What a blessing it was to have my good friend, Bishop Wesley Russ, in our home for several days. It was a little over two years ago that his precious wife, Janice Robinson Russ, died. What a beautiful couple they were as they served in the Kingdom of God and in the church.
I met Janice and her family when I was a freshman at Emmanuel College in 1952. Her father, Robert Robinson, was the CEO of Advocate Press. They lived in an apartment in the old large building with an auditorium that held the delegates and visitors of our General Conferences in years gone by.
After one year at Emmanuel College, I was going to be drafted in the United States Army, and I did not want to be drafted. So, I went down to the Marine Corps Recruiters to join. Little did I know that after 12 weeks of Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC, that I would be selected to play trombone in the Quantico, Marine Band. At first, I attended chapel services on base; however, my parents encouraged me to try out the National Pentecostal Holiness Church in Washington, DC. I did not have a car, so I hitchhiked some 33 miles to DC to attend our church there.
That is where I saw the Robinson family again and they treated me like a son. It was there I felt loved and accepted in our church and in the home of the Robinsons.
It was there at the National Pentecostal Holiness Church where I met Lonnie and Betty Rex in 1954.
Pastors Ray Stewart and Walter J. Nash served as pastor in succession. I had known the Nash family at Emmanuel College: Walter J., Frances, James, Bill, and Marshall. Marshall married Oral Roberts oldest daughter Rebecca. Marshall and Rebecca Nash were killed in an airplane crash in Kansas when I was president of Southwestern College.
God, in His providence, allowed me to be stationed at Quantico for the three years I served in the Marine Corps. I departed Quantico on August 3, 1956. Our Stephanie departed earth for heaven on August 3, 2012. I don't think that is by coincidence.
I met Janice and her family when I was a freshman at Emmanuel College in 1952. Her father, Robert Robinson, was the CEO of Advocate Press. They lived in an apartment in the old large building with an auditorium that held the delegates and visitors of our General Conferences in years gone by.
After one year at Emmanuel College, I was going to be drafted in the United States Army, and I did not want to be drafted. So, I went down to the Marine Corps Recruiters to join. Little did I know that after 12 weeks of Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC, that I would be selected to play trombone in the Quantico, Marine Band. At first, I attended chapel services on base; however, my parents encouraged me to try out the National Pentecostal Holiness Church in Washington, DC. I did not have a car, so I hitchhiked some 33 miles to DC to attend our church there.
That is where I saw the Robinson family again and they treated me like a son. It was there I felt loved and accepted in our church and in the home of the Robinsons.
It was there at the National Pentecostal Holiness Church where I met Lonnie and Betty Rex in 1954.
Pastors Ray Stewart and Walter J. Nash served as pastor in succession. I had known the Nash family at Emmanuel College: Walter J., Frances, James, Bill, and Marshall. Marshall married Oral Roberts oldest daughter Rebecca. Marshall and Rebecca Nash were killed in an airplane crash in Kansas when I was president of Southwestern College.
God, in His providence, allowed me to be stationed at Quantico for the three years I served in the Marine Corps. I departed Quantico on August 3, 1956. Our Stephanie departed earth for heaven on August 3, 2012. I don't think that is by coincidence.