Lord Willing, Returning Is A Reality!

 Dear Friends,

 You know the ride that I have been on and you have blessed me so much by your loving support, prayers, and encouragement! Thank you!

The day before I had planned to return to Ukraine on April 12, I tested for Covid and received a positive result. Obviously, my plans to return were delayed again!

 I have completely recovered from Covid and had a negative test. My symptoms were light and I’m in good health. I will still have to be tested again next Monday before I leave. Please pray that this test will also come back negative so that I will be able to make my trip.

Lord willing, a week from today on May 5^th I’ll fly out to Ukraine! I’ve been so blessed to find a direct flight from Dallas to Frankfurt and then on to Ukraine after an hour layover. This will cut my travel time down a lot! I have a Brother in Christ, who is also a missionary to Ukraine, that recently had no people on his flight home from Amsterdam to Atlanta!

The same Brother that I mentioned above was able to find and purchase a ventilator for the Church that he works with in Ukraine. I think that this a great way to serve! I’m going to look into this when I get to Ukraine. Also, I hope to work with an organization in Kremenchuk, run by one of our Brothers, that helps displaced people that have come out of the war zone in Ukraine. I want us to find more ways to serve and reach out to our community.

Love in Christ,

Doug Berry

Return to Ukraine MAY BE Insight!

The Mission work in Kremenchuk continues to be positive and ongoing. I have remained in York, NE with my son and family. Over the last few months I have shared in a Zoom Bible Class and Worship on Sundays in Kremenchuk. We have also had Zoom English classes at least twice a week and in Ukraine they have had more. Recently 12 people, including 4 people not members of the Church went to Lviv in western Ukraine for a retreat/seminar on the Second Coming of Christ. Reports said that it was great!

The COVID numbers have greatly decreased in Ukraine over the last month. This week I was added to the list to get the COVID vaccine. I’m not sure when I’ll get it, but hopefully I’ll be able to get to Ukraine MAYBE by the first of April! You know how it is for making plans these days!

I plan to lengthen my stay in Ukraine to a more permanent living arrangement by not returning to the States for my next visit to maybe July 2022 and then returning to Ukraine by the first of September 2022. Please pray that we will be able to carry out all our goals and plans!

PRESSING ONTO THE UPWARD CALL

In my last report I talked about my upcoming hip replacement surgery. I had that on done on September 3^rd and it was successful. I spent about 3 weeks in recovery hospital, then had 2 weeks physical therapy at home (my daughter’s home where I was staying) and almost another month of outpatient physical therapy. I have come through strong and healthy.

 Back in Ukraine the Family English School (FES) opened on September 3^rd to good and growing numbers! I am so proud of the team we have in place in Kremenchuk of our preacher and 2 English Teachers! They have and are doing such a great job!

 The number of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine have continue to skyrocket, as they have in the world. By the end of October, we had to make the hard decision to physically close the doors to the school and church building. The English classes and church service have continued to meet through Zoom. The numbers are down some because not everyone has access to Zoom, but most do. For the worship service, we moved the meeting time to 4pm so that I could join them at 8am (8 hours difference). The last 2 Sundays, Artur has been teaching a Bible Class from Acts and I have been preaching through a translator. I am so thankful that I can stay active and be with them this way.

 Artur (Ukrainian preacher) and one other sister have gotten the COVID and have recovered, but many in Ukraine have not recovered. COVID has grown to such a point in Ukraine it would be extremely dangerous and foolish for me to try and return at this time, even if I could. As soon as the numbers have decreased to what might be a safe level, then I will return. Our work continues, but just on a different level. I am sure everyone understands this as all face COVID every day! Of course, we can cut our expenses some, but we still need your constant continued support for the work to go forward. Thank you for all you do!

 As of this writing, I am in York, Nebraska with my son, Ben and family for the foreseeable future. People ask me what my plans are and I am taking that day by day. Please keep me and the work in Ukraine in your prayers. The work of the Lord goes on and forward!

MOVING FORWARD

As Christians, we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus” and as the Apostle Paul says, “we are to press on to the upward call.” This indicates that we should be always moving forward. 

 I arrived in Coppell, TX three weeks ago with the hope of being able to have hip replacement surgery. After more than 2 weeks of seeing Doctors, I am moving forward with my surgery which is scheduled for August 27th! Now, I have almost 3 weeks to wait! I’m enjoying staying the Grottis home with my daughter Jenise and family! They are so exceptionally good to me! After surgery, I will have at least a 2 months of recovery time before I can go back to Ukraine, but after surgery that is my next goal. 

