connecting with her.

Miho is a member of Shoka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist cult. She is in very deep and holds strong Buddhist beliefs. At the beginning of the conference, she was promoting Shoka Gakkai, but praise God she backed down and started to absorb the message of Christianity.

Gospel Sharing Night

My favorite moment of the conference is pictured in the header (right). We paired a Christian student with a seeker and had them go through a gospel presentation. Joke (pronounced Joe-Kay), a believer from Nigeria, and Kaeum had a wonderful conversation! Kaeum said “she really helped me understand a lot.” Joke shared that she had no idea there were so many people in the world who had never heard about Jesus. She wants to go back to her campus and continue sharing the gospel!

During the gospel sharing night, we, as staff, sit on the sidelines and pray for the seekers to accept Christ. We were so blessed to see God answer prayer before our very eyes as a female student from Africa led another student named Gerard, from Myanmar, to Christ! What a joy!

Mayumi

My friend, Mayumi, (who lives in Atlanta; pictured above) became a believer through my first summer mission trip to Osaka in 1997! She now leads a Japanese discipleship ministry. She came to Vision to share her testimony with Japanese students.

A seeker named Natsumi approached Mayumi, and they had wonderful gospel discussion. Natsumi is very close to accepting Christ! Mayumi was also able to connect with two Believers, Eriko and Kaede. Kaede accepted Christ here in America and had literally never met another Japanese believer.

Praise Reports

• Vision was life-giving for me
• Zack had a great time with the kids while I was gone (despite a few tears)
• My mom was trained in int’l student ministry 
• Joke (from Nigeria) grasped the importance of sharing the gospel 
• Gerard (from Myanmar) accepted Christ.
• I also heard of a Chinese gal getting baptized and three South Asian students accepting Christ!

Prayer Requests

• Open doors for my mom to volunteer with Bridges at CSU
• God would save Kaeum
• Jenny stop making excuses to not believe in God
• The enemy could not hold Juri back from hearing and accepting the gospel
• Miho set free from the strongholds of Shoka Gakkai
• Joke would become a life-long laborer for Christ
• Natsumi would accept Christ
• Kaede would be plugged in with Japanese fellowship and grow strong in her faith

Willy Wonka

Annalei (pictured above) sang and performed as “Mike TV” in the Christian Youth Theater production of Willy Wonka last month. It’s been awesome to see Annalei’s talent bloom. Our new coworker from East Asia, Arya, came to see the show. We are very thankful to work alongside her!

EveryInternational

We shared last time how I (Zack) was working new content for our ministry training website, everyinternational.com. Phase Two is now complete! Twelve new teaching videos join the existing twenty, and we’ve added several new vision-casting and storytelling short videos. My teammates filmed the content in Toronto (pictured below), and I just finished editing them.

Over 800 people have registered for this site to get training in reaching internationals for Christ. Rich Mendola, a leader of one of our partnering organizations, IFI, said:

“This has been a wonderful picture of an ‘all in’ mentality toward the completion of the Great Commission.”

Although designed for equipping believers in North America, I was blown away to learn that the training content has been viewed in 72 countries!

The new content has led to re-organizing the material into three main courses: Getting Started in / Growing in / Multiplying in International Student Ministry. Some of the new lessons include: Hosting Students for the Holidays, Preparing Your Disciples to Return Home, and Engaging in Spiritual Warfare.

One of the new and amazing stories you will find on everyinternational.com is that of Kesavan, a refugee who became a pastor. His family fled to Canada after a civil war in their native country of Sri Lanka. While struggling to find his place in Toronto, he wound up in a street gang.

A violent encounter between his gang and another left someone dead. Kesavan wasn’t the shooter but was still involved. Instead of graduating from college, he found himself in a maximum security prison.

