Project updates

We love to share several news snippets with you, to keep you updated.

Krijn Donk was supposed to skate the 200 km tour on the Weissensee in Austria on Tuesday 28 January, for the benefit of the Teen Challenge juvenile home in Kazakhstan.

The organization moved the event to Monday 27, due to temperatures above freezing (which is not good for the ice!). Krijn started this morning at 07:00, but it soon became clear that the conditions were far from ideal. To save energy, he stopped after just over 2 laps.

He expects to try again on Friday 31 January. So we hope and pray that the frost will set in again. We can already share that a good amount of funds have come in (almost 6,000 euros) for which we are very grateful. But Krijn wouldn't be Krijn if there wasn't an actual challenge to participate in. So keep an eye on Friday. You can follow him via this link! ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The 2024 annual report, including the financial report of our treasurer Martin de Haas, is now on our website. If you want to know how much has come in and gone out in donations, how many countries we have visited, and how many projects we have supported, take a quick look here.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Looking back on the Christmas package campaigns, we are very, very grateful for the enormous amount of donations that came in for this. We were able to donate a total of 9,000 euros to the four different projects!

2,500 euros for Operation Christmas Joy of  Transform Iran. 2,500 euros for the winter campaign in Moldova. 2,000 euros for the sailors and 2,000 euros for the prostitutes in Berlin who received nice gifts and prayers!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Last week we (Jan and Marja) had a surprise visit. Gesi & Blerina Hysenaj, the directors of Teen Challenge in Albania, came by for coffee. They were in the Netherlands for a short meeting with another non-profit organization.

One of the students who completed the rehab program was also with them, his name is Joy. Via this link you can watch a video in which Joy tells what it's like at Teen Challenge and how his life has changed.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Donations, large and small, are always welcome. You can send your gift in different ways:

💛Send a donation to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and make sure to mention country/project/general.

💳 Give by card

👉You can also donate directly via our website!

Project news

Thanks to your response, we were able to send donations in order to support a variety of projects. Thank you very much for that.

The suffering as a result of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria is indescribable. It is beyond comprehension when you see the images. Emergency aid efforts are being offered everywhere, but are also rather difficult due to the aftershocks and, well... where and how do you start clearing the rubble?

We transferred 5,000 euro to Samaritan's Purse. This Christian organization has set up a field hospital in the earthquake area. Their stories are heartbreaking, yet hopeful at the same time! Check out this VIDEO.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The Weissensee fundraiser brought in 7,500 euro. We have been able to donate that amount to Teen Challenge in Armenia. A huge blessing for the work among the homeless and addicted there.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The proceeds in Twinkeltje and de Schor over the month of February were more than 1,800 euro. That amount goes to Teen Challenge in Belgium for their work among homeless people and the addicted in Charleroi.

We visited Frédéric & Natacha Hensgens from Teen Challenge Belgium at the end of January. They currently have the opportunity to rent a property in one of the main shopping streets in the city where they could move their shop with second-hand clothing and perhaps also start a kind of coffee / community center.

It is an area where many drugs are trafficked and used... we will keep you informed of the developments.

That Sunday we were in the Christian Center in Brussels, an international church that is home to many nationalities.

The congregation prayed for Teen Challenge and Traveling Light and Jan had the opportunity to share a short word. It turned out to be exactly the word the pastor was going to speak about, always great when that happens of course 😁

If you have a heart for street evangelism and work among addicts in Charleroi, you can still transfer a donation, we will ensure that everything ends up at Teen Challenge.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

As far as the month of March is concerned, all proceeds in Twinkeltje and de Schor will be donated to the Teen Challenge rehabs in Berdichyv, Ukraine. Great to see and hear how the work there continues unabated, despite the war.

We would like to continue to encourage them and also help them to cover their daily costs. The hopelessness resulting from the ongoing war situation has prompted many women to start drinking and/or using drugs.

How nice when, despite difficult circumstances, they manage to find their way to one of the rehabs in Berdichev, where they often (if not always) have an encounter with Jesus Christ.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

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

Project updates

Back in November, we wrote about the work of Teen Challenge among the homeless and addicted in Albania and the need for new beds and mattresses, among other things. (You can read that post HERE).

