Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Project farm rehab 'Centar Duga', Serbia

It has already been a year since we were able to send a donation to the food parcel project 'Ruka za Druga' (which means 'Hand for a Friend'), part of the Protestant Christian Fellowship in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Pastor Dusan Beredji (known to us as Bera) regularly sends news items about his church's homeless project and also about the drug and alcohol rehab center 'Centar Duga'.

What started 15 years ago as a small shelter to help addicts, has over the years expanded to a center with 30 beds!

Men with life-threatening problems can go there for a long-term rehabilitation program.

The rehab center is largely self-sufficient thanks to a moving van service, a chicken farm, and vegetable greenhouses. They also gladly receive donations.

Bera would like to see the farm expanded with more greenhouses and chicken coops and a pigsty.

The farm has multiple objectives:

  • It enables a reduction in food costs for the beneficiaries - by improving their nutrition and through the sale of surplus products.
  • It contributes to the path of self-sustainability, which is the goal, by reducing overall costs.
  • It serves as a therapeutic work component for the center's beneficiaries.
  • It provides beneficiaries with a sense of self-worth, as their work contributes to the center's operations.
  • Beneficiaries acquire new skills that can benefit them in their future lives.

We would like to help them with a donation to expand the farm, to build new greenhouses, buy seeds and plants, etc. etc. If you also want to help....

Your donations for the work in Novi Sad are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention CENTAR DUGA.

๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

๐Ÿ‘‰You can also donate directly through our website!

We really like these kinds of practical projects. Jan has visited the center and has seen with his own eyes how they run the center on a daily basis, and how lives are being changed there, every day.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Project refugee housing Teen Challenge Armenia

In recent years we have supported the work of Teen Challenge in Armenia on different occasions. Directors Gagik & Lusine Mkrtchyan run a drug and alcohol rehab center there.

In addition to their own five children, they have taken in ten orphans and are active in humanitarian work among the poor, widows, and orphans.

Last year they started a new initiative. During the Europe Teen Challenge conference in Milan last November, we had time to catch up with the Mkrtchyans. They have taken in several refugees from both Ukraine and Russia on a piece of land where they have built a small home.

These people have been living there for a while now. In addition to helping them with recovery from addictions, Gagik & Lusine also share the gospel. A real eye-opener for the guests. If we have the peace of Christ in our hearts, we can live in peace with each other. Yes, even as neighbors.

The residents work the land, look after each other, help Gagik where necessary, and will build a second floor on the existing house (!) so that even more refugees can be accommodated.

We would like to encourage them with a gift that can be used to purchase building materials. If you want to join us in raising funds for them, you can send your donation in different ways:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention TC ARMENIA.
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card
  • ๐Ÿ‘‰You can also donate directly via our website!
  • ๐Ÿ‘‰When in the USA, make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention TC ARMENIA.

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Ice skating fundraiser brings in 8,800 euro for TC women's home Romania

A shout-out to our ice skaters! Both Albert and Krijn completed the 200 km ride on the Weissensee last week.

We can all look back with thankful hearts to their fundraiser that brought in eighty-eight hundred euros for the Teen Challenge women's rehab home 'House of Joy' in Romania.

The center offers a safe place for women who struggle with addictions, homelessness, prostitution etc. and it offers the opportunity to start a new life!

Albert van de Graaf and Krijn Donk rode the grueling tour on the Weissensee in Austria on January 26 and 30 respectively. The 200 km ice skating tour wasn't an easy task, both skaters encountered a lot of hardships during the day due to falls and deteriorating ice as a result of temperatures just above zero.

After several hours, the ice turned into a slush in which the skaters found themselves stuck. Cracks were no longer visible and that, in addition to fatigue, was the reason for the many falls. Both men really wanted to finish the tour and not disappoint their sponsors and they eventually reached the finish line in one piece!

The support for their campaign was overwhelming and the amount of 8,800 euros will entirely benefit the Teen Challenge women's center 'House of Joy' in Romania.

Funds are needed for maintenance and expansion work, such as installing outdoor lighting, creating additional parking spaces for visitors and workers, expanding sanitary facilities, and completing the classroom and studio in the backyard.

On behalf of Traveling Light, the skaters would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to this successful fundraiser. We will keep you informed about the work on the women's house through this blog.

By the way, donations are always welcome, for we have many projects on our waiting list that need sponsoring. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.

๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

๐Ÿ‘‰You can also donate directly via our website!

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Project updates and activities

Kind regards from our Teen Challenge friends in Berdychiv, Ukraine.

On November 3rd, we wrote a message about the daily happenings in the various rehab centers there (you can read that message HERE).

We were able to send them a nice gift of 5,000 euros that will be used, among other things, for repairs and maintenance of the houses. Something that had been planned for some time, was repairs and renovation of the boiler room.

