How my first published book “Wind Walkers A Life Governed by the Wind of Holy Spirit” was Born: A Testimony of Encounters, Breakthroughs, and Restoration…..
Over the years I wrote many books rooted in faith, the Kingdom of God, and even historical works that never found their way into publication. The cost of publishing always stood as a barrier, and like Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “He who observes the wind will not sow,” I often felt stuck between vision and impossibility. Yet the desire to steward what God placed in me never left, because His word declares that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29). Even with degrees in theology and years of ministry, I sensed there was more the Lord wanted to reshape in me. What I did not know was that a divine interruption was coming that would dismantle everything I thought I understood.
In 2016 I encountered the Lord in a way that shattered the theological framework I had built through study and achievement. Like Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, everything I thought I knew was brought into the light of His presence, and I realized how much of my understanding needed to be surrendered. Years later, on June 17, 2022, while studying John 3, Holy Spirit met me again with life‑altering clarity. After reading John 3:8, He whispered, “The Father wants you to become one of His WindWalkers,” and my spirit was stunned. As He often does, He confirmed His word through scripture, leading me to Romans 8:14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God,” and revelation ignited inside me.
I immediately began writing, and within eight months the manuscript for Wind Walkers: A Life Governed by the Wind of Holy Spirit was nearly complete. Yet the financial wall remained, and like the Israelites facing the Red Sea in Exodus 14, I could see no path forward. I knew there were unreliable publishing companies offering empty promises, but I longed for something trustworthy and proven. I wrestled with the reality of needing thousands of dollars to publish, trying to stretch every resource I had. Still, the vision would not leave me, because Habakkuk 2:3 reminds us that the vision awaits an appointed time and will not lie.
Everything shifted on November 13, 2023, during what seemed like an ordinary day. After stopping for gas on the way to an MRI, I bent to tie my shoe and collapsed as darkness overtook me, and when I awoke my speech was slurred. Hours later in the ER, the doctor told me I had suffered a stroke, and my blood pressure was dangerously high at 247/148. They transferred me to the hospital, running tests and explaining that the stroke had affected the area of the brain connected to memory. In that moment of uncertainty, Psalm 46:1 became real: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
The next morning, as the doctor explained the severity of the stroke, my phone rang. My friend and mentor, Paul Michel, told me the Lord had spoken to him in prayer, saying, “The enemy is trying to put something on his brain, but I am going to remove and restore him better than before.” As he decreed that word, the power of Isaiah 55:11 manifested, for God’s word does not return void. Within minutes of that prayer, the doctor looked at the monitor in disbelief as my blood pressure dropped to 107/77. What should have left me paralyzed or facing months of therapy instead became a testimony of the God who heals, because Jeremiah 30:17 declares, “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.”
Two days after returning home, I came across a video about self‑publishing through Amazon KDP, and the Lord opened a door no man could shut. Within two months my first book was published, and I committed to the Lord that I would continue writing while trusting Holy Spirit to handle the marketing. This is how Wind Walkers: A Life Governed by the Wind of Holy Spirit came into the world, refined, expanded, and carried by His leading. The journey also birthed WindWalker Enterprise LLC and Remnant Warrior Publishing, establishing a foundation for the books yet to come. Truly, Ephesians 3:20 has proven faithful, for He has done exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask or imagine.
~Dr. Russell Welch
Christian Author/Apostolic Teacher
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 