Requests for help from Lithuania, Lebanon, and Serbia

The proceeds from our stores, Twinkeltje and de Schor, in February amounted to €2,000, which went to Bertine House, the rehab home for women and their children in Poltava, Ukraine.

The new project for March is "Alabaster Jar" in Germany. On Wednesday, March 11th, Sandor Hofäcker will be at our mission evening in Twinkeltje to talk more about this outreach among prostitutes in Berlin. We look forward to seeing you at that special evening!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

And now, a quick note about three different requests for help that reached us in recent days. First: an appeal from Willem Jan van Dijk of the aid organization Vilties Inkaras in Lithuania for help to a family who is currently homeless because their house burned down. This is a Roma family with eight children.

The plan is to build a new house. In the meantime, Willem Jan hopes to arrange a 20ft container, which will provide a temporary roof over their heads. Next week, he will be in the Netherlands to collect items (clothing, household goods, blankets, etc.). We would like to help him with a donation.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Secondly, we received a call for financial support from our friend and director of Teen Challenge in Lebanon, Garo Margossian. As a result of the war Israel and the USA are fighting to destroy the Islamic regime and associated terrorist organizations (including Hezbollah), many residents of southern Lebanon and Beirut have been displaced.

In addition to spiritual support (prayers), humanitarian aid is much needed: clothing, food, blankets, water, medicine, etc. Garo can provide assistance through his organization, NFD. We would like to help him with a donation.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

And thirdly: Boris Štrbac, founder of Restart  in Serbia, asked us to help with a financial donation towards the purchase of a new (used) professional coffee machine for the coffeehouse in Novi Sad. The old machine is really in need of replacement.

At the coffeehouse, people struggling with addiction can get information and discuss support options. Over the years, Boris referred many people to various Christian rehab centers in the Balkans. A visit to the coffeehouse is often the first step in seeking help towards a changed life! We would also like to help him with a donation.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

We are happy with your donations. Make them payable to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. You can also give by card or donate directly via our website! You can indicate the specific country you'd like to support. We will distribute unspecified donations among these three projects.

Project Restart Detox Clinic

From September 29th to October 3rd, Jan visited Serbia. He attended a Teen Challenge and Living Free training seminar that covered topics such as rehabilitation, relapse, and addiction.

The training was given in Novi Sad in the church of Pastor Dusan Beredji Bera who runs a men's rehab center, where Jan also received great hospitality and a bed to sleep in! He visited New Life women's rehab home and the coffee house of Restart, an organization that we have been supporting for a long time.

With a team of volunteers, founder Boris Štrbac is committed to helping people start a new life, free of addictions and other life-controlling problems.

They do this through outreach, drug prevention lessons at schools, and a mentoring program for ex-prisoners.

During the visit to the coffee house, Jan spoke with visitors and also had the opportunity to pray with people for restoration and healing and the courage to take steps toward recovery. The photo on the right shows the new expansion that Restart was able to build in 2021 thanks to a gift from Traveling Light.

There are currently plans to open a Restart Detox Clinic and support center. Boris is in contact with the city council about this, in particular about finding a suitable location.

Many addicts are hesitant to sign up for a long-term rehab program, often because they are still working and have a family and can therefore continue to function more or less. Detoxing, a discipleship program and therapy can help this group.

Most of the work Restart is doing can be carried out thanks to donations. Boris asks for prayers and funds to open a detox clinic. As Traveling Light, we would like to contribute to the lives that are about to change in Novi Sad!

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 RESTART
• 💳 Give by card

Project expansion Restart coffeehouse, Serbia

Last month we received an email from Udruženje Restart in Serbia. A Christian organization that works among homeless people and (former) addicts and supports them in their return to society.

With a team of volunteers initiator Boris Štrbac is committed to helping people on their way to start a new life. They do this through outreach, drugs prevention lessons at schools and prison work.

During the European Teen Challenge conference in Zeewolde (2019) we were finally able to catch up with Boris in person and following that meeting Traveling Light helped him with a donation for the opening of the coffee house in a new location in Novi Sad.

In the meantime, the coffee house is in full use, with weekly meetings that are well attended, as you can see in the photos. It's time for expansion :)

The back part of the building is currently not being used. They now have a plan to make the back of the building suitable for office space and rooms for individual counseling.

It will be quite a job, but they have a permit to start. They need funds for the following: knocking down the current wall, the building of a new wall, the purchase of windows and a door, wall and floor work, furniture, airco, and electrical work.

The main work will be done by a professional worker who is willing to do it as a donation, all other works will be done by members of Restart and the Church.  

So, Restart needs about 2,500 euro for materials, furniture, flooring etc. We hope you want to help with a donation, so they can begin this work soon!

GIFTS (large and small) are awelcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention RESTART.

Project Restart Coffee house, Serbia

Boris gives drugs prevention lessons

It has been a while, but early September we received a message from Udruženje (foundation) Restart in Serbia. A Christian organization that works among homeless people and (former) addicts and supports them in their return to society.

With a team of volunteers, initiator Boris Štrbac is committed to helping people on their way to start a new life. They do this through outreach, drugs prevention lessons at schools and prison work.