Through the faithful witness of a fellow inmate and local church volunteers, Kesavan committed his life to Christ. After his release, he signed up for classes at a Toronto Bible college. Today, he pastors a church with people from 20 nations. You can watch his whole story on everyinternational.com

Vision Conference

The Bridges Vision Conference is about life change. Christian students learn to share their faith. Non-Christian students hear truth about Jesus for the first time, and some place their faith in Him. Americans gain a heart for the world and get trained in ministry.

This year I (Naomi) will attend Vision Conference, in Atlanta. Zack will stay home with all four of our kids. His usual job of Videographer has required a lot of pre-work. He has not had a Christmas break since we started with Bridges in 2005. With a change in office location he does not get to see the kids as much as he used to. For my part, I have a growing desire to have more direct contact with students. I think Vision is the best thing that Bridges does all year. And I’m very happy that my mom will be attending Vision as well to receive cross-cultural ministry training!

Upcoming

Zack is editing videos for Cru Summer Connect (pictured above in the header). Naomi will head to Atlanta on December 27 to January 1 for Vision.

Praise Reports

• Worldwide impact of the EveryInternational training.
• God provided the exact amount of support that Naomi’s mom, Linda, needed to attend Vision.

Prayer Requests

• Seekers would come with open hearts and recognize Jesus as the Messiah
• Christian students who are learning to share their faith would become lifelong laborers for the kingdom
• Christian student leaders to take the next step of faith
• God’s hand over all logistics and tech details for Vision
• Naomi, Linda, and other Americans lovingly share the gospel with internationals.

Every International

Last November, EveryInternational.com was launched to provide online training for Christians in North America who are interested in reaching the nations that have come to us.  Since the launch, the site has received over 32,000 visits, with almost 800 registered users!

The response has been overwhelmingly positive:

“The content is so good I would like to share the videos with as many of our volunteers as I can. I’ve been in international ministry for 40+ years and this is some of the best training I’ve seen.”

Kim Sollie, Volunteer Coordinator Hospitality Center for Chinese

“The number of international students has doubled in our area. Christians are wondering how to be the hands and feet of Jesus to foreigners among them. EveryInternational is exactly what we needed. Their training not only equips for effective ministry, but also sets the building blocks for the international students to be empowered as disciple makers.”

Nicole Schlichter, City Director, International Student Ministries-Canada

Zack is honored to be the primary editor for this strategic project. He’s currently editing the second round of videos that will go live soon. If you would like to learn more about befriending international students and showing them the love of Christ, please check out EveryInternational.com.

The Stamp Collector

Thank you for your prayers for The Stamp Collector. It was very well received at our staff conference this summer, and staff are sharing it with others across the country. A Bridges staff member, Erin MacDonald, commented, “I used to live overseas. This is exactly how you feel coming to a foreign country.”

Watch The Stamp Collector here.

Family Update

Our family has gone through a major transition this fall. Both Cassia (Kinder) and Annalei (7th) have started at a half-day charter school, and Paxton is in preschool.

It’s been a big switch from our relaxed and flexible homeschool schedule (although Miah is still being homeschooled). In the midst of back-to-school craziness and September being birthday month (Zack 40, Annalei 13, Miah 10,) Naomi broke a toe. The demands of life and motherhood have been very difficult for her, with the schooling transition and the broken toe. Please pray the Lord would be her strength during this difficult season.

HELPING OUT DOWN UNDER
A Bridges Summer Mission offers help in Australia, and various nationalities are blessed.

By Jim Morud

A petite student from East Asia named Claire felt sadly alone while standing on the massive green space at Sydney University. As one of just a few Christians at her home university, she’d often stood alone.  But now a pall of loneliness shrouded her heart. 

Claire whispered a prayer, asking God to help her. And then she was surprised to see a young lady wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with key statements from the “Four Spiritual Laws.” “I know about that!” Claire exclaimed, cheerfully approaching the stranger.

POSITIVE MISHAP
Olivia Morud, a Bridges summer mission participant from Portland, Oregon, had slipped into that T-shirt after spilling coffee on another shirt.  She was amazed to realize her mishap was used by God to connect her with a Christian who had heard the gospel in her homeland through the Four Laws.

