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February 2008 Jack continues to translate scripture into the Simba language, and to prepare lessons. Jack is currently translating the book of Acts, and is also assisting partner Bill Mann in the revision of Romans. He lives in Nitro for 8 weeks, then in Bolivia for 6 weeks, traveling back and forth between the two locations. When in the States, Jack is also active at Victory Baptist Church in Cross Lanes, WV, where he serves as assistant pastor. Suzie is continuing to remain home in Nitro, WV. She is having some health problems that make it very difficult for her to travel. We would appreciate your prayers for her during this difficult time. Suzie has been taking appointments at ladies meetings, churches, Christian schools, and even public schools to talk about our ministry to the Simba people and about their life and culture. If you are interested in getting Suzie to come and share, write her at jack_russell@ntm.org.
Thank you for your continued prayer for the Russell family. March 2007 Suzie is remaining home in Nitro, WV, taking care of our grandson, Robbie, while Emily is in college. Emily graduates this May, so Suzie's "temporary assignment" will be ending. Suzie has been taking appointments at ladies meetings, churches, Christian schools, and even public schools to talk about our ministry to the Simba people and about their life and culture. If you are interested in getting Suzie to come and share, write her at jack_russell@ntm.org. Emily is in her last semester at the University of Charleston. She is looking forward to graduation in May. She will begin her nursing career at Charleston Area Medical Center. Josh is attending college at WV State University. State is nearby, so he is living at home in Nitro. He is majoring in communications. It is his first experience attending a secular school. He is not crazy about the place, but is doing well and has been on the deans list every semester. Josh is looking forward to helping lead a group from Victory Baptist to Bolivia this July. They will be doing a work project in Taperillas. Thank you for your continued prayer for the Russell family. February 2006 Jack is back in Bolivia once again for another six weeks stay. His goal for this trip is to complete all the checking and editing for the Old Testament portions of the translation, and then turn the work in to be printed. He is also going through and checking all of the foundational lessons. It is exiting to see these projects being completed. Suzie is remaining home in Nitro, WV, taking care of our grandson, Robbie, while Emily is in college. Suzie has been taking appointments at ladies meetings, churches, Christian schools, and even public schools to talk about our ministry to the Simba people and about their life and culture. If you are interested in getting Suzie to come and share, write her at jack_russell@ntm.org. Emily continues to do very well in school, despite carrying 21 hours again this semester. Baby Robbie has proven to be "all boy" as he constantly has bumps and bruises. He is just now recovering from a broken color bone. He is starting to learn that he isn't indestructible. Josh is back up in the frozen North, hard at work at Houghton College. He is planning to lead a small group to Bolivia this June to help out in a work project in Taperillas. Thank you for your continued prayer for the Russell family. August 2005 Back to school, back to Bolivia. The time has come. Joshua is off to college at Houghton, NY. He Starts classes on the 29th. We took him up there, helped him get moved into his room, and said our goodbyes. We have been leaving him at school since he started the 2nd grade, but it doesn’t get any easier. Please pray for him that he will continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. You can reach him at: joshua.russell@houghton.edu Emily has also returned to school at the University of Charleston. She is living at home and driving to school each day. She has a very demanding schedule, 21 hours! Please pray for her too. You can reach her at: emilyjane00@hotmail.com. While Emily is in school Suzie is going to remain home and help her by taking care of our grandson, Robbie. Suzie will also be available for things such as ladies meetings at churches if the opportunity arises. Jack will return to Bolivia August 31st. He will be continuing with the Simba Bible translation. He is planning to stay there until the end of November. Please pray for the Russell’s during this trying time. |
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 Some of the MK and International students at Houghton |
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Emily
and her husband, Robbie, have a house in Nitro. Robbie has an HVAC company, and
Emily is working as a registered nurse at Charleston Area Medical Center. Little
Robbie (our grandson) is three and is doing great. They are attending Victory
Baptist Church and doing very well spiritually. They recently gave us the good
news that Emily is expecting another baby due in September. We are so thankful
for them and for all the Lord has done in their lives. 
Josh
is in his junior year at WV State University. He is also working part time at
WSAZ TV in Charleston. He enjoys working in media, so likes the job very much.
He and his fiancé, Miranda, are making plans for their future together, but they
intend to finish school before getting married. They are both involved in music
ministry as Josh plays guitar and Miranda sings. We are very thankful for them.
