Visit to Teen Challenge Slovenia

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Teen Challenge, we (Jan and Marja) visited Slovenia earlier this month.

The early days of helping people with addiction began in the living room of pastors Steve and Barbara Telzerow in Ljubljana.

They cared for Magdalena, who had a heroin addiction and, thanks to their help, came to faith.

Matjaz, who had to maintain order in the city as a police officer and hated addicts, fell in love with Magdalena, and that's how he too came into contact with the gospel! Well, the rest is history.

Matjaz and Magdalena have been directors of the Teen Challenge program in Slovenia for years now and are also pastors of the Evangelijski Center in Koper.

Twenty years of Teen Challenge. Twenty years of changed lives, one by one! So many reasons to be thankful.

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces. Men who graduated from the program over the years and received new life in Jesus Christ.

Some have become staff members, others volunteer at Teen Challenge.

For many years, Jan has visited the rehab center annually and spoken and prayed with many men, especially during the My Brother's Keeper conferences, organized in the Balkan region.

It's wonderful to see that this personal approach bears fruit! A prayer, a prophetic word, or a word of wisdom. Make no mistake, it can change the course of someone's life.

Traveling Light supports Teen Challenge in Slovenia wholeheartedly, and we are extremely thankful for our donors.

In addition to attending the anniversary celebrations (see this video), Marja also had the opportunity to speak at the church in Koper. You can listen to that message HERE.

The following day, Jan spoke at Steve and Barbara's church in Ljubljana. You can listen to that sermon HERE if you like. Again, plenty of time for prayer and personal ministry. We hope that everything will bear fruit.

It was a busy weekend, but so wonderful to spend time with TC friends (such as Jonathan and Valentina from Macedonia, see photo) and to make new connections. Personal contacts, building and maintaining friendships, encouraging one another... that's the heart of Traveling Light 💙

Donations, large and small, for the projects we support (not for travel expenses, that's ours to pay) are always welcome. You can give in various ways:

Make a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. You can give by card or donate directly via our website!

Project restart multifunctional building Issacar, Rivoli, Italy

Four years ago, we wrote about the new construction project of the Christian Evangelical Community Issacar, just outside Turin in Northern Italy (read those reports HERE).

Pastor Filippo and Emma Felice founded the congregation in 2003. The church has been providing shelter and assistance to the homeless and displaced for years.

Various rooms in the church are used for preparing and distributing meals as well as for emergency shelter. We (Jan and Marja) visited in November 2022.

Because the current church space (which they rent) became too small for all the activities, construction began of a multi-purpose center two streets away. The building will have a strong social function; more rooms and facilities for sheltering distressed people, and also a nursery center to enable mothers to have some free time and rest.

Two years ago, we received news that the roof of the future multi-purpose center had collapsed during the pouring of the concrete. Miraculously, no one was injured.

For two years, the church had to patiently wait for a positive court ruling, the authorities' recognition that they had done everything according to law and building instructions, and for the site's release. Meanwhile, fundraising continued.

And now, finally, construction can resume. First, a great deal of rubble needs to be cleared. A new architect and contractor have been hired. In the photo is Pastor Filippo (right) with Gabriele, who is in charge of the scaffolding, now that work has resumed.

Patience is a virtue, as the saying goes, and in this case, it was a matter of great patience. Above all, it was about not giving up and, despite all the setbacks, continuing to believe that this project was placed on their hearts by God.

It is estimated that only 1% of the population in predominantly (culturally) Catholic Italy is Evangelical Christian. That could make one feel lonely, but fortunately, it doesn't have to be so. Traveling Light would like to send a generous donation as a token of support and encouragement!

If you would like to help, please send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention Issacar.

You can also give by card or donate directly via our website!

Project Updates + Travels

A quick look back at October and ahead to November. Hopefully, it will encourage you to see how we are a blessing to many.

We were able to donate €2,000 to Centar Duga, the Teen Challenge's drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Serbia. It will be used to purchase ten new piglets and whatever else is needed for the farm run by the men in the program. Thank you so much for your donations.

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The proceeds from our shops Twinkeltje and the Schor in October, were a record! We were able to donate €3,000 to the work of Alabaster Jar among prostitutes in Berlin.

On the website of Samaritan's Purse in Germany, you can read more about the outreach to these women and girls who are often victims of human tr*fficking. Just like last year, Hope packages will be distributed again in December, a little light in the darkness.

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This coming weekend, we (Jan and Marja) will be in Slovenija for the celebration of 20 years of Teen Challenge. There will be an official gathering on Friday, November 7th. We hope to see many familiar faces there and celebrate God's faithfulness and goodness together. On Saturday, we will speak at the church in Koper. Of course, we have an anniversary gift for them.

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Next week, we will also prepare to attend the European Teen Challenge fall leadership's conference, which will be held in Cluj, Romania, this year. We look forward to meeting many leaders from the various centers in Europe. A visit to the rehab center is also on the agenda.

Would you please join us in praying for safe travels?

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This Friday evening, there's another late-night shopping event and pop-up café at Atelier de Schor from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Come visit us! The shop  looks fantastic!

In November, the proceeds will be kept for the prison work in Albania.

In the last two months of the year, we always have various Christmas gift campaigns and other special projects. So keep an eye on this news blog.

Donations, large or small, for the projects we support are always welcome. You can do so in various ways:

• Make a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U
• Give by card
• You can also donate directly via our website!