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HOW GOD PROVIDED FOR US DURING OUR FIRST PASTORATE
[In Jim’s words from tape he dictated shortly before he died].

Jim Russell & Darlene Miller engagement Picture 1964We drove into Council, Idaho late one cold, snowy night in the fall of 1967 and located the parsonage, a log house, which was to be our new home.  It was about 9:30 p.m. so there was no one to meet us, but the door was unlocked so we went inside.  It was freezing, but I found enough kindling to start a fire in the wood stove.  Our daughter, Melody, was only one and a half years old and we were concerned about her being too cold.  Darlene tried to warm her baby blanket and it caught on fire, but we were able to quickly get it out. We didn’t have a bed yet so the three of us cuddled on blankets on the floor near the wood stove and soon were cozy.  Just before going to sleep, Darlene and I thanked the Lord for bringing us there safely and that He would use us for His glory in our first pastorate.  

On Sunday morning, we were excited about our first service and meeting our new congregation.  We were surprised, though, how few people actually attended the church.  There was a total of about 15 adults and teens and a half dozen kids.  It was not a great beginning for a couple who had spent years of Bible study in preparation; but, we tackled our new charge as though it was the greatest and largest church in the world!  Also, we soon found out that the congregation would not be able to support us because most of the adults were women whose unsaved husbands would not allow them to tithe. We immediately began to seek employment.  Since Council was a small town, jobs were not plentiful and it wasn’t long before we had depleted our savings and were out of money.  However, we believed that since God had called us there, He would provide and, therefore, we did not tell our relatives and friends of our situation.  

Photo of Lyle B. Spradley from 1964 NU YearbookWe still had a little food left, but no meat for a long time with the exception of one hamburger that we had shared a few weeks before. Then, there was another difficulty.  The battery in my car quit working.   I knew that in order to pastor the church effectively, I needed a vehicle that would run.  So, I went to see the local gas station owner and he agreed to give me a battery on credit and I told him that I would pay him with the first $25.00 I received.  

Several weeks later, a letter arrived in the mail from Lyle B. Spradley who, at that time, was the Northwest District Secretary-Treasurer for the Assemblies of God and Darlene had previously served as his executive secretary.   Rev. Spradley wrote that he felt the Lord leading him to send us an offering and enclosed $25.00.  After we praised the Lord, I went immediately to pay the gas station owner. (Darlene didn’t know where I had gone because I had decided to wait awhile before telling her about the battery).  When I returned, she wanted to go to the grocery store to buy some much needed food.  She showed me her grocery list.  The first item was a couple pounds of meat and then there were seven other staples she felt were necessary.  As an after thought, she had added a couple of other items if there was enough money.  I can’t remember one of them, but the other was graham crackers for Melody because she just loved them and had not had any for a long time.  I told Darlene with tears in my eyes, “Honey, I’m sorry, but the money is already gone.  I just paid the gas station owner for a battery for our car that he let me have on credit.”  Although she was disappointed, she understood and accepted this.

It wasn’t much later that day that there was a knock on our door.  The couple standing there introduced themselves as the pastor and wife of the Assembly of God in McCall, Idaho.  We invited them inside and enjoyed a nice time of fellowship.  When they were getting ready to leave, they told us that while their congregation had been in prayer the previous Wednesday night, the Lord had led them to get together some groceries for us.  They said they would put them on our front porch.  We thanked them and, as soon as they left, brought in the four or five large boxes of groceries and proceeded to go through them.  We felt like kids at Christmas-time!  We were amazed that those boxes contained the first eight items on Darlene’s grocery list, only most everything was in bulk.  Instead of a couple of pounds of meat, there were probably 100 or 150 lbs., including steaks and roasts as well as hamburger.  Also, it was interesting that there wasn’t anything included in those boxes that hadn’t been on her list!  

Photo of the Late Rev. Roland BuckWe spent a time thanking and praising the Lord.  Then, I started to tease Darlene and said, “I guess God really blew it, though.  There were two other items you added to your list, but you only got eight out of ten!”  The words were hardly out of my mouth before there was another knock on our door.  This time it was a lady from our church family who appeared to be in distress with her hands behind her back.  I was quite concerned and asked what I could do to help her.  She glanced at me and then shyly put her head back down, and was obviously embarrassed.  She replied, “I don’t understand this, but all morning I kept feeling I should go to the grocery store and buy your family a couple of things that seemed a bit unusual.  It was driving me crazy until I did it.”  She then took her hands out from behind her back and handed me the last two items that had been at the bottom of Darlene’s grocery list.  So, Melody got her graham crackers after all!  We then had ten out of ten.  God supplied everything on the list!  This was one of the greatest miracles that we had ever seen in our lives or ministries and God used it to show us His faithfulness as we put our trust in Him.

Shortly after this, Darlene was hired at the local bank and I became a substitute school teacher and later a logger in addition to serving as pastor.  The church began to grow as people found Christ as their personal Savior.  

During the time we were in Council, I was mentored by Reverend Roland Buck, who was then the pastor of Central Assembly of God Christian Life Center in Boise, Idaho.  He was such a help, blessing and encouragement to us at his home and ours.  His visits to Council always inspired us.  Sometimes, he would stay overnight and minister in our church, but would never accept an offering.  On one occasion, he even brought his entire choir.  We used a larger building in town for the meetings and this was a tremendous blessing. [His daughter, Sharon (Roni), was a colleague of ours and she and Darlene had been friends even before then so it was extra special to become acquainted with her parents.  Later, after Pastor Buck went home to be with the Lord, Sharon wrote a book about him, The man who talked with angels, which was a blessing to us as well as Angels on assignment by Charles and Frances Hunter as told by Pastor Buck.  God also brought other Northwest alumni to encourage us including our good friends, George and Joyce Johnson, George Mull and Bill Finke as well as our sisters, Joan and Donna.  Other relatives and friends also came to visit and were such a blessing].   

As we look back on our experiences during our first pastorate, we realize how the Lord illustrated the Scripture that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).    

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