Claire, meanwhile, had been urged to seek out “Power to Change,” Bridges International’s partner ministry in Australia, when she got to Sydney in pursuit of a master’s degree. Olivia arranged for her to meet Ash Wilson, the P2C director at her new school, and Claire promptly told Wilson, “I’m here to help.”

ANNUAL ENDEAVOR
That remark coincidentally echoed the theme for Olivia and 17 fellow Americans serving with the 2019 Sydney Summer Mission: “We’re here to help.”  The annual Bridges summer endeavor aims to help P2C staff members and students in reaching out to the more than 40,000 international students at Sydney and Macquarie universities. In combination with P2C representatives, the Bridges staff and students engaged in 682 spiritual conversations, presented the gospel 78 times and assisted four students in making professions of faith. 

The mission required major spiritual investments. “When we went out on the campus,” says Bridges staff member Heather Robbins, “our work was truly an overflow from our extended times of praying and fellowshipping in the Spirit.” As a result, international students on both campuses were impacted, as were the American project participants.

Slade, a first-year medical science student from South Asia, met Bridges’ Andrew Nielsen at Macquarie University. “We hit it off from the start,” recalls Andrew, a staff member at University of California, Davis. “I had prayed God would lead me to one person whose heart was ready to receive the gospel. Slade had been on a wild streak, but now he was seeking God. I’d never met a person so ready to receive Christ, and he did. It was obvious that God had brought us together.”

Morgan Stewart, an American PhD student in audiology, had never shared Jesus with her South Asian friends at Central Michigan University. But she got a helpful nudge from Victoria, a vibrant Christian student at Macquarie who comes from South Asia. “She has no freedom to share Christ in her home country,” Morgan says, “but she joyfully talks about Him here in Australia. Victoria has helped me realize I need to make the most of opportunities I have in America to freely share Him with my South Asian friends.”

FULFILLED PURPOSE
Clearly, the 2019 edition of the Sydney Summer Mission fulfilled the purpose of this partnership Down Under. “The Bridges people bring enthusiasm and a can-do attitude,” says Jerusha Kerraker, an American staff member who is serving with P2C. “Australians are earnest about sharing the gospel, and the international students are very open to listening. The Sydney mission is an opportunity for all to help and to be helped.”

At least four cultures had gathered around a dining table in South Korea:  Bridges staff members from the U.S., their colleagues from Korea and Australia, and a group of “returnees”—former Bridges students who had returned to their East Asian homeland with a desire to serve our Lord.

During dinner, we learned that Korean culture says there’s no better way to know that seafood is fresh than to cook it alive.  Though some in our group probably felt uneasy about this custom, no one said a word as we watched an octopus try to escape boiling waters near our table.  

Perhaps the other diners simply wanted to be respectful of the host culture. But for me, there was another reason to remain quiet: the cooking style served as a reminder of persecution in a nearby nation that has recently turned up the heat on believers.   

Our group had gathered to learn from our returnees and to encourage them to remain faithful to Jesus. So we listened carefully to a man named Wang who began by summarizing his experience in America.   “I came to Christ while studying on the East Coast,” he said, “but it was during a year of work that I truly connected with Bridges. I grew tremendously in that year.”

Wang next summarized his experience after returning to Asia: he found a church through other returnees but he also encountered strong opposition from family members, friends and his government. 

Regardless of persecution, Wang and his fellow returnees showed no sign of crawling away from their calling. As he said, “Being together showed me that you have not forgotten us! Missionaries came to our nation 200 years ago to start evangelization, and now it’s my turn to share in that work.  God sent me home for a reason; there is a mission for my life.” 