 Back in Ukraine the Church and Family English School (FES) are also moving forward! I want to point out that Ukraine has divided the country into 4 different sections as far as the seriousness of the COVID-19. The Poltava Region, which Kremenchuk is in, is considered the less serious and therefore is the most open to nearly everything. The public schools will all be open this fall! 

 The Church has been allowed to meet in public now for more than 2 months. The FES is in the ramping up to open on September 15th with an Open House on Saturday, September 12th. We will soon be putting major advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, in apartment buildings within ½ mile radius of the school. The great majority of people in this part of the city of Kremenchuk live in apartment buildings. We will also be putting flyers for our school in public schools as well. 

 My involvement, even though distant will be ongoing. I will make a video welcoming people to the school for the open house. I’ve continued to meet with my English Teachers and Artur our preacher while I’ve been gone. I will Zoom in on classes from time to time, even though our two English Teachers, Olya and Yulya will do the majority of teaching until I can get back. I’m very confident that Artur, Yulya and Olya will continue to do an outstanding job of leading the Church and teaching until I return! 

 I will keep you updated on future developments as they happen and Lord willing the news will all be great!

Change Can Be Growth

Things are beginning to change here in Kremenchuk. I hope all for good, but some because of summer and some because of the change in attitude about COVID.

First, our Family English School has come to and end for this spring and will start up again in the fall. For most of March, April, and May we held classes online on Zoom. During this time, we had two groups of adult students: a beginners 2 group of 4 and an intermediate group of 3. I worked very closely with my two Ukrainian English teachers and translators. They did an exceptionally good job. This past year we covered much of the gospel stories and with the intermediate group we got into Acts 1-6. We had 2 classes a week with each group. The English and Bible progress was good! Right now our plans are to start up our school again about September 15^th. We will do a large advertising program in August in September to kick off the school year!

For the same period, we continued to meet online with Zoom for our Sunday Bible Class and Worship and Wednesday night Bible Study. This past Sunday, May 31, 2020 we had our first meeting together at the church building in almost 3 months! We had 9 in attendance with several more choosing to stay online for the worship. It was great to be back together again!

Unfortunately, because of all the COVID, we will not have the Bible Camps that we had planned for this summer. The start of those will have to be next year.

Even though the numbers of COVID continue to grow, the numbers have flattened out and are not increasing. The number of new people with it are between 400-500 daily. In our city, the numbers have been relatively low.

The government offices opened today for me to get my temporary residency papers done. This will take 2-3 weeks to finish. After that I will fly back to the USA, Lord willing to get my hip replacement done and then to return to Kremenchuk about October 1^st.  Very few of my plans have worked out so far this year, so please be praying that they will now!

Freedom From Isolation!

I feel trapped. I feel trapped inside my apartment in Kremenchuk, Ukraine where the number of COV-19 cases is growing in Ukraine by 400-500+ a day. Oh, I have Christian friends and neighbors that are taking care of me. I have started going out for early 5:30 in the morning walks when very few are out and about. I’ve been in isolation, like many, for nearly 2 months now.

I feel trapped in a body that wants to be useful, but my low back and hip hurt a lot. I guess that is what age will do to you! The going for the walks does help. I don’t sleep very well any more.

I feel trapped in my mind because I feel I have a lot to share and to teach, but it is harder than ever to get that done. I am much better face to face with people. I am going a bit crazy. Some of my friends and family would say that’s nothing new!

The difference is that I know that I have been set free in my soul through Jesus Christ! I hear God speaking to me through His Word every day and I can talk to Him about all things with trust and confidence that He hears and answers my prayers. I have been set free in my apartment because we are worshipping together online and teaching English Classes there too! I can call and talk to my children and friends in the US when the time difference is right without much problems. I have outlets of entertainment that is good and clean on my computer, iPad and phone that was unheard of 20 years ago! I can get any book I want to read and a lot of them are free! I have all the food I want and all I need is the incentive to get up and do some cooking.

One day I will be set free from this world to go home to be with God forever! I will no longer be trapped in this world, but I will be with Him with no pain, sorrow or hunger. Praise His Holy Name!

Encouraging in a Time of Stress

I started writing daily encouragements a week ago to give people positive, Biblical messages to lift our spirits in trying times. In the following post you see 7 of these for a weeks worth. I hope that they are blessing to you. I found that writing them and searching out God's Word was definitely a blessing for me!