They recently received from the City of Novi Sad the acknowledgment that Restart is an organization of public and social value, which is great.

Discussion with municipality officials

They have also been chosen to be partners in a European project which revolves around post-penalty support, reintegration into society and employment of teenagers leaving correctional educational center Kruševac (prison for youngsters). The team had to do a training for this.

About a year ago the team started a social enterprise "Restart Home Service" for cleaning, washing furniture and moving. It would be nice if some of these young people could actually come and be employed there.

Reintegration of young people

For long, Boris had the desire to move to a larger location. The office of Restart is very small. His prayer has been answered! The municipality pointed him to a beautiful location where there is enough space to also start a coffee house.

Renovation of the space is now in full swing. A lot has already been done, but funds are still urgently needed for electrical installations, kitchen, flooring, paint, furniture, new doors, etc. Volunteers from the church are helping to get everything in order, it is truly a joint effort. About 2500 euro is needed to make the building ready for use.

At work in the new location

👉We have noticed that the opening of coffee houses is on the rise. We see that in various countries and also in our own Twinkeltje. It is a nice way of getting in touch with people and having conversations. The coffee houses are also used for all kinds of activities, from Bible studies to workshops to film events and common meals.

Traveling Light wants to help realize the coffee house in Novi Sad. We have an invitation to attend the opening when the time comes 😁

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

Project news

Great to meet with Irina and her son

It is about time we share some project news from the various European nations with you again. We regularly receive e-mails, photos and newsletters with thanks for the donations, prayers and support.

Good to know that your gifts actually arrive at the designated places and are used for the intended goals!

During the summer camp in Ukraine we got to talk and pray with Irina. She recently joined the Teen Challenge team in Kiev. She told us about her time at Bertine House in Poltava, how the program had been a blessing and how she had experienced the love and grace of God at a dramatic low point in her life. We shared with her how our ice skating team did a fundraiser earlier this year for Bertine women's home. 💖Heartwarming to be face to face with someone who found new life there!

Happy Boris :)

In May of this year we sent a donation towards project Udruženje Restart in Serbia. We received a short video from Boris Štrbac in which he shows the office equipment purchases, made possible through your generous donations. Thank you so much!

Jan visited him briefly at the Restart office in Novi Sad in June, while in transit to Macedonia.

In April we sent a donation towards project garlic farm in Georgia. Last week we received a newsletter from CIC Mission in which Reza reports that they harvested the garlic and are now drying has some 9,000 kilo which will be sold as cloves and powder.

Reza during garlic harvest

Praise the Lord for this harvest, also for the spiritual harvest ... seven people were baptized in the front yard of the Iranian Bible School!

Oh yes, we also recently received a request to support the children's work at the Iranian Conference, which is being organized by 222 Ministries in the Netherlands, early August. We have done that before, namely in 2015 (click HERE for that blog post).

Do you have a heart for the Iranian children in The Netherlands, many of them refugees? Then, please send your donation  to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention 222 Children's work.

They will need approximately 600 euro in order to purchase materials and some extra ice cream with this extremely warm weather 🌞

Current projects:

Project Casa Shalom, Italy

Project truck Teen Challenge, Latvija

Project Udruženje Restart, Serbia

Drugsprevention lessons

In the past we have supported Udruženje (foundation) Restart in Serbia. An organization that aims to reach and encourage homeless and addicted people to leave the streets and enter a faith-based rehabilitation program.

With a team of volunteers, initiator Boris Štrbac is committed to helping people get a start on new life. The team of volunteers regularly visits the streets of Novi Sad and Subotica to make contact with homeless people and addicts. They also provide drugsprevention and information lessons in primary schools.

Good connections with rehabilitation centers in Serbia and neighboring countries are a must. At the end of last year, Teen Challenge Macedonia organized a 'Living Free' training in which participants from Albania, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia were present.

Living Free training

Living Free is a course that can be followed by people who do not want to enter a residential rehab but nonetheless are struggling with addiction problems.

According to Boris, one of the biggest problems today is to help people, who have finished rehab, to find useful jobs. Restart helps as much as possible and has now begun to raise funds in order to buy a van and to start a moving business (following the example of Teen Challenge Slovenia). In addition, the old computer equipment in their office needs to be replaced.

We received a request for support. Restart can do the work thanks to donations and a great team of volunteers. We know how that is!

Volunteers in front of the Restart office

Traveling Light would like to see that all the good work in Serbia continues. There are various christian organizations working in the field of rehabilitation and street outreach. Reintegration in society is certainly part of this work and ideas to create employment surely make us happy.

Restart is a ministry of the New Life in Christ Church in Novi Sad.

You can (indirectly) let your light shine in Serbia by sending a gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention RESTART.

If you know of someone who can help with equipment or a van, that would be great. Contact us!

Citroën C5 for Restart, Serbia

Happy and thankful faces at team Restart

Recently we were able to donate 3,500 euro to Restart in Serbia. Restart is a non-profit organization with the mission to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help addicts and former addicts and their families. 

