ELYRIA, Ohio — Nathan Russell enjoys being a pastor. 

“When I went to bed at night and when I got up in the morning, I knew I wanted to be a pastor,” he said. 

He said becoming one was a calling. 

Now, after three years of being the senior pastor at the Washington Avenue Christian Church in Elyria, he said the congregation has come up with a new way to help those struggling through financial hardship. They are partnering with the national nonprofit RIP Medical Debt. 

“It brings good news to those who are impoverished,” he said. “That's what Jesus would have us do.” 

He said RIP Medical Debt uses donated money to purchase large amounts of medical debt for a fraction of its value. The church’s initial $1,000 donation from a canceled trip will wipe out $100,000 in medical debt for those who live below the poverty line. 

“So instead of going to Washington, D.C., we gathered on Washington Avenue and streamed the events here and the money that we were supposed to use for bus tickets we decided to distribute to make a local, county and state and national impact,” Russell said. 

He said the congregation has a new goal of eliminating $1 million dollars in medical debt. 

“We have people, our neighbors, our friends who are having to choose between buying groceries, paying a tuition bill and medical debt in addition to a mortgage,” he said. “All of these things and it just keeps piling up right now.” 

Russell said people whose debt is purchased and erased are notified by mail. 

“That means we're doing the gospel,” he said. “That's what I live for and that's where my church aspires to be and become.”

For more information, visit the church’s website, www.waccelyria.org/ripmedicaldebt.