Friends of Russell Rice

Dear Friends,

We just heard that Rusty has been scheduled for a hearing on August 25th.  We do not know any details yet but plan to contact his lawyer’s office on Monday to find out more.  We will keep you updated.

Thank you all for your concern.

The Following is the April 2010 prayer letter for Rusty.  Feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions you might have.

Dear Family of God,

The Lord is so good! My heart is continually overjoyed when I ponder the many loved ones that pray for us. God has joined us together to share in this ministry, and we pray that God will bless every one of you for your prayers and faithfulness and genuine care for the work of the Lord.
Our men are doing well and the church is blessed as we continue to see God move here. So many men have come and gone through this work that it is hard sometimes to take it all in. We just had a man saved the last time my mother came to visit me. As soon as I returned from our visit, some of our men were waiting for me, so they could bring a lost man to talk to me. They had witnessed to him, but he wanted me to go over the Scriptures with him, and give him the chance to follow the Word of God in faith. He listened intently and then said he wanted to ask the Lord to forgive him and cleanse him in the blood of Jesus. He asked the Lord to be his Savior and become his Lord. What a blessing! Please pray for Jeff Herman as we rejoice with all of Heaven over the “one lost sheep” that has been found!
We also have another man who has recently accepted the Lord. However, he has just received some bad news. His name is James Powell, and he just discovered this week that he has lung cancer. I spoke with him just before they took him to the hospital and told him that I would have all of God’s people pray for him. I know I can count on you! Thanks!
Please pray for all of my precious family, especially for Hannah and Angel. They are on my heart without ceasing. I thought that there was joy in my sin “for a season,” but when the chastening hand of God steps in, even after full repentance, there is always a continual counting of the things that you should, could, and would have done differently. Please pray for my girls concerning the things that only God can do for them now.
One last request would be pray for my appeal hearing. Last fall it was postponed until “spring.” I had hoped to have a date by the time of this letter, but as of now, no date has been set. This verse is my human desire: “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink; but I trust to come unto you and speak face to face that our joy may be full.” (2 John 12) But as Jesus said, “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”
I love you all and thank God for every single one of you.
Love,
Rusty

Contact Information:
Russell Rice 301294
E-A 55 LCI
PO Box 205
Ridgeville, SC 29472

Ministry Opportunity For You??

So many men have not one single person on the outside. If you could only see the men who stand around the sergeant with tears in their eyes, hoping for a letter each day. Some of them have been standing there for years with no word from anyone.
We are pursuing a new ministry that I believe many of you may want to get involved with. My sisters have a burden to better connect our many co-laborers with the men in our ministry—something that I have felt the need of for a while. I am going to start gathering letters from our men, and perhaps men of our other churches in other dorms. I will send them myself to Charity, for security and policy reasons, and she can distribute them to anyone interested in corresponding. If you feel the heart to respond to these letters, you could write a letter and send it to them directly (so they will have the joy of getting mail!) For your security, you would put “Paul and Silas Ministries” (our church name) as the return address, without an actual address.
My family can gather, over time, a mailing list of correspondents. This would be such a productive link in this potentially heart-stirring ministry. God may just be drafting you to take a few minutes and encourage one of his little lambs!

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, ‘Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’” (Matthew 25:40)

If God is calling you to be a part of this ministry, please contact my sister, Charity (facebook, or email: hallcharity67@gmail.com)

Our family is so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love that we really don’t know how to thank you. The cards, flowers, plants, food, blog comments, phone calls, visits…I could go on and on….it has all been so incredible! There was such a great turnout for the visitation and the funeral! And many, many people have graciously apologized for not being able to come…isn’t it amazing how many people can be impacted by just one person’s life?!!

Mingled among all those expressions of love were the testimonies of how God used my dad to touch lives. I’ve learned so much this past week about my Daddy. We thought we knew him pretty well, but we have learned even more! As people shared their hearts with us this week, many of them relayed detailed descriptions of how Daddy led them to the Lord, or counseled them through a particularly difficult experience, or mentored them spiritually. Those were such sweet stories. I did know that he was always available to people, because he always answered the phone at our house (any hour of the day or night) and often after he hung up, he’d have to go see someone at the hospital, or he and mom would go meet a couple at the church. I’m ashamed to admit that, as a kid, I sometimes resented that. I selfishly wanted him to myself. As I grew up and matured, I began to understand the significance of those interruptions. But this week I have gained an even deeper understanding of their significance. I’ve heard the other side of those stories. I’ve heard from those people who needed him, and I know now how important it was for him to be there for them.  God was using him to rescue lives, marriages, and sometimes ministries. It has broadened my whole perspective and has given me a greater appreciation for my dad’s life and ministry. So I want to thank you all for candidly sharing with us what Dad did for you and what he meant to you. It has enriched our lives more than we can express.

We feel strongly that your prayers have played a huge part in the way God has carried us. You have obediently answered God’s call to lift up our family in prayer, and He has faithfully sustained us in so many little (and big!) ways. We are so grateful. Would you please continue to pray for us? The next few weeks and months are certainly going to be difficult, and we would appreciate your prayers.

