Project news and thanksgiving

Traveling Light ice skating team

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 will be the big day, ice skating team Traveling Light will start in the early morning for the 200 km long race on the Weissensee in Austria.

Donations are pouring in, more than 3,500 euro has been pledged if the men finish the trip! That amount will be much higher if personal records are broken. So it will be a very exciting day!

The entire proceeds of this action will benefit the construction and installation of a kitchen in the boys home of Teen Challenge juvenile program in Kazakhstan.

Finally, it's there....

There is a webcam and on www.weissensee.nl you can follow the skaters. Their registration numbers are as follows: 5005 Henk Swijnenburg Henk, 5369 Henk Vlot and 5393 Krijn Donk.

Last week Sasa Ivanovic, the director of the Teen Challenge rehabilitation centers in Serbia, sent us pictures of the new tractor lawnmower that they were able to buy, thanks to your donations.

Thank you all on behalf of TC Serbia

Sasa writes: "It's finally here!!! We are so exited and happy, as you can see on the pictures, it looks really amazing! Real, good stuff. I want to thank you and Jan, Traveling Light, as well as all people who supported this project, on behalf of our students, staff and our personal name!"

In December's seafarer's evangelist Guus Peters visited the ports of Gent, Antwerp and Terneuzen. He gave away 188 Christmas goody bags. We were able to sponsor sixty (!) bags thanks to your donations.

Guus with the sailors

Guus writes: "I visited a ship with Filipino, some Romanian and Ukrainian sailors and  the captain called the whole crew together so that I could explain the Gospel. I then handed out the Christmas gifts and the men were so happy.

The sweaters are really a hit and of course the woolen hats are also very much appreciated. Thank you very much for your great contribution."

Isn't it great to make so many people happy? Currently we also raise funds for the rehabilitation program of Teen Challenge in Sered, Slovakia. They want to employ their current teacher also in 2016. They will need about 2,400 euro for this.

GIFTS are always welcome at IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht.

Thank you very much for your comments, emails, pledges, donations and prayers!

Project lawn mower tractor Teen Challenge, Serbia

Fields around the men's rehab center

This project request has been on our growing stack (read: waiting list) of emails since this summer.

Our friends at Teen Challenge Serbia need a new lawn mower (tractor). Currently they have a tractor and two hand mowers that all have seen quite some hours and need to be replaced.

Always lot's of work to do!

We have posted pictures of the two rehabilitation homes in Novi Sad on this blog before (check it out). Both houses are situated on big pieces of land.

We have a warm heart for the work of Teen Challenge in Serbia and we have been able to help them several times over the past few years with the realization of different projects.

We would like to do so again by making a contribution to the beautiful work that God is doing in Serbia: changing lives forever, one person at the time!

They need about 2,500 euro to buy a tractor mower in Serbia. If you have a heart for the work of Teen Challenge or for technical projects :) .... please make your donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.

At the women's center

When in the USA, send your tax-deductible gift to Eastern Europe Outreach, make sure to mention TC Serbia

We will make sure that all gifts will be sent to their destination as quickly as possible and, of course, you will get to see a picture of the new mower once they have purchased one!

Thank you in advance for your help!

COMING SOON:

- Christmas goodie bags for sailors

- Teen Challenge, Slovakia

- Comunita Brezzano, Italy

- Teen Challenge, Georgia

And much more!

Project tractor parts Tuscany

That's him...

Our Weissensee 2015 fundraiser for the girl's home in Moldova is in full swing. In the meantime we will take the opportunity to present (as announced earlier) our next project, namely financial support for therapeutic community Comunita Brezzano in Tuscany, and well for the purchase of tractor parts.

The grader

Maria Meier runs this christian therapeutic community in Italy, where people with life controlling problems can live for a while. In 2013 and 2014 we did organize work weeks during which we came with a group of young and strong people to cut firewood for the winter.

Loading container

While we were there last September, we asked Maria if there was anything else we could help her with. She told us that for several years there has been a need for two big tractor parts: a grader and a loading container.

The grader is much needed to make road repairs. Comunita Brezzano is situated in the Tuscan hills and the three homes (men's home, women's home and guest house Casa Shalom) are connected by unpaved roads. During winter time the roads suffer from ice, snow and rain and are in need of repairs. The loading container will be used to transport firewood, building materials etc. etc.

Roads in need of repairs

The purchase of these parts will cost 2,700 euro. Apart from some government support and client participation, this community (like many other christian initiatives) can only exist because of donations, the sales of jam and other products and rental income from Casa Shalom. Often there is no room to make big investments, like this one.

That is exactly the moment Traveling Light want to come alongside and help.

Bible study

This is a practical project, that will benefit us as well... We do have plans to organize yet another work week in Tuscany at the end of August/beginning of September this year. 

Lives are being changed here, forever! And that is something we like to invest in. You can help us by sending your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: TRACTOR.