Project updates and activities

Kind regards from our Teen Challenge friends in Berdychiv, Ukraine.

On November 3rd, we wrote a message about the daily happenings in the various rehab centers there (you can read that message HERE).

We were able to send them a nice gift of 5,000 euros that will be used, among other things, for repairs and maintenance of the houses. Something that had been planned for some time, was repairs and renovation of the boiler room.

Thanks to your generous donations, they have been able to purchase materials and work can resume (always a useful part of the rehabilitation process, by the way).

Just before the end of the year, we were able to transfer another gift of 5,000 euros (THANK YOU!!!). This time for the purchase of a house that will serve as a home for staff, visitors, and volunteers. More news about that soon!

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Also warm greetings from Moldova. Our friends from Pilgrims and Teen Challenge organized their winter aid campaign for the 19th time.

The fuel and food packages meet a huge need, each package contains approximately 12 to 13 kilos of food!

The men set off again with the Steyer truck to distribute the packages. Thanks to your donations, we were able to bless them with a gift of 3,000 euros for this project. Thank you.

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We also received a newsletter and photos from Port Evangelist Alexander Eberson. We were also able to transfer a nice gift of 2,000 euros to his organization Living Water.

Especially during December, he visited many sailors on seafaring vessels in the ports of Ghent and Terneuzen... the men are often away from home for a long time. He handed out Christmas packages, was allowed to pray with crew members, read the Bible, and had many conversations.

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On Wednesday, January 24th, we will organize another mission evening in Twinkeltje. We are looking forward to have a visitor from Lithuania... a Dutchman, that will be. Willem Vandijk will tell his story of how he ended up from Holland in Ireland and later on in Lithuania, where he founded the Vilties Inkaras (Anchor of Hope) non-profit foundation.

It promises to be an inspiring evening. We look forward to your arrival. Entry from 7:30 PM. WELCOME!

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Project coffeehouse work Teen Challenge Albania is still a current project for fundraising and of course the Weissensee fundraiser for the women's house in Romania is up and running. So, you see, plenty to do and give away 😁.

PS: Click on the photos if you want to see larger ones!

Your donations are always welcome. You can send a gift in different ways, please take note:

• Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention 'general' or otherwise which country or project.
• 💳 Give by card

Weissensee fundraiser for Teen Challenge women's home, Romania

It's January again, the month of our most exciting fundraising campaign of the year.

Albert van de Graaf (Bleskensgraaf) and Krijn Donk (Papendrecht) have signed up for speed ice skating on respectively January 30 and 26,  on the Weissensee in Austria. They are planning to go for 200 km!

The skaters want to raise money with their performance for a great project: House of Joy, the Teen Challenge rehabilitation center for women with life controlling problems, just outside Bucharest in Romania.

👉They obviously hope that you will sponsor their fundraising campaign.

House of Joy opened up in 2015 (we visited in 2017). The home can accommodate nine women and four 'interns', which are women who have completed the rehabilitation program and stay on as volunteers to help.

The women who come to Teen Challenge have often struggled with life-threatening problems, such as drug and alcohol addiction, prostitution, crime, homelessness, and physical and psychological challenges, for a long time.

In House of Joy they not only find a safe place to live, but for many, it is also the first time they are introduced to the love and grace 💗of Jesus Christ.

House of Joy continues to exist thanks to donations from loyal donors. Funds for daily operations are always needed, but several things have been on their wish list for a while.

Practical things in and around the house, that benefit living and working conditions, such as:

• the construction of two official parking spaces at the house (for the workers)
• the renewal and expansion of sanitary facilities
• installing outdoor lighting and
• finishing the rooftops of the two container units in the back yard that serve as classroom and studio, and a canopy and seating area all around.

Albert and Krijn want to raise the necessary funds to make these home improvements a reality. It is possible to sponsor them individually with an amount per kilometer, with an amount for reaching the finish, or with a general amount

👉If you decide to participate, send an email stating the amount you want to give to krijncora@gmail.com. We then keep track of the pledges, which is always exciting!

You can also send a donation directly:

• to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention TC ROMANIA
• 💳 Give by card
• 👉When in the USA, make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention TC ROMANIA

🠈Georgiana Dragan-Moldoveanu is the director of House of Joy. Georgiana grew up in a violent environment, with an alcoholic father. Although she was an incredibly smart student, as a teenager she started to look for love and acceptance in the wrong places. At the age of 20 she started to use heroin.

From being an incredible student with a career ahead, she ended up sleeping on the streets, stealing, begging, and even selling her body for money. In 2009, she ended up in detox, completely hopeless, to the point of having her leg amputated due to heroin injections. That was the moment she cried out to God for help. 

After she regained her life and went through a rehab program, God planted in her heart a strong desire to help other women going through the pain of addiction, trauma, and abuse. In 2014, she was blessed to marry the love of her life, Mihai, a former rocker who had an interest in satanism.

WE BELIEVE AND INVEST IN CHANGED LIVES! WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US.

Project coffee house work Teen Challenge Albania

👉First of all, we would like to wish you all a blessed 2024. Hopefully, it will be another year in which we can support many projects together that change people's lives.

Thank you very much for the recent gifts we received. We were able to transfer 5,000 euros to Teen Challenge Ukraine for the purchase of a house near the women's home in Berdychiv!

We also mentioned the work of Teen Challenge in Albania in the previous news blog. We stay informed about life in the rehabilitation center in Albania through newsletters and social media messages.

Director Gesi Hysenaj writes; 'The center is full and we are grateful for the men. Our coffee house in Tirana is also busy.' A coffee house is often the first place where addicts hear that help is available, that addiction does not have the last word.

By having conversations, sharing testimonies, and offering a listening ear, it is possible to reach men who are seeking true freedom from their life-controlling problems. This is true for anyone seeking help, whether they have a Muslim, Atheist, or Orthodox background.

The point is that they are coming into contact with the love and grace of Jesus Christ, often for the first time.

Addicts and the homeless are also reached through street evangelism. It is also nice to hear that many people have now found Teen Challenge and are asking for help.

This year, Gesi would like to see the men in the program become more involved in the coffee house work. They can address those still stuck in addiction like no other.

We would like to support them at the beginning of this new year with a donation for the coffee house work (rental building, coffee/tea, books, Bibles, and other materials). In any case, support is always needed to run the center, because almost everything is paid for by donations.

If you would like to make a donation, you can do so in different ways:

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

Thank you again for your help!