I must say that death has a way of deepening one’s appreciation for God’s grace and for the cross of Christ. Our hope of eternity rests on that sacrifice and that demonstration of love and grace! Without it, we have nothing… and with it, we have everything. Because of God’s incredible love, we will see my Dad again. Until then, we have the assurance that he is with the Lord, and we have the responsibility to carry on the work of the kingdom. We’ll leave you with this final thought…it was one of Daddy’s favorite quotes: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Thank you again for your love and prayers,

The Rices

Just got home from the mortuary, and wanted to let you all know the plan. McDougald Funeral Home (in Anderson) is handling everything, and we will be there at the mortuary Thursday evening, Aug. 7, to receive friends from 6 to 8 pm. In case you need to get directions, their address is 2211 North Main St, Anderson. The phone number there is (864) 224-4343. This will be the time to speak to Mom if you’re wanting to do that…because of the nature of the arrangements, there really won’t be a chance to do that at the funeral.

The funeral will be on Friday, Aug. 8 at 2 pm at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Greenville. That address is 3931 White Horse Rd, Greenville. He will lie in state in the sanctuary of Tabernacle on Friday from noon until 2 pm. We’ll have a private family graveside service following the funeral.

Dad really made this decision process easy on us, because he handled much of it ahead of time.  He had clearly communicated alot of his wishes to Mom, so that has made this much easier for all of us. One of his main requests was that it be a time of celebration. He would want it to be upbeat and happy, not sad and depressing. Please come ready to celebrate his wonderful life and ministry, and to praise God with us for the gift that he was to all of us.

We look forward to seeing you,

The Rices

I know you all are anxiously awaiting the news of the arrangements, and hopefully we’ll have it all finalized by this afternoon, and I’ll update you…but in the meantime, I just wanted to testify to you of the incredible grace of God that we’re experiencing! I want God to receive all the glory that He deserves, so I feel like the rocks are going to cry out if I don’t let you all know how GOOD GOD IS!!!!

I have never experienced the grace of God like I have these past few days. Can’t really describe it except to say that we are being “carried”…like that old Footprints poem. We literally feel carried right now. Every single detail of this whole experience has had the fingerprints of God all over it. The timing alone, for so many of the events, has been miraculous. Over and over we keep seeing how perfect God’s timing is. And then there’s that “sufficient grace” that keeps showing up…sometimes unrecognized in the moment, but always there. Always. God is so good. And even in the “valley of the shadow of death” we can fear no evil, because He Is With Us!! This is no cliche’- His Presence is Here!! It’s so real that it’s almost tangible!! I keep thinking of the words of that psalm: a “very present help in trouble” –He is a VERY PRESENT help!!

My new favorite book is my Daddy’s Bible. I always thought my Bible was my favorite book, but if you could read my Daddy’s Bible right now, you’d know what I mean. Every page, literally, is filled with highlights and notes. Some sermon outlines, some personal thoughts, and some prayers written out in his own sweet handwriting…it is incredible. Words from my Heavenly Father and words from my earthly father, all in one book. God is using that book to sustain me right now.

I hope you all can understand why I’m writing this to you…even though I know you came here to get the information about the arrangements, I had to tell you what God’s doing in direct answer to your prayers for our family. Already this morning over 500 of you have checked this blog, so I know my Daddy would want me to use this opportunity to give God the glory.

In His Grip,

Charity, for all the Rices

Daddy went home to be with the Lord about an hour ago. He was completely at peace. We were all surrounding him, praying with him, singing to him, and holding his hands. It was beautiful, actually.

We all have wonderful memories of our last day with him…yesterday there were alot of family members and friends here, and we sang to him all afternoon and evening. We read Scripture passages to him and prayed with him. The nurse who came to check on him said she could see signs that he was aware of what we were doing. She told us that when she walked in the room she could tell that this man was very loved, because the whole room was so full of love.

All through the night and all morning today, we felt that the end was near. That was probably the hardest part of this…knowing that we were saying goodbye, feeling that heaviness, and yet clinging to the hope that he would soon be with the Lord. Thank you for your prayers. We all felt God’s peace and comfort so strongly.

All morning we were listening to a CD by Lance Carpenter, and as Daddy was leaving us, a song was playing….”The Lord giveth and He taketh away. Blessed be the Name of the LORD. I’ve served Him before, and I’ll serve Him today. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” I keep hearing that song in my mind, and I’m praying that we’ll all be able to keep those words in our hearts throughout the coming days.

Please continue to pray for us. We’ll let you know the arrangements as soon as possible.

Charity

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”  II Tim. 4:6-7

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven…We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”  II Cor. 5: 1-2, 8

Please continue to pray for Daddy. He is still resting peacefully. And please pray for all of us…we need God’s grace moment by moment now. We are completely relying on His strength, and He is faithfully sustaining us through this. His grace truly is sufficient!

“Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”  Ps. 63:7

The Rices