Note to Electronic (EFT) Donors August 6, 2011

As you know, my time with Pioneers and the Edge is coming to a close. My official last day is August 31st. However, since my support account is in deficit Pioneers has decided to leave my account open through the end of the year (December 31st) if necessary. I have been asked to make sure you know, as an EFT donor, that should you decide to continue supporting after August, that your support is going toward my deficit since I will no longer be in active service with Pioneers. It would be a great encouragement to Brian and I if you were able to see us through the end of the deficit, but totally understand if you feel like you cannot continue.

If you decide you’d like to cancel your EFT before the end of the deficit, you will need to contact the Finance department at Pioneers at 407-382-6000 or finance@orlandoteam.com. If you decide to stay on, you do not have do anything. All EFT gifts will be cancelled when the deficit is gone (which will be no later than January 1st).

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

You’ve been a steadfast pillar of support. Thank you for being a faithful supporter.

Grace and peace,

~Mary

Too Many Questions… June 30, 2011

I’ve found myself in a particularly weird place lately. I have been able to experience many, usually conflicting feelings, all at the same time. Excitement, fear, anticipation, grief, joy, and worry. Along with that comes the ability to see God working in amazing ways in some areas and then others, well, leaves me shaking my fist toward the sky asking “Why?”

Sometimes I wonder what a counselor or psychologist would think of my trust “issues.” God, friends, family, even myself: none are immune from my suspicions and accusations of failure.

So, I’m left in a constant place of “Now what?” Am I going to stay in this funk, this peculiar place of questions and waning? I’m not a glutton for punishment so I want out. I always assume the way out is this perfectly planned path. I assume because I try so hard to be ordered and well thought out that things should go well for me; not just well, but awesome. And somehow, that’s not the case.

And that all leads to feeling guilty about it all. How dare I feel dissatisfied with how things are going. Other people have it way harder than me and I have so much to be grateful for. So where does the dissatisfaction come from?

Does it go back to trust? If I trusted that it was God who planned out this moment would it make things better? I know, I trust, that God sees everything; that he knows what’s going on.

So if I know that, I mean really, truly, deeply know that, what does that mean? Where does that leave me?

It leaves me selfishly shaking my fists at the sky wondering why things aren’t going my way. I need to stop being so selfish.

Russell Family Pledge Drive November 15, 2010

Just wanted to let you know that Brian and I are having a pledge drive for my support! Check it out! Brian’s got all the details on his blog:  Russell Family Pledge Drive Even our two puppies are getting involved!

The Call Goes Out… September 23, 2010

Story’10 is a missions conference from Pioneers which invites you to be a part of God’s story among the unreached peoples of the world.  You’ll hear first-hand accounts of how God is moving in the world from missionaries fresh off the field from areas like Thailand, Central Asia, Indonesia, Europe, South America, Africa and more!  There’s even a track specifically for kids!  For more information check out pioneers.org/story!

Full Circle September 13, 2010

Four years ago, while I was in India, children followed us everywhere in the villages. The guys on my team had a good grasp on what the boys wanted to do: play. The other girl on my team and I spent a lot of time with the young girls. They couldn’t understand us, and we couldn’t understand them, but none of us cared. One day, we got buckets of water and shampoo and washed these girls’ hair. For some of them, it seemed like it must have been the first time, but they liked it. We brushed and combed their hair too and nothing will get those smiles out of my mind.

This year I have been a part of planning for summer Edge teams to go out. We sent another Edge team (pic below) to the same villages.  They worked with the same kids, four years later. The girls on the team played with these same  young girls again. But something happened. Two of the little girls gave their lives to Christ. Four years ago my teammates and I planted seeds in tough terrain. And four years later, a group came by to harvest.

How awesome is God? He is moving in India, and we were a part of it! It’s not easy or quick or glamorous, but He is worth everything!

Please pray for these two new believers in Christ. That He would continue to grow their faith. And also for these other children that follow in the villages, that everything they hear would be a seed planted, and in God’s perfect timing would produce glorious fruit!

ETC Training Day 1 June 4, 2010

Today was day one of two of our Edge Team Coordinator training. Our goals for our ETCs for this training time are:

• To grow in their spiritual and character formation, discerning what it means to lead by dependence on the Holy Spirit.
• To develop specific leadership skills in participatory servant leadership as they facilitate small groups, address tensions and conflict on their teams, and develop others on their team by empowering them to lead in their areas of gifting.
• To begin forming a ministry philosophy that will help them finish well as a leader.

Tonight’s talk was on servant leadership. Tomorrow we’ll have sessions on conflict resolution and healthy teams, leading a bible study, logistical responsibilities, and their roles at orientation.

Please be praying for these leaders as they come into this summer. Some have just finished hard semesters at school and others have stepped away from busy jobs to pursue missions. Please pray that the staff would be an encouragement to these leaders and the other Edgers as they arrive.