This week we received a message from director Orges (Gesi) Hysenaj that the beds and mattresses arrived. The men now all sleep in a good bed and that is very nice!

Attached is a photo of the men in the program carrying the mattresses into the house.

As Traveling Light, we always try to show you (the donors) as much as possible how your donations are being used. Sometimes through our visits, sometimes by sharing photos and thank you notes.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

In January we wrote about the food parcels project in Serbia. You responded quite quickly to that, several donations came in and we were able to give them the nice gift of 3,000 euro.

Erika Sablyov of the team 'Ruka za Druga' ('Hand for a Friend') wrote to us this week:

"This Saturday we had a whole day of socializing with the homeless. It was extremely cold outside and more people came than we expected (about 30). All the food we prepared for them was served and eaten. On Saturday, they could bathe again, get their hair cut, get clean and warm clothes, and a hot meal with a salad. We bought medicine for two. We also showed a movie in the church hall."

On behalf of Erika and the team, thank you very much for your donations. For the time being, they can buy and distribute weekly food packages and also organize such special Saturdays!

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Last Tuesday, it was an exciting day for our ice skaters at the Weissensee. Krijn finished the 200 km and Henk (together with his son Kees) finished the 100 km. So, top performances by the men. We take our hats off!

With their sponsoring campaign they raised (so far) more than 7,000 euro for the work of Teen Challenge in Armenia. Donations are still coming in, so we will wait a little longer and then announce the final amount.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The proceeds of Twinkeltje and De Schor in January (including specified donations) were 1,800 euro and that goes entirely to the work of Teen Challenge in Slovenija. For the month of February, we have chosen the work of Teen Challenge in Belgium. We (Jan and Marja) visited them last weekend. They work among the homeless and addicted in Charleroi!

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

Project news

It's time for some project updates, so you can see how your gifts are being spent. Let's take a tour of Europe 😀

In April we wrote about Teen Challenge Albania and the expansion of the men's house with a number of beds and the purchase of solar panels for hot water.

The solar panels have been purchased and placed on the roof. A big job where all that manpower came in handy!

On behalf of Orges Hysenaj and the men in the program, thank you for your donations and support.

Also in April, we wrote about the expansion of Restart's coffee house in Serbia.

They have started with the renovation project: tearing down the current wall and building a new wall. They will furthermore purchase two windows and a door, and finish walls and floors.

The last phase will be painting and buying furniture! On behalf of Boris Štrbac and his team, thank you very much for your donations!

It is wonderful to see how materials are being purchased locally and how hard the teams work. Really great!

Somehow you received a message from last August about Teen Challenge Austria in your mailbox. As a result thereof we received donations for their street outreach. Beautiful! Mirko Mitrovic writes:

"We are really amazed at what God has been doing in the past months, despite the ongoing lockdown in Austria. Since we had to stop our coffee house project due to government restrictions, we started focusing on our street outreaches"

Every week the team visits the drug hotspots in Vienna and distributes coffee to the people. They get to share their testimonies, pray for the people and build relationships with them and encourage them to believe for miracles in their lives and take steps towards freedom.

"Before Christmas and Easter, we did special outreaches, where we each distributed 200 packages to drug addicts. The packages included some sweets, hats/gloves for Christmas and socks for Easter, coffee, info material about Reset (TC Austria), and two testimonies of how God has set me and another team member free from addiction."

It turns out people are really grateful and open for prayer and allow God to touch their hearts. On behalf of Mirko Mitrovic, thank you very much for your donations!

And then there's the project CIC Mission community center in Georgia. There is also a lot of hard work going on there. Last week we received some photos that clearly show how construction work is progressing.

Last month we were able to send them a gift for the construction of a community center next to the existing Bible school. This should be a space that can be used as a coffee house, children's area, and business center.

On behalf of Reza Nadirashvili, thank you for your donations!

GIFTS (large and small) are always welcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.

💳 You can also Give by card

👉Don't forget to re-subscribe to this blog. The current service that ensures that this message arrives in your mailbox will stop on 1 July.

Project news

Last month, we already announced it: During the month of May, Atelier De Schor in Papendrecht would open her doors every Friday and Saturday between 10:00 and 17:00 for the sale of super nice flea, vintage, and retro items.

