Karen Welker

Karen Welker served in Khon Kaen, Thailand for 30 years (1990-2020). The poorest and one of the most unreached areas, the Northeast became her home until God called her to serve in the United States again.

Karen is currently serving as manager of the Global Launch Center in Pensacola, FL, a 32-bed facility  with a 40-person seminar room designed to launch missionaries onto the field.  Since Covid restrictions, the Launch Center has become a short-stay facility for missionaries and travelers as well as a seminar center.  She is known for her hospitality and sense of humor. 

She has been a nurse for 50 years, serving in a variety of settings in hospital and government positions both in the United States and Thailand. Some of her experiences include working in a Khmer refugee camp in Thailand from 1990-1993, working in hospital ERs, Labor and Delivery, psychiatric settings, and surveying nursing homes for compliance with state and federal standards in West Virginia.

She is also active in her home church, Charity Chapel, facilitating a home group or helping in the church kitchen.  She is learning to become a mentor in transformation prayer ministry.

We are the Perekotiys, a Ukrainian and American family! We have been entrusted with four beautiful children: Chambers (2013), Lev (2015), Mila (2016), and Remington (2019). Our story began when we met in Ukraine in 2008. After living on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, we packed up our gang in 2018 and moved to Odesa, Ukraine, a beautiful, historic port city on the Black Sea. While visiting family in Alabama in 2022, the full-scale invasion broke out in Ukraine. We decided to remain in the US for the 2022-23 school year while supporting our partners in Ukraine through the War Relief Fund. In August 2023, we launched back overseas to share the Gospel among Ukrainians. We are based out of Bucharest, Romania, where we can serve refugees and be close to the Ukrainian border.

Through the War Relief Fund we have sent medical aid, vehicles, food, and education supplies to those in need. The needs of the vulnerable will only increase as this crisis continues, and we are committed to partnering with our friends and partners to meet those needs. We pray to use these resources to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends.

Our heartbeat has always been caring for the vulnerable and fatherless. Our vision is to see Christ proclaimed as we serve vulnerable children and families with national partners and churches. We also serve the unreached deaf community, and provide training and trauma resources for families and volunteers. Thank you for journeying with us!