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| Communal meals |
The men's rehabilitation home is a wonderful place (a real farm) where men with life-controlling problems can come to rest and recover. And although it is only a few hours drive from Papendrecht, we had never visited them before. |
| Bettina Ratering |
Hopefully we have now made up for that 😎
Bettina Ratering and her husband Martin are the directors of the program and we know them from conferences. Because they were on vacation at the time we visited, we were welcomed by staf member Amadeus Schmidgall.
We were first given a tour of the beautiful property. Currently they are converting the building in the picture below into a beautiful new residential center. The men in the program are helping out with the construction work.
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| Teen Challenge Emsland |
The great thing about visiting Teen Challenge centers is that we always eat together. Most conversations arise around the table. Every day more people joined: volunteers, staff members and visitors to the seminar.
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| Work in progress |
We spoke about God as Father in various sessions and expressed His heart's desire, to see sons and daughters grow up, using many Bible sections.
Of course we were given time to pray and speak with people individually. Also, in one of the sessions we listened to God's heart, to the words that the Spirit gave. Those words ministered to all who were present and resulted in recovery and healing!
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| Father heart session |
On Sunday morning we spoke at Christ Church in Dörpen where we were welcomed very warmly. After the service we had many nice conversations and meetings, especially with immigrants.
The mission of Traveling Light is threefold, we offer practical help (such as the work week in Italy), financial support and spiritual encouragement to Christian organizations and communities within Europe.
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| Deep conversations in a casual setting |
It is extremely encouraging for us to see that in so many places in Europe there are beautiful, small-scale initiatives to help people get to know God and find the way to recovery and a healthy participation in society.
GIFTS (large and small) are always welcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.
[click on the photos for an enlargement]