Half of the proceeds will go to a project in Uganda and half to Traveling Light! We will add it to the proceeds of Twinkeltje over May and this time the amount will go to Sokrat and Lena Apostolovski and their work among Roma children in Macedonia. The sale of flea, vintage, and retro items is going well, so shop owner Chantal de Jong wants to continue in June. So, please come by and visit. It's fun, the stuff is awesome, and you support a good cause with your purchases.

The other project that we are currently raising funds for, is the work of non-profit organization Embrace in Hungary. Michael and Janet van Boxtel work there among the poor, the homeless, and the addicted. This week the Dutch embassy in Hungary posted a video about the work of Michael and Janet.

Nice to see that their work is getting noticed. We will transfer a donation this week. So, if you still want to donate, do it quickly!

We received the following message from Stella Saghian, in response to a gift of 3,000 euro that we were able to give to 222 Ministries for the support of Farsi speaking Christians in Turkey.

"Through our churches in 15 cities in Turkey, we offer this support to our brothers and sisters in Christ and we hope to relieve them in this desperate situation. We are so grateful for your cooperation. We see positive aspects as we come into contact through our online church (the Persian Community Church) with people in Turkey and Iran ...

We have shifted our monthly church services (with an average of 2000 participants) to weekly services. Last Sunday we had about 5,000 participants. In the past two months, we have seen more than 200 people come to faith who are now joining in our discipleship training. Even in the midst of turmoil, God reaches for the lost! Thank you again for your support and cooperation in helping Farsi-speaking Christian refugees. We pray that your light will travel further and shine even more in this dark world."

Practical help, financial support, and spiritual encouragement, ... a triple cord, really. And it works, we see it everywhere!

GIFTS (large and small) for all our projects are always welcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.

Project news

Happy with the truck

It has been a while, but halfway 2018 we sent a gift to Teen Challenge in Latvija for the purchase of a truck with a crane for the transportation of wood. They needed quite a sum, but they finally got all the funds together.

The barn that needs to be fixed

We recently received some photos. Great to see how donations are being used in a practical way. The cutting, transportation and sale of firewood helps the rehab center to be self-supportive. Thank you again for your help.

We are currently raising money for Mission Return in Belarus.

The drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in the Lyahovichi district needs about 5,000 euro to purchase 3 dairy cows, a small milking machine, dairy refrigeration, and machine for making milk products and the refurbishing of an existing cowshed. See our message HERE.

Work in progress

If you want to help, please send your gift to St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention COWS.

In the fall of 2019 we sent a donation to Carmen Ullersma for the installation of a heating system in a daycare center for the elderly in Moldova. The work is in progress and it is looking good, hopefully the center can be opened soon.

Carmen sent a few photos so you can see how for yourself how your gifts are being put to work.

Furniture for TC Albania

And then, we also sent a donation to Teen Challenge in Albania. The first Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Tirana will be opening soon.

The house has been thoroughly renovated with the help of many volunteers. Hope for Albania donated furniture!

Many people and organizations have been blessed by your generosity!

GIFTS (large and small) for all our projects are always welcome and can be directed at St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U.

Project updates & agenda

Construction of the NFD rehab center in Lebanon

It is about time we post some updates about several projects we have supported. We regularly receive quite a few messages and photo's that we would like to share with you all.

Back in August 2018 we introduced Garo & Gabriela Margossian from Lebanon to you. Garo is the founder of NFD foundation, an organization dedicated to drug prevention and helping addicts to overcome their addictions. Read our full article about Garo's project here.

The Margossian family

The construction of the rehabilitation center is progressing steadily. Garo explained that they are working in stages ... every time funds comes in, they can continue to build 👍 Much is still needed to finish this project.

By the way: in September Garo and Gabriela became the proud parents of Adelina Grace. She is a true answer to prayer.

In April of 2018 we presented project church kitchen in Navazi, Georgia. It took some time before the money arrived at the right place, but at the end of the summer pastor Temuri Muzashvili was able to start the construction. The communal kitchen will be added to the church.

Construction of church kitchen in Georgia

Construction is progressing steadily. During the winter months most of the work is at a standstill. However, we regularly receive photos and messages from Temuri. Always nice to see how the building is being constructed. In the photo, the dark red roof is the new extension.

