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| Crowded celebration service |
Recently we were in Belarus for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Teen Challenge in that country. Миссия "Возвращение" is the name used for the rehabilitation work there, or 'Mission Return'.
A beautiful name that reminds us of the story of the prodigal son who returns to the father. There are currently nine men's and women's centers in Belarus, two of which we have visited while there.
We want to tell you more about one of these centers; it is an old nursery school that was vacant for seventeen years. Mission Return has very good contacts with the city of Baranovichi and the building was given to them for free a few years ago. It currently houses a shelter for homeless men and a men's rehabilitation center.
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| The renovated men's center to the right, the kitchen will be in the middle, the women's center on the left is being renovated |
Homeless people can get a bed, clothes and food for up to four months. During that time they are encouraged to make the decision to enter the rehabilitation program, where they will live, work and study for at least eight months. We are happy to hear that many of these men have decided to begin a new life!
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| Inspection of the rooms :) |
At the moment hard work is going on, at the request of the city council, in order to open a crisis center for abused women. The rooms are almost finished! The work is mainly done by men who are in rehab and with a lot of help from churches in the area. All in all, the former school houses a few dozen people already and they are in urgent need for a professional kitchen.
Traveling Light has received a specified gift for the purchase of the necessary kitchen appliances, which we have forwarded to Mission Return. Well, we do not have to explain how happy the Belarus team is with this gift :) Once the kitchen is placed, we will share more photos.
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| To the left the renovated part of the building |
We are very happy and thankful that we can contribute a bit to this beautiful work by donating and by visiting this beautiful home. We are very impressed with the work among the addicts, poor, homeless and abused in Belarus.
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| Dining hall at the shelter |
It is great to see how strong God's light can shine in the darkness and how God's love changes people's lives, one by one!
Do you have a heart for people in need and do you want to support these kind of projects?
Then please send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.