Monday, January 25, 2016

Project news and thanksgiving

Traveling Light ice skating team
Tuesday, January 26, 2016 will be the big day, ice skating team Traveling Light will start in the early morning for the 200 km long race on the Weissensee in Austria.

Donations are pouring in, more than 3,500 euro has been pledged if the men finish the trip! That amount will be much higher if personal records are broken. So it will be a very exciting day!

The entire proceeds of this action will benefit the construction and installation of a kitchen in the boys home of Teen Challenge juvenile program in Kazakhstan.

Finally, it's there....
There is a webcam and on www.weissensee.nl you can follow the skaters. Their registration numbers are as follows: 5005 Henk Swijnenburg Henk, 5369 Henk Vlot and 5393 Krijn Donk.

Last week Sasa Ivanovic, the director of the Teen Challenge rehabilitation centers in Serbia, sent us pictures of the new tractor lawnmower that they were able to buy, thanks to your donations.

Thank you all on behalf of TC Serbia
Sasa writes: "It's finally here!!! We are so exited and happy, as you can see on the pictures, it looks really amazing! Real, good stuff. I want to thank you and Jan, Traveling Light, as well as all people who supported this project, on behalf of our students, staff and our personal name!"

In December's seafarer's evangelist Guus Peters visited the ports of Gent, Antwerp and Terneuzen. He gave away 188 Christmas goody bags. We were able to sponsor sixty (!) bags thanks to your donations.

Guus with the sailors
Guus writes: "I visited a ship with Filipino, some Romanian and Ukrainian sailors and  the captain called the whole crew together so that I could explain the Gospel. I then handed out the Christmas gifts and the men were so happy.
The sweaters are really a hit and of course the woolen hats are also very much appreciated. Thank you very much for your great contribution."

Isn't it great to make so many people happy? Currently we also raise funds for the rehabilitation program of Teen Challenge in Sered, Slovakia. They want to employ their current teacher also in 2016. They will need about 2,400 euro for this.

GIFTS are always welcome at IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht.

Thank you very much for your comments, emails, pledges, donations and prayers!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Greetings from Kazakhstan

Teen Challenge juvenile program Kazakhstan
The Weissensee sponsoring event for the benefit of the Teen Challenge juvenile home in Kazakhstan is in full swing, and how!

We have already received so many pledges and heartwarming comments, it's kind of overwhelming. More than 2700 euro has been pledged if our team finishes the grueling 200 km ice skating race on the Weissensee, next week (January 26th).

Cooking corner in need of shelves and storage space
Much more has been promised if they brake personal records :) (We will keep this amount a secret until the big day). There were a few nice articles about the Traveling Light ice skating team in our local news papers.

Current cooking space
The entire proceeds of this sponsoring event will go to the Teen Challenge juvenile home in Almate and it will be used to build and install a kitchen. The cooking now happens in a space with barely any facilities.  The roof leaks, there is no refrigerator or storage space and the windows and doors close badly. There really is a big need for a serious renovation.

The staff and the guys at the home are very happy with the attention they are getting. They still can not believe that there are people in the Netherlands who will do their very best to help them.

You have a little less than a week left to sponsor the skaters as a team or individually, and well as follows:
  • pledge a certain amount for finishing the race
  • pledge a certain amount per kilometer accomplished
  •  pledge a certain amount no matter what the result will be
  •  pledge a certain amount for breaking personal records
  • with whatever idea you have! We just LOVE to hear from you!
Traveling Light ice skating team
You can send your pledges by email to (krijncora@kpnmail.nl) or Facebook. You can also donate right now by sending your gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention WEISSENSEE.

Below a short video about the boys' home (it's in low resolution, hopefully it is okay to watch).



Sunday, January 10, 2016

Project Teacher Teen Challenge Slovakia

Teen Challenge Slovakia
The Weissensee fundraiser is up and running (keep an eye on the thermometer!) and the donation for Teen Challenge Georgia has been transferred. That means there is room to announce a next project ... because we never stand still.