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January 2005 Hi all, I wanted to send you all a note to let you know that I made it down to Simba land in one piece. I had a little trouble getting out of Santa Cruz because of the unrest there. There were strikes going on around the city so I had to postpone for a couple of days. Other than that everything went fine. I would like to ask prayer for the Simba Bible conference that will begin tonight, Sunday the 23rd and run through the 29th. My partners Felix, Bill, and I will be teaching. Please pray for the Simba people that have been invited, that they can make it here to Taperillas. Pray also that God will prepare their hearts to receive His word. Many of the ones invited know nothing about Jesus and the Bible. My partner, Larry Depue, was telling me that he
traveled down a nearby valley to invite folks from a certain Simba community. He
passed through a small village called Pentirenda (meaning "a place") and stopped
to ask directions. The Simba guy asked what he was doing, so Larry told him that
we were going to be holding a Bible conference in their language up in
Taperillas. Larry left and went on down to his destination. On the way back,
several in Pentirenda ran out and stopped Larry. They told him that after he had
left they had had a community meeting and decided that the entire community was
going to attend our "Misa" (mass). They wanted to know if the misa was going to
be there, or where. Larry told them where our misa was going to be and invited
them. Because of the difficulty of travel out of there, it looked like only a
hand full would be able to make it. God Bless, September, 2004 Hold on to your hats! The Russell’s have been through a hurricane of change. Though we were not originally planning to come to the States till 2005, we are now on Home Assignment. There are several reasons for our furlough being moved up. One, our partners, Bill and Kathleen Mann, and Larry and Linda Depue will be going on home assignment next year. It wouldn’t be good for us all to go at the same time. Also, with the closing of Tambo (the mission boarding school in Bolivia) because of security concerns, Joshua needed a school for his senior year. Since he had attended Teays Valley Christian School in WV for 5th grade and part of his 9th grade year, and had maintained friendships with his classmates there, we recognized that it wouldn’t be any more of an adjustment for him to return to the States at this time than to move to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and go to school there. We also realized that our daughter, Emily, needed us with her at this time. Emily has experienced some major difficulties over the last year. PTL, our being with her and encouraging her is helping. Please hold her up in your prayers. So here we are living in a nice town house in Nitro, WV. We are now arranging to visit all of our supporting churches, and friends. Joshua is actively involved in his school. He enjoys playing guitar for the praise/worship team. He is also on the Soccer team making Suzie an official soccer mom. Jack desires to continue working on the Simba translation while in the States, and is planning a month-long trip back to Bolivia for checking in January or February of 2005.
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April 2003
"Together again for Christmas"
Our daughter, Emily, came for a visit during Christmas. We really had a great time together as a family! We enjoyed all of our regular "Christmas traditions" and also made some special memories that we will cherish. Emily and Suzie sang "Noche de Paz", (Silent Night) as part of the church Christmas program. Joshua and Jack accompanied them with some beautiful guitar music. Emily has returned to WV and is currently finishing her junior year of nursing at the University of Charleston. Joshua has returned to Tambo where he is a sophomore.
Thanks so much for praying for them. Suzie
October 2002
Hi all,
We wanted to send you an update on the happenings here. The last time I wrote, I mentioned that we were doing a medical outreach and that Dr. Tom Raff and our friends, Larry and Kathy Westfall, were coming to work for the week. -- The out reach was a great success. We attended to several hundred people in two Simba communities. One of which is 30 miles north of our community of Taperillas (it took us three hours to drive there). A dentist from a nearby town went with us and, with Larry Depue assisting, they pulled nearly 150 teeth. We also had meetings in the evenings to teach God's Word. Jack taught one night and Felix the next. The people there really appreciated the help. We have a standing invitation to return and teach. Thanks for praying!
I also told you in our last letter that the proposed "new road" that was to be put through the Depue's front yard may not materialize. -- Larry had a meeting with the leaders of the nearby town which was heading up the project and with the community of Taperillas. We are out in the city and have not heard the outcome of that meeting as of yet. They were going to try and make a decision about the placement of the new road once and for all. We ask you to keep praying about this.
Another item that I spoke of last time was that an ex-big chief, Lorenzo, was leading a campaign to have us kicked out of the tribe. -- Our community of Taperillas finally responded by making Pascual, one of our main church leaders, chief of Taperillas. This really took us by surprise. Pascual will be a good chief, but we are concerned for him because of all the pressures put on those who are chosen as chief. Especially for one as well know in the tribe as Pascual. For now, Lorenzo's "campaign" has settled down. Last Sunday he came to the afternoon meeting, when Jack teaches, and even participated in answering some of the questions. But he is very two-faced and continues to speak out against us. Please remember him in your prayers that the Lord will continue to speak to his heart about this.
I want to ask you to pray also for our upcoming translation check. There will be a "Go home week" where our son, Josh, will get a week of vacation. After that we have to go up to the city of Cochabamba to finish our paper work for renewal of our visas and other documents. Then, as Josh heads back to Tambo, Cam and Mary Hurst, our translation consultants, will accompany us back to Taperillas for the week in order to check the translation work that Jack has been doing. It is a very important step of the translation process. Please pray for wisdom to make the material as clear and accurate as it can be. Pray, also, that we might find just the right Simba people to help us in the check. It has to be someone that has not worked on the project, yet is articulate both in Simba and Spanish. A tall order for most Simba. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Because Jesus said go,
Jack and Suzie Russell
May 2002
We have just returned from the graduation at Tambo. Joshua has finished up his ninth grade year and is "Free" for a whole two and a half months. We are looking forward to being together again for that time. Please pray for him during this time. We want to involve him in the ministry this vacation. We trust that his vision of tribal evangelism will grow. Emily has completed her second year in the nursing program at the University of Charleston. She has started a job as an extern for the summer in the pulmonary unit at Charleston Memorial Hospital. Please pray for her that she will desire to walk with the Lord and find her strength in Him.