Thanks to your generous donations, they have been able to purchase materials and work can resume (always a useful part of the rehabilitation process, by the way).

Just before the end of the year, we were able to transfer another gift of 5,000 euros (THANK YOU!!!). This time for the purchase of a house that will serve as a home for staff, visitors, and volunteers. More news about that soon!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Also warm greetings from Moldova. Our friends from Pilgrims and Teen Challenge organized their winter aid campaign for the 19th time.

The fuel and food packages meet a huge need, each package contains approximately 12 to 13 kilos of food!

The men set off again with the Steyer truck to distribute the packages. Thanks to your donations, we were able to bless them with a gift of 3,000 euros for this project. Thank you.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

We also received a newsletter and photos from Port Evangelist Alexander Eberson. We were also able to transfer a nice gift of 2,000 euros to his organization Living Water.

Especially during December, he visited many sailors on seafaring vessels in the ports of Ghent and Terneuzen... the men are often away from home for a long time. He handed out Christmas packages, was allowed to pray with crew members, read the Bible, and had many conversations.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

On Wednesday, January 24th, we will organize another mission evening in Twinkeltje. We are looking forward to have a visitor from Lithuania... a Dutchman, that will be. Willem Vandijk will tell his story of how he ended up from Holland in Ireland and later on in Lithuania, where he founded the Vilties Inkaras (Anchor of Hope) non-profit foundation.

It promises to be an inspiring evening. We look forward to your arrival. Entry from 7:30 PM. WELCOME!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Project coffeehouse work Teen Challenge Albania is still a current project for fundraising and of course the Weissensee fundraiser for the women's house in Romania is up and running. So, you see, plenty to do and give away ๐Ÿ˜.

PS: Click on the photos if you want to see larger ones!

Your donations are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Weissensee fundraiser for Teen Challenge women's home, Romania

It's January again, the month of our most exciting fundraising campaign of the year.

Albert van de Graaf (Bleskensgraaf) and Krijn Donk (Papendrecht) have signed up for speed ice skating on respectively January 30 and 26,  on the Weissensee in Austria. They are planning to go for 200 km!

The skaters want to raise money with their performance for a great project: House of Joy, the Teen Challenge rehabilitation center for women with life controlling problems, just outside Bucharest in Romania.

๐Ÿ‘‰They obviously hope that you will sponsor their fundraising campaign.

House of Joy opened up in 2015 (we visited in 2017). The home can accommodate nine women and four 'interns', which are women who have completed the rehabilitation program and stay on as volunteers to help.

The women who come to Teen Challenge have often struggled with life-threatening problems, such as drug and alcohol addiction, prostitution, crime, homelessness, and physical and psychological challenges, for a long time.

In House of Joy they not only find a safe place to live, but for many, it is also the first time they are introduced to the love and grace ๐Ÿ’—of Jesus Christ.

House of Joy continues to exist thanks to donations from loyal donors. Funds for daily operations are always needed, but several things have been on their wish list for a while.

Practical things in and around the house, that benefit living and working conditions, such as:

  • the construction of two official parking spaces at the house (for the workers)
  • the renewal and expansion of sanitary facilities
  • installing outdoor lighting and
  • finishing the rooftops of the two container units in the back yard that serve as classroom and studio, and a canopy and seating area all around.

Albert and Krijn want to raise the necessary funds to make these home improvements a reality. It is possible to sponsor them individually with an amount per kilometer, with an amount for reaching the finish, or with a general amount

๐Ÿ‘‰If you decide to participate, send an email stating the amount you want to give to krijncora@gmail.com. We then keep track of the pledges, which is always exciting!

You can also send a donation directly:

  • to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention TC ROMANIA
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card
  • ๐Ÿ‘‰When in the USA, make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention TC ROMANIA

๐Ÿ ˆGeorgiana Dragan-Moldoveanu is the director of House of Joy. Georgiana grew up in a violent environment, with an alcoholic father. Although she was an incredibly smart student, as a teenager she started to look for love and acceptance in the wrong places. At the age of 20 she started to use heroin.

From being an incredible student with a career ahead, she ended up sleeping on the streets, stealing, begging, and even selling her body for money. In 2009, she ended up in detox, completely hopeless, to the point of having her leg amputated due to heroin injections. That was the moment she cried out to God for help. 

After she regained her life and went through a rehab program, God planted in her heart a strong desire to help other women going through the pain of addiction, trauma, and abuse. In 2014, she was blessed to marry the love of her life, Mihai, a former rocker who had an interest in satanism.

WE BELIEVE AND INVEST IN CHANGED LIVES! WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Project coffee house work Teen Challenge Albania

๐Ÿ‘‰First of all, we would like to wish you all a blessed 2024. Hopefully, it will be another year in which we can support many projects together that change people's lives.