Trae Vacek has served as Bridges’ National Director since 2010.  He and his wife, Melissa, have four children

Religion, culture and family are thoroughly interwoven in many regions of South Asia. As a result, a South Asian who declares faith in Jesus may send an unintended message of rejecting his or her relational roots.  How can such a new believer weather the storms of persecution and remain loyal to Jesus while rebuilding family ties?

An annual gathering of Hindu background believers has helped to meet its participants’ needs for encouragement, prayer and training in outreach.  The sixth such gathering, held over Memorial Day weekend, attracted the largest group ever—more than 60 followers of Jesus.

Bridges’ South Asian Network is a co-sponsor of “Jesus Celebration,” working alongside a volunteer team of Hindu background believers.  This year’s event focused on “Being Salt and Light,” and the program allowed attendees to share testimonies that would encourage others along their discipleship paths.

One of the most dramatic stories at this year’s gathering was told by a man named Raj.  Born in a small Indian village and raised by a Hindu priest, Raj encountered an outdoor showing of the “JESUS” film one day as he walked home to the temple.  After this exposure, he continued to investigate the truth of the gospel. When he ultimately placed his faith in Jesus, he was disowned by his family and kicked out of his home.

Raj was taken in by a local Muslim family and, remarkably enough, the members of that family eventually placed their faith in Christ.  Today, Raj is receiving theological education at a U.S. seminary, and he dreams of taking the gospel back to India.

The Stamp Collector

Thank you for your prayers for our new Bridges promo video, “The Stamp Collector.” It was a whirlwind  two month project, going from concept, to script, casting, to filming, to editing, to completion. God really carried us through. 

In the film, an international student collects stamps that look similar to passport stamps. But each stamp represents an experience he has here in the States.

Zack was thrilled with the opportunity to write the script and edit the final product. It’s something he has dreamed of doing for Bridges for several years. Naomi enjoyed working as the  casting director, and Annalei assisted our director Lauren (pictured below). We are excited to share this film with you after it premiers at our Cru staff conference in July.

God provided in crazy ways, including using Coach Adrian’s old gymnastics space to supply the location for the set.

Forever 21

The day we were filming “The Stamp Collector” our beloved Granny passed away. We will treasure the memory of our last FaceTime call with her before she passed. She was opening her mouth and slightly opening her eyes. To quote Cassia, “she tried her best” to talk to us. We are also very thankful that we were able to have a wonderful visit with her over Easter. 

Granny’s funeral was a wonderful time of laughter and remembering this amazing woman who impacted all of our lives. We all wore red (her favorite color) or dressed for 4th of July (her favorite holiday). Her 8 great-grandchildren at the gravesite are pictured above. Zack wrote a beautiful tribute to Granny on Facebook.

My grandmother, Granny, went to be with the Lord this weekend. She was only 21.  (If you asked her age, that was always her response.) Granny was hands-down the funnest person I have ever known. She taught me to laugh about everything in life, and to never take yourself too seriously. She was the embodiment of generosity and the personification of hospitality. She could pinch pennies and drive bargains, but she was always generous with those she loved. Or our friends. Or people she just met. Because she never, ever met a stranger. If you’ve ever had a meal with Granny, you probably had more food served than you’ve seen in your life.

She always called me “Joe” by mistake, either thinking of my uncle or grandfather, but she never forgot my favorite foods, or any details about the clocks she collected. She was also, at times, my personal alarm clock, making sure I didn’t ever sleep in past sunrise. There was simply too much to do to be lazy. She herself never sat still, and was always hard at work. Her life was full of beauty and light and warmth. As such, my own life feels a little more drab and dim and cold today. I will miss her deeply.

With the work stress, and grief of Granny’s passing, Zack has not been sleeping well and has had dizziness and heart palpitations. 

Summer Seminary

We are now in Fort Collins, Colorado. As part of our ongoing training with Cru, this Summer we are taking seminary-level classes: Biblical Interpretation & Communication; Christian Worldview & Ethics; and Humanity, Christ and Salvation. We will end our time here with the national Cru staff conference. We would appreciate prayer that the time here would be encouraging & enriching for us, empowering the ministry work we do.

