Kremenchuk Mission

Journal May 1-6 2008

2008-05-06T13:41:00.001+03:00

Thursday, May 1, 2008
I went shopping this morning for chicken! I bought 36 drumsticks for our cookout and picnic. I dug out my grill, charcoal and lighter fluid (even though it is not called that here.) People started coming around 10am and 9 of us gathered for our Holiday picnic – many are out of town. We started hunting for more charcoal and ended up going all the way across town to get some more. Then a little after 11 we went out to the river side in a park area and had a good time. There are no picnic tables, so we spread a large blanket on the ground, blew up a couple of air mattress. The guys gathered wood for another fire besides my grill and the girls prepared salads. We had enough chicken for 2 meals so we ate about 12:30 and then again about 5. In between we played Frisbee, prayed together, played cards together, went for walks and had a really lovely afternoon. We headed for home around 6.
Friday, May 2
I have been working on my sermon for Sunday all week. It will come from 2 Cor. 5:1-10. In the evening at 6, nine of us gathered to play Frisbee and we had a really nice time together. I got home about 8:30 pretty exhausted!
Saturday, May 3
I prepared 3 new Bible Club lessons. The Adult Bible Club had 1 person, so we just talked. The Teen Bible Club had 4, with several absent. But we celebrated Lera’s 12th birthday and that was great! 2 more came after Bible Club and we had 6 for the party – pretty small, but we had a great time. I have known Lera since she was 6! Her and her Mom, Nadya, will both go to camp with us. Lera has been nearly every year. I asked Nadya what Lera wanted for her birthday and her Mom said a skateboard! A very rare thing for a girl in Ukraine to want that! But she said that she had been asking for it for a year, so I got her a skate board and pads for her knees, arms and wrists. She was so excited!!! She literally jumped up and down for joy! All went home around 9.
Sunday, May 4
A day of great blessing! Ksusha’s Mom, Nadya (different one from the above mentioned) has been coming to most things for most of the last year. Kelli studied with her, Ksusha has and lately I have too. This morning as we approached the church building, Nadya told me she wanted to be baptized! Oh, what great joy! We have to basically fill the baptistery – a very large bathtub – by hand – at least the hot water part. So, I came, with Sasha girl’s help at 4pm and began to fill it up. At 5 we had our Parent’s Bible Club (we had 5, with 2 non-Christians in attendance) – this is our 3rd baptism from this class as Nadya was one of our first Parents to attend this class. Though some were skeptical of my original plan to reach parents through our youth, several parents have become Christians over the years through their children. At about 6:15pm I baptized Nadya into Christ! This is our 40th baptism of our work since we have been in Ukraine. We had 22 for our worship service tonight and it was very rewarding service. I preached for both services today and one of the ladies from the morning worship told me that was the best sermon she had heard in 10 years! I think people react like this when a sermon really touches their hearts, so I am thankful that I could have blessed her life in this way. At about 8:20pm, I had about a 45 minute talk with the elders and deacons from the Ottawa Church of Christ, in Ottawa, IL. It was a nice conversation! It was a really great day!
Monday, May 5
About 9am I left home to gas up my car and take Ksusha to Poltava (120 Kilometers away) for her 3 weeks of University study. She does this study as a kind of extension study. She always finds these 2 to 3 weeks very hard as she gets very lonely being away from home. After taking her, we ate lunch together and I came home, getting back around 2:30pm. Then at 5:30 we went to our Bible study with the Orphan’s family and that went very well. We left about 8:30 and I got home around 9. So a 9 to 9 day with a little break in between!
Tuesday, May 6
Ben, my son, called me this morning at 6:10 my time (I was up at 5:20) on Skype. We talked about several things and it was great visiting with him! He told me that one congregation that I applied to in CO that he is familiar with, was very interested in my working with them. The retiring preacher, Bob Lewis, was the preacher at York, NE Easthill Church of Christ when I was a student at York. I always loved him and looked up to him so much! So Ben called to tell me that and encourage me! It worked! At 10am, Zhenya girl (really young woman of 23) called and asked for my help, so I took her on a couple of errands and then took her to work. From their I went to a big super market, shopped and got home around noon. Then I caught up on my journal and fixed lunch and now it is 1:13pm!

Journal for April 16-30, 2008

2008-05-06T11:46:00.000+03:00

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Normal work day in the morning. In the afternoon, Ksusha and I went to the village and had a real good study with our 4 11th grade girls there. Because of exams and future Univ. plans, they don’t know if they will be able to come to camp with us this summer. I really want them to come! We had 10 for our English Club tonight and that was fun and went well finishing about 7:30.
Thursday, April 17
Our big extra thing to do is to go to the town of Svetlovodsk to the Orphanage. We had probably 50 kids in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes. We did a puppet show for them, then classes with lessons and crafts and games. It was a beautiful day and we stopped and took pictures on a hillside. I love spring! Did I say that before?!? We got back in around 5. Artem asked me to take him for a driver’s lesson and I did for about an hour then he took me out to eat and I got home around 8:30pm. Nice day.
Friday, April 18
Today was the last day for some of our American friends and teachers at the Bible College to be here, so they invited me to come to a party for their classes and that was fun. Then I went to my house and got Frisbees and water and walked to our playing field. We had 15 tonight, but I didn’t play so the teams were even. My low back has been bothering me and more today, so I didn’t play. Ksusha brought 6 of her non-Christian friends and that went well and they had a blast! We finished up around 8.
Saturday, April 19
Bible Clubs went well – we had 5 in each. At the Church discussion there was no translator, but a couple of young people that knew a little English and with my little Russian we did ok – but rather frustrating!
Sunday, April 20
We cleaned the church building after services and then we went to my house and made sandwiches for the prison. We have roughly made 30,800 sandwiches for the boys over the last 5 ½ + years! I believe that it has been a very worthy work and I thank all those who have given money for this work! A husband and wife Dr. team that I had seen maybe a couple years ago for a rash, called me and wanted to meet with me. They are wanting to immigrate to the US and wanted my help with English and learning more about America. We had about an hour visit and he will come to my English Club meetings. In the evening worship service we had 3 adult visitors and some good discussion afterwards about Church and worship and prayer. However one lady got very obnoxious and that kind of spoiled it all.
Monday, April 21
I had about 2/3 of a day off and so that was good. At 5, Olya and I went shopping for Elona’s birthday In the evening we went to the twins home (orphan family) and studied some OT characters and talked a lot about faith and how we have to act on our faith for it to really be worth anything! We also celebrated the oldest orphan’s girl birthday (Elona) who turned 8 and that was a lot of fun, too! After taking everyone home, I got home around 9. On a sad note, my cat had at least 7 seizures today and they are getting worse.
Tuesday, April 22
I spent quite a bit of time on the internet today with contacts for future churches, but definitely nothing fixed or really close as of yet. I also studied about being ready for the second coming and accepting the fact that we have to watch and be ready at all times. My cat had one more seizure today and I thought he was going to die with that one, but he pulled through. We had 12 for our devo tonight and the lesson went well.
Wednesday, April 23
Natasha was my translator today for the village and we had 3 girls and a good study – I decided to study with them on the 2nd coming too and the study went well. We had 4 for English Club tonight – rainy day all day that may have kept people away – who knows!
Thursday, April 24
Artem wasn’t working today, so he went with Natasha, Olya and Yulya and I to the Orphanage in Svetlovodsk. It is about 15 to 20 miles away. It is a town of about 60,000 and he had never been there before. We did puppets and classes again, but not so many students today. Sunday is Easter here and then Ukraine has 3 holidays in early May, so we won’t be back here for 3 weeks! No schools next week at all! I haven’t felt good all day – felt really stressed – for unknown reasons – really! – and a headache, so I just went home and crashed afterwards and went to bed early!
Friday, April 25
We had a birthday celebration for Sasha guy (hey, how am I going to keep them separate?! I can’t pronounce many of the last names – sorry to say!) who just turned 20. Our celebration started at 5 and we had a great evening together.
Saturday, April 26
Today is the day before Ukrainian or Orthodox Easter or as they call it, Paska (Same word as Passover.) There are no Bible Clubs today because most are busy with family on this 2nd biggest holiday of the year (New Year’s is 1st). 9 of us did gather to play Frisbee and I played without hurting my back! God has really answered my prayers about my back!
Sunday, April 27 – Ukrainian Easter
Good attendance today – of course! Just Kidding! Peter preached about Easter and some thought it was good and some thought he attacked the traditions too much. Me, I got most of the ideas through a translator. Several ate together and spent the afternoon together. I preached in the evening and we had 9.
Monday, April 28
Spent more time this morning in Internet communications and study. We had 15 over to my house at 6:30 – people started coming at 5. By request from my kids – my young people – I cooked chili and chocolate chip cookies! Good combination, huh? Also, I made home made biscuits and we had 15 people for dinner and a movie. Igor, a brother from Kiev, brought a Christian movie in English and we watched it with English subtitles and most got it just fine. It was a really good movie about anything is possible with God and that we should not fear. Both lessons that we all needed! Then people hung around until 10:30. This is really a holiday week for most with no school or University because it is between Easter and May 1st, another big holiday here. No schools, no orphanages and just free time.
Tuesday, April 29 – Happy Birthday to my oldest son, Butch!
We said good by to Bill, an American who has been here with us (not a member of the church) for about 3 years. He is going to the states until Sept. We had 16 for our devo tonight. It was raining so I took a carload home and got home around 11pm.
Wednesday, April 30
Not much going on above the normal today except English Club and we had 8.

