One more month to go in 2018

Christmas atmosphere in Twinkeltje

December is just around the corner, a month in which we will look back on all the beautiful and special moments ... but also look forward to a new year.

We were able to support many projects, thanks to your generosity. We have again visited many countries and, closer to home, we also had lots of interesting encounters in our shop/coffee house Twinkeltje.

In December we pay particular attention to the fact that God gave His Son Jesus to mankind. The greatest gift a person can ever accept. December is for us (even more than usual) a month dedicated to GIVING 💟 Following God's example, we also want to give abundantly and bless and encourage people to enter the new year with hope and expectation.

Visiting Teen Challenge men's rehab in Berdychiv

During the month of December, we often receive end-of-year gifts in addition to the regular donations.  We would like to offer you a choice in the projects you want to support [read: whom you want to bless by giving from your wealth]. In the coming weeks we will post some encouraging stories from different countries on this blog. If you decide to send a gift, please clearly state for which country it is.

We are currently raising money for a passenger van for Teen Challenge in Berdychiv, Ukraine. We have also selected a project for the Weissensee fundraiser 2019, we can confirm that it will be Teen Challenge Moldova. Furthermore, you can expect the following inspiring stories in the coming weeks:

• The youth work of Teen Challenge The Gate among students in Wroclaw, Poland is expanding more and more. They do fantastic outreaches on the campuses of the major universities as well as during festivals and other events. We would like to encourage them with a donation for upcoming activities.

  

  The Gate in Wroclaw, Poland

• In December the proceeds of Twinkeltje will go towards the work among the Roma in Bulgaria. We see beautiful things happening there, but at the same time there is struggle around all kinds of political decisions that will be effecting the evangelical Christians.
• From December 19-22, the annual Coffee Conference of Teen Challenge Ukraine will be organized, celebrating their 10th anniversary. It is amazing what happens in the 30 coffee houses around the country. We want to help them with the costs for the conference.
• We also have great news from Serbia. The work of Teen Challenge has produced a lot of fruit over the years; new churches have been planted and ministries have been started. Encouragement is very welcome!
• And of course we want to bless the work of Brian Slater in Israel with a donation.

Gifts are always welcome at IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. When in the USA you can send your tax deductible donation (Note: only for Teen Challenge projects) to EEO, just make sure to mention which country.

Project Passenger van Teen Challenge Berdychiv, Ukraine

Teen Challenge Berdichyv, Ukraine

If you search in the column on the right side of our weblog for the tab 'key words' and click on Berdychiv, you can find all the messages we have written about the work of Teen Challenge in Berdychiv, Ukraine over the years and that is quite a lot!

We not only visited on several occasions, but we also provided financial support for projects such as the animal barn, the expansion of the men's house, the local youth coffee house work, the purchase of the women's home and of course the annual summer camp.

Last summer we were there again and it is such an inspiration to see how they are working with little money and resources but with great enthusiasm to give men, women and young people a new chance in life and hope for the future.

The old and faithful Mitsubishi

They drove us around in the old Mitsubishi which was living out it's final days. We asked director Sergey Romanenko what the mileage was ... "Probably more than a million" was his answer. A while ago he emailed us with the message that the van had given up altogether and whether we wanted to help raise funds for a newer passenger van.

The van is used to transport men, women and children from the rehabs, to the city, to the church, to the coffee house or to the doctor when necessary.  They are currently looking for a good, reliable, not too expensive passenger van. They will need at least 3,500 euro in order to purchase such a vehicle.

What do you think, can we raise the needed funds in a short time? Sure, we can! If you want to support the work of Teen Challenge in Ukraine, please send your gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention: VAN.

When in the USA you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC Ukraine, Berdychiv.

Project updates and travels

Foundation of the kitchen

Earlier this year we gave a donation for the construction of a church kitchen in Georgia. The work has finally started.

Pastor Temuri Muzashvili of the Evangelical Faith Church in Navazi sent us drawings and some pictures of the initial phase of construction. In the picture on the left you can clearly see that the kitchen will be added to the side of the church building. The foundation has now been laid.

Floor plan kitchen

When we visited in January, Temuri shared his plans with us and we were immediately excited. The church distributes monthly food parcels to the poorest families in the village. The idea is to cook meals in the new kitchen and have meals together. In other words, a beautiful meeting place will be added. We will keep you informed.

We are already in the first week of a new month which means we have announced a new project for  our secondhand shop Twinkeltje. The proceeds will go to the work of Teen Challenge in Croatia. Last year a restart was made with street outreach, drug prevention work and coffee house work. We helped them with a donation for the translation of the Living Free curriculum.

Team Teen Challenge Croatia

They can certainly use funds for the rent of the coffee house, where they also have training and counseling sessions. So come and visit us in Twinkeltje this month if you want to help.

Specified gifts are always welcome of course. Please use IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Do not forget to mention: CROATIA and perhaps you can also pray specifically for that country!

This week we will be attending the fall leaders meeting of Europe Teen Challenge which will take place in Ciudad Real in Spain. We will be guests at Casa Betel. An organization we know from our visits to Berlin.

GREETINGS!