UPCOMING

We will gather with 5,000 other Cru staff for our biennial Staff Conference at Colorado State University. 

PRAISE REPORTS

• God brought together all the details for the film, including Adrian supplying the perfect location
• God carried Zack through and he finished editing “The Stamp Collector”
• Granny’s funeral was a won-derful time of remembrance. 

PRAYER REQUESTS

• “The Stamp Collector” would be a powerful tool in creating strong emotional connections b/w Americans and internationals.
• Encouragement through seminary classes & staff conference.
• Rest. (We are coming off an extremely exhausting month)
• Zack’s insomnia & health problems from stress.

Never Been Convinced

My (Naomi’s) main focus of ministry for the past two months has been taking an online graduate-level Apologetics class, offered through Cru. I have learned a lot and it has opened many doors for evangelism. One morning at Miah’s gymnastics class, God gave me a divine appointment with her coach, Adrian. As we discussed his spiritual background, he told me that he has nothing against Christianity, but he has never been “convinced” that the Bible is reliable. Adrian had learned in college that the New Testament was basically a legend.

Later that day, my lecture was on that exact topic! After the lecture, I was able to send Adrian a detailed email about the number of New Testament manuscripts and how the textual variants are insignificant. Later, I gave him a copy of The Reason for God by Tim Keller. The chapter on the reliability of the Bible begins with Keller recounting how he heard the same thing in college that Adrian had.

Coach Adrian is very open and willing to listen and ask questions. He has already read through Matthew and Mark! Zack and I have had several email exchanges with him. In one email he said, “I am enjoying reading the Bible again. Jesus has more bite than I remember!”

The Reason for God

We were blessed with a wonderful week in Houston over Spring Break. We got to introduce new people to the vision of our ministry, and catch up with old friends (love y’all!). One friend we hadn’t seen in years was Florian.

Florian is a beloved former international student from Germany who was very involved in Houston Bridges. At the time, he wasn’t very open spiritually. But now because of various circumstances in his life, he is doing a lot more searching. As we talked, he mentioned that he had a lot of questions, like about whether God was real or the Bible true. I showed him The Reason for God and he said, “I will definitely read this book.” 

Strong Faith all Summer

How do you stay strong in your faith when you’re alone? This is a question that eats away at Cru students as the summer approaches. For many of them, Cru has been a transformative experience of walking closely with God. The thought of leaving that behind for three months can be unnerving. 

For the second year, I (Zack) was part of a team in Cru that is putting together a program called Summer Connect. Its purpose is to help students make the most of their summer by giving them valuable content from engaging speakers. But more than simply watching videos, students will have several opportunities to connect with others through this program. It encourages them towards devotion to God, holiness and missional living.

The core audience of Summer Connect is high school seniors through college students who are followers of Jesus, most of whom are not yet engaged disciples.

Space Explorers

Thanks to a special friend of ours in Houston, we got to tour the inside of NASA’s Vehicle Mockup facility (pictured in the header). This is where they house full-size replicas of the International Space Station for training astronauts. The kids loved it!

UPCOMING

I (Zack) and working with our Creative Media team to develop a new video to portray the vision and mission of Bridges. My role is the screenwriter and editor. I’m excited to get to come up with a creative illustration to show people what our ministry is all about. We’ll release it in July.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Apologetics class was a great experience for Naomi.
• God has opened the doors for discussions with Adrian.
• Wonderful time connecting with old friends in Houston
• God softening Florian’s heart!

PRAYER REQUESTS

• God’s Word would not return void in Adrian’s life; that he would come to faith soon.
• Adrian and his family would attend our church small group.
• Florian to experience God’s reality and truth in a personal way.
• Summer Connect would strengthen Cru students.
• Provision for the new Bridges video: location, actors, set, props, editing, and for it to effectively mobilize others.