Thank you very much for the recent gifts we received. We were able to transfer 5,000 euros to Teen Challenge Ukraine for the purchase of a house near the women's home in Berdychiv!

We also mentioned the work of Teen Challenge in Albania in the previous news blog. We stay informed about life in the rehabilitation center in Albania through newsletters and social media messages.

Director Gesi Hysenaj writes; 'The center is full and we are grateful for the men. Our coffee house in Tirana is also busy.' A coffee house is often the first place where addicts hear that help is available, that addiction does not have the last word.

By having conversations, sharing testimonies, and offering a listening ear, it is possible to reach men who are seeking true freedom from their life-controlling problems. This is true for anyone seeking help, whether they have a Muslim, Atheist, or Orthodox background.

The point is that they are coming into contact with the love and grace of Jesus Christ, often for the first time.

Addicts and the homeless are also reached through street evangelism. It is also nice to hear that many people have now found Teen Challenge and are asking for help.

This year, Gesi would like to see the men in the program become more involved in the coffee house work. They can address those still stuck in addiction like no other.

We would like to support them at the beginning of this new year with a donation for the coffee house work (rental building, coffee/tea, books, Bibles, and other materials). In any case, support is always needed to run the center, because almost everything is paid for by donations.

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so in different ways:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and don't forget to mention TC ALBANIA
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card
  • ๐Ÿ‘‰When in the USA, make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention TC ALBANIA.

Thank you again for your help!

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Visit to Moldova + Christmas packages 2023

At the beginning of December, we (Jan, Marja, Krijn, and Cora) visited Moldova. We were invited by Ivan Velinchuk (director TC) and Alexandr Lukiyan (Pastor church in Falesti) to the 20th anniversary of Teen Challenge.

We visited the various drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and had every opportunity to encourage the guests in the program with something from God's Word and also to pray with them personally.

Some of them said they had read Marja's Russian books, which are on the bookshelf there!

The Traveling Light ice skating team has skated several times for the Christian rehab centers in Moldova on the Weissensee in Austria, so that made a visit extra fun...

To see with your own eyes how money has been spent and, above all, to hear how people's lives have been changed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

They spoiled us each morning with a delicious extensive breakfast in the church in Falesti, after which we set off.

We visited the new rehab center (under construction) in Soceteni. A beautiful 4-storey building that stands behind the old farmhouse where 8 men currently live + another 5 men in a nearby cottage. They can't wait until they can move into the big house. But there is still a lot of work to be done!

During the 20-year celebration, there was room for lots of music and singing, testimonies, and encouragement from the Bible. We were kindly invited to share the Word there.

We also visited the mission post of Johannes and Charlotte Petersen and the girls' home that they lead. They are the founders of Teen Challenge Moldova and of the churches in Falesti and Riscani.

If you would like to know which projects in Moldova we have collaborated on as Traveling Light, take a look HERE.

It was wonderful for us to be there, to be welcomed so warmly, and to be so encouraged by all the stories.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

๐Ÿ‘‰We thank you very much for all the donations, support, and prayers we received over the past year. As for the Christmas packages project this year... we were able to divide 8,000 euros between the three projects. Amazing, right?!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

If you would like to make an end-of-year gift, don't hesitate! We want to help:

  • TC Ukraine with the purchase of a house (5,000 euros) near the women's house in Berdychiv. They want to use it as a house for the staff (now the workers live in the rehab houses themselves which is not so convenient) and for visitors, a kind of mission house.
  • TC Albania with a donation for their coffee house work in Tirana.

Your donations are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Travel report Lithuania

"It's for a good cause," people often say, especially in December. But what is that good cause? As far as we at Traveling Light are concerned, it is clear: we invest in human lives!

๐Ÿ‘‰Thanks to your support, we can support Christian organizations and initiatives in more than thirty countries in Europe that provide help to people in need. These could be addicts, homeless people, the poor, displaced, widows, and orphans. The support we offer consists of financial help but also of encouragement on a relational and spiritual level through visiting.

For example, we (Jan and Marja) were in Lithuania last October. We were invited to speak at the annual Teen Challenge conference in Kaunas. Prior to the conference, we visited the women's and men's rehabilitation centers. We also visited there in 2018 and 2019. It's nice to see what has changed in the meantime.

The second floor of the women's center is now completely finished from the inside. What beautiful spaces they have become: bedrooms, sitting room, sanitary facilities, and a beautiful classroom!

There was time to share God's Word and to personally pray with all the women currently going through the rehab program. These are always very special moments and it is an enormous encouragement for the women that 'foreigners' come along to share a word of knowledge, wisdom, or prophecy with them. The tears flowed frequently.