Two Very Pressing Needs.

2008-04-17T05:56:00.004+02:00

These are financial needs.
They have to do with our camps.
1. For our VBS Day Camp we need $750. We have no money raised for this, but are going forward on faith that we will have American Friends help us out.
2. For our Bible Camp we need $2,500. We have $4,000 pledged for this 2 week camp, but for we have never charged more than 300 Grievnas ($60) per person before, but right now we will have to ask for at least 500 Grievnas per person for this camp (projected cost is 1000 Grievnas - $200). The average income in Ukraine 750 Grievnas a month, so you can see how hard this is for a family do to do this, especially if they have more than 1 child to send. We are trying to take between 40 and 45 people to camp with us this year. Camp costs continue to spiral with our 17% inflation that we have right now in Ukraine.

If you will assist us with either of these needs, please email me and also let the Church in West Fayetteville know by calling Steve Jefferson (931-433-0189) as soon as possible. Thank you!!!

Journal for April 1-15, 2008

2008-04-17T05:54:00.001+02:00

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
There are several things I am working at improving my discipline in: better eating for health and weight loss, daily walking for exercise, deeper and more consistent prayer life and personal study of the Word of God, always working on lesson study and sermon preparations ahead of time to take away all stress, better use of my time to touch more lives and daily communication with people through email, phone and in person. Whew! Now doing that every day, day in and day out is a good challenge! This is my life style, this is what I want and am working on. As Paul said, “I have not yet reached perfection, but I press on the upward call!” I went walking today to Ksusha’s pizza place where she works and had a SMALL pizza. I went there to eat and encourage her. Then I walked some more afterwards! I worked on my lesson for tonight’s devo. I fixed chocolate chip cookies before devo – I wasn’t going to eat any, but I did, but I didn’t eat any supper – does that count??? So pizza and chocolate chip cookies – I guess that is not eating to healthy today! We had 13 for devo tonight and that was good and a good time and fellowship afterwards!
Wednesday, April 02
I spent most of the morning trying to record a sermon to send out to churches requesting one. 3 times I did something wrong and the recording didn’t work! At least I got to practice the sermon a lot! Finally it worked. After lunch I worked on my English Club for tonight until 4:45pm. We had 8 for our English Club. Right now, 4 of those are also coming to our Bible Club, so already English Club is a success!
Thursday, April 3
I talked to my TN Elders this morning on the phone, working out some details about the future – at 5:30am my time. It’s ok – I was already up! There is some conflict – not the bad kind – about who is going to be working with the Orphanage in Svetlovodsk and so we didn’t go today, but Lord willing, we will next week. Again, I was blessed to spend some time with some of our group, but overall, a pretty quiet day.
Friday, April 4
I have been working, or I should say trying to work on some video and sound files and not having a great deal of success. I will try to get Artem to assist me with some of these things! I use the computer quiet a bit, but some things just seem to baffle me. I haven’t done my April Newsletter yet, because I am waiting to hear if the Dec. and Feb. newsletters have been – the physical paper ones – sent from TN. I feel like people don’t need to be receiving 3 newsletters from me all at once. We had a quiet fun night with just 6 of us here – but we did have a good time together!
Saturday, April 5
Bible Club was pretty much as usual. We had 5 in each of the 2 Bible Clubs. We had about 20 people in the Church Discussion time at the Church building today at 4. The Bryans and Gerganus’ are here for 3 weeks. They are such great people and it is so good to have them back with us!
Sunday, April 6
We had really good attendance today at services. Andrey, who does our song leading and translating was ill today, so Peter led the singing and Sasha older guy did the translating for Charles Bryan who preached a good sermon. To me the sermon was normal, but for Yulya – she said that it was great and just what she needed to hear! Everyone was so busy today, so we didn’t go to the Orphanage at Potoki. I finished up my sermon for tonight and then we had 15 at evening services, with 2 new ladies walking in to be with us. We celebrated Vika’s 15th birthday tonight and had a grand old time!
Monday, April 7
Personal study and prayer started my day. I spent some time working on this journal. I prepared for my Bible Study tonight with the Orphan family. Please pray for this family that they will come to faith and put their life and trust in Christ and become a part of His Church. It has been such a long study, I struggle what to teach and how to teach it to help them become obedient to Christ. I don’t understand why it is so hard for them. I spent some time with my brothers and sisters today helping them with personal things as well as some spiritual things. Ksusha, Olya and I went to the twins/Orphanage family tonight at 5:30 and I got home around 9. I do enjoy the family and we did have a good study, too.
Tuesday, April 8
I had a bad headache most of the first ½ of the day and it was hard to do anything, but then it lifted and went away – well mostly. I was preparing for the evening devo, when I got a text message from Yura asking if he could do the devo tonight. I said sure. We are in transition again. With Oksana leaving on Saturday, we are having to develop or find other translators to take her place in assisting me in my teaching in the village of Bugkivka. Everything has become increasingly more difficult and so we have had to do what we can well and keep on serving the Lord. Yura did a devo on what is the right church and are there Christians in all Churches? Wow – he really took me by surprise! He did it as question and answer/discussion. At first, I was really upset with him for doing such a devo, but I believe that it will turn out very good as this seems to something that has been buried and been on the minds of several of our young people and so we are going to study and share more about this now that it is out in the open. Afterwards, Yura and I talked for maybe an hour and made a lot of good progress. He didn’t mean to speak badly about the Church, but as so many do, wandered about all the other stronger believers in other Churches and what about them. So, it is an open door into deeper study into God’s Word. The last went home around 9:30 tonight. Oh yeah, we used the after devo time to say good bye to Oksana. It was a good time for her and us.
Wednesday, April 9
2 days in a row with a bad headache. I am doing a lot of study on future sermon preparations. This morning I also spent a lot of time in Bible study about last night’s devo and found 2 really good books in my library that have been a lot of help and have sent some emails off to people I know that translate brotherhood books into Russian and or Ukrainian to see if they have these 2 books or at least one of them. I ate lunch out today and shortly after I came back in, Serge came in. He is not a member of the Church, but we have studied off and on for the last 2 ½ years. He is my main translator for Tuesday and Sunday night. He faithfully translated last night without saying anything, but of course he was thinking. So he came about 12:45 and we talked and studied for almost 3 hours! And still have a lot to talk about! Then Gregory and his son, Sasha came over and we went to the church building to get them some new songbooks for the prison from the church building. The Library at the building was locked so we couldn’t get the books out, but made arrangement for later. I came back about 4:30 and quickly made plans and arrangements for our English Club tonight. 1 girl came and I did help her with some English and we had a nice talk and she left about 6:45. I then went out for a salad for supper and went for a walk – it is beautiful outside – about 68 today – with about mid 40’s in the morning. The trees are now all in bud and the bushes are really turning green! Some of the flowering trees are in bloom. I love spring!
Thursday, April 10
Good news! No headache today! Spent time getting ready for 2 classes today with crafts, etc. for the Orphanage in Svetlovodsk. Yulya, Olya and Natasha and I went. We were able to only have 2 classes today and not 4 because they had a concert program an hour after we got there. But we had a good study and then got home around 5 after taking the girls home.
Friday, April 11
Spring is here in full force. Today, I left my house at 6:30am to pick up Natasha and then Oksana and take her to Kiev for her trip to Germany. She leaves tomorrow, but had to be in Kiev today and with her luggage had no other way. After getting lost a bit in Kiev and terrible traffic, we got back to Kremenchuk about 4pm. Then Frisbee at 6 – we had 10 and a great time! But I did a lot of running and oh am I sore! Everyone came over here to eat sandwiches afterwards as they were all hungry! (10 hungry kids can really put the food away!) We had a good time with people leaving around 10. The heat in our city is distributed by the city and it was turned off today because we have had an earlier than normal warm spring – normally the 15th. So no more heat!
I heard of a terrible accident today. A drunken rich man, driving about 110 miles an hour in Kremenchuk at 1:30am hit 3 people walking and killed them all – terribly so. He will get off because he is rich and they are blaming the accident on the walkers because they were not walking in a cross walk!!! Can you believe it? Horrible!
Saturday, April 12
Bible Clubs today were good with 5 and 8 here. After the last one, several came over and went for a walk together. I am still very sore and almost ill from abnormal exercise for me and didn’t go.
Sunday, April 13
We had good attendance today and then our Tea or sort of Potluck afterwards. Also, afterwards I met with people in the church about helping with our VBS day camp. We had 6 ladies and 1 man and 2 of my students come. They will help a lot. We will do this for the first 2 weeks in June from 8 am to 4:30pm. Our 4 American guests the Braynt’s and Gerganus’ were our guests at evening services and Charles B. preached and LT helped with the communion service, too. We had 16 this evening. We went home around 8 but 5 came home with me and we watched the movie about the Twin Towers with Nicholus Cage in it, then I took all home, getting home around 11.
Monday, April 14
I am working on 2 studies right now to make into charts and teaching materials. One is how you come to be in the Church – become a Christian – from a more detailed look than normal and another is “Who is Jesus?” Also I went back to School #10 today and found out that we could get in to the school to teach and we will teach a 6th grade class on Fridays at 2pm. Then at 5pm I picked up Ksusha and Olya and we went to the twins home until about 8 to have tea with them and study the Bible.
Tuesday, April 15
I worked all morning on the Who is Jesus study and chart and finished it after lunch. I had a great walk outside in our spring weather and met one of Kelli’s neighbors and sort of chatted with her for awhile. I worked on my April Newsletter today and sent that out. I used the Who is Jesus study for my devo tonight – we had 14 with 2 new people! Alina came and said she really wanted to come more and it was such good news! We had such a blessed evening together and all left around 9:30.