2010 Orientation Countdown May 20, 2010

Well, we’re in the home stretch before this year’s orientation. Yesterday was 2 weeks ’til I’ll be in West Palm Beach at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA). I will arrive early afternoon on Wednesday the 2nd, along with a few other core staff members.

Our Edge Team Coordinators (ETCs) will arrive on Friday the 4th. That evening through Saturday we will be covering with them:

• Servant Leadership
• Teams
• Conflict Resolution and Healthy Teams
• Leading a Bible Study (Book of John)
• Logistical Responsibilities

I’m responsible for the “logistical responsibilities” session as well as investing in these leaders.

The rest of the Edgers will arrive on Sunday the 6th. Here’s what we’ll be covering with them:

• “Myths about Missions – Why are you really going?”
• “Attitudes that Impact Teams”
• “Spiritual Readiness”
• Country Breakouts Session (I’m helping with the one on India)
• “Spiritual Warfare”
• “Culture Stress, Culture Learner”
• “Personalities”
• “Security Issues on the Field”
• “Gender Issues on the Field”
• “Grace and Teams”
• “Cross-cultural Evangelism”
• “Pioneers- Who are we?”

So that’s what is coming up in 2 weeks. I can’t believe it is already here! Please join me in praying for:

• the remaining details to come together
• for the Edgers as some are college students finishing the semester
• for the remainder of the Edgers funds to come in
• for the m*ssion*ries as they prepare to welcome the teams

Thanks team! Love ya!

Do you know that God is good? April 28, 2010

Hi, it’s Brian, Mary’s husband!  Mary let me post on her blog today to share with you an update about trusting in God’s faithfulness.

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photo by Jason Labombard, edited by Brian Russell

Do you know that God is good?  Can you feel it in your soul that He loves you?  That He cares for you?  Do you trust Him?

“O Sovereign LORD, you are God!  Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.” -2 Sam. 7:28

Do you know that God is good?

This journey that we have been on to raise support has been an interesting one.  We’ve experienced times of great love and compassion, where we really felt God moving us into these roles.  The doors that opened for Mary to move onto The Edge seemed perfectly timed.  Like someone had a hand on the situation.

But it’s not always so perfect.  We’ve never gotten fully supported.  As we began raising support, we had many one-time gifts that have been getting us through.  Mary, in essence, took a pay-cut to stretch the funds out for a time.  And yet, we’ve hovered around 50% for the entire year that Mary has been in her role.

This has led us to prayer on many occasions, and I think that’s a good thing.  I’m thinking that God wants us to trust in His love for us.  To trust the words that He provided for us.  To accept in our soul that He loves us, even if our situation seems bleak and dire.

We’ve received gifts from many people, and it’s humbling.  It’s a humbling experience to ask people for money.  Sometimes from people who you don’t necessarily think should be giving anything away… but to see people sacrificing the things of this world to support us in our work with Pioneers to see unreached people hear the gospel is an amazing and humbling experience.

As we’ve been praying, God has provided 72% for this month with some special gifts!  Praise God!  This is a 22% increase from the previous months, and we are prayerfully trusting in the Lord to supply the last 28% to bring us to 100% for this month, and bring the monthly/yearly partners with the 50% that we need to be at full support every month!

If you would like to partner with us prayerfully or financially, we would love to hear from you!  You can email us at brianandmary (at) ymail (dot) com, or you can give here!

Thank you to all of you who have given and prayed for us!  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We’re not there yet, but every single gift is a blessing that shows us how much God is deserving of our trust and love.  To Him be the glory!

“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” -2 Cor. 9:8

Who’s in the details? April 14, 2010

Things are really starting to come together for the trips this summer. We are praying that the devil stays out of the details. The Edgers just had their first finance deadline and over half of them made it! So, I guess it’s not really a deadline, but rather a hurdle.

The next thing on their plates is to get their passports and visa applications turned in. This means lots for me to do here in the Edge office. I will be reviewing visa applications and sending them off to the right embassies. We’ve already had two come in! It’s a lot of details to cover, but it’s neat to see it all coming together. I’m also working on getting flights for our 17 teams (77 people so far).

We’re getting some pretty interesting questions from the edgers like, ”What’s a passport photo?” and ”When am I supposed to be there?”. Please be praying for the edgers as they have to be paying attention to a lot of details and for some, this will be their first time out of the country.

Speak O Lord March 26, 2010

Speak O Lord

By: Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Speak O Lord as we come to You

To receive the food of Your holy word

Take Your truth plant it deep in us

Shape and fashion us in Your likeness

That the light of Christ might be seen today

In our acts of love and our deeds of faith

Speak O Lord and fulfill in us

All Your purposes for Your glory

Teach us Lord full obedience, holy reverence, true humility

Test our thoughts and our attitudes, in the radiance of Your purity

Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see

Your majestic love and authority, words of power that can never fail

Let their truth prevail over unbelief

Speak O Lord and renew our minds

Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us

Truths unchanged from the dawn of time

That echo down through eternity

And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises

And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us

Speak O Lord  till Your church is built

And the earth is filled with Your glory