Busy First Week!

My flight arrived into Ukraine on time without my luggage! We had been delayed over an hour in leaving from Atlanta to Paris and so my luggage did not make it the last leg of my flight to Ukraine. Nickoli, a friend and brother met me at the airport and drove me to Kremenchuk. I hadn’t slept but an hour on the plane, so I was really tired and slept about 1 ½ hours in his back seat as we made the trip to Kremenchuk in about 4 hours.

We were greeted by 19 people over the next couple of hours at my flat! It was so wonderful to meet so many great friends again! The next couple of days are kind of a blur as I was getting over jetlag. I changed some money, did some food shopping and a few other needed things. On Thursday night we had our first singing night and had 10 people present, which is a nice start! On Friday, we met with the owners of the flat and it went great! They support us using their flat (apartment) for how we want to use it. It was a very friendly and encouraging meeting!

Sunday was a very good day but different. With our services not starting until 12:30, it was a morning of preparations and rest. We had 17 people present all together, even though 5 had to leave early for different reasons. Our neighbors across the hall, who we know, came over mid-day for a few minutes of nice visiting. Then 2 ladies, who are sisters also stopped by for about an hour. They also are old, great friends!

The hardest thing to adjust to is the money. With such a large difference in the value of the money, it’s hard to figure out how much I’m actually spending. It will be ok, I’m sure. It seems like I’m spending so much, when in fact it’s not so much at all!

I’m really never on my own because of 3 things. One, God’s great presence with Jesus and the Spirit are always with me. Second, I have so many Ukrainian friends that lovingly support me. Third, I have such easy access to my family and friends in the USA.

If you want to dial me direct, you can call +380 66 481 4586. You need all of that to call. You can download the app, Viber and contact me that way or you can use Facebook Messenger to reach me too.

God bless! I’ll talk to you soon!

Doug