It is obvious that our enemy is working overtime to try and destroy families because, if he can do that, he can destroy ministries as well. With this in mind we thank all of you that pray for us, that we might stand in faith and continue on even though it is sometimes very difficult.
God Bless! Jack & Suzie Russell
| December 2001
We had a wonderful Christmas together with our family. We are heading back to Bolivia on January 8. It has been difficult to cram a one-year furlough into 6 months. But we did get most of our goals accomplished. We visited more than 50 churches and also met with many of our friends and family. Suzie is feeling much better now and seems to be mostly over her surgery. Joshua is in Nova Scotia visiting the Demings as I write this. We gave him the trip for Christmas. It was the kind of gift that we don't need to pack up and haul back to Bolivia with us. He will be back on January 4 and then on to Bolivia with us on the 8th. He did very well while we were on furlough. He made many friends at Teays Valley Christian School. We had the opportunity to do some deer hunting together with Brother Neal Warner in Monroe County. Josh killed his first deer. That was quite exciting. He is to start back to school at Tambo in Bolivia on January 14. Please pray that Josh will quickly adjust to the high-school boy's dorm.
Emily has completed her third semester at the University of Charleston. She is doing very well with the extremely demanding courses there. She has been working at the Charleston Town Center as a sales clerk in a shop there. She has turned out to be a competent and responsible employee. She is very sad that time has come for us to leave again. Please pray that she will grow in her dependence on the Lord. As soon as we get Josh back to school in Tambo we are heading to Simba land to continue our ministry there. Our little family will once again be separated and in different places in the world. Please pray for the Russell family as we endeavor to reach the Simba for Christ.
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May 2001
| Josh was home for "Go Home Week" during March. You can see in the picture that he spent some time relaxing in his hammock and also played a lot with our dog, Pepper. He is at that age where he is changing so quickly. He is getting tall, 5' 11", and we can no longer find shoes for him here in Bolivia. His feet are growing faster than the rest of him. At this time we are heading up to Tambo for graduation which lasts for three days, May 15th - 18th. Joshua will graduate from the 8th grade. At Tambo the 8th graders march with the seniors at grad. They wear gowns, but not caps, and receive diplomas. We are sure looking forward to being with him. |  |
| Emily has
finished her first year at the University of Charleston. We think
she is enjoying the nursing program there. She is now looking for a
job for the summer. Please pray that she will find something
suitable. We have had to make a change in plans for June through
August. Due to some potentially serious health problems that Suzie
is experiencing, we are going to return to WV so that she can get
medical help. Please pray for her. Jack is taking the translation
work with him to continue working while in the states. We are
looking forward to being with family and friends for a little while
and possibly sharing in some churches while there. Then we are
expecting to return to Bolivia in time for Josh to begin his 9th
grade year at Tambo. Thanks for praying for the Russell Family. God Bless! |
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October 2000 In early October, we enjoyed our annual trip to Tambo for "Field Day". It's always a time of fun and fellowship as we get to visit with our fellow missionaries and to watch our kids participate in various sporting events. Josh competed in several events this year. He really enjoyed the high jump and the long jump events - taking first place in both. He also competed in several running events. He is able to distance himself in the longer races and have some "steam" left at the end of the race. He took first place honors in the 440 yard run and the 220, as well. He also won second place in the 100 yard dash. Josh came close to beating several "Tambo records" in almost every event he competed in. It was an exciting time and an enjoyable time as the "White Team" beat the "Red Team" by only 8 points. One thing that impressed us this year was the spirit in which the kids compete. They are good friends - no matter if they are on opposing teams. When their event is over - win or lose - they congratulate each other and then go off to play together. Very rarely do you see bad attitudes in any of the kids. It's a real blessing to see them work and play together so well! Josh is also having a good year in school. He is enjoying his teachers and doing well in all of his classes. Dorm life is going well, also. The Durfey's do a great job as "parents" to the ten boys in the dorm this year. Josh is in the 8th grade and will be celebrating his 14th birthday on October 31st. We will have the privilege of keeping the dorm the weekend before Josh's birthday in order to give the Durfey's a short break. We always enjoy spending time with the boys and getting to know them a little better. They are a fun group of guys! Emily is attending the University of Charleston, in Charleston, WV, where she is in the first year of a four-year Nursing program. She is enjoying school and doing very well in her classes. She has lots of homework and studying to do, but she is adjusting quite well to "college life". She enjoys being back home in WV and being able to stay with her grandparents while she attends UC. We miss her very much, and the separation is difficult, but we know the Lord is with all of us - getting us through those hard times. Thanks for your prayers for our family. We see God's provision and grace each day and we know these things come as a direct result of your prayers! |
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