Itinerant Minister

i-tiner-ant

• (adjective) Traveling from place to place, especially to perform work or a duty: an itinerant judge; itinerant labor.
• (noun) One who travels from place to place.

Bob Russell
Semi-Retired Minister
by invitation.

Bob Russell is a semi-retired Church of Christ minister. Most recently serving as full time minister for the Riverview Church of Christ in Bakersfield, CA, from 1999 to 2008. Now, Bob & Laura are full-time RVing, serving the Lord's Church, by invitation.

Our goal is to work with churches for a few weeks/months at a time to help meet local preaching & teaching needs and minister to the congregations. We are currently serving in California, Nevada and Oregon pursuing the opportunities the Lord places before us.

It is our hope to be able to continue providing our efforts without cost to the local congregations. In March of 2010 Bob got a wake up call in Reno Chest Pain Center, so once again our schedule is under scrutiny. We will be backing off from the stress even more and moving away from long stays with each church. Our expense vs. income continues to be upside down. As the itinerant judges and preachers of yesteryear, some things may just have to wait until we work around the curcuit. For the next few months we need to stay within a day's drive (with MH) of Yerington as mom's condition is deteriorating.

When we embarked into this ministry our motto had been "Will preach for RV hookup". We have since discovered that this is not realistic since most all towns limit the time an occupied RV can be parked next to a church; usually 7 days. Therefore, we have invested in RV campground memberships which provide discounted rates in order to reduce our living expenses. Often these membership parks are within commuting distance of the churches where we are currently working. (MAP & DIRECTORY of resorts in CA, NV, AZ, UT & OR) (All USA map)

1st Year Report

 

March 4, 2009 was the first anniversary of leaving Bakersfield to begin the Have Bible Will Travel ministry. We have been blest every day and the Lord has blest His church through us: nine souls were baptized in northern CA. During the first year we received $1,600 in gifts from private Christian families and $0 from weddings, funerals and preaching. Praise Him for His goodness.

 

We have been surprised by how little need exists for ministry and preaching help. Clearly I had overestimated the existing needs for part time preaching assistance. But, having said that, the Lord led us to Olivehurst, CA, where He has given an amazing harvest. The health concerns that made our retirement from full-time ministry necessary are being met one-day-at-a-time by the Great Physician. Financially, its still SS check to SS check.

 

November 2009 update: We are spending the winter in Pahrump NV and helping out at the church here. One additional baptism at Olivehurst this past summer. To date, there still has been no further interest or invitations from the group of Churches of Christ in which I worked all my life, except Olivehurst CA. Therefore I am now sharing the gospel with a wider circle of opportunities in the churches of Christ where the Lord is opening doors and closing others. The physical/emotional limitations which made retirement from full time ministry necessary have persisted. We will continue in 2010 to serve the Lord wherever He leads us and He gives us the strength and ability to serve. Praise Him for His goodness.

 

January 2010 update: We have acccepted an invitation form The Dalles Church of Christ to come to Oregon this summer. This addition has our Spring-Summer-Fall schedule pretty much full (but like Jello, there is always room for more). We are still seeking opportunities where we might be needed in the south (warmer) in the Winter.

 

2nd Year Report (in progress)

 

February 2010. The end of our second year finds us in Reno, NV, where mom (Inez Russell, 87) has been hospitalized for several weeks. Since dad (92) is camping out with us in his RV parked next to ours and is out of his normal "stomping ground" in Yerington, NV, we are here to support him until he returns home. As the next weeks/months unfold I am already cancelling preaching appointments. This may be the beginning of the end of our semi-retirement ministry as I fail to keep scheduled appointments. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for abandoning the needs of elderly parents to support the operation of the church (collection plate), I believe I would be remiss in doing the same. Support we received in 2009: weddings, funerals & preaching $400, gifts & contributions $0. Praise Him for His goodness.

 

If the Lord is willing, we will return to "itinerant ministry" when He is ready. Having no invitations from the group of Churches of Christ in which I have worked for 50+ years (code: NC & NCp), our invitations since leaving Bakersfield in 2008 have been and continue to be in the mainstream congregations (code: " "), where great need for Bible preaching continues to be more than I can meet. The call to personal ministry in campgrounds is daily and we have been able to help many RV'ers over the past 2 years. Praise Him for His goodness.

 

March 3, 2010 A heart glitch put Bob in Reno(n) Chect Pain Center for a couple days, follow up visits/tests during the next month. Our schedule is suspended pending outcome. We may have to go into a new mode of working witout advance scheduling ... you know, winging it. I have delivered many sermons on Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own", now its time to listen to myself. Unlike Atlas, I can't hold up the whole world!

 

Support

 

 

Our semi-retirement ministry was not planned to begin for a few more years and we were not really prepared to retire. But, in 2007 we were blind-sided by physical and emotional problems making this immediate life-style change necessary.

 

We began this Abram-like odessy (Heb. 11:8b) with Paul's ideals as a pattern. Paul's goal to preach the Gospel "..free of charge" to the local church, (1 Cor 9:18). And because our efforts are aimed at small, struggling churches, then another of Paul's ideals, "..not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you", (1 Thess 2:9 and 2 Thess 3:8).

However, these ideals must be balanced against the Lord's command, "..the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."

 

We began this on a shoestring and that shoestring is becoming frayed by many rising costs, medical bills and the economic down-turn. I would be happy to discuss our needs. We receive no sponsorship or support other than voluntary donations the local congregations might make to offset some of our travel & living costs while we are with them.

Click to make a donation to help support the Have Bible Will Travel ministry (via PayPal).

Links:

Jessie & Paytan's Blog

Heart Mind & Soul Gospel Quartet

Robert Odell Russell is a fan of

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