About Us

Russell has been a member of the Lord’s church for 25 years. He is a 2004 graduate of the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions, now the Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies located in Knoxville, TN. Along with being the developer and director of NEIE he also serves as the pulpit evangelist for the Media Church of Christ in Media, PA.

He has served in the U.S. doing mission work in Pennsylvania; New Jersey; Tennessee; Indiana; Oklahoma; Texas and Delaware. He has worked mission fields overseas in India; Pohnpei, Micronesia; and in Venezuela.

He earned a B.S. in Bible from the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions, now the South East Institute of Biblical Studies. He has been reaching out to the lost with the saving message of the gospel for over twenty-five years. He has done short term missions in Tamil Nadu, India; the island of Pohnpei (Micronesia) and Venezuela. Russell has also traveled to at least eight states in the U.S. over the last eleven years participating in Back to the Bible campaigns. He currently serves as the pulpit evangelist for the Media Church of Christ.

Brief history of early church work:

Russell was baptized at the Levittown Church of Christ in Levittown, PA where he helped with various worship duties and local evangelism; eventually would place membership with the Media congregation where he was encouraged to study further under the guidance of brother Jody Apple. After serving there in a limited capacity (hour south of Levittown) for a couple of years, he and his wife Cheryl, along with their toddler Jordan would place membership with the Sunset Road Church of Christ in Burlington, NJ.  At Sunset he became even more involved in outreach working with the pulpit evangelist brother Laruena Gilbert. He taught toddlers and teens, and became more involved with worship. While there, He and Cheryl, after much prayer and contemplation would make the decision in 2001 to attend ETSPM in Knoxville, TN.  The Sunset Road congregation would be the first congregation to get behind the DiGiorgio family to help fund their living expenses while attending ETSPM.

Traveling overseas for the first time:

Russell reflects after his first year of classes at ETSPM, “I remember meeting brother Don Iverson, a powerful evangelist and a missionary to India. He spoke on a Wednesday evening at the Karns Church of Christ about his work in India showing all these pictures on an old slide projector. I was so enthused by his fire for evangelism that I wanted to speak with him immediately. I pulled him aside outside of the building, introduced myself and told him how encouraged I was with the work that he was doing…it was in mid-sentence of singing his praises that he blurted out, “Do you want to go with me on a mission trip to India?”  Without hesitation I told him I would.  I later recalled while on our way there that my family and I had left for East Tennessee a year earlier on the exact same date that I was flying to India to reach the lost. It was July of 2002 that we had sold our house, packed our belongings into a U-Haul and left for ETSPM on the 12^th—not exactly sure how the Lord was going to use me, just going by faith. On July 12, 2003 I was on a flight to India. Many souls were won on that particular mission, and I came back even more fired up to share the gospel with the lost. Look out, when you ready to go, the Lord will send you!”

His philosophy about NEIE:

I thought after graduation that I would win the world to Christ and then, a few years later, reality set in. I realized after trial and error in the work of evangelism that it’s never meant to be done alone. The Scriptures are clear on the matter, but experience in the field illuminates the truth (1 Cor. 3:6-9), it is about team-work. Evangelism is not to be done in a vacuum (Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 8:4; Eph. 4:16, Col. 4:7ff). NEIE was established for this very reason…personal workers should produce not only disciples of the Lord, but also disciples who are personal workers. Where are the teachers among us? With more seed planters and water sprayers there will be more growth—that is God’s way (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6-8). Without a team, if a congregation experiences God’s increase through one sharing the message, that teacher will be responsible to help ground those who have been taught, if this continues this way the one teaching will lead to teacher burn out. With more than several teaching, the opportunity for true numerical growth can take place, not members skipping from one congregation to another. This way the work can survive.  Again, the vision is biblical…Paul taught Timothy, Timothy was to teach other faithful people, who would in turn teach others (2 Tim. 2:2), hence our vision: “We are committed to establishing seed sowers for the kingdom through classroom theory and practical application that they may learn to teach others to teach.”

“The Go As You Grow, Grow As You Go motto of the school is understood when one considers this point—new Christians are often very excited to share the gospel with a limited understanding of the Scriptures.  As they share the truth with others challenges will arise, which causes the new messenger to be driven back to the Scriptures for answers, which can cause more growth. We encourage our students to share with others what they are learning in their course work and then take time in class to hear how they are being challenged in the field.”

What Russell likes to do with downtime:

Read a good book; watch musical documentaries; listen to his favorite singer songwriters; ride his bike with his family; take walks; work out at the gym. He enjoys being a handyman at home and wherever he can help with his tools.

Jake is an instructor and recruiter for NEIE. He earned a Masters from Saint Josephs University and an undergraduate degree from Heritage Christian University. He has served as pulpit evangelist for the Northeast Philadelphia Church of Christ and the Cambridge Church of Christ, Cambridge, MD. He currently teaches Bible with the Overbrook Park Church of Christ in Philadelphia. Jake brings over twenty-eight years of ministry into the NEIE classroom.