Russell Stendal

Russell is the oldest of Chad & Pat’s four children. At the age of four while his family was living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he prayed and asked God to call his parents to be missionaries. God answered that prayer and within just a few years the whole family was in Colombia as missionaries. He married a lovely Colombian lady named Marina and they have 4 children, Lisa, Alethia, Russell Jr., and Dylan.

When Russell was 27 years old, he was kidnapped by the Marxist guerrillas called the FARC. The story of his kidnapping is told by him in the book he wrote titled Rescue the Captors. His reason for the title is because he realized that his captors were more prisoners than he was. There was a chance he would be released, but most of his kidnappers were young boys who had been taken from their families, given a weapon and taught to kill. They are threatened with death to themselves and/or their families should they try to escape. Not to mention their spiritual captivity.

He has published about 20 books in English and some 40 Spanish titles. Most of his time recently has been editing the Spanish Bible written by Casiodoro de Reina in 1569. Russell has been running a 24 hour Christian radio station out in the southeastern plains of Colombia, which reaches into an area that is mostly guerrilla controlled, but also reaches some drug traffickers and some paramilitary. Russell also has an extensive ministry as guest speaker in churches around the world.