Project expansion Teen Challenge, Albania

At the beginning of last year, the Teen Challenge rehabilitation center for drugs and alcohol addicts in Albania was officially opened. There are currently five men in the center!

Orges Hysenaj, the director and founder of Teen Challenge Albania, oversees a number of coffee houses in the country, where the troubled and addicted often have their first encounter with the Bible and God's love.

From there, they can sign up to follow the residential program, if they are really ready to start a new life.

At the moment there are several men who have indicated that they want to build a new life, so it is actually time to expand the number of beds.

It is Orges' desire and plan to change the room that they use as an office into a toilet and bathroom, so they can have another room in which to receive students, the capacity going up to 10 students!

Donations are currently being received for these building activities and for the purchase of two solar panels that can at provide hot water. It has been estimated that this will cost around 3,500 euro.

Will you help us again? If you have a heart for Albania and want to bring hope to the hopeless...  you can send a gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht and make sure to mention ALBANIA.

👉When in the USA you can make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC ALBANIA.

We recently posted a prayer for Albania on our YouTube channel, which you can use as inspiration to pray for the country!

Please, subscribe to our channel.

Project Radio Peace, Slovakia

At the book presentation, Peter in the middle

In March of this year we (Jan and Marja) were in Slovakia for the presentation of the Slovak edition of Marja's book 'Grace of Giving'. Radio recordings were made during that presentation and this is how we came into contact with Dr. Peter Kamenec.

Peter and his wife Zuzana and son Tomáš live in Vranov nad Topľou, in eastern Slovakia. Peter grew up in a state orphanage (during communism) and was adopted at the age of five. God did not play any role in his life. He felt unwanted, rejected and abandoned.

"God and religion was for old women," he reasoned. After a wild student life in Bratislava, where alcohol abuse lead him to a state of utter desperation, he finally came to faith at the age of 30 with the help of his best friend.

Peter is the founder of internet Radio Pokoj, or radio 'peace'. With a team of volunteers he runs a Christian internet radio station. They broadcast music, sermons, lectures, interviews and background stories. The radio station is not connected to any specific church denomination, and that is quite special. It aims to preach the gospel through music, word and poetry.

Peter at work

When we were in Bratislava, we were also interviewed for a radio program, of course with an interpreter. To be able to broadcast certain music and programs, licenses are required. A lot of work needs to be translated from English as well. To be able to finance all that, Peter founded a non-profit organisation: Cum Mandato Eius. This non-profit is behind the radio station.

We promised him support from the Netherlands for this initiative. It is so necessary to broadcast a different message between all secular media, the message of the Good News that God loves people.

Set-up for internet radio

Those who have read this blog a bit longer know that we are happy to support evangelism outreaches. Whether it is study material for Living Free, Bibles in various languages, study books for prisoners or editions of the Cross and the Switchblade ... we are happy to help spread the Gospel through the various media outlets.

If you have a heart for the spreading of God's word in Slovakia, please, send your donation  to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: RADIO.

Meanwhile, translators and editors are working hard on the Slovak edition of Marja's book 'Spirit of Truth', which will be published soon. We might be in Peter's radio programming again!

Project update from Kazakhstan

Dorm room at 'House of Mercy'

Last year November we were able to send a nice donation to the Teen Challenge women's home in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The money was needed for insolation of the dorm rooms ...

Walls, doors, ceilings and floors ... everything is looking clean and new.

Washing up...

This week we received some pictures and a short video in which director Tamara Rishe extends her gratitude. Well, that's the beauty of the small-scale projects we support as Traveling Light; donations well spent by people with compassion for the broken-hearted!

It's great to see how happy they all are with the gift we were able to send from the Netherlands. A small gesture for us, a great blessing for them.

The proceeds of our 2nd-hand shop Twinkeltje (September 2016) were also part of this gift. So, we say it one more time, thank you for your help. Keep an eye on this blog to see how you can be involved in such practical projects.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ [Galatians 6:2].

Project Campaign Nick Vujicic, Slovenia

Nick in one of his 'love without limits' campaigns

The increasing chaos and violence in Europe evokes many emotions in all of us. We are often left with the question why these things happen, and maybe also with the question how we can prevent such things. On a larger scale it sometimes seems our prayers do not have that much effect... but that is exactly why it is so important to zoom in.

