10 Years of Traveling Light!

Hooray! This month Traveling Light celebrates 10 years!

To be honest, back in April 2011 we had no idea where the establishment of our non-profit organisation would lead us all to.

It was a small beginning of a great commission: "Go into the world and make disciples of all nations."

And we have been able to do incredible things in the past years; far away and close to home! We cannot thank you enough for your help and support! Just to give a brief summary:

• Contacts in more than thirty countries in Europe.
• Received more than half a million euro in donations and that amount has been used almost entirely (only bank charges are deducted) to support hundreds of projects.
• Encouragement visits to many countries, cities, churches, organizations, and rehab centers.
• Twinkeltje Papendrecht, coffee house where God's love is tangible.
• Hundreds of prayer meetings and gatherings.
• Hundreds of speaking engagements, seminars, lectures, workshops etc. throughout Europe.
• Prison work
• Alpha course

Unfortunately, prison work has been paused for a year, as has international travels. But that is at the same time the reason why we have been able to do more close to home. We hope and trust you know that your gifts and prayers have a tremendous impact - on individuals, on families, on towns, cities, and countries.

We believe in changed lives. We all have been changed through a personal experience with the grace and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to pass it on, and that does not stop at the border of our country.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." [Matthew 5:16]

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

Project news

Crochet workshop in Twinkeltje

Our 2nd-hand shop Twinkeltje has quickly become the talk of the town, and not only in Papendrecht :) We enjoy a good number of customers, visits and a nice and warm atmosphere where people feel free to tell their stories. Every month, the proceeds of the sales and of the workshops are designated for a particular project.

In January, more than 1,000 euro came in which we will donate to the work of Teen Challenge in Slovakia. We have good contacts with director Stanislav Kunak who runs the men's rehabilitation center in Sered.

Conversation with board members Senior Association

On January 19th Marja was invited to give a presentation about Traveling Light at the local chapter of the Christian Senior Association in Papendrecht. The room was packed and the response was one of both excitement and surprise ....

"Wow, we did not know this. Is all of this really happening in our town of Papendrecht?

We are extremely grateful for invitations to come and tell more about the work of our non-profit. The gift we received that afternoon will go towards the work of Teen Challenge in Albania.

In action on the Weissensee, Austria

Our skating team has returned from the Weissensee. We will soon publish a blog post about their performances and the final outcome of the sponsor event for the Teen Challenge women's home in Batumi, Georgia.

If you have made a pledge (or still want to give), please send your donation as soon as possible to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention WEISSENSEE.

Soup kitchen Hungary

The proceeds of Twinkeltje over the month of February will be for Michael and Janet van Boxtel who work among the poorest in Hungary. So come and visit us on Saturday afternoons and shop for a good cause, the coffee is always ready!

The new project on this blog will be about cows, a Bible school and a rehab center! You can subscribe to our blog by entering your email address in the space provided in the right column or by sending an email to janandmarja@gmail.com.

Why we're special

Charlotte Petersen and her girls in Moldova

Traveling Light is not your every day non-profit, we're special in many ways. It won't hurt to say that once again :)

We are special because, unlike most other organizations, we support small-scale projects and we personally know the initiators behind the projects.

Summer activities Roma childeren, Macedonia

The trips we make, the cards we send, the events we organize .... it's all volunteer work from a growing team of sweet and active people.

The gifts that come in are used for NOTHING else but the projects.

We are special because we also try, as much and often as possible, to share what happens with the donations we send out.

In order to keep building on the relationships with our contacts in over 20 countries (!) we regularly present new or follow-up projects for so-called 'old' friends. This allows our sponsors to see the developments in a particular country, which makes praying and thanksgiving very practical.

Animal barn Berdichyv, Ukraine

As a result of this personal approach we receive a constant stream of photos, news-letters, mails, cards, messages and invitations from all corners of Europe. Too much to share on this blog really, but feel free to send us an email if you want to know something about a particular project.

A selection of recent project reports:

November 14, 2015 Pilgrim House, the girls home in Moldova will be opened!

The cross and the switchblade in Georgia

The past summer activities for the Roma children in Skopje, Macedonia, were a huge success. The group of teenagers was bigger than ever.