Doug’s Journal in Kremenchuk

2008-04-01T07:30:00.000+02:00

Thursday, March 20, 2008
Well 2 days after travel and I catch a bit of jet lag today and am pretty tired. My car insurance is due today (I renew it each year on about the date I bought the car). I couldn’t get into the insurance office until the afternoon after 2 and it took about an hour and then I will have to finish it up next Monday – signing papers and all that. I am of course just making it for 4 months this year or until the end up July. I picked up working on a Sermon plan for a year that I had started before I went to England. I think that it is a very good plan, but will try to mold it what a local congregation may want or need in the way of preaching.
Friday, March 21
I continue to work on my year sermon plan. Also I am working and planning for tonight’s Bible Study in 1 John and that took several hours. At about 2, I fixed lunch for Yulya after she finished her University and we had a good couple of hours together. She was up until 4am studying and then got only 3 hours of sleep, so she went home tired. We had 6 for our Bible Study and fun night afterwards.
Saturday, March 22
My Saturdays are pretty much consumed with Bible Clubs, preparations, and lessons. We had 5 for our Adult Bible Club and then only 2 for our evening Teen Bible Club. In between I went to the Church discussion at 4 at the church building and that went well and was enjoyable.
Sunday, March 23
I went birthday shopping before services for Sasha’s gift. After morning worship services, we fixed sandwiches and I cooked for 7 of us. Then, because it is spring break week, we didn’t go to the orphanage and so had a bit of a break. I prepared my evening lesson and picked up people and went to services. We had 11. Afterwards we celebrated Sasha girls 15th birthday and a good evening together.
Monday, March 24
Today Artem is 24, but we won’t celebrate his birthday until Friday. Also today is James and Anya’s 1 year wedding anniversary, so congratulations to them, too! I worked more on my one year sermon plan and began to work on redoing a sermon that I preached recently here. What I am doing with this sermon is to prepare it to be delivered for taping purposes. All my sermons and classes that I do here are with a translator and I am sure stateside churches wouldn’t be interested in hearing a sermon that way! This took up most of my day. Olya and I did go to the twins family and studied and spent about 2 ½ hours with them about 6pm this evening.
Tuesday, March 25
I noticed the first green leaves on some of the bushes and the some of the trees are starting to bud – kind of early. Spent a lot of time in study today with sermon and devotional prep. I have more free time this week than normal because of this being spring break, so no orphanages, no village, etc. We had a nice group for the devo with 11 present. Everybody seemed to be pretty busy and went home early.
Wednesday, March 26
I am making extra effort to try and spend more individual time with people, so was with a few people extra today. As time draws nearer for my departure, it becomes a more urgent time with people. It reminds me that it should always be that way! I spent time preparing for English Club as well as practicing a sermon I want to tape and deliver onto CD. We had 9 for our English Club tonight and that lasted from 6 until about 8. One of the things that I have been thinking about this English Clubs and my English Bible Clubs is that they would be very effective tools to be used in the US to reach out to other language cultures such as Spanish speaking people as an example. I am excited about using them when I move back to work with a Church in the States!
Thursday, March 27
I am involved in a lot of personal Bible Study and prayer for the work here and for my future work in the states that I want to strengthen me and also to use in the building up of the Christians here. I had several of our group in and out today and so that was good. At 5pm, Vika (she is 14 and in Technical School or equivalent to 10th grade) came to me and we went to the Circus together! I had invited all who wanted to go to come, but Vika was the only one who could come, but it was great because we had a good time together and then I took to McDonald’s to eat and it was only the 2nd time in her life that she had eaten at a McDonalds – the first time was in Kiev several years ago. I got home around 9:30pm.
Friday, March 28
As I have mentioned, this has been rather a slow week, because the schools and the orphanages being on spring break. The weather has been beautiful. I prepared for my study tonight on 1 John. At 5pm Ksusha came for the study but no one else. It is frustrating right now that people are so busy, but again as last night with Vika, we had some good quality time together. 9 more people did come by around 6:30pm and we celebrated Artem’s birthday together with him (he has just turned 24). We were together until around 9pm.
Saturday, March 29
A busy morning in the Market and final lesson preparations for Bible Clubs. We had much better attendance today than we have had for awhile with 7 in our Adult/University Club at noon and then 7 in our Teen Club in the evening. In between times, I started a personal Bible Study with Ksusha’s mom. That is something we have been working towards and wanting for a long, long time! Ksusha became a Christian 4 years ago and has been a strong steady influence on many. She has brought her cousin Vika to Christ last May and now Lord willing we will see her Mother added to Christ before long! Her Mom, Nadya has been coming to services and other activities for a long time and has been a host mother to many of our American friends that have come to Ukraine to work with us in summer mission work.
Sunday, March 30
It was a pleasant surprise to have Charles and Margaret Bryan and LT and Jo Ann Gerganus here this morning! They are here to teach at the Bible College for the next 3 weeks. They are such fine people! I thought they weren’t coming until May. Well, after services I took several people home and then went and ate lunch with Zhenya, who had been in Germany for 3 weeks and we had a nice lunch and visit together. I went home and finished working on my lesson for tonight from Isaiah 53. We had 12 for evening services and that went well. Everyone went home around 8.
Monday, March 31
Inna, who is also 23 and one of my first students, was married back in September to a man from Peru who is now living in Spain. She had been in Peru to meet his family and to have a honeymoon that they never had. She came at noon and we ate together and looked at pictures of her travels. At 3 I picked up Olya and we went to our Wal mart type store – Prostor and did some shopping for a birthday present for one of our orphan boys with the Orphan family that we study with and have become very close to. He is 4 years old. We got a couple of presents for him and some food I needed. Then I took Olya home and she wrapped the gifts and I went home for awhile, eating supper and then at 5:40pm I picked her up, then Oksana who we met at the train station, who had just come in from Kiev getting her visa for Germany. Then we went and bought a birthday cake and went to the family and was there until 8:45pm. We Didn’t study tonight, just celebrated Artem and visited and ate! I got home about 9:30.

Family Pictures

2008-03-31T10:35:00.006+02:00

I want you to know my family! So I am going to share some pictures.

My family is my eldest Butch is 32, his wife Erin and their 2 girls Hannah, 5 and Ella 3. Butch is a Chiropractor and Erin is a housewife. Then Ben is 29 and his girl friend is Erica. Ben has been a missionary in Japan for 5 years and has just started on working on His Master's Degree in Missions and Erica works in the Bible Department as a secretary. Jenise is 26 and her husband is Jon and their 1 year old son is Malachi. Jenise is now a housewife after Graduating with a commercial artist degree. Jon is the treasure for a fast growing oil company. My youngest daughter is Janessa and she is 24 and her 3 year old son is Gavin. Janessa is working as a Manager in Day Care.

Janessa, Ben, Erica, Jon, Jenise, Butch and Gavin and Malachi in arms.

Jenise and Jon Grottis on their wedding day!

Erin, Butch, Ella and Hannah

I have tons of more pictures, and would be glad to share them with you if you want!!!

