Bro. Nick Russell
Short Bio – (In His Own Words)
I never grew up in church. I had occasionally attended churches throughout my childhood, but never regularly. My wife (Emily) and I were married in 2013, and within our first year of marriage we had our first child (Marissa). After Marissa was born, Emily said that she wanted to make sure her daughter grew up in church like she did. We started with a few churches around us, then ended up visiting White Oak Independent Baptist Church (a brand new church plant started by Emily’s brother Andrew McAfee). We began attending regularly, and after a couple of months the Lord convicted me of my need for salvation. At that moment I prayed for Jesus to come into my heart and save me.
Fast forward 4 years later to a camp meeting in West Memphis, Arkansas. While attending one of the services, God began to place on my heart the call to preach. I went to the alter that very service, and surrendered to God’s call to preach. We continued to grow under Pastor Andrew’s leadership, and eventually accepted the responsibility of leading the youth group. During our church’s camp meeting in April of 2023, God started dealing with me about pastoring and full time ministry. After talking with my wife, it was clear that the Lord was calling our family to serve him in the ministry. Not knowing exactly what He would have for us or where we would go, we began praying and trusting the Lord to show us His perfect will!