As most of you know by now, a large part of our projects involve support for Teen Challenge programs in every corner of Europe.

These Christian rehabilitation centers for people with life controlling problems offer the Teen Challenge curriculum which consists of group and individual lessons.

It is not sufficient that someone is simply 'clean'. An empty and tidy house must be filled with truth! [Herein Christian and secular rehab programs often differ in their approach.]

Group and individual studies
Sometimes the curriculum is being taught by people who have gone through the program themselves (graduates) and now have become staff members in a center. Sometimes however, as with Teen Challenge Slovakia, there is a need for an  external teacher.

Good education is of course an essential part of the program. The men and women often used to live many years without structure, morals or principles and do not know much about Biblical truths and guidelines.

Vladimir PrĂ­belsky
Since last year, Vladimir PrĂ­belsky has been teaching in the rehab program in Sered. He receives a compensation for his services. Most Teen Challenge programs receive no (or little) government funding and depend on donations. If possible they will also use it to pay their employees a salary.

On this blog we wrote about the construction of the prayer chapel in Sered. Currently they are working on a much needed replacement of the roof of the rehabilitation home. Fortunately they received funding for it. Hallelujah!

Teen Challenge Sered, Slovakia
As much as we possibly can we offer the Teen Challenge programs prayer and encouragement (by visiting or writing emails and letters) but also some financial help to overcome the many daily challenges.

At the beginning of 2016 we want to help Teen Challenge Slovakia to continue the use of the services of Vladimir Pribelsky for at least another year. They need about 2400 euro.

If you have a heart for EDUCATION, please send your donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Please make sure to mention EDUCATION SLOVAKIA.

Thank you, also on behalf of the men in the program!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Weissensee 2016 for Kazakhstan

The biggest, most exciting and challenging ice skating event of the year is coming up again! At the end of this month the 28th AEW (Alternative Elfsteden-tour Weissensee) will be held on the WeissenSee in Austria.

Many marathon ice skaters from Holland will challenge the cold, snow and ice and enter the 200 km (!) long race. Each year the big question arises: will personal records be broken?

The Traveling Light skating team is growing steadily: this year we have three sportsmen who will skate for one of our projects: Krijn Donk (Papendrecht), Henk Swijnenburg (Bleskensgraaf) and Henk Vlot (Oud Alblas). We are so proud and happy to have them!

These men will raise funds for the Teen Challenge juvenile program in Kazakhstan, a boys home which was established  in 1997. [The western part of this country is considered Europe, the eastern part Asia. So Kazakhstan connects two continents]

Bolat & Elmira and their daughters
The daily management of the home is in hands of Bolat & Elmira Baitakov. There are currently nine boys aged 10-18 living at the home. The boys often come from difficult and dysfunctional home situations (abuse, addictions, abandonment and neglect) or have no parents at all.

We are in contact with workers Maxim & Jenya Buzinovskiye (left in the group picture below) because they speak and write English very well.

Boys House in Almaty, Teen Challenge Kazakhstan
The boys have a safe place, they can go to school, they are given food, clothing and a warm bed and they hear (often for the first time) about Jesus. The Christian program receives no government funding and depends on donations.

There is an urgent need to build and install a  proper kitchen, for general use and for the cooking classes the boys are getting! This now happens in a space with barely any facilities. A space where the roof leaks, there is no refrigerator or storage space and the windows and doors close badly. There really is a big need for a serious renovation.

group picture taken this Christmas
You can sponsor the skaters as as a team or individually as follows:
  • pledge a certain amount for finishing the race
  • pledge a certain amount per kilometer accomplished
  • pledge a certain amount no matter what the result will be
  • pledge a certain amount for breaking personal records
  • with whatever idea you have! We just LOVE to hear from you!
Of course all proceeds will go to this project in Kazakhstan. You can send your pledges by email to (krijncora@kpnmail.nl) or Facebook. 

You can also donate right now by sending your gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention WEISSENSEE.

Click HERE for Weissensee actions in previous years.