Doug’s Journal in Kremenchuk

2008-03-20T07:15:00.000+02:00

Saturday, March 1, 2008
Good Bible Clubs with 7 in each.
Sunday, March 2
We did sandwiches and went to the Potoki orphanage and then evening service at 6 with 11 people present.
Monday, March 3
Things are getting real crazy for Oksana (she is 19 and has been one of my Christian students for 3 years and one of my most faithful students and translators) as she prepares to go to see her Mother’s wedding at Stoke-On-Trent in England. Back in late January, when her Mom was here, they invited me to this wedding and I said I would like to go. Then I promised I would help Oksana go, if I could. Then this developed into the fact that she needed a Sponsor by the British Embassy for her to be able to go, so I said I would go – her parents would pay me back for Oksana’s flight when I got there. She didn’t get her visa until today at 4:10pm! 3 of did go to the Orphan Family for our weekly Bible Study today at 6.
Tuesday, March 4
I literally spent all day trying to get us last minute tickets to go to the UK. I started at 8 and finally finished up at 4:30pm! At 6 we had our evening devo with 12 present. Then a lot of last minute packing and early to bed for our drive to the airport – we left at 1am to get our early 6:30am flight!
Wednesday, March 5 – Tuesday March 18
I went to Great Britain or as they prefer to call themselves, the United Kingdom - England, Wales and Scotland. It was terribly expensive to go as it was a last minute ticket and everything there was very expensive - basically twice as expensive as the US. But I made a promise to help Oksana get to her mother's wedding and the only way she could get her visa was for me to be her sponsor. Our flight was good and the first 4 days was basically taken up by wedding planning for the family and the wedding on Saturday and family celebration on Sunday. On Monday, Oksana and I went to Manchester, a city close by to tour and it was good and fun. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we went to London and that was great and great fun! Thursday and Friday we were back with her family - that city is called Stoke-On-Trent and there are many beautiful things to see and do around there. On Friday afternoon I rented a car for 3 days. On Saturday we went to what is called the "Lake District" - a hilly and mountainous region with many beautiful lakes - a national park. That night we ate with a pretty wealthy family from her parent's church in a beautiful 200 year old home. We had a great meal and conversation. On Sunday, I drove to a Church of Christ 38 miles to the south in another large city called Birmingham. It was a 2 year old congregation of about 50 people with a large variety of nationalities and persons. It was a good worship time with them and they had potluck afterwards! On Monday we did some last minute shopping. On Tuesday morning we got up at 3am to get ready to get to our flight that flew out at 7:30am. We arrived back into Kremenchuk at 7:30pm, worshiped and prayed with some of brothers and sisters, took Oksana home and crashed!
Wednesday, March 19
Today was a very busy catch up day, but didn't get everything done as I forgot to take time to buy groceries! We had 9 (we had 2 Christians attend – so that means 7 non-Christians in attendance) for our English Club at 6 and that went well. So I was really scrounging for food tonight after English Club!

Tests of Faith - Who Comes 1st?

2008-03-01T06:29:00.000+02:00

1. Who and what are we to seek first in our lives?
Bible verse(s)_________________________
2. What are the 2 greatest commands?
Bible verse(s)_________________________
3. To come to Jesus, what must we do with the cross?
Bible verse(s)_________________________
4. As a Christian, whom do I belong to?
Bible verse(s)__________________________
5. To love Jesus, who are we to love less?
Bible verse(s)__________________________
6. What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?
Bible verse(s)__________________________
7. What should we consider everything else in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus?
Bible verse(s)__________________________
8. Write the top 5 things of importance in your life.
9. What does it mean to you to put God (Jesus and His Church) first in your life?
10. What price should we be willing to pay so that Jesus would be first in our lives?
Bible verse(s)___________________________

Every 4 Years

2008-03-01T06:27:00.000+02:00

What happens every 4 years? Some ideas from the internet and life.
Ø Of course Leap Year.
Ø The Olympics are held.
Ø The World Cup of Soccer/Football is held.
Ø The United States elects a President.
Ø The internet says you should change all the hoses on your car every 4 years.
Ø Legend says that there is a town, Brigadoon, Scotland that appears for 1 day every 100 years (I double checked on the internet – I thought it was every 4 years!).
Ø General Motors, that makes Chevrolet, will make a new hybrid car every 3 months for the next 4 years.
What are you going to do and become in Christ over the next 4 years? Will you allow God to use you and grow you so that you are becoming the mature and complete child of God that your Father God and Brother Jesus want you to be? They love you and invite you to grow! The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will help you every step of the way!

Who Is God? Answers from last week Test of Faith

2008-03-01T06:26:00.000+02:00

1. God has always been and He lives in Heaven. Genesis 24:7; Rev.1:8; 22:13
2. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:1,2; John 1:1-3
3. 6 days. Genesis 1:31
4. God loves everyone. John 3:16
5. We are separated from God. Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9
6. Jesus dieing on the cross and being raised to life. Romans 6; Galatians 3:26-29
7. God wants all to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:3,4
8. Prayers of the righteous. 1 Peter 3:12; James 5:16
Prayers of those seeking God. Acts 10:1-6
9. God is not physical and is everyone at once. Joshua 2:11
10. Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:26; John 1:1-5

Steps for Deeper Spiritual Growth!

2008-03-01T06:21:00.002+02:00

1. Faith Partner - James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. One of the things that is important for us to do to continue to grow spiritually and at a deeper level is to have at least one other person involved in our spiritual lives that we can trust them with our deepest struggles and having them pray for us. I need to confess my sins to them and have them pray for me. That person needs to confess their sins to me and I need to pray for them! This is a powerful tool for our continue spiritual growth! I would recommend that you get together at least once a week with this person to confess and pray together.
2. Meditation; Alone Time - Matthew 14:22-23 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. We need alone time with God, His Word and in prayer. Not just 10 or 15 minutes here or there, but some quality time where we just get alone with God without interruptions or cell phones. You will find that this is a very uplifting, encouraging time that will draw you closer to God.
3. Fasting - Matt 4:1,2 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Matt 6:17-18 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting , but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Mark 2:19-20 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Fasting is not eating for a period of time. Jesus fasted for 40 days. Often people in the Bible fasted for 1 to 3 days at a time. Jesus fasted to prepare himself to have the spiritual strength to face Satan. Jesus tells that when He is left to go back to Heaven, we would need to fast. When we fast we are to do it not to show off our faith, but rather to grow in our faith with God. Notice that fasting and praying in the New Testament was always including prayer. So when you fast, start slow and be careful of your health. On days of fasting, drink plenty of water. When you get hungry go to the Bible and read it for encouragement and pray to God for strength. Fasting drives us to knees as we realize how much we need God in our daily lives!

TESTS OF FAITH

2008-03-01T06:19:00.001+02:00

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
2 Corinthians 2:9 The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
God tells us to test our faith to make sure we are right with Him. We are to test to make sure we are following God’s will for our lives; to see if we are obedient; to see if we are in the faith and that Christ is in us; and to see if we will stand up to the test and trials of life so that we can receive eternal life. So in the next few weeks, I will be putting a test in the this newsletter for you to personally take to see if you are passing the test to live this life in faith and walk right with God and to be sure that you are prepared for eternity.
No one is going to grade you on these tests, but take them for your own growth and development. I will give rewards for good marks of 8-10 correct. Correct Answers will be given in the next newsletter. If you can give a Bible Verse(s) for your correct answers, I will double the reward!

Who Is God?

2008-03-01T06:16:00.001+02:00

(knowledge and faith test)
1. Where did God come from and where does He live? _____________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
2. Who created everything? __________________________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
3. How many days did creation take? __________________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
4. How does God feel about all people? ________________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
5. What happens when we sin against God? _____________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
6. What is God’s plan to take away our sins? ____________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
7. What relationship does God want to have with us today?_________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
8. Whose prayers does God hear and answer? ____________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
9. What does it mean that God is Spirit? ________________________________________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________
10. What other 2 spiritual persons or beings are equal with God? _______________
Bible Verse(s) ______________________