We are witnessing again and again how people's lives are changing for eternity. How criminal behavior changes into servanthood, how addiction must make room for freedom, how hatred turns into love. Time and again we can see that God changes people, when they are open to it and give Him permission. We know that radical change because of God's love is possible at an individual level, and that is exactly why we also believe in the transformation of towns, cities and countries!

My Brother's Keeper conference 2016

In Slovenia the 'My Brother's Keeper' conference was held last month, already for the 7th time in a row. More than 400 men, from countries that previously were at war with each other and hated each other, came together to seek unity, forgiveness and reconciliation. If that can happen, then everything can!

Pastor Steve Telzerow of International Christian Fellowship (ICF) in Ljubljana is one of the organizers behind these conferences. But there's more ... he's also very much involved in the organization of a major campaign with Nick Vujicic which will take place in Koper on 28 September 2016.

Nick will be joined by athletes and artists for a live program that will promote social values and challenge cultural problems such as bullying, discrimination, and teenage suicide in public schools. 3,500 students will be present and it will be mandatory for the remaining 80,000+ students to watch via the live broadcast. It is even possible to broadcast the event on national television. Why is this important?

People do not get violent or have destructive thoughts from one day to the other, it often starts at a young age and grows slowly. Nick will speak from his own life and faith experience and can always count on a huge positive response.

It takes quite an amount of money to organize this event and the live broadcast thereof. Several crowdfunding campaigns have been started and we will certainly do our best to help as well. We will do so out of our heart for the nations and based on the belief that love will conquer all!

All gifts, large or small, are welcome! Make your donation payable to: St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention: STAND STRONG. Of course you can also give directly through GoFundMe, which is also fast, fun and safe.

Amazing grace, unending love

Men @ work in Teen Challenge Slovenia

When we talk with supporters and people interested in becoming sponsors of Traveling Light, we have noticed that it is not always clear to them what the work with addicts and homeless people really is all about.

Many of the projects we sponsor are part of the ministry of Teen Challenge and have to do with small scale rehabilitation homes for people with life controlling problems.

Last month we visited the men's home of Teen Challenge in Slovenia, and they gave this presentation. Turn up the volume and have a look for yourself!

Later this month we will be going to Teen Challenge Winiarczykowka in Poland for a few days visit!

Spiritual encouragement

Coffee break during a conference

Through this weblog we try to keep you, as supporters and those having interest in our travels, up to date on the latest happenings at Traveling Light, as we move around in Europe and the Mediterranean area. However, the posts on this blog show only a fraction of everything that's going on.

We are always fundraising for one, or at the most two, projects at the same time, which we will always mention by name. So, you know where your money is going. No games, no gimmicks. Most of the time we have a waiting list with projects coming up, but to keep things clear and simple we have decided to concentrate on one or two countries at the same time. At the moment we are fundraising for Project heater Teen Challenge Poland. We still need about 3,000 euro for this.

Behind the scenes much more is happening. We constantly receive emails and phone calls from people and organisations somehow connected to our Traveling Light network. Quite often these contacts lead to new projects. Beside the many conversations we have wherever we go, we always hand out booklets (like What on Earth am I here for?), CD-Roms and DVD's.

When traveling we have Marja's books available for purchase (hey, we are trying to make a honest living). But we give away many free handouts as well. Anything that points to Jesus Christ as the Messiah and savior of the world can change and touch a human heart. We have materials for Jewish people, Muslims and gentiles, so to speak.

Sometimes we get those materials donated (from super sweet people in our network), but often we purchase everything with private money. It is such a joy to give away material that brings honor to God and that is food for a good discussion. Sometimes people just need to go home and read everything in silence and contemplate.

We are very grateful users of all forms of media to reach people with the good news. We often give away DVD's like God of Wonders, which is a beautiful film about creation. Currently we have books in English and Arabic from evangelist Guus Peters: Navigating to the Muslim heart. We will write about his ministry in the near future.

Next week a man, we are acquinted with through the Hoeksteen Gemeente, will be going to Moldova and he will be taking 100 cd-roms containing the Bible in many languages, such a s Hebrew, Yiddisch and Russian. We were able to get the CD-Roms through Israel en de Bijbel and we are very grateful that our brother will be taking the Word to Moldova. It is one of those countries where we have contacts, but that we have never been able to visit (yet). It is exciting to know that we can send spiritual encouragement ahead :)

A gift is so much more than a little money, it is seed being sown into the fields of Europe, even into the farthest corners of the continent. We can expect a great harvest!

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

[2 Corinthians (9:10]