K W A

The Synergy of Gospel Music

KWA, which stands for Kingdom Word Abide, is a gospel
recording group comprised of a husband and wife, Willie and
Karleen Russ, a daughter, Ayana Russ-Hart, and two family
friends, Mickey and Margaret Barber. Willie, Karleen, Mickey,
and Margaret all live in Ft. Pierce, Florida, and Ayana lives in
Greenacres, Florida. Together they are answering the call of
God to record, produce and minister songs of praise, worship,
and inspiration to the body of Christ.

The mission of KWA is to offer their praise to God, to edify
the believer, and to evangelize the lost. KWA ministers to
the lost as well as to the believer through the Word, with their
music, and exaltations - singing praise and worshipping their
God, their Savior, and their Lord.

K W A is an outgrowth of PureFire Ministries, Inc. They were
previously known locally as the Higher Praise singers and
prior to that Deputies of Praise. This ministry is well known
locally for participating in civic organizational groups and
community churches. The songs are all original compositions
written and arranged by Pastor Willie Russ, except for
‘Greater Is He’, which was written and arranged by Ayana
and composed by her father, Pastor Russ. They have recorded
one full album, a demo, and this recently released maxi-single
entitled “A New Heart”. There are currently three songs in
rotation on www.gospelpower.fm – ‘He Was There’, ‘23’, and
‘A New Heart’.

The purpose of KWA’s ministry is to bring people of all
backgrounds into a closer relationship with Jesus. Their
ministry brings healing, restoration, and praise. They truly
enjoy what they do and thank God for every opportunity.

”We praise God for what He is doing and we honor Him with
all our efforts in working out the mission that He has called
us to”. Visit us online: http://www.kwaministries.com - Andr'e Carter

In Ya Ear Magazine


1. What does music ministry mean to you?

Music Ministry is an opportunity to serve the Body of Christ through the gift of music. The music ministry is for the uplifting and edifying of God’s people promoting praise and worship of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Music ministry also serves as a mean to evangelize the lost. A music ministry is a vehicle by which to minister the Word of God through songs and musical compositions stimulating the unbeliever to repentance. We just allow the Holy Spirit to have its way and the anointing is evident. We believe music ministry falls under the 5 fold ministry in the category of helps and is a foundation of creating an atmosphere of reverence, praise and worship in the spirit of truth.

2. How do you define your group’s style of music?

Our style of music is different from most. This has been the most difficult part of promotion because we appear to have a unique style. Our music is mixed with some soul, some praise and worship, and a little bit of urban gospel. Each song carries it own flavor. Our musical compositions have horns and strings. However, the words are most important to us. The songs are written strictly from Bible scripture with direct quotes and scriptural references. We seek to honor God in our ministry and we direct all our praise and worship to Him and Him alone.

3. Tell me a little bit about your album release?

We started in the studio in July 2005. The initial intention was to complete a full album but after some prayer and consultation with the studio engineer we decided to produce a maxi-single in hope of generating funds to complete a full album. We completed the studio work in February 2006. A Release Party has been planned for May 27, 2006. The forum is to expose our local communities to this ministry and this project in particular. We are seeking those entities that will assist us in promoting our project over the airwaves through radio, television and print media.


4. What were some of your expectation of the release of your album?

Well we were pleasantly surprised at the release of our album. We expected that it would bless people and that those who heard it would experience the anointing just as we had during rehearsals and studio work but the testimonies went beyond our expectations. Within a couple weeks of the release we had sold over 200 copies and we had three songs in rotation on gospelpower.fm a Live365 online radio station. We also began receiving requests to appear at local churches. We had two invitations for radio interviews and one of our songs is being used at the start and finish of a local radio program. At this writing we are negotiating a radio promotion agreement with regional and national distribution plans. We have been featured in a newsletter with Gospel Synergy and our album even sold a copy in Japan through cdbaby. And we have had thousands of visits to our web site. These things all occurred in the first 3 weeks of our album release. The Word of God tells us that He, God, is able to do above and beyond what we ask or think. God indeed exceeded our expectations and blessed us beyond what we asked or even thought to ask.

5. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Yes. God’s ways are not our ways and our ways are far from God’s ways. I am a 21 year veteran of our local sheriff’s office. I have been working in music ministry since the beginning of my Christian life. I played saxophone as a teenager and continued with that instrument when I converted. I wrote song lyrics but later took up the keyboard and starting writing musical compositions, too. After serving 21 years with the sheriff’s office and having been a pastor for the previous 4 years, God spoke to me and told me that I was to go into full-time ministry. Initially I was reluctant because my focus was on completing 25 years at the sheriff’s office so that I could be entitled to full benefits. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, “forget not the Lord and His benefits”. So I left. I began to seek God for my next step as the scriptures instruct me saying, “trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thy own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths”. So God impressed upon me to begin to work on another album. I began to seek out a studio and was led by God to Palm Beach Studios and I started immediately working with the engineer, Chuck Hemann. I then called my daughter, my wife and two of the members of the praise team from my church and we began to work on the songs. We spent months driving to the studio spending hours there working out the songs until we had a finished product that we all felt was professional but mostly anointed of God. God had been very visible during that time. I believe He led me first to that particular studio and engineer, then to the singers and now He continues to lea - Samantha Pryce