Leap Year Journal of Feb 16-29

2008-03-01T06:04:00.001+02:00

Saturday, February 16, 2008
We had a good day of Bible Clubs with 7 in both clubs.
Sunday, February 17
We had a good worship together and then we made sandwiches. We didn’t have enough workers to go to the orphanage so we didn’t. Everybody was busy! We had 9 for evening worship and fellowshipped afterwards for a couple of hours.
Monday, February 18
Spent much of the late morning and afternoon helping Oksana with some visa needs. Then in the evening went to the Orphan family, had a good Bible Study and was them about 4 hours.
Tuesday, February 19
Just so that it is understood, I spend most of morning in personal and private Bible study in growth and lesson preparations. I usually wake up sometimes between 4 and 5:30 to begin this, with email communications as well. Ksusha and I went to the village and had a Bible Class with the 7th and 8th graders. We only had 5 in class, but it was a beginning to restart these classes again. We had 9 for our devotional at 6 and the last went home at 10.
Wednesday, February 20
I had a bad headache and stomachache most of the day and so kind of just made it through the day. I did take time to prepare for my English Club at 6 and we had 11 in attendance for this. The last went home around 9.
Thursday, February 21
My health struggles continued throughout the day. I did prepare and go to the Svetlovodsk with 4 of our girls to teach 4 classes. While Ksusha, Natasha and I were doing puppets and teaching the 5th and 6th graders, Yulya and Olya were teaching the 4th graders and then as they taught the 9th grade girls, we taught a class of 7th graders. We had about 60 kids in all of our classes. We arrived home about 5:30. I am feeling some better by now. I ate supper and about 6:30 Artem and Ksusha wanted me to take them to McDonalds so we went and Artem ate and Ksusha had some Ice Cream. Then we came back and played cards and talked until about 10.
Friday, February 22
Ksusha and I went to Schools 10 and 11 this morning to try to talk to the Directors there about continuing our classes. Both schools have new directors and it is a big concern that we may not be able to. We were unable to see them today and it was found out that next week with be a Quarantine where they shut the schools down across the city because of illness. It may last just one week or it may be more. So nothing more can be done for now. About 4 I began cooking for tonight. I cooked spaghetti and home made biscuits and we had 13 people that came. Then we had our fun night where we had a card game tournament – Phase 10 that most enjoyed! We finished up around 9:30 and had a nice evening!
Saturday, February 23
Bible Club preparations in the morning and then we had 7 for our Adult Bible Club at noon and then I met Sasha girl and we went shopping for Natalie and Tishik’s birthdays (brother and sister) party after Bible Club tonight. We had 7 for the Teen Bible Club and 9 for the party afterwards. We had a nice evening, even though I am disappointed when more don’t come to these birthday parties – what message does it give to those celebrating the party for? The evening ended around 9:30.
Sunday, February 24
We had a nice worship this morning. Afterwards we met a new young man and invited him to our evening worship. I played taxi for awhile after services and then Sasha girl, Ksusha and I went to McDonalds for lunch! To others it might not mean much, but it is so great having a McDonald’s here in town! I spent part of the afternoon preparing for my evening sermon. We had 15 this evening for our worship – more than usual and it was real nice! Afterwards, I went to Sergie and Oksana’s (husband and wife) home for supper and visit. Then I went home and Alina, her fiancé Kostya and her sister Luda were waiting for me. They were returning some things to me and took the artificial Christmas tree that Kelli gave to me and I took them to Alina’s home, getting home about 10.
Monday, February 25
I had meetings with people all day. All good and encouraging for me and hopefully for them! We got a last minute call and didn’t go to the Orphans family Bible Study tonight – next week probably.
Tuesday, February 26
Worked on my Local Newsletter and Bible lessons in the morning. We went to the village because we called ahead (its 37 miles out there and usually takes 45minutes to an hour to get there from my home in the center). As we were approaching the village, we got a call from one of the girls and she said that they would be 5 minutes late. We waited 30 minutes and no one showed up. We left. We got a SMS (text) an hour later – after we were already back in Kremenchuk saying that they weren’t coming today! Our evening devo went well – we had a split devotional. We sang together and then Yura had a lesson for the guys on how important it was for guys to become Christian leaders and Ksusha had a lesson for the girls. We had 13 here for the evening.
Wednesday, February 27
Finished the Newsletter. Prepared for English club. Went to the bank. I have been walking every day now for exercise and we have had a beautiful week of temperatures in the mid-40s to the low-50s with mostly clear days so it makes for a very nice time to get out! We had our biggest and best English Club tonight with 16 present and 3 new people and some of the older new people from the last few weeks bringing friends. Some of them are now coming to our Bible Club – one of our goals – and a couple more said that they want to come on Saturday to the Bible Club. Great!
Thursday, February 28
I had a bad night and slept 4 hours last night. One of the things that I worked on this morning was preparing for us to teach 4 classes (I teach 2) at the Orphanage in Svetlovodsk. 3 weeks ago, we had 34 in one class, so I prepared for 35 and we had 15! So is life! But the classes went well. For the 2nd week in a row, we had puppet shows for the kids. My 7th grade discussion class with the kids is going really well and a lot of fun. I kept going good today until I got home and ate supper about 6. Afterwards, I was really getting tired, but decided to try and watch a movie. Went to sleep maybe about 6:30 – woke up at 8 and went to bed! Really early!
Friday, February 29
I woke up at 4am, but I was rested and lasted great all day – most sleep I have had in a long time! Maybe I should do that all the time – just kidding! I worked on a lot of studies today, including preparations for my new Friday Night Bible study at 5 on 1 John. Went to the market to buy food for tonight’s Taco night. I actually found taco shells about 3 months ago (Zhenya actually told me where to find them). I went back today to get more and they were no more! So we had tortias night! Oksana came over at about 1pm, stressed because she is trying to get her English visa so she can go to her Mom’s wedding in England on March 8th. We spent most of the afternoon together (it was great, but unplanned – I really try as much as I can to let go of my schedule and be there when people need me. Kind of hard sometimes, but usually well worth it!) The Bible Study had 5 people and the party had 14 people at 6 – Leap Year Party was the name and we had a good time. I hope you have had a great Leap Year Day, too!

Basic Steps for Spiritual Growth

2008-02-16T06:21:00.003+02:00

These steps follow getting our life right with God, either by coming to Him through faith and baptism or by coming back to Him as discussed on the lesson that follows this one in this blog. Or it can be seen as a daily plan for the faithful child of God that is trusting their lives daily to Jesus!
1. Remember how we came to God, through the Word of God and faith. Romans 10:17 “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” We need to have a DAILY reading and studying plan of the Word of God in our lives. It is very important to allow God to speak to us through the Bible to guide us in our daily lives. Without allowing God to talk to us every day, we will gradually grow away from Him.
2. Remember how much God wants us to talk to Him through prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it , and it will be yours. This page could be filled with scriptures of God asking us to come to Him prayer. Let us remember that we can talk to God about ANYTHING in our lives at ANY time of the day or night. When we in faith trust in His promises, we will receive all of our life’s needs that we lay before God.
3. Remember how God designed His Church, His Family, His Body for us.
Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. 1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. When we are baptized into Christ, God puts us into His Church, which is His family and body! Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Jesus Christ died on the cross so we would be in His family! So we would be God’s children and brothers and sisters to Jesus! God wants us close and near to Him! Eph 1:22-23 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. We can only be full and complete in Jesus when we are living with each other in the daily and weekly living and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ! Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching. God feels so strongly about our being together, He has COMMANDED us to not miss worshipping together – not neglecting being together when we as a Church meets. If you want to continue to grow spiritually you need to be with the Church, with other Christians, with your spiritual family to encourage them and to allow them to encourage you!

The Lost Son that Came Home!

2008-02-16T06:18:00.002+02:00

Luke 15:11-24
11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs . 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

This is a story that Jesus told that shows us how God’s children leave the Father, sin against him, decide they must come home by repenting and submitting to God again. Then we see that God is waiting, looking and wanting very much for the son to come home. God wants us always to be home with Him! And there will be a great celebration when the child of God that was lost comes home again to the Father!
How do we get back home to God again?
1. We have to come to our senses and realize we need God as much as the day we first came to Him! We must know that we will never be happy living outside of God’s will for our lives.
2. We have to admit our sins and know that we must have God’s forgiveness through Jesus just as much now as before. We must humbly submit to God. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
3. As we come to God, He is waiting for us! He will run to you, throw His arms around you and kiss you! He will rejoice for His lost child was dead but is alive again, was lost and is found! Let’s celebrate!!! Revelations 3:19-2019 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door , I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. This passage was written to Christians that needed to repent! Jesus is waiting for us to come home to Him so we can be with each other again because He loves us so much!

