Local missionary returns safely from Ukraine; Burleson's OpenDoor Church sends aid to the country

Mar. 8—It's heartbreaking, Burleson's OpenDoor Church Associate Pastor Tim McGill said of the Ukrainian situation.

McGill spent part of November and January through the early part of February in Ukraine, managing to leave the country shortly before most flights out were canceled.

"There was a little tension in the air and we were glad we got out," McGill said of his departure. "A friend of ours, he got the last flight before all flights American ended up canceling."

Between McGill's missionary activities and ongoing local endeavors, OpenDoor Church continues working to make a difference in war-torn Ukraine.

Though he's only spent a total of three weeks in the country, McGill said he's long been in touch with missionaries to Ukraine.

"I used to be a pastor in Utah and, as soon as the Iron Curtain fell in the early '90s, they began going to Ukraine," McGill said.

Getting into Ukraine proved fairly easy.

"We were fine," McGill said. "We had problems at the border, got a lot of push back because I think they knew some stuff was coming down but weren't free to talk about it. So a lot of that was centered around you know, 'What are you doing here?'"

OpenDoor Church and other churches go in to work with and assist local churches throughout Ukraine.

"We preached and ministered for nine days in 12 or 13 churches and four rehab centers," McGill said. "We counseled for two days, worked with men's meetings then spent time with leadership of various churches to try to do what we could to help and equip those leaders. They're already remarkable leaders and incredible people but there's so much hunger to learn and they're absorbing anything and everything they can get their hands on.

"Much of this, of course, is information you can access on the internet but certain things are better transferred through association and that's why we went there, that personal presence."

Going in, the Ukrainian's thoughts previous to Russia's invasion differed from person to person, McGill said.

"Just based on my observation anyway was that there was some tension because Russia's been part of their border since 2014 so they've lived under the shadow of the Kremlin for a while. The overall consensus from the leaders we spoke with was that they didn't think [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would actually initiate some kind of advance beyond Crimea."

Russia in 2014 invaded then annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

"They didn't mourn the loss of Crimea because Crimea was nothing but a drain on their resources," McGill said. "The only time Crimea made any money and wasn't just overhead was three months out of the year when Russians came to vacation there."

Other Ukrainians, however, expressed less faith in Putin's sense of fair play, McGill said.

"Others I talked to were fairly convinced that Putin was unpredictable and that he could go either way," McGill said. "So it was kind of mixed either way but everyone we talked to had concerns and they were anxious."

Tensions of possible impending war aside, McGill said the Ukrainians he met during his time there left a huge impression on him.

"Mainly they spoke Ukrainian and understand Russian but we had interpreters," McGill said. "I had an 11- or 12-year-old girl who was interpreting for me. She knew English, knew Ukrainian. I mean she was a smart kid. I was like, 'Good grief.'

"But Ukraine, from everything I saw, overall is such an incredible country and the people there are just some of the finest people I've ever met. Hardworking, free enterprise has taken root and there's a growing middle class. Just some of the finest people I've ever connected with and worked with."

McGill stressed the importance of praying for the people of Ukraine.

"It's just heartbreaking what's going on there now," McGill said. "We've invested in relationships there. We know the people. They're not wrong. They're not evil. They're not aggressive and they're not a threat to Russia. Their only fault is that they have around 20 percent to 30 percent of the world's supply of uranium. They have some of the only operational silver mines and it's the bread basket of Europe. I mean, the ground is so fertile that you can grow just about anything there.

"But now the situation is that the people who are in the crossfire are innocent people. It's not even military they're targeting now, it's just people. And that includes little babies, little kids and moms and dads and so it's heartbreaking.

"We continue to get information back form our friends there and they are resilient and they are strong and know how to navigate stuff like this because it's such an intricate part of their history from the Nazis and Russia on down."

The odds, unfortunately, overwhelmingly favor Russia.

"We're trying to raise awareness; raise money," McGill said. "In several towns Russians have come in and closed the drug stores down, shut off power and water, anything and everything it takes to maintain life in other words. Sort of surround the castle and starve them out. I got today messages from friends who had been missionaries in Ukraine for 35 years. They got out but they're still getting messages from people there. Reports that Kharkiv is under annihilating bombing for days now and many people are at risk. Many people are dying, vacuum bombs and cluster bombs being used to decimate the entire city."

OpenDoor Senior Pastor Troy Brewer said his church remains committed to helping Ukraine.