Last year January we also donated the proceeds of our secondhand store to the work of Teen Challenge in Kazakhstan.

For some years they had a desire to convert an existing barn at the men's rehab center into a automotive paint booth for spraying cars and car parts. Well, the booth is in full use!

Paint booth at TC center Kazakhstan

They purchased the materials, sheathed and insulated the walls and ceiling, conducted the light, filled the floor with a special solution and installed heating. The room was remodeled and today it is working successfully. Men who have completed the program can find a job here. Fantastic!

Agenda:

Saturday, April 6: Mission evening Georgia with guests Kuanysh & Madina Akkuzov

Wednesday, April 17: Sponsor walk for Traveling Light

Saturday, April 27: King's day free market

Donations:
Donations are always welcome. You can send your gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275. BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht.

Project news

Great to meet with Irina and her son

It is about time we share some project news from the various European nations with you again. We regularly receive e-mails, photos and newsletters with thanks for the donations, prayers and support.

Good to know that your gifts actually arrive at the designated places and are used for the intended goals!

During the summer camp in Ukraine we got to talk and pray with Irina. She recently joined the Teen Challenge team in Kiev. She told us about her time at Bertine House in Poltava, how the program had been a blessing and how she had experienced the love and grace of God at a dramatic low point in her life. We shared with her how our ice skating team did a fundraiser earlier this year for Bertine women's home. 💖Heartwarming to be face to face with someone who found new life there!

Happy Boris :)

In May of this year we sent a donation towards project Udruženje Restart in Serbia. We received a short video from Boris Štrbac in which he shows the office equipment purchases, made possible through your generous donations. Thank you so much!

Jan visited him briefly at the Restart office in Novi Sad in June, while in transit to Macedonia.

In April we sent a donation towards project garlic farm in Georgia. Last week we received a newsletter from CIC Mission in which Reza reports that they harvested the garlic and are now drying has some 9,000 kilo which will be sold as cloves and powder.

Reza during garlic harvest

Praise the Lord for this harvest, also for the spiritual harvest ... seven people were baptized in the front yard of the Iranian Bible School!

Oh yes, we also recently received a request to support the children's work at the Iranian Conference, which is being organized by 222 Ministries in the Netherlands, early August. We have done that before, namely in 2015 (click HERE for that blog post).

Do you have a heart for the Iranian children in The Netherlands, many of them refugees? Then, please send your donation  to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention 222 Children's work.

They will need approximately 600 euro in order to purchase materials and some extra ice cream with this extremely warm weather 🌞

Current projects:

Project Casa Shalom, Italy

Project truck Teen Challenge, Latvija

News, upcoming projects, prayer points

Tuesday January 30 is the big day ... the Traveling Light ice skating team will start the 200 km on the Weissensee! We are thankful for all the attention we receive in the local press. Marathon Magazine  reported the fundraiser of Krijn and Henk in their fall issue (click on the photo for an enlargement).

The pledges have gotten off to a good start, we are already well above 3,500 euro. Krijn and Henk will skate for Bertine House in Ukraine, a Teen Challenge rehabilitation home for mothers (with their children) who come out of prostitution and addiction. If you still want to join us, please check HERE for how to sponsor our skaters.

Furthermore, we have a project going for a new heater in a re-entry house in Poland. We expect to be able to transfer a nice amount for the purchase and installation of that new heater next week. As soon as the new stove is installed, we will also request photos.

Teen Challenge Green Pastures, Almaty

The proceeds in our 2nd hand shop Twinkeltje over the month of January will go towards the Teen Challenge rehabilitation program Green Pastures in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Green Pastures is a farm where about thirty men stay who want to get free from addiction and other life-threatening problems.

The work there is dependent on donations! General gifts coming in at Traveling Light will be added to Twinkeltje's revenue so that we can transfer a nice amount.

Time for Portugese coffee with TC Belgium

Jan is currently in Portugal for a training 'counseling' at Europe Teen Challenge. There are workers from all over Europe there. Counseling skills come in handy in all the conversations we are having when we travel!

