Russell Willingham

Russell Willingham surrendered his life to Jesus in 1978 at the tender age of sixteen. From that point on, he sought to know God more deeply and to immerse himself in Scripture. As a teenager, he often hiked into the desert to find some place to pray and worship. His pursuit of God was motivated not only by a desire to grow but also by a desire to heal from painful childhood traumas.

For the next nine years, he continued to study and pray. He assisted his pastor in preaching and teaching responsibilities and also spoke at open-air events and youth rallies. In 1987, God called him to move from the California desert to the Central Valley of California. Based on a word from the Lord (“I have a work for you to do in Fresno”), he packed up his belongings and relocated his wife and small son three hundred miles north.

In Fresno, God did two things. Number one, while working in the sheet metal industry, God used him to plant a small church and serve as an associate pastor at another church. Number two, God allowed the cracks in his marriage to surface. During this time, all of the buried trauma from his childhood came screaming to the top as well.

With great reluctance, he sought out a Christian therapist. He thought his life was falling apart, but this is when (to his great surprise) his life began falling into place. The process involved horrible pain, profound depression, and a complete reevaluation of his faith. He didn’t leave his faith or try to “deconstruct” it, but he did go back and ruthlessly examine what he believed.

From that time on, he determined to find out the truth about Jesus and the Bible and get rid of any religious myths or distortions that he carried. The first thing to go was his religious pride as he came face-to-face with the lifelong brokenness he’d been running from since childhood. The psychological insights he discovered didn’t drive him further from Christ or Scripture; instead, these truths plunged him deeper into both. Jesus began to touch the wounds in his life and slowly remake Russell into a healthier version of himself.

In 1993, when he was offered a full-time position with New Creation Ministries, the Lord told him, “This is ‘the work’ I was referring to back in the desert.” On that basis, he quit his prevailing wage job and joined a ministry that relied on donations. He hasn’t looked back since.

Since joining NCM, he has become a sought-after speaker. He has traveled around the United States speaking to such diverse groups as Cru, Youth For Christ, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, The Restored Hope Network, The American Association of Christian Counselors, and many churches, retreats, and conferences. His first book, Breaking Free, was published by InterVarsity Press in 1999. It has sold over forty-two thousand copies and has been translated into Polish and Dutch. His second InterVarsity book, Relational Masks, was published in 2004. This book was translated into Korean. He is excited to introduce his newest book, The Relational Revolution.

Russell loves to write and speak, but his first love is counseling. For him, there’s nothing better than sitting down one-on-one with somebody who is broken and looking for hope (and isn’t that all of us sometimes?). The Relational Revolution emerges from over thirty years of walking with people through some of their deepest darkness and greatest breakthroughs.

Russell lives with his wife, Paula, in Fresno, California. They have three grown children with families of their own. They love to spend time with their five grandchildren and the delightful, quirky friends God has given them.