Journal for Feb 1-15

2008-02-16T06:07:00.001+02:00

Friday, February 1, 2008
Besides my regular morning routine, I worked on finishing up my personal information and references today to send out to Churches that I might be interested in to move too. I am very thankful that all but one of the people I asked to be references for me agreed and have gotten back to me very promptly! One of the big questions is if churches are interested in me! I haven’t done this since 1990 – apply to churches and it is always a time consuming and waiting game. Since I am trying to locate close to where my children are, I sent stuff to 2 churches in NE and one in TX. Well, it’s a start anyway! After lunch, I went to the food market and bought food to make Pizzas at my house for tonight. Several are going to homecomings at their local schools, so I don’t expect too many people tonight. I fixed 2 large pizzas and we had 11 people! It was enough for everyone to have at least 2 small pieces! I was surprised! Then we watched the movie “Cheaper by the Dozen Part 2!” We watched it in Russian with English subtitles. It is a pretty funny movie and clean. Then people stayed around until 10:15 in a very comfortable and relaxed environment. Of course people drifted out and all didn’t stay that late.
Saturday, February 2
Bible Club day. Morning is preparations. In the afternoon we had 7 for the Adult Bible Club and 5 for the Teen Club. I didn’t go to the Bible Discussion at 4 because I had a bad headache.
Sunday, February 3
My Dad has been gone for 10 years. It doesn’t seem possible – he is always still in my heart and thoughts. On a brighter note, we had a good worship, made sandwiches and started going to the Orphanage in Potoki again. We had classes of 32 and 20 kids. It was really good to be with them again! We have really missed them! Then I had just 2 in my Parents Bible Club at 5 at the church building which has just turned into another Bible Club for people from the church – I don’t have any parents coming now, but it has made our fellowship with those from Church that come stronger. At 6 I preached, which I do at all Tuesday and Sunday nights unless otherwise noted. I got home around 8. In the evening Anton and I had a good spiritual discussion. I am so proud of him!
Monday, February 4 – Happy 24th Birthday to Janessa, my youngest daughter!
I tried 3 times during the day to call Janessa and missed her each time, but left messages. In the morning Inna from Kiev came over and we spent a couple of hours together. Then in the afternoon, I had some good quality time with a couple of my students. At 5:30, 5 of us went to the Family Orphanage and had a good Bible study and tea with the family – we were there for a couple of hours.
Tuesday, February 5
I called Janessa early this morning and got to wish her a happy birthday! Sent out a couple more personal info and references to churches in TX. You can be in TX and still be a long ways away from some other place! I did a lot of personal study today. Did some shopping. Had a good devo with 9 people present. Had good fellowship until almost 10. I love these people so much!
Wednesday, February 6
Oksana is out of town for the week to Poland (left on Sunday and will be back next Tuesday). So Yulya went with me to the village of Bugkivka today to study with our 11th form girls. We had a good reunion – I hadn’t seen them since Nov. – and a good study on what it means to be “in Christ.” We got back about 4pm. Then I finished preparing for my English Club in my house with mostly University Students and we had 8 present. It was a good time and a good study. Lord willing, we will be able to use this time as a stepping stone to bringing these people to Christ.
Thursday, February 7
Had a good personal study and am working on some of my charts to make them better. Also spent a lot of time getting ready for the afternoon classes. The afternoon was spent going to Svetlovodsk (leaving about 1:30 – it is about a ½ hour drive over there) to teach at the orphanage there. This was our first Bible Classes with them and we (Yulya, Ksusha and Olya and I) had 3 Bible Classes. One with 5th and 6th graders – 23; 9th graders – 15; and 7th graders – 13. It was a really good beginning!!! We got home about 5:30. For the first time that I could remember, I forgot my billfold and passport. I had no identification and no money and so I was VERY careful for the highway police will stop you for every and any reason. I could have been in a lot of trouble if stopped without this information. I was fine, but it was a bit of a scary thing!
Friday, February 8
I thought I would try and take part of this day off, since I didn’t have one on Monday. The morning was pretty relaxing, but I had people around all afternoon and evening. To me that is what ministry is all about – being around people, growing closer in relationships with them and helping them grow in their relationships with God. In the evening we had another pizza party with movie – but a lot different from last week. Ksusha came over about 4 and wanted to talk and we had a good talk. Then she helped me make chocolate chip cookies – she did most of it and had a blast doing it! We eventually had 14 people over and ordered out pizza. We went and picked it up and finally ate about 7:30. Then we played a game called “Prince a Paris” that most people love that my dad taught me when I was a kid. There were 12 of us playing and we played it for about an hour. We laughed and laughed! Then 11 of us went to a monster movie at 9:30 called “Monstro” in Russian – different English name where this monster attaches NY (Isn’t this where all monsters attach???) and destroys this poor city – this city has been destroyed more times than any other city in history I think! Well it was done with a hand held movie camera and I got motion sickness watching it and had to leave early. The kids told me I was lucky to leave because it wasn’t a good movie – everybody killed, etc.! I was ok the next day.
Saturday, February 9
I went to the market and store in the morning. We had 7 for our Adult Bible Club again. We had 2 for our Teen one. That was mostly my day!
Sunday, February 10
Yulya, Yura, Artem and Ksusha and I went to Komsomolsk for morning worship leaving about 9 and about 9:25 after I picked up everyone. The service was at 10. With our 5 there, there were 12 in worship. I preached this morning and Sasha translated. We finished at got back home around noon. I took the 5 of us out for pizza – yes again! A lot of pizza lately – but it is the cheapest food to take people out with! At 2 we went to Potoki again and good classes there and were finished about 4. Then at 5 Olya translated for me for the Bible Club, but only 2 came – we are going to postpone this class for awhile. But, Nadya, one of the older adult students that came, brought a tort and candy along, so we had that afterwards. There were 11 of us there and we just stayed, sat around and ate and talked until about 9 – it was really nice!
Monday, February 11
I actually got most of Monday off! Just kind of goofed around all day. (Every day of the week, there is something planned and going on, so it is not possible to have a whole day off – who are you going to say no too that wants to study the Bible and that’s the only time they have to do it???) At 5:30 I picked up Ksusha, Artem and Olya and we went to the Orphan home family. We had some good tea time, a very good Bible study and just relaxing family time with the kids and Inna (mother) talking and sharing her life struggles with Olya. Olya is a very good listener for Inna. I got home about 9:30pm – so 4 hour work day!
Tuesday, February 12
We were going to go to the village today to teach the 8th grade class, but I didn’t have a translator so I of course didn’t go. I took Zhenya to the Dr. and then we went to pickup Oksana. Oksana got home from a week in Poland at 1:30 and then the 3 of us went to lunch together. I worked on lessons and prepared for Devo. We had 13 tonight and a good fellowship afterwards.
Wednesday, February 13
My son has given me good advice that it might be better to not talk about specifics of getting up and going to bed, etc. in this. Probably good advice! So this morning when I got up… Just Kidding! My young people here that have computer access have gone rather crazy over a (for me) new craze in computer contacts with each other called facebook. They really seem to love it! Worked part of the afternoon preparing for English Club at 6. Everyone came late and by 10 after no one – I almost left! But we ended up having 7 and a good time. I’m going to start directing my discussion in here to moral themes and issues.
Thursday, February 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day!
Well, I had my car washed 2 days ago because the weather forecast was for a week of dry weather. Well it snowed today and made a mess out of my car again! We (Natasha, Ksusha, Olya and Yulya) drove to the orphanage in Svetlovodsk in a mild snow storm and had 4 great classes with the kids – it was a lot of fun. I was real proud of Olya and Yulya as they co-taught a 9th grade class of girls together – preparing their own lesson and all! They were great! I was eating supper about 6:45 and feeling a bit blue about spending Valentine’s day evening alone, when Olya and Yulya called and asked if the could come over. I said that would be great! So they came and we spent the rest of the evening together and I took them home about 10:30! It was a nice surprise.
Friday, February 15
I cleaned my house –especially bedroom and kitchen’s were a mess for we are having our Valentine’s party tonight. I made sugar cookie doe in the morning and boiled some eggs, etc. getting ready. I tell you this next thing because it is just so Ukrainian. I have my water delivered. I ordered it to come between 8-10. It came at 12:30. Well, I didn’t want to cook, so went out to eat, then bought candies for tonight and went and paid for my internet. Later I cooked the cookies and made hot tuna sandwiches that everybody loves. People brought candies and sweets. Momma Nadya (My oldest student that comes to my house – 31 with a 6th grade daughter that has been with us since she was really little) brought a big, delicious tort – cake. We had 18 for the party, ate, played games and ate some more. The last went home about 9:30. We had 4 people that hadn’t been with us for awhile so if the party accomplished anything, this was worth it!

