Mission night and #charleroichallenge

This past Saturday our shop/coffee house Twinkeltje opened its doors again after a summer break of four weeks. You are all very welcome again on Saturday afternoons for a nice chat and tasty coffee. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Friday evenings of every month we organize prayer meetings, always very encouraging and constructive.

Please, mark your calendars: Wednesday, September 18th, we are organizing another Mission night, this time with guests from the USA; Jeroen & Robin Honingh. Every year they travel to israel to do volunteer work for three months. We first met them at Brian Slater's soup kitchen in Netanya. Last year they were also guests in Twinkeltje. Everyone is very welcome, the door open at 7:30 pm. There will be an offering for their work.

Last week we wrote about Teen Challenge in Belgium and the opportunity they have to buy a beautiful rehabilitation center. We came up with a nice promotion for this project last weekend, which we called the #charleroichallenge.

👉If ten people each donated one hundred euro before Tuesday evening, August 20, 6:00 pm, Jan would double that amount. We put the challenge on Facebook's and in no time we received generous donations. In just a few days we raised 1,000 euro, to which Jan will ad another 1,000. You can do the math 😄

We also challenged people to start their very own #charleroichallenge ... find ten people who each want to give one hundred euro and then double that amount. Brother Erik Slobben (who also visited the Teen Challenge coffee house in Charleroi) accepted the challenge. We are curiously waiting for the results.

Gifts are still welcome to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention: BELGIUM.

When in the USA, you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC BELGIUM or contact Frédéric & Natacha at info@teenchallenge.be if you want to help them with the purchase of this property.

Project building Teen Challenge Belgium

Frédéric & Natacha

We receive requests for support from all over Europe. Sometimes it is about fundraising for a new kitchen or a roof  repair for a rehab center, sometimes it is a question whether we can come for a visit.

Last month we received an interesting request from our southern neighbors. Frédéric and Natacha Hensgens of Teen Challenge Belgium have been running a coffee house in Charleroi for years and since 2016 also the women's home Sela.

Open house at Maison Sela

We have visited them several times, last December we were there during the open house of Maison Sela!

Currently the possibility has opened up to purchase the Betel building. Betel is a global organization (similar to Teen Challenge) that is committed to heal broken lives. They have rehab centers around the world.

Betel now offers their residential center in Charleroi for sale at a very favorable price. They are going to relocate their activities to France where there are little to none Bible-based recovery centers.

It is a beautiful building (we have seen it) with space for at least 35 beds. The value is approximately € 445,000 but it is offered to Teen Challenge for € 236,000. A great investment opportunity.

The beauty of this building is that everything is 'up to code' as it is called: fire safety, rooms and sanitary facilities. A wonderful center for the expansion of Teen Challenge's work among the homeless and addicted in French-speaking Belgium.

The challenge is to raise the necessary funds by the end of September. 😁A large fundraising campaign has been started to make the purchase of the building possible. We have offered to promote the fundraiser in the Netherlands and beyond through this blog and social media.

We pray that Frédéric & Natacha will raise the money for this beautiful building with the help of God and people. Any gift (large or small) is welcome.

If you want to invest in the work of Teen Challenge in Belgium, donations are welcome to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention: BELGIUM.

When in the USA, you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC BELGIUM or contact Frédéric & Natacha at info@teenchallenge.be

Project Teen Challenge Macedonia

Jonathan & Valentina (in blue)

If you have been reading our blog posts for some time, you will know that we have various contacts and support various projects in Macedonia.

Teen Challenge also has activities there. Unfortunately there is no residential rehabilitation center, but Jonathan & Valentina Vlaisavljevic help people with life-threatening problems and sometimes send them to TC centers in the surrounding countries.

Last June, Traveling Light participated for the eighth time in the Balkan conference My Brother's Keeper. The conference was held in Macedonia, and Jan had the opportunity to catch up with Jonathan.

Living Free training

He still gives Living Free training in the various Balkan countries. The group training and discipleship courses are faith based and aim to help people prevent and/or overcome challenging issues.

The goal is to equip participants so that they can give the training themselves in their church or organization. Traveling Light has previously helped with funds for translating Living Free material for Croatia and Albania.

We sincerely hope that TC rehab centers will be opened in Macedonia as well as in Albania and other Balkan countries in the near future. There is a huge need and your prayers will be appreciated.

Training in session

Jonathan also said that there is a possibility to do prison work in Serbia. Think about it, 'Living Free' is quite a special topic when you are in jail, literally. But it will certainly prepare people for a healthy return into society and that is what "rehabilitation" actually means.

In October Europe Teen Challenge will be organizing a 'rehabilitation training' in Portugal. Topics such as core values in a rehab setting, borderlines between care, counselling and authoritarian control, medical issues in rehab, principles of rehab and discipleship will be discussed.

Various people from the Balkans will participate in this training. Cora will attend on behalf of Traveling Light. It is an investment for the future.

TC Macedonia asks for financial support for 1) further translation of Living Free training material, 2) for travel costs to the training in Portugal and 3) for renovation costs for their office (due to water damage after a flood).

When in Europe, donations are welcome to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention: MACEDONIA.

When in the USA, you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC MACEDONIA.