Project cows for Mission Return, Belarus

Staff and students at Lyahovichi center

Our Weissensee fundraiser is in full swing. So, we take this opportunity to announce the following project, this time in Belarus.

In the past we have supported Mission Return (Teen Challenge Belarus) several times with donations for various projects. We also catch up with each other during the annual Europe Teen Challenge conferences.

We recently received an email from Michael Balakirev with a project proposal. Michael is the director of Mission Return and we know him personally.

Big farm house

Mission Return has 12 drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers at various locations in Belarus. On average, around 150 men and women live and work in these centers, receiving new life. Most houses are fairly self-sufficient, for example because they have livestock and land and make artistic products.

In the Lyahovichi district, however, there is a center that could use some help. They currently have 10 residents, some of whom are disabled. There are only a few small churches in the area that support them financially.

They have pigs, chickens and sheep

Now, they have made a plan to turn the center into a working farm. The question for Traveling Light is whether we want to help with funds for:

• 3 dairy cows
• refurbishing an existing cowshed
• a small milking machine, dairy refrigeration, and machine for making milk products

A total of 5,000 euro is needed to get this all going. Well, we wouldn't be Dutch if we were not excited about such a project 😄. We want to help them, especially because we have seen with our own eyes what a great job they are doing in Belarus among addicts and homeless people.

Do you want to help? Then, please send your GIFT (large or small) to St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. make sure to mention COWS.

This way you can shine your light in Belarus! How beautiful is that?

Activities and project news

The center in Yerevan is already in use

The Weissensee fundraiser 2020 for Teen Challenge Armenia has kicked off. If you want to sponsor the ice skaters, read HERE how you can become a part of this great effort to bring hope to the hopeless!

We hope and pray we can raise a solid donation for the renovation of the recently opened drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Yerevan.

Full house at Winiarczykowka, Poland

This month, the proceeds in Twinkeltje will go towards the work of Teen Challenge Winiarczykowka, Poland. This center, located in a former border post, offers a safe home to the elderly. So come visit us in Twinkeltje on Saturday (Korenbloemstraat 20, Papendrecht) for a cup of coffee or a nice bowl of soup and who knows, maybe we have something nice for you in the store.

Last weekend we had Maria Meier from Italy visiting us. She runs Comunita Brezzano, a Christian therapeutic community in Tuscany. On Friday we organized a mission night in Twinkeltje.

Mission night Italy in Twinkeltje

We had a nice dinner together, then Maria shared her heart. We showed pictures of our most recent visit (workweek 2019), we prayed and sang many songs together. It was a very encouraging evening. The offering we collected turned out to be 1200 euro (!), which will all go toward Comunita Brezzano. Thank you, on behalf of Maria.

This coming Friday night we are hosting Prayer for the Nations (every third Friday of the month) in Twinkeltje. We always pray for the nations of Europe, for Israel and the Middle East, for current projects and we share news. This Friday we will have Marek Deicmanis from Latvia visiting. So come and join us! Coffee and tea will be ready from 19:30 hours.

The next project is in ... Belarus, more about that soon..

GIFTS (large and small) are always welcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.

Weissensee 2020 fundraiser for Teen Challenge Armenia

Adrie, Henk and Krijn

It's January again, the month of our most exciting fundraiser of the year! On Tuesday, January 28 the Traveling Light skating team is planning to skate the 200 km tour on the Weissensee in Austria again.

Krijn Donk (Papendrecht), Henk Swijnenburg (Bleskensgraaf) and Adrie Swijnenburg (support & care) want to raise money for Teen Challenge Armenia and well for the renovation of a second men's center.

Gagik & Lusine

Gagik and Lusine Mkrtchyan are the directors of Teen Challenge in Armenia. They run a center where men with drugs and alcohol addictions have a chance to start a new life. (We supported them back in 2017 (read here) with a gift for the daily operations of the center.)

Much work to be done!

The center is actually always full and last year they started a second center in an old house on a large piece of farmland. The acreage that belongs to the farm makes it a good location for a rehab center, animals can be kept and crops can be grown.

The farm in Yerevan is very primitive, there is no running water, electricity or sanitary provisions. However, the need is so big that several men are already living and working there, some of them are not that young anymore.

The farm offers many opportunities for work/therapy

A substantial amount is needed to renovate the house and outbuildings. We believe that with your help it can become a beautiful center where many men can find a safe place to live and work and ... to have an encounter with God!

You can sponsor Krijn and Henk as a team or individually:

• with a donation per kilometer,
• with a donation to finish,
• with a general donation, or
• with a donation according to your own idea (for example for breaking a pr or last year's time result)

👉If you decide to participate, please send an e-mail with your pledge and encouraging words to krijncora@gmail.com.

Of course, you can send your donation right now if you like 😁St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275, BIC: RABONL2U.

What do you think, will personal records be broken?

We are looking forward again to your heart-warming reactions and we wish the skating team lots of success and perseverance.