Journal for January 16-31, 2008

2008-02-02T06:23:00.000+02:00

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I don’t think that I have written about the apparent tragedy that took place just before I left for the US. The Director at School 11, where we have had a mainstay in our working in the schools, was either fired or quit. It is not sure what happened. She was replaced by the Director at School #9, who ended our work there. This effectively ends our work at School 11 that has been on going for 11 years! We still have our work in the village school and now three orphanages in neighboring villages and towns as well. The doors in these 3 orphanages are wide open right now and we intended to do our best to step into them. Also if there is time, there is an internot school here in Kremenchuk that we have worked before in, that we will see about entering again. Please continue to pray for these works.
Thursday, January 17, Friday, January 18
I am writing this Journal on January 28th. I know that I have not kept up with it as I should. I intend to do better! Just a couple of notes about Thursdays and Fridays. Our Thursday classes were dwindling down to 1 or 2, so we decided to focus our energy and studies on Tuesday, where we hope to increase our study time and worship/singing time to 1 ½ hours. On Fridays, we have started again our fun night – but that too, so far has been lightly attended. We are looking for the direction that God is seeking to take us in. Please continue to pray for us in these areas.
Saturday, January 19
Yura agreed to open my house for the noon Adult Bible Club, because I needed to take a trip to the airport by Kiev – Borispil and pick up an American friend, Michael Braswell, who is coming in to spend a week with us and the orphanages here in Kremenchuk and surrounding areas. Michael is from TN and is a very caring Christian Brother that cares very deeply for the children here in Ukraine! He became a Christian in January of 2006, made his first visit to Kremenchuk and the orphanages in January of 2007 with Buddy Baker. This year he decided to come on his own and care for the children out of his own pocket. He is NOT rich, except in God’s love and love for the Christ’s Church, the children, the Lord’s work that we are doing here and our young people as well. I left at 9:30 with Olya and Yulya and his flight arrived at 1:30 and we arrived back in Kremenchuk about 5:30. The noon Bible Club had 2, but the evening Bible Club had 9 with 2 new people – a mother and daughter! The last went home around 9:30 and after my travels I was pretty tired. You just can’t compare the wear and tear that driving in Ukraine brings to you to driving in the US. It’s just not the same!!!
Sunday, January 20
We worshipped in the morning, made sandwiches in the afternoon for the prison, and spent most of the time planning the week to come with Michael and our young people. We had a good afternoon together. Then we had 15 for our evening worship. We got Michael back to his room, as he struggling with jet lag and needs to sleep. Just to mention about our Sunday night “sermons/lessons.” I am doing most of them, but I am proud to say that Yura and Artem are taking a more active roll in preparing talks as well. Yura presented the lesson tonight and did a good job!
Monday, January 21
We spent a very busy day visiting different orphanages. First I picked up Yulya and Olya and then met Michael and our 2 local workers Nickoli and Anya (Christian workers that full time sponsored by this orphans work by Buddy Baker and Jerry Morgan). They know the work well and are doing an amazing job in the things that they do for the Lord. We got started at 9:30 and went first to the Baby’s Orphanage and spent most of the morning there. Then I went to the bank and we went to McDonalds where we hand lunch together. Did I mention that we now have a McDonalds in Kremenchuk (I’m sure I probably did!)?? Then we went to Svetlovodsk where we visited the 2 orphanages there, one that we had never been in before and they are thrilled that we want to come and teach Bible lessons there. Of course the one, the Visually Handicapped Orphanage, we have been teaching there, but we hope to expand that work as well. We got back to Kremenchuk about 4:30 and then went to the Orphan family, arriving there about 5:30 (they are in a village about 15 Kil. out of Kremenchuk). We all were very tired and left there about 7:30pm to come back to home, eat supper and go to bed – Michael is waking up very early – jet lag!
Tuesday, January 22
Again with an early start we spent quite a bit of time at the orphanages. In the afternoon, while Michael was buying things for the orphanages that he wanted to give to them, I spent time in lesson preparations that I needed to do. In the evening we had our devotional with 15 present. We celebrated Marina’s 21st birthday and then we went out to Pizza as Michael’s guest. Everyone went home from there around 9pm.
Wednesday, January 23
While Michael was again buying and delivering things to the orphanages I went to pick up Ksusha in Poltava. It is about 1 ½ hour drive both ways and so it took a little over 4 hours round trip. She had been there for 3 weeks of study and had a lot of stuff to bring back! She had to take all her bedding, etc. with her so it was extra. I have to mention a little bit about what Michael is doing with the Potoki Orphanage – the poorest one in our area. The shoes on the kids feet were literally falling off, so Michael took it upon himself to buy a new pair of shoes for every child there! Then he bought 4 new sowing machines and a ton of material for the kids to be able to make their own new clothes! They got really great prices on the material and machines!
Thursday, January 24
In the morning I again had my own work to do and Michael finished up his buying and delivering things to the orphanages. I worked nearly all morning on my newsletter for our kids. I hadn’t done one since I had been back, but now I did and sent it to Anya O. V. translate for me. He has such a great heart for the kids! We met at 1pm at McDonalds, ate lunch with Anya and Nickoli who have worked so great with Michael this week. Then Michael and I left for Kiev arriving at the hotel airport about 4:30pm. Michael had been getting up between 1 and 3 each morning because of jet lag and just wanted to go to his room and rest. I did the same, eating supper about 7 and going to bed around 9.
Friday, January 25
I got up 3 (my internal alarm usually lets me sleep 6 hours – or less if it is not being nice to me) to leave at 4:30 to get Michael to the airport by 4:50 to go through all the customs etc and fly out at 6:50. I got home around 8:30 in the morning. Was in phone contact with several during the day, but mostly rested from the busy week. Vika was the only one that came for fun night tonight but we played cards, looked at pictures on my computer, ate and talked until she left around 9.
Saturday, January 26
Prepared for my Bible clubs for today and tomorrow, did some shopping for food in the morning. We had 4 for our Adult Bible Club. Those that came for this Bible Club, helped me with some translations for tomorrow’s lesson too. I went to the church discussion at 4 and that was good. Then we had 5 for our evening Bible Club with the new mother – Tanya and daughter – Ira with us again. Folks went home around 9:30pm.
Sunday, January 27
Nice service in the morning. Afterwards 4 went with me to Prostor (our local super walmart – sort of) and I bought some more groceries. Then we ate lunch together at a buffet place there. Then we came to my place and talked about the future and of course played some games together. At 4:40, I left and went to the church building for our Parent Bible Club where we had 4 in attendance – it is really just now a beginner’s Bible club and is going fine. Then we had 12 for our evening services and left the building around 8pm.
Monday, January 28
I worked all morning on my Newsletter to mail to the states and also Anya emailed me back my newsletter for here and I printed out 20 of those for our folks here. In the afternoon, I spent some time with some people that needed counseling. Then at 5:30 Oksana, Olya, Ksusha went out to the Orphan family to spend our Monday evening with them. We had a good time and a good Bible Study. We left a little earlier than normal because all 3 girls had other things that they needed and wanted to do. I got home around 8:30pm.
Tuesday, January 29
Much of day was in finishing the newsletter to send to the states. Also I worked on my resume and personal information to give to churches and schools that may be interested in my working with them after I return to the states. I had a real good meeting for about 45 minutes with Sasha R. and Valerie the preachers that I work with from Komsomolsk who are also enjoying the work in the orphanages in Svetlovodsk and are doing a good job there. We had 12 for our devotional. Artem gave the talk and did a really good job! People stayed around until 9:30 this evening and I really enjoyed our time together!
Wednesday, January 30
I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up “corners” in my apartment. Cleaned my kitchen, I cleaned up my bookcase in the living room – I am afraid that I tend to let things kind of get stacked on the book case – not it is neat and clutter free. I took all the Christmas and New Years stuff down – I did have an artificial tree! Finally I cleaned the desks in my bedroom/office. It feels so much better not having so much clutter around – I threw away a lot of stuff! I took a break and went to the bank – it took about an hour here again – I really don’t like that part of banking here, but it is often the way it is. Then went to the drug store for some blood pressure meds, paid some bills, got a couple of things at the grocery store and came home. Then I also prepared for the Evening English Club – we had a record number with 13 people present! We had a good time and had 2 new people.
Thursday, January 31
Just in case you are interested – I still have my 6 hour sleeping habits. If I go to bed at 10, I wake up at 4, etc. So I usually start my day with checking the internet for email and corresponding with that. I check the weather and news on line, have breakfast and do my personal time of Bible Study and prayer. Then I usually get into my study time. I did a lot of study and Bible Study on lessons this morning. I ordered water (I get in 20 liter bottles delivered. It is a lot easier and cheaper this way) and it came at 8:30. I have fallen into a pattern of studying until about 10 and then showering. It refreshes me for more! Then I went back to my study until about noon. At 1:45 Olya, Sasha preacher and Valerie and I went to Svetlovodsk to the 2 orphanages. It is about a ½ hour drive over there. We met with the TB orphanage (children are taken here that have had a family background of TB or are have some tests that show that they have a weakness toward it. None have ever broken out and developed it.) director and visited 2 classes of children – 5th and 6th together and the 7th grade. All were eager to be with us and have classes with us. Everyone of the younger group said that they had Bibles are read them regularly!!! All of us were amazed at this! After visiting the other orphanage and watching Sasha and Valerie teach their class of about 20 kids with puppets, we returned home about 5:30. It was a good afternoon!

Doug’s Contact Information

2008-01-30T07:31:00.000+02:00

Cell Phone: 011-380-96-564-4311
Home Phone: 011-380-536-791-737
Internet Number in the USA: 931-442-0937 This number can be called like any other US number and the cost is the same as any long distance call in the USA. If I am not on the internet at the time you call, you can leave a voice mail and I will return your call. I have very good phone rates on this!
Email: doug_berry2001@yahoo.com
Website: www.ukrainemission.com
Blog: www.Kremenchuk.blogspot.com
USA contact: Steve Jefferson: 931-433-0189

Lord willing, what I will do when I leave Ukraine

2008-01-30T07:30:00.000+02:00

Maybe you can help! I would possibly like to live and serve close to some of my children. I am beginning the search process close to where some of my children live in Nebraska (Midwest) and Texas (South central) US. I will be looking for Pulpit ministry, Evangelism ministry or possibly a teacher at a Church of Christ Christian High School. I would hope to find work at a congregation that would allow the plans above to take place!!! I believe that the last 6 years have prepared me to be a very effective minister in the US. This is God’s doing, not mine. If you know of any congregation that might be interested in my working with them, please help us get together!