The Friday before the Teen Challenge conference was a special day for the staff and volunteers. We stayed in a farmhouse in the woods and had plenty of time for conversations, prayer, music and singing, and sharing meals together. We had the opportunity to share an encouraging word and personally pray with many for healing, recovery, strength, and vision.

On Saturday we spoke at the Teen Challenge conference in Kaunas. Several former addicts shared their testimonies. ๐Ÿ˜Ah, that's why we do what we do: to see lives cahnged for eternity!

On Sunday we spoke in the church in Kaunas, Kauno Krikลกฤioniลณ Baลพnyฤia. A church led by pastor Rytis Berลซkลกtis with a big heart for the work of Teen Challenge! After the service, we talked and prayed with people for hours, thanks to our interpreters.

Every donation that goes to Traveling Light, whether it is 5 or 500 euros, benefits the projects we support. We call them 'projects' for convenience's sake, but ultimately it is about people stepping out of darkness into the light.

Edvardas and Rasa Kleinas are the directors of Teen Challenge Lithuania. Edvardas knows what it is like to be addicted and in prison. He also found his true freedom in Jesus Christ and has been committed for years to helping others find that path, that truth.

๐Ÿ’“Jesus gave the command to disciple all nations and in this way, we all help. So do not see your gift as money that you 'give away' but as seed that you sow in God's Kingdom. The changed lives are the result!

Your donations are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

THANK YOU!

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Christmas packages 2023

Each year, Traveling Light supports a number of Christmas packages projects from various organizations. It is a blessing to be able to give to people who are less fortunate for whatever reason, perhaps because they are refugees, addicted, homeless, or far away from home. Surely, one of these projects thas your your heart ๐Ÿ’“ 

Winter packages Moldova

Our friends from Pilgrims and Teen Challenge are organizing their winter campaign for the 19th time. Last year they delivered 40 tons of coal and more than 400 food parcels to the poor and the widows.

The food packages meet a huge need, each package contains about 12 to 13 kilos of food!

We have been sponsoring this campaign for many years and we will certainly do it again. If you want to stay warm this winter, give warmth to someone else! Give... and it will be given to you ๐Ÿ˜

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Christmas bags for sailors

The Christmas period is the opportunity for port evangelist Alexander Eberson to show seafarers in word and deed that God loves them too. He wants to give a Christmas package to the sailors he visits.

Each Christmas package contains a hat, a pair of socks, a game, a notebook with pen, a bar of chocolate, a roll of mentos fruit, a bottle of shower gel, a homemade Christmas card, and a Christmas message.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Operation Christmas Joy

Transform Iran (formerly 222 Ministries) also wants to show the love of Jesus to vulnerable children this Christmas. They do this with Operation Christmas Joy (OCJ). The parents of these vulnerable children are poor or persecuted for their faith and/or had to flee their country.

The children receive a Christmas package containing warm clothes or shoes, school supplies and toys. The children are also invited to a Christmas party where they can play with others, enjoy Christmas music and show off their presents. Perhaps they are hearing the Christmas story from the Bible for the first time.

In 2022, Operation Christmas Joy brought gifts to 987 children from 3 countries. Today, the children of Christian-Iranian refugees in Turkey are having a harder time than ever. Even at school, they experience persecution and they do not know where they will live tomorrow. The children of Armenian refugees (as a result of the attacks on Artsakh) also need help. OCJ wants to give a Christmas gift to these Armenian children as well.

If you like to sponsor a Christmas package, you can

  • send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U, or 
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card 

Friday, November 24, 2023

Project Teen Challenge juvenile home, Kazakhstan

As most of you know, we choose a different project every month for which we keep the proceeds of our coffeehouse / 2ndhand stores.

In November this is the Teen Challenge juvenile home in Kazakhstan.

Maxim and Evgenia Buzinovskiyi run this family home and they are no strangers to us. We have visited them twice, even though that was some years ago.

Maxim and Evgenia (Jenja) care for children who, for whatever reason, cannot live at home. They also have three children of their own.

We have raised funds before to help them renovate the study and dining area in the house. The walls have been painted, electricity replaced, moldy walls repaired and new tables purchased, etc.

This winter they would like to renovate the common space where the boys spend their free time. Floor insulation would not be an unnecessary luxury there, new windows are also needed and some furniture. We would like to help them with that and hopefully, you want to help too!

Come visit us in the Schor (open on Fridays and also on Saturdays in December) and/or in Twinkeltje (on Saturday and/or Monday afternoons). With your purchases, you support this project. We have a lot of nice Christmas stuff and, as always, the coffee is ready.

Specified donations for the boys' home of TC Kazakhstan are of course also welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

  • Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention TC KAZAKHSTAN
  • ๐Ÿ’ณ Give by card

๐Ÿ‘‰PS: More information about our annual sponsoring of Christmas packages will follow next week!