Our visit to Israel

Good atmosphere in the soup kitchen

In October we (Jan and Marja) enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Israel. But it was so much more than just vacation!

We helped Brian Slater from Abundant Bread of Salvation in his foodbank in Netanya. We unloaded pallets of products and placed everything on the shelves, we assembled food packages and served meals in the soup kitchen. Always fun to be there and give a helping hand!

Catching up with Polly

The proceeds from our shop Twinkeltje over November will go towards the work of Brian Slater. So come and shop for a good cause!

Also, take a look at this great VIDEO!

We had coffee and lunch with Polly Sigulim in Arad. The Teen Challenge women's home she directed for several years had to close due to several circumstances. But Polly still offers a safe place for women, now in her own home.

Because there is quite a bit of opposition from the Jewish orthodox community in Arad, she stays a bit under the radar so to speak. It was good to catch up and pray with and for each other. All in all, an encouraging visit.

Such honor to meet these Holocaust survivors

Together with Jeroen & Robin Honigh (from Milk & Honey Ministries in the USA) we visited Beit Joles, a home for the elderly in Haifa. Many Jewish people with a Dutch background live there. It was very precious to have time and conversation with these Holocaust survivors (often well in their eighties and nineties).

They enjoyed speaking Dutch with us and in the course of the afternoon, more residents joined our table. They shared stories of their hiding places during WW II with the help of the books Righteous among the Nations. They invited us to come again...

We also had a nice lunch and caught up with Amadeus Schmidgall, who used to be a staff member at Teen Challenge Emsland in Germany and now lives in Jerusalem.

With Mirka and Milan in Jerusalem

When we arrived in the old city that morning, we had an unexpected meeting with Milan & Mirka Antalik, whom we know from our trips to Slovakia. Milan arranges the book presentations and speaking engagements of Marja's Slovak books.

Such joyful meetings, and great to see how the Traveling Light network connects nations!

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

Project Stolpersteine, Berlin

Stolpersteine in Germany

Let your light shine! That is the motto of Traveling Light. In the previous weeks we were able to do exactly so, and well: among Muslims in a Syrian refugee camp (a blog post will follow soon) and for the Jewish community in the streets of Berlin, Germany.

Together with volunteers/supporters Jim & Lynda Hayes we visited the Bethel House of Prayer in Berlin where we prayed for Israel, Germany and Europe. We asked forgiveness for upcoming anti-Semitism, we prayed for reconciliation between Germans and Jewish people and we came against the spirit behind neo-Nazism. 

Very special meeting in the street

That same day we were walking through the Klopstockstraße in the Hansaviertel in Berlin and we stopped to take a closer look at some bronze name plaques that were embedded in the sidewalk. The bronze plaques carry the names of Jewish people who used to live in that street and who were killed during the Holocaust.

While we were standing there we got to talk with a couple who explained to us that these plaques are so called Stolpersteine, or stumblng blocks.... a project of artist Gunter Demnig.

Throughout Germany there are thousands of these Stolpersteine. They are being sponsored by individuals, family members of Holocaust victims, schools, churches, organizations etc. The lady told us that she happened to be the one taking initiative for the Stolpersteine in this street.

At Bethel House of Prayer in Berlin

Our meeting was certainly no coincidence! How awesome that at that moment we were able to add substance to our prayers from that morning (after all: faith without actions is dead): we promised to sponsor SEVEN Stolpersteine.

In the meantime we have received the names of the seven victims: the Lehrhaupt family, the Liebmann family, young Ursel Thomaschewsky and little Ralf Rewald who was only fourteen years old when he was picked up all alone and deported to Auschwitz.

Right there, in the middle of the street, we prayed with this German lady and her Jewish friend from Israel and blessed them with peace, joy and health.

With the sponsoring of these 7 Stolpersteine we want to remember the Holocaust victims and to emphasize the reconciliation message of Jesus Christ (Yeshua ha Mesiach). In Him all nations can find peace!

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you (Isaiah 60:1)