What is going on now and plans for this summer

2008-01-30T07:28:00.000+02:00

Much of what we have been doing continues to go on! The biggest change is at School 11 where the director has changed and we have lost access to the school that has been our mainstay the whole time we have been here. This has been a hard blow, but the Lord continues to open up other things for us. We still have access to 2 schools in town, 1 internot (live in school for ages 1-9th grades), 1 village school and 3 large orphanages and 1 family in nearby villages. We have several Personal Bible Studies on going at this time. Also we continue with our weekly classes and devotions and worship services. For this summer we will do 2 different things for sure. 1. For children 4th grade - 8th grade. Vacation Bible School from 1 to 4pm for 2 weeks. This would include Bible classes, snacks, devotion and games. This would be for 5 days a week. We would offer 1 excursion at the end of the Bible School for those who have attended 75% of the classes.Following the VBS in the afternoons, we will offer an hour long Teen Bible Class and an Adult Bible Class from 4 to 5pm each day. 2. We will have our 6th Annual Bible Camp for 14 days, probably at the Black Sea or possibly at the Azov Sea, which is on the southeastern border of Ukraine.
(This is an excert from my newsletter. If you do not get this newsletter, but would like to read in it's entirety, you can go to my website at:
www.ukrainemission.com ).

Journal Time again - Dec 2nd - Jan 15 08

2008-01-18T07:43:00.000+02:00

Sunday, December 2, 2007 – January 15, 2008
This is going to be a brief writing of a month and a half!
Dec 2 – We had our fellowship at the church after morning services and said good bye to Kelli for the congregation. Then in the evening we had our goodbyes from our group. It is never easy!!!
Dec 3 - Kelli and I and Olya and Yulya went to Kiev to do souvenir shopping. The girls stayed with a friend and I stayed in the hotel by the airport.
Dec 4 -5 – Kelli and I flew to New York JFK airport together and then I continued on to Cleveland, OH and on to San Angelo, TX on the 5th. I was able to attend Jenise’s Art show. The main reason for this trip was to share in Jenise’s graduation and have at least a short family Christmas together with my 4 children. Jenise is graduating as a commercial artist and she is really very good!
Dec 6-8 – With Jenise, I attended a Bible Seminar at the Minda Street Church of Christ in Abilene, TX that was very interesting and good. I was still suffering from Jet lag, but did pretty good! Ben and his girlfriend, Erica, arrived in Abilene on the 7th. Ben will begin graduate school in Missions on January 7th.
Dec 9, 10 – I spent an extra couple of days in Abilene with Ben and Erica. We had a great time! On evening of the 10th, Jon, Jenise’s husband, came and got me and went back to San Angelo (about 90 miles). It was a good trip and time to talk.
Dec 11-14 – I had the privilege of taking care of delightful 9 month old grandson, Malachi or Mali, as Jenise finished up many projects and exams. Jenise has worked so hard and is so deserving of all the honor she is receiving! I am so proud of her!!!!!!!
Dec 15 – Butch, my oldest son and Janessa my youngest daughter with her son Gavin, had flown into Dallas and met my ex and her husband at the Dallas airport and then they drove to San Angelo in the morning. Ben and Erica came over from Abilene. I fixed a BIG breakfast for everyone and we had a grand reunion! Then in the afternoon we went to Jenise’s graduation at Angelo State University and shared in that great joy! Afterwards we had a celebration at Chili’s restaurant and had a nice supper there. Then back to Jenise and Jon’s apartment for the rest of the evening. GREAT DAY!
Dec 16 – We all worshipped together and then my kids and grandkids that were there (Butch’s wife, Erin and my 2 granddaughters Hannah and Ella were unable to come), had a dinner I had made in the crock pot together and then celebrated Christmas together for 3 hours! It was the first time in 10 years that we had all been together for Christmas! It was wonderful! Then my ex and her husband had Christmas with the kids and later invited me to join them too, which I did. Ben and Erica went home late that evening back to Abilene.
Dec 17-21 - Janessa, Gavin and Butch all left at 10am to fly back to their homes. Our time was good, but so short! The blessing is that I had another week with Jenise and Jon and Malachi! We had a great week together!!! Jon has a new job as a treasure for a company that is growing very fast and I am very proud of him too! Jenise is a wonderful mother and wife and striving to being everything that God wants her to be.
Dec 22-25 – My kids all had plans for regular Christmas, so I flew to AR and had Christmas with some friends there. It was a good time, too.
Dec 26-28 – I had about a day in New York that was a lot of fun, but rainy and caught a cold and then flew back to Ukraine on the evening of the 27th and arriving back to Kremenchuk about 6pm on the 28th. My friends had a nice reception and we had a great time together, even though very tired.
Dec 29-Jan 1 - With much help, we prepared for New Year’s celebration. On the eve of the first, we had a great New Year’s dinner at 11pm at Ksusha’s family home that was delicious and opened some gifts afterwards (this is when Ukrainians give gifts)! Afterwards we went to the center about 12:30am and took pictures in front of the New Year’s tree – Yolka – or our US version of the Christmas tree! Then we had 21 people I think at my house for the New Year’s party that lasted until about 8am when everyone finally went home. In the afternoon, we went out to the Orphan family home and took presents from us and from “His Kids Too!” an orphan organization run by members of the Church that had sent clothes and presents to the kids. It was really great!!! Then home and sleep – can you believe it!?!
Jan 2-6 – Getting caught up on many things, including spending a lot of time with people. We are also preparing for Christmas on the 7th. Yes, Ukrainian Christmas is on the 7th and we will celebrate it my American style. On Sunday the 6th, I preached in the morning (and evening) and we made sandwiches for the boy’s prison today with 6 people helping. On the afternoon of the 6th, I took Ksusha to Poltava to get her ready for 3 weeks at the Univ as she is taking most of her University classes by correspondence. She came back to celebrate Christmas with us tomorrow. We had Christmas eve – light dinner – at her home again at evening services – how nice!
Jan 7 – Christmas in Ukraine! We hung 29 stockings around on my walls of my living room and 25 came to open them. First we stuffed them with gifts that I had for the kids, then each of us drew 5 names and put 5 things in those stockings. Everyone came in and opened their stockings. Before the opening of the stockings, we celebrated Yura’s 20th birthday together. His birthday is today! We started at 4pm and ended around 9. It was a great evening together! Maybe my last New Year’s and Christmas in Ukraine for awhile. Joy and sadness mixed together.
Jan 8 - I took Ksusha back to Poltava (about 60 miles) early in the morning to start her studies, getting back around 10am. We had a great singing with about 13 people present in the evening. We went out and had pizza together afterwards.
Jan 9-11 – Spent a couple of days in Kiev with some friends that was very good. Downtown Kiev is very pretty this time of year! They have an awesome Christmas tree – excuse me – Yolka!
Jan 12 – Started Bible Clubs again and had 6 for older and 7 for teen class. Zhenya went with me to the Church discussion time and translated for me in between Bible Club times.
Jan 13-15 – 13th was Sunday and we had a good worship. Then prepared for Zhenya’s birthday celebration after evening services. We had a good worship, then Zhenya’s party with 16 people. Afterwards I took Zhenya home so she could also celebrate with her family. On the 14th, we celebrated – are you ready for this – Old New Year! Really we didn’t do much, but it is the last of the holiday season holidays in Ukraine. On the 15th we had a good devotional with 14 people at my home.
I know that was fast and brief! But it has been a good 6 weeks with family and many friends. We have shared much joy and had great experiences with one and all! I am very thankful for how God is blessing my life and may He bless yours as much and as well as He does mine!

Speical Thanks to our Translators

2007-12-02T05:56:00.000+02:00

Psalm 8:5 “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” This is talking about how God honored us as His children. I believe that it is long over do to give special honor and recognition to our very dedicated and hard working people that have served as translators for us “foreigners” over the years! This work is your work as much as it is “foreigner’s work”! I have always felt that you have been a very important part of the Lord’s work! Without you, the work of teaching, encouraging, reaching the lost would not have gotten done! We are so proud to be considered fellow workers in the Kingdom of God with you!!! You have been our constant friends and companions in all that has been carried on in God’s name over the last 6 years! You have been asked to sacrifice your time and lives and you have given yourselves so freely. We are humbled and honored to have the privilege of serving God with you!
Thank you from all of us English speaking workers
With love, Dougchik