Thursday, April 24, 2025

Activities and travels

A few weeks ago we announced the visit of members of the city council (Christian political party) to our store/coffeehouse On Saturday March 29th, we had a pleasant meeting in Twinkeltje.

We were able to share a lot about the ins and outs of running the coffeehouse, impact in the area and the town, activities, collaboration with other organisations, and the proceeds for projects throughout Europe.

We are very grateful for the sincere interest they showed in our work in Papendrecht and beyond. If you like it, you can watch the video that the SGP has posted on their channel HERE (Use the settings button to generate subtitles in your language).

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This Saturday is Kingsday in the Netherlands. We will be present again with a booth at the flea market in Papendrecht. That is always a very pleasant event, and not only for Papendrecht residents. Visitors from all over the area come to the flea market!

We will provide coffee, so come by and let's have a nice chat. The proceeds from the sales will go to Teen Challenge Lebanon.

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Next week we (Jan, Marja, Krijn, Cora) will attend the annual Europe Teen Challenge conference, which will be held in Albania this year. We always look forward to meeting everyone again and catching up.

We have been able to support so many Teen Challenge programs with a visits or donations this past year, so we are curious about the stories and progress in the various rehab centers and coffee houses.

When we return, Brian Slater from Abundant Bread of Salvation in Israel will visit us. More about that later.

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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

👉You can also donate directly via our website!

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Meanwhile in the Czech Republic, Lebanon, and Kazakhstan + earthquake disaster relief

Of course, we are always happy when our faithful supporters and donors come up with ideas to raise funds for a special project. Alex and Arjanne Roorda recently did that.

In March, they both turned 60 and celebrated that with family and friends. In addition to presents, they also received money, and they wanted to donate that to the children's and youth work of Teen Challenge in Prague, Czech Republic. More than 800 euros in donations came in!

We rounded that up and transferred 1,000 euros. The enthusiastic team of Teen Challenge in Žižkov organizes all kinds of activities and events for children and youth aged 3-20 every day.

Most children come from family situations with all kinds of problems. At the children's and youth center, they find love, acceptance, and hope for the future. Many hear about Jesus for the first time.

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Meanwhile, in Lebanon... It is clear that the situation in the country, and certainly in and around Beirut, is extremely precarious and vulnerable. Nevertheless, Garo Margossian was able to officially open the Teen Challenge rehab center. The first students have arrived.

We hope to meet Garo next month at the Europe Teen Challenge conference in Albania, so that we can catch up.

Donations to run the center and for Garo to come to the conference are very much needed. Everything is welcome!

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It seems long ago that Krijn Donk raised almost 9,000 euros for the youth center of Teen Challenge in Kazakhstan, back in January with his ice skating fundraiser. A passenger van has now been purchased that has 11 seats! It replaces the 20-year old van that has served them all this time.

They are very happy with the new van and that thanks to your sponsorship for Krijn. It's great to be able to support the Christian program there from the Netherlands.

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And then something completely different: If you are in Europe and want to make a donation for emergency aid after the severe earthquake in Myanmar through a Christian organization, you can do so via Samaritan's Purse. We also donated through them after the earthquake in Turkey in 2023.

This organization of Franklin Graham, with a department in Germany we are in good contact with, is always one of the first at the scene of the disaster with a field hospital and God's love. In general, we 'limit' the support of Traveling Light to projects in countries within Europe. That is why we refer to the above link in this case if you want to donate. If, however, you still prefer to do it through Traveling Light, it is possible. We will, of course, pass it on to them. Please clearly state: EARTHQUAKE.

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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

👉You can also donate directly via our website!