Travel updates and lots of thanksgiving

In June and July, we were not only able to send in donations to various projects, but we also traveled quite a lot.

Visiting, showing your face, listening, praying with people, speaking words of encouragement and prophecy, teaching... you name it. It's all part of the traveling work we do on behalf of our non-profit Traveling Light (hence the name!).

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At the beginning of June, we were guests at the 25th anniversary of the Teen Challenge men's center in Sluknov, Czech Republic. Very nice to be there and even nicer that we were approached by several men from the program about the Bible study sessions we gave there in January. One man came running to tell us that his shattered wrist (which he had been unable to use for years) had been healed after we prayed for it. Praise the Lord!

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When we returned home, Jan got on his motorbike and drove to Teen Challenge Slovenija. The next day they went from there with 2 vans and 12 men from the rehab program to the 'My Brother's Keeper' conference in Montenegro.

Hundreds of men from all the Balkan countries gathered there. Those of you who have ever joined Jan for such a conference know that these are very blessed gatherings with lots of prayer, music, liberation, and healing. This time again dozens of men gave their lives to Jesus. Also a number of men from the TC program in Slovenija. Praise the Lord!

After the conference, Jan stayed an extra day in the TC center in Slovenija to teach the Bible a, pray with the men, and speak into their lives. This picture (click on it to enlarge) says more than a thousand words, right?! 💓

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On the way back home, Jan visited Dirk & Meike Hellmann, they have been directors of the Teen Challenge rehab center Gutes Land in Germany for many years. We have visited them regularly over the years.

Dirk has been struggling with cancer for a long time, he also had a bone marrow transplant and was not doing well. Jan was able to encourage them both, prayed with Dirk, and even went swimming with him (which he really wanted). He visibly improved. Praise the Lord!

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At the beginning of July, we were among the guests of honor at the celebration of 35 years of Teen Challenge in Poland. What a party it was! The celebration took place on the grounds of the men's rehab center in Lekinia, which we have visited several times in the past. There were many visitors, including officials from the city and many former students.

TC Poland has several rehab houses for men and women, a network of 50(!) coffee houses, church plants, and much more. On behalf of Traveling Light we accepted a beautiful glass plaque as an appreciation for the many years of help and support.

Again, it was so encouraging that people came to us who recognized us from previous visits, who remembered what we taught about years ago, or who just wanted to tell us that prayers had been answered. Here too, a lot of gratitude for the work of Traveling Light. Praise the Lord!

On Sunday, 14 men and women were baptized in a nearby lake. What testimonials we have heard!

Only God can restore broken lives, reunite families, save marriages, heal disease, and break addictions.

Among the international guests in Poland were also Stephan & Marianne Barendse from Teen Challenge Netherlands. Good to spend some time together again.

Actually, we visited them in Heerhugowaard at the beginning of June. TC Netherlands is once again going through a difficult time. The Cyan thrift store has closed (they had to leave due to zoning plans in the municipality) and the care department of Life House has also closed (because that was largely paid for by the proceeds of the store).

Prayer is needed on how to proceed.

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Meanwhile, our dear friends, volunteers, and loyal donors Piet & Anneke Stehouwer were vacationing in Croatia and they decided to visit the new Teen Challenge coffee house in Solin, for which we recently collected funds (read here).

They had a blessed meeting with TC director Ico Matulic and the man who runs the coffee house. These kinds of visits and meetings are so important and valuable, believe it or not.

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Both the financial support and the personal visits are the heart of our work. None of this would be possible without your help.

Your donations are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

• Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.
• 💳 Give by card

Project and travel updates

Greetings to all of you from Sergey Romanenko and the men at the Teen Challenge rehab home in Berdychiv, Ukraine.

Thanks to your help, we were able to transfer a generous gift for repair and maintenance work on the men's rehabilitation center there. (Click on the photos to enlarge).

They are currently working on the installation of drainage around the outer walls, quite a job that requires participation of everyone currently in the program. Repairing the stucco will be next.

Work projects are part of the daily rehabilitation program, in addition to participating in Bible studies and doing household chores. The men always love it when there is a nice job to do. It is very rewarding to see the home well maintained!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to this project.

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Last week Jan drove to Slovenia, accompanied by one of our faithful supporters. Together with staff and students from Teen Challenge they drove from there to Montenegro to attend Čuvar Brata Svoga or the 'My Brother's Keeper' conference.

It is already the ninth time that we participate in this event, as Traveling Light. It is a powerful weekend for men from all Balkan countries (former Yugoslavia) and reconciliation, forgiveness, unity, and spiritual growth are central themes. They covered a lot of miles in a week!

It is an enormous privilege for us to witness what God is doing in the Balkan countries! Music is a big part of the conference program. See this video!

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Also, many thanks on behalf of port evangelist Alexander Eberson for the donations. We were able to transfer an amount of 400 euro for the purchase of Russian and Ukrainian Bibles for the sailors on the ships.

It is always great to see how you respond to such a call for help.

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At the moment we are still receiving donations for the construction of a new Teen Challenge men's rehab center in Moldova! If you would like to make a donation, you can do so in different ways, please take note:

• Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and mention TC MOLDOVA
• 💳 Give by card
• 👉When in the USA, make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention TC MOLDOVA.