"We do a lot of work over there," Brewer said. "Since the invasion started we've put together over $50,000 to send over and we're going to send more. All the churches we're working with over there are operating as shelters where every square inch has a human being living there because people are afraid to stay in their high-rise apartments because of the bombing.

"We're working hard on feeding and taking care of people. We've actually helped a lot of people get to the border and super excited about that."

Communication has become spotty and difficult, Brewer said, but they continue to find ways.

"One pastor we've been working with over there, hadn't heard from him in a few days and lost all contact," Brewer said. "But he just contacted me within the last 30 minutes to let me know he got out and is in Romania now. So it's just, just crazy over there now."

Brewer said he's also lost contact with Demitry "Dema" Bodyu, another pastor in Ukraine.

"He's our most southern guy and in Russian occupied territory now," Brewer said. "The Russians moved into his area and shut off every way to contact in our out. The last conversation I had with him he told me he saw ballistic missiles destroying everything then he saw the SAM missiles come in and helicopters with Russian soldiers. He said he'd be completely occupied within the next couple of days and that he was having to feed thousands of people so we were able to send several thousand dollars to help there."

Brewer visited Ukraine in 2019.

"Blown away by the people," Brewer said. "They remind me of Texas more than any other people I've ever been around in my whole life. Hardworking and pragmatic. If they tell you they're going to do something they do it. They're a very let's-band-together kind of people and you're seeing that all manifest in their resistance to the Russian army.

"It did not surprise me one bit that the resistance of the Ukrainians was heavier than what the world anticipated."

OpenDoor, which began as a food outreach program in 1995, assumed leadership of Lighthouse Church in 2013 after Lighthouse Pastor Gloria Gillaspie retired.

Otis Gillaspie, Gloria's son, still serves as OpenDoor's equipping pastor.

The last communication Gillaspie received concerning Bodyu came from a woman who works with him.

"A little sparse communication, but it's very sparse," Gillaspie said. "Basically their internet is pretty much gone. They don't have water or electricity and cellphone service is basically nonexistent."

For Gillaspie it's personal, his mother's church having helped the Bodyu family immigrate to America.

"Dema was about 19 at the time and this was in 1990," Gillaspie said. "When the Iron Curtain fell he and his family fled to Italy, which was very scary because they had to leave their citizenship behind. So they were a people without a country. [Dema's father, Serguy Bodyu] was telling me that there he was with a wife, teenage son and two little girls in Italy and not knowing what's going to happen day to day and all the sudden there's an organization that's going to sponsor them to come to America, which was our church."

Gloria Gillaspie's church helped the Bodyu get an apartment, find jobs, learn English and otherwise get acclimated.

Dema managed to get his girlfriend out of Ukraine later that same year, Gillaspie said, and the two wed soon after. Both went on to attend Christ for the Nations Bible College Institute in Dallas after which they returned to Ukraine as missionaries although Dema's parents still live in Burleson.

"They went on to achieve the American dream," Gillaspie said. "Serguy, I was with him yesterday, was saying that Jesus did all this for his family."

Dema and his wife went on to establish numerous churches throughout Ukraine and to open six restaurants.

"I used to own a company called Texas Drinking Water Systems," Gillaspie said. "In 2000, I helped Dema start a water business in Ukraine and that's what he's used to support all his ministries and churches."

Gillaspie has several times traveled to Ukraine and jokes that much of a country resembles a much bigger version of Kansas.

"First time I went it was like a third-world country," Gillaspie said. "No colors, people living in grey apartments, most homes had outhouses. But as I went through the years they progressively got more modern, more westernized. Last time I went, 2019, it was beautiful, just like us with commerce and everything."

Dema's parents, Gillaspie said, are understandably anxious for their son and native country, but also strong in faith.

"Dema's definitely dedicated to his people," Gillaspie said. "That's why he refused to leave and stayed with his church and we're seeing that resolve with all Ukrainians. They're strong people. The last word I heard is that [Dema] is home but going back and forth between his church because he has a lot of people hunkered down there."

Gillaspie joined Brewer and McGill in calling for continued prayer for Ukraine.

"That's important," McGill said. "The only other thing that's going to make a difference is if the European Union and NATO declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine. They're reluctant to do that because that's an open declaration of war against Russia but it's the only thing that's going to save Russia outside God's intervention."

All three urged those interested to visit opendoor.experience.com to donate or otherwise help with Ukraine.