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| Camping with 250 men in Bosnia |
As in previous years, Jan went to the My Brother's Keeper conference a few weeks ago, on behalf of Traveling Light. Last year it was held in Serbia, this time in Bosnia. It is an annual inter-denominational conference for men (spiritual leaders, pastors etc.) from all Balkan nations.
Traveling Light has good contacts in many of these countries and through pastor Steve Telzerow from ICF in Ljubljana we again received an invitation to come. Such a conference is a great opportunity to learn more about the (historical) problems these nations are dealing with. Emotional, spiritual and social problems, often the result of a period of bloody war.
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| Sharing meals |
Meeting people, building relationships, listening, talking, asking questions, praying... it all helps to learn to understand each other better. And that helps us to choose projects wisely. It is also very encouraging to see that various churches in that area are working on reconciliation through forgiveness and healing.
As in previous years a Traveling Light supporter and volunteer went with Jan: Henk Swijnenburg (yes, the one from the Weissensee skating event).
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| Building friendships between the nations |
They first drove all the way to Slovenia where they spent the night at the Teen Challenge men's center. The next day they drove on to Bosnia. About 250 men came to the conference, men from former Yugoslavian countries.
They camped out in small tents for four days and nights. The days and evenings were filled with music, prayer, Biblestudies, teachings, sport, games and of course food and drinks. After the conference Jan and Henk spent some more time with the team from Teen Challenge in Slovenia and gave several Bible studies.
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| Always an encouraging word... |
On their way back they stopped at the Teen Challenge men's home Gutes Land in Vilsbiburg, Germany. They were just in time for a huge BBQ. Jan shared the Word in the evening and the next morning.
After driving 4,500 km and meeting many people, we can say that this was yet another typical encouragement trip that we believe Traveling Light has a calling for!
We always travel at our own expense and so do the volunteers that come along. So, all donations that come in will go towards the projects. Currently we are fundraising for Teen Challenge in Georgia. If you like what we do and you have a heart for the kind of projects we support, please make your gift payable to:
When in Europe: St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U
When in the USA: You can send your donation for Teen Challenge Georgia directly HERE.