From Alabama To Ecuador

Nick Russell serves as youth leader for Anchors Church in Oneonta, Alabama. We talked about his path into ministry, the decades-long connection his church has with Ecuador, and what happened when he led youth mission teams there in 2023 and 2024. What came through in our conversation were the personal encounters — the moments that changed not only the people they met in Ecuador, but also the students who went with him.

From Volunteer to Youth Pastor

“I always loved youth ministry when I was in youth ministry. It was kind of my home away from home,” Nick said. After graduation, he stayed involved as a leader but never went to ministry college. “I always wanted to work in ministry, but I never took the steps to do that, and I was just working regular jobs, got married, had kids.”

By 2019, he believed his ministry role would always be as a lay leader. That year, he and his wife left Anchors Church to help his friend Brad Graydon with a church in Trussville, Alabama. Nine months later, Pastor Bill McDonald became Anchors’ pastor.

Nick grew up with Bill’s son, and after a phone call, they visited the church. Then Brad called with what he believed was a word from the Lord: “Nick, I believe the Holy Spirit is telling me to tell you that you need to go back to Oneonta, Alabama and you need to serve at Anchor’s Church… I believe He wants you guys to be the youth pastors.”

They returned in October 2019. On April 12, 2020—Nick’s birthday—they officially stepped into the role. “When we started, we had 11 students,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Lord, I just want to shepherd however many people are here.’”

Why Ecuador?

Anchors Church’s relationship with Ecuador runs deep. Nick’s pastor served there for more than 30 years. His daughter Leah and her husband Joel, and his son Seth and wife Caitlin, are missionaries there now. “Our church is very fond of Ecuador. We support many missionaries, but we support several missionaries in Ecuador,” Nick said.

Nick’s first trip came in 2007, when he was 14. “Back then, you just had to sign a waiver and release… We had a good youth pastor at the time so my parents were confident we would be okay.”

From Idea to Plane Tickets

In early 2024, during a youth conference, Nick challenged his group to dream. “Someone in our youth group said, ‘I want to go on a mission trip to Ecuador.’”

When he got home, he spoke with Joel and Leah. They had just had a team cancel for July — an opening that rarely comes up. “We ended up taking 19 people on the trip, including myself. Out of those 19, 13 had never been on a plane before,” Nick said.

Preparing Hearts and Minds

Preparation included practicing skits, praying together, and understanding how they might be perceived. “They’re not going to think these people love Jesus… They are thinking these white people are from the United States and they are coming here in their new boots and their clean clothes to tell us about a Jesus who loves us… So how do we break that barrier?… We have to allow the Holy Spirit to go before us… and get on their level.”

Practically, they packed for the environment: long pants, bug spray, and a list of foods and drinks to avoid.

Ministry on the Ground

The team’s main focus was Vacation Bible School (EBV in Spanish). Every morning they walked muddy trails to personally invite families. “There’s something to be said when someone walks down a muddy trail to your house… to personally invite you and your kids,” Nick said.

Games helped break the ice. One, similar to “the floor is lava,” had children climbing onto the visitors to avoid touching the ground. “At one time I had like 10 kids… climbing all over,” Nick said. One child had an accident on him, but Nick continued playing with him just the same. “Even though there’s a language barrier, they feel that love, they see that love.”

Beyond VBS

On their second trip, the team worked at the Hope House — a home for girls. They painted, handled maintenance, and prepared the space for the girls’ return. “We poured a foundation for a new church,” Nick said. “Whatever the need—if they need us to dig a ditch, then we’re gonna dig a ditch.”

Cultural Honor

One custom they experienced was chicha, a fermented drink made from chewed root mixed with milk.

“It’s a bowl of chewed up root, whether yucca root, ginger root… it can be pineapple. That’s the base of the chicha. But if you go to a village, it’s chewed up by a lady in the village and spit into a bowl. And it’s mixed with goat milk or some other type of milk or drink and it ferments. While they’re making this, they spit into it and mix it up and it ferments.” Drinking chicha is a sign of respect. “When you go to a village… they allow you to drink chicha,” Nick said.