The animal barn in Berdychiv, Ukraine, is almost ready! A beautiful roof, windows, doors, even a wood stove inside, everything is there. What a great job these men have done.

In Georgia everyone can now read The cross and the switchblade, a book that sold more than 16 million copies, in their own language .... thanks to your donations!

Kitchen appliances shelter Belarus

In Belarus they started the modelling and furnishing of the kitchen in the shelter and rehabilitation home in Baranovichi. The building materials and kitchen appliances are all purchased domestically. This is good for the economy!

We not only look back at great projects, we also have a very long waiting list of projects we really need your help with. We can only continue to do our work if donations keep coming in.

Would you be so kind as to tell someone about the work of Traveling Light? Maybe you know a colleague, family member, friend, home group, business or church that is looking for a practical project to sponsor ....

THANK YOU!

Within Europe donations can be send to: St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.


PS: Can you tell we just LOVE the work of TEEN CHALLENGE ?

New board member Traveling Light

Cora Donk

We have several news items and announcements for you, so let's start with the one closest to home...

We are happy to introduce our new board member Cora Donk. Remember her from the Queensday fundraiser? She was the one organizing that event while we were traveling somewhere in Southern Europe. She brought together a group of volunteers to help her with the yard sale, she had some flyers printed and spoke to everyone who had ears to listen. Cora is someone who does more than thinking, she knows how to act, and that is just what we need.

We have known Cora for more than thirty years and over the last ten years we have organized many events together, in the church we attended. Besides her organisational talent, she is also a fervent prayer partner... she knows how to ask boldy :) Together with her husband Krijn Donk they have a heart for Traveling Light.

The work of Traveling Light is growing, which is awesome. This means more projects, more donations, more contatcs. It is good to share those responsibilities with people who are willing to think and pray with us.

New board member

Photo: Krijn Donk

We are happy and delighted to introduce our new board member Martin de Haas to you. He agreed to join us and will be our official treasurer. We have signed and sent in all the official paperwork and as of February 1st 2012 Martin is our new board member.

Martin has worked for several years as the treasurer of International Agape Ministries and we have come to know him as an honest, upright and kind person. We have no doubt he will be able to help, guide and support us in the work. In the picture you can see Martin with his wife Annet.

Annet is super creative and is always full of good and colorful ideas. One of her hobbies is designing and making her own greeting cards. She is going to make some special cards for Traveling Light which we will be sending out as encouragement to our contacts. Most of the communication with the people behind the projects is through Email, Skype and Facebook, but nothing beats a handmade and hand written card received at the right moment :)

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

[1 Peter 4:10]

Money for dental work Maksim comes in!

We have collected a few great international news stories for you, let us start with the one that will make you all smile:

• Last week we sent out a call for help in order to collect 400 euro. The money will go to Teen Challenge Ukraine and will be used to pay for some dental work for Maksim Demkin. It was such a joy to see how you all responded, in a few days the money came in. Soon, we hope to be able to post a photo of a bright smiling Maksim. Thank you everyone for a great job.
• In the meantime the gifts thermometer for our project Gutes Land, Germany kept rising too and has come to 2.000 euro. We desire to help them finance the construction of an after care home at their grounds. It will open a possibility for men who have finished the Teen Challenge program, to temporarely live independently, yet still under the protection of the program. This step will prepare them to go back into the 'world'. We love this idea.
• This weekend we will go and visit Teen Challenge De Spetse Hoeve in Groningen. It is time to catch up on things with Stephan and Marianne Barendse and see how we can help them in 2012. It is freezing cold in Holland at the moment and we might have a chance to go ice skating... More on this visit and some photo's next week.
• We have more great news to share: Traveling Light has a new board member. We are honored and delighted that Martin de Haas has agreed to be our new treasurer. So, Jan will be the chairman, Marja the secretary and Martin the treasurer. We will introduce him in a next post.

We signed the papers...

This morning we signed the official papers that make Traveling Light a registered non-profit here in Holland! Now, we can move on the next step, which is the opening of a bank account at Rabobank, Papendrecht and apply for a ANBI status with the federal tax department. ANBI is what 501(c) is in the USA.

In the meantime we are still working on this blog (as well as on a Dutch version) and an official website. We'll keep you posted!