Boris & Jelena Strbac are the founders of Restart (click here for more information on this project). They had a need for a van/car for their work. They give drugs prevention lessons at schools and do street work among the homeless and addicted. As a result of your generous donations they were able to purchase a Citroën C5! Boris writes:

Making good use of the car

"We are sending you a picture of part of our team in front of our office and we are sending you the picture of a young guy who was taken to rehabilitation center in Slovenia with our new car. The car is really good, and we are very happy with it. We have covered all the expenses, registration and insurance etc. Our God is amazing! God bless you and thank you for your giving hearts..."

Boris wants the Restart logo on the doors of the car as well! We are very happy for Boris, Jelena and their team. After several (technical) emails about cars and prizes and choosing the right one... it is good to see this result.

Traveling Light supports small scale projects, initiated by local people. We have direct contacts and our gifts are being used for the projects mentioned.

A HEARTFELT THANKS to all who donated, also on behalf of the Restart team.

We hope to visit the Restart team and the Holy Trinity Church in Novi Sad the next time we are in Serbia, so we can further build on our friendship.

News-n-stuff

Restart drugs prevention work at schools

Four weeks ago we announced project minivan Restart, Serbia on this weblog. Restart is a non profit organization with the mission to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help addicts and former addicts and their families.They are in need of a minivan for their outreach and prevention work.

The founders Boris & Jelena were heroine addicts for many years until they came to know the love and grace of Jesus Christ in the Teen Challenge program in Serbia. The doctors gave them no hope to become pregnant. But with God all things are possible! They have a healthy baby girl!

In the previous weeks about 3,000 euro came in towards this project. Thank you very much for your quick and generous response. We would love to donate 3,500 euro for the purchase of a minivan. We trust the last bit will come in soon. Boris is looking out for a suitable vehicle.

Jim & Lynda Hayes

Next Friday Jim & Lynda Hayes will be heading for Amsterdam for project Homeless Honeymoon. They will be roaming the streets for a few days, as many homeless people do, and raise awareness about the work among the poor and addicted.

The proceeds of their fundraiser will go towards the work of Teen Challenge in Slovenia. We have already received more than 1,200 euro! You can still sponsor Jim & Lynda by sending your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: HONEYMOON.

The telephone keeps ringing and emails and FB messages keep coming in at Traveling Light. We have direct and personal contact with the people behind all of our projects. We currently have some projects lined up for next month, for example:

• Half marathon Etten-Leur fundraiser for Bertina House in Donetsk, Ukraine. The women and children in this Teen Challenge rehabilitation home had to leave everything behind, because of the war. They are looking for a new home in a safer location. Big need!
• Project winter fuel for Teen Challenge rehabilitation and crisis center Winiarczykowka in Poland.
• Project Beit Hallel Messianic congregation in Ashdod, Israel. In October they will start an Alpha course again!

Women & children Bertina House

And these are only a few of the upcoming projects. As always: small scale, direct, practical and personal help. Without your prayers and financial support we would not be able to take on so many projects. Keep an eye on this blog and/or our Facebook Page.

We count on your support!

Project minivan Restart, Serbia

The projects Traveling Light supports and the contacts we are always making, are part of a growing network. For the next project we will 'take' you to Serbia again. If you go to the side bar on the right and scroll down to keywords, you can click on 'Serbia' and find out what we have done there in the past.

Boris & Jelena Strbac

In the picture you see Boris and Jelena Strbac with their daughter. They are the founders of Restart, a non profit organization with the mission to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help addicts and former addicts and their families. The are trying to motivate people to go into one of the rehabilitation centers in Serbia or surrounding countries. Boris & Jelena have good contacts with the various rehab centers and over the past three years they were able to send more than fifty people (!) on their way to recovery.

Boris & Jelena know what they are talking about. As a young teenage kid Boris started to use marijuana, extacy, lsd, pills and at last heroin. Heroin took complete control over his life, even after he met Jelena. For ten years they were heroin addicts together, until 2008 when they went to the Teen Challenge rehab center in Serbia. They received deliverance through Gods love and power!

Part of the team at the restart office

In 2011, after they came out of the program, they established Restart, a ministry form the Holy Trinity Church in Novi Sad, where Boris is pastor. With a team of volunteers they go into the streets of Novi Sad and Subotica to make contact with the homeless and addicted. They also give prevention classes in elementary and high schools.

A while back Boris contacted us and asked if Traveling Light was able to help them with the purchase of a minivan. His own car ended up at the junk yard and currently they have no means of transportation. This past June, Jan met with Boris at My Brother's Keeper Conference in Bosnia and he promised that we would help them.

Restart logo

Between 3,000 and 4,000 euro is needed to purchase a good and reliable second hand minivan in Serbia; a Citroën Berlingo, VW Sharan, Opel Zaphira or something similar. Traveling Light is aware of the huge need in the streets of Serbia and we are thankful for people like Boris and Jelena who have given their lives now to help people in darkness, to share the gospel and to motivate people to change the direction of their life.

If you have a heart for street work, outreach, drugs prevention and evangelism, then you will love this project. Please send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and be part of the change that Europe so desperately needs!

When we sow in fertile ground, we can expect a fruitful harvest!