Another delicacy? A live grub worm. “It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s got pinchers on it,” Nick said. Locals told him to bite it at the head so it wouldn’t bite his tongue. “To be honest with you, it tastes like butter and bacon.”

That moment sparked a friendship with a young man named Robinson, who now keeps in touch with Nick.

“Our relationship went to the next level… we’re friends on Facebook now and we talk a lot,” he said.

Testimony: A Man on Crutches

On the first trip, the team picked up a man on crutches for VBS. One of Nick’s students felt led to pray for him. They prayed, asked if he felt different, and when he said no, they prayed again — multiple times. Finally, the man said, “I feel a difference.”

A year later, they saw him at a fair. “This is the guy we prayed for last year… Now he could walk perfectly fine. He had a little bit of a limp, but he could walk on his own and he was working a job,” Nick said.

Testimony: A Boy with Burns

On the second trip, the team met a girl with an infected head wound and gave her antibiotic cream. Her family then asked if they could help her brother, who had severe burns from a gasoline accident.

Getting him to VBS meant carrying him up a muddy hill. Nick thought of a student named Andrew, who had recently bought boots with strong traction. “It was almost like a movie… he picked that kid up with so much pride,” Nick said.

Later, Andrew told him, “The Lord just confirmed my calling” to become a firefighter and EMT. He’s now preparing to start firefighter school in January.

Testimony: Students Stepping Up

Because Nick and his wife were sick for part of the second trip, he couldn’t be as hands-on as usual. That gave students the chance to lead. “Being a great leader doesn’t always mean that you do everything… Trust them to lead. Trust them to speak,” he said.

Instead of taking the Wednesday night message, he let four students share their testimonies. The youth worship team led without him. “Part of my job as a youth pastor is not only discipling the next generation in the word, but training them… to put it into action.”

Closing in Prayer

Nick ended our interview with a prayer:

“Father, we thank you today just for this conversation. Lord, you made a way for us to get to Ecuador, that these stories were possible. And Lord, first of all, I want to thank you for everything you did in Ecuador, in these students. Lord, my hope is that one day one of those students could be on a podcast like this, sharing a story of something that you did in their life on a mission trip that impacted their life forever.

’Cause Lord, I know that when I went, when I was 14, my life was changed forever and you did a work in me. So Father, I could only hope that anyone listening to this podcast, reading this in a magazine, hearing it on an audio podcast, my hope for them is that they would make the decision to go on a mission trip one day, to go and experience what it’s like to live in another country and live for you, to get out of the comfort zone of America, of Alabama, or wherever they may live, and to step into a place where comfort isn’t a thing to be a Christian — that it’s not comfortable to sit on your couch and watch church on a TV. They don’t get that privilege, but the joy and the peace that they have is the real thing.

And Father, my hope is that one day that anyone listening to this would be able to experience that same love and that same hope and that same peace that the people of Ecuador experience. And Lord, I pray for the people living in America that our eyes would be open and that we would stop playing church and that we would be the church. That we would step up and get in your word and spend time with you and stop living a Sunday to Sunday life and we would live an everyday devoted life to you and to continue to go and make disciples for your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”   

Nick and Lauren Russell serve together as youth pastors at Anchors Church in Oneonta, Alabama. Their shared heart for discipling the next generation has led them to guide students not only at home but also on the mission field—most recently to Ecuador, where their team saw lives transformed by the Gospel. For more information, visit www.anchorschurch.com/youth

Amanda Cheatwood is the publisher of Revival Magazine and founder of Revival House Publishing. She also hosts the Revival Talk podcast, where she shares conversations with pastors, missionaries, worship leaders, and everyday believers who are carrying revival into their communities. Through publishing, podcasting, and storytelling, Amanda’s heart is to highlight what God is doing in our day and remind readers and listeners alike that revival isn’t a distant dream—it starts with us. Learn more at RevivalMagazine.global