Twinkeltje: 5 years in the neighborhood!

On September 3rd it will be five years ago since 🥳 Twinkeltje opened the doors in Papendrecht, in the Flower neighborhood as it is commonly called. A lot has happened in those five years.

We welcomed many, many visitors, we listened and talked, played games, had meals together, shared happy and sad times, received goods and sold most of it, offered bicycle lessons, prayed with people, started an Alpha course, and so on and so on.

These wonderful community times enabled us to donate more than 👉67.000 euro (!) towards projects all over Europe. Projects that mostly deal with helping the addicted, homeless, poor, refugees, and prostitutes with their children. And as of last year,  Atelier Café de Schor helps us as well by donating part of their proceeds towards Traveling Light!

We truly believe each town or city should have a 'Twinkeltje' 😀 where God's love is tangible and everyone feels welcome.

Pieter Meijers made a great video last week, just for you... so, wherever you are in the world, it doesn't matter... you can have a look inside and experience the atmosphere!

You can make us happy with your prayers and a financial gift anytime!

• Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U
• 💳 Give by card

Project updates all around Europe

Many of you might enjoy a vacation 🌞, maybe that is a good moment to read how your gifts are being spent. Let's make a tour of Europe.😀 We'll start right here at home...

In May we collected funds for restoration of the outreach bus that belongs to Nieuw Leven Gemeente in Alblasserdam, a church with a heart for mission and outreach.

We were able to donate 2.500 euro. They did all necessary bodywork on the bus and gave it a new paint job! Well, shining like the sun. The bus can be rented for outreach events and open air church meetings. 

At the beginning of July we wrote about port evangelist Alexander Eberson who had this idea to publish a booklet and hand it out to the sailors in the ports of  Terneuzen and Ghent, Belgium. 

We were able to send him 1.000 euro and he emailed us last week that the books came in! On behalf of Alexander and the sailors, thank you very much.

The summer camps for the Roma children and teenagers in Serbia were a success, especially after the camps were canceled last year. Many participated and they had lots of fun.

We donated 1.000 euro towards the Oaza camps which will help them to cover the costs. We saw some pretty neat video's on FB! On behalf of Miki & Suzana Kamberovic we want to thank you for your support.

We furthermore were able to donate a significant gift of 10.000 euro towards Teen Challenge in Slovenija for the upcoming renovation of the men's center in Nova Vas.

They have plans to expand their capacity to twenty beds! We will write some more about it soon, they also promised us to make a short video.

Last month we shared an update on the new Teen Challenge women's home in Berdychiv, Ukraine. We received some more pictures and an update. 

The floors and ceilings are done and it looks fantastic. They are currently waiting for funds to come in for the purchase of kitchen appliances and furniture. As soon as this is all done, the house can open its doors.

What a blessing that we have been able to participate in this project. We are currently rasising funds for the repairs of their Volkswagen engine.... 

On top of that, we have sent a gift of 3.000 euro for the annual summer camp that is organized by Teen Challenge and the Jewish Messianic congregation in Berdychiv. The camp is intended for men and women in Teen Challenge drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs anywhere in Ukraine. 

[click on the photo's for a larger view]

We can say that this was a fruitful summer when it came to giving financial support. And we did much more... we'll keep that for another blog. You can make us happy with your prayers and a financial gift anytime!

• Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention the specific project
• 💳 Give by card
• 👉When in the USA you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention which Teen Challenge center you want to support.

Visit to Teen Challenge Sluknov, Czech Republic + project

Last month Jan got on his motorbike and visited the Teen Challenge men's center in Sluknov, Czech Republic.

We had promised so many times that we would come and visit, but somehow it never happened.

Last summer we supported another Teen Challenge Czech Republic project in Poštovice, another location near Prague.

We were supposed to go there in September of 2020. Unfortunately, that visit was canceled and postponed to some other time.

For now, Sluknov it was. The center offers a residential program for about 12-15 men who are struggling with addictions. It is a beautiful old country house on a large property.

Petr & Mira Kral are the directors of the center and we know them personally from the many conferences we have attended over the years.

The center has a communal kitchen and classroom area. Vegetables are grown all around the house and there is also a workshop.

Teen Challenge recently purchased an old factory near the center which will also be used as a workshop for creative projects.

Wow, what a fantastic building and what an opportunity to dream about a coffee house, a shop, studios, prayer room, etc. etc. We got really excited about that.

There is certainly no lack of vision! In a time of 'limitations' it is good that God's people see possibilities.

As in various other Teen Challenge centers in Europe (Albania, Slovenia, Ukraine, etc.), there is also a need to expand the number of beds here as more and more people are looking for God and for a solution to their problems and hopelessness.

For the expansion (dormitories, toilets, showers, etc.), part of the house has to be renovated. quite the job :) Since the program is largely dependent on donations, all help is very welcome!

If you want to invest in people's lives, please direct your gift at:

• St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and don't forget to mention: TC CZECH SLUKNOV
• 💳 Give by card
• 👉When in the USA it is also possible to make a tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC CZECH SLUKNOV

Thank you!