On this weblog we kind of take you on a journey through Europe :-) Hopefully you get an idea of ​​all the beautiful work that is going on everywhere and that we wholeheartedly support. Behind the scenes, we are already busy gathering information for upcoming projects. Just a few things you might expect here soon:

• Various translations of the 'Living Free' curriculum, Macedonia
• Outreach work Brian Slater in Netanya, Israel
• Youth work The Gate in student city Wraclow, Poland
• Our financial report 2017

Gifts, large and small, are welcome at to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention which project.

Activities & project news

This Thursday evening August 17 we will organize a special  evening in our 2nd hand shop Twinkeltje, this time it will be all about Ukraine. We will have dear guests from Kiev, Sergey & Mariana Glushko. They are the directors of Teen Challenge Ukraine and they will share about the work among addicts and homeless people.

It is a very special honor for us to welcome them because the very first project of Traveling Light back in 2011 was the result of a meeting with this lovely couple!

Mariana & Sergey

Doors will be open at 19:30. We invite you for an inspiring, educational and enjoyable evening. There will be an opportunity to ask questions, to see pictures, to pray together and of course we will take up an offering to bless the work of Teen Challenge in Ukraine!

The proceeds of Twinkeltje over the month of August will also go to Teen Challenge Ukraine.

We received a newsletter from Jordan & Vesna Stoilovi in Macedonia. They are very happy with the financial help they received from us. The new location of coffee house The Bridge is officially open and it looks really amazing.

coffee house meeting

They have a weekly program now with different activities such as: women's meeting, Bible study, children's club, etc. We are very grateful that the outreaches in this city (where the population is mainly Muslim) are yielding fruit. People are interested and open to learn about the Bible and to get to know God better.

Nice interior

Again: THANK YOU on behalf of Jordan & Vesna and their team.

We received some beautiful stories and pictures from seafarer's evangelist Guus Peters. He has already made a lot of Filipino sailors happy with Christian literature, films and Tagalog Bibles! Thanks to your donations

Happy sailor!

It is great that we can help Guus again and again to accomplish his mission ... to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many sailors as possible.

Last June we decided to open up our 2nd hand shop Twinkeltje as 'healing room' on Tuesday night. We made a pot of coffee and tea and asked God to bring people in need of prayer for healing, restoration or deliverance. The name for our healing room is Re-Store ... a fun play on words in English :)

Tuesday August 22 we will open our doors again (Korenbloemstraat 20, Papendrecht). There are plenty of lovely people to pray with you.

Then some updates on current projects; we have been able to donate 5,000 euro for the expansion of the women's home in Belarus. This coming fall we will help them again with a second phase of this project.

Project restart Teen Challenge Croatia already brought in more than 1,000 euro, so that's going well. Thank you for the donations that keep coming in without interruption. It's amazing what we can do together to support many projects and help people throughout Europe.

Gifts are always welcome to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht.

If you are in the USA and you want to donate for TC Croatia, please make your tax-deductible gift payable to EEO Inc. Make sure to mention: TC CROATIA.

Project news and activities

Teen Challenge women's home Kazakhstan

At the end of yet another great year, we can do nothing else but thank you all very much!

We were able to support a wide variety of small-scale projects. In recent months for example we donated to several Teen Challenge drugs and alcohol rehabilitation centers in countries such as Kazakhstan, Poland and Ukraine. We will share some photo's of the work in these centers soon!

Girl's home in Moldova

We are also very pleased with your enthusiastic response to our new store Twinkeltje. We receive a lot of donations, we are selling well and the workshops we have organized so far are quite popular. Come visit us on a Saturday afternoon in the Korenbloemstraat 20 Papendrecht.

Each month the proceeds from the sales are for a specific project. In December is is the girl 's home in Moldova. A safe and loving place for girls who have been victims of human trafficking.

new Teen Challenge women's home in Batumi, Georgia

It's coming up again... Early January we will start with the PR for the Weissensee 2017 event. The ice skaters have been in training for months. The project for which our volunteers will skate the grueling 200 km in Austria is the new Teen Challenge women's home in Batumi, Georgia (still under construction). They will be needing about 4,000 euro for the purchase of windows and doors.

Project Christmas gifts for sailors taken on by seafarer's evangelist Guus Peters is up and running. We have already received sponsoring for forty goody bags. For eight euro you can bless a sailor with a warm sweater, some sweets and a DVD.

ALL donations, big and small are welcome at St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275, BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention which project your gift is for.