Project Bertine House

Magne & Olga Gulbrandsen and their kids

We announced it a few weeks ago: runners in action for Bertine House in Poltava, Ukraine. We are currently raising funds to help women and children who had to flee Donetsk.

Bertine House was founded in 2008 by Magne and Olga Gulbrandsen. A beautiful home in Donetsk where women and children can live in safety. The women often have a background of addiction, prostitution and/or abuse and at Bertine House they finally get a chance to start a new life.

Magne was born in Norway. When he was 9 he began stealing and at 14 he started smoking hashish, using amphetamines, ecstasy and later heroin. As a result of this life he spent seven years in prison. Finally he went to a christian rehabilitation center, the beginning of a totally new life! Later he graduated from Bible school.

Women and children of Bertine House

He married Olga and together they now have four children. One day they were visiting a women's prison in the Ukraine when God spoke to Magne: "help these women so they can be reconciled with their children..."And that's how the idea for Bertine House started.

Recently the women and children who used to live in the home in Donetsk had to flee the area because of the war going on there (see previous blog post). They had to leave everything behind and found temporary shelter in a house in Poltava (halfway between Donetsk and Kiev), with poor sanitary conditions (toilet outside). With the winter right around the corner, they had to look for a better place to live.

Let the children come to me... 

So, now they are renting a flat where they have at least a shower and bathroom inside! But in the meantime they keep looking for a large house (to buy or rent) that can be transformed into a women's and children home again. They have their eyes on one... which costs 120.000 dollar... (with the possibility that the owner wants to go down in price).

On October 26 the marathon of Etten-Leur will be held. Four runners have offered to run their miles for Bertine House. Thomas van Dartel (5 km), Erik Slobben (21 km), André van Slooten (21 km) en Jan Verschoor (21 km) will run to help these women and children find a good and safe home!

You can sponsor them by giving a donation per kilometer and/or per person or by donating a certain amount for finishing the race or by giving a general amount. Everything helps!

ALL donations are welcome. Send your gifts to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: BERTINE.

Anniversary adventure

Happy with a sandwich

Two weeks ago Jim and Lynda Hayes left by train for Amsterdam. They 'celebrated' their 30th marriage anniversary by spending a whole weekend homeless on the streets. With project homeless honeymoon they wanted to raise awareness about the work of Teen Challenge in Slovenia.

It didn't take long for them to discover that finding food was not the problem. There are many churches and charities in Amsterdam doing fabulous work. Jim & Lynda were also surprised to find out how easy it was to collect some money for survival!

Lynda trying to sleep

The biggest problem was to find a place to sleep. Under bridges, in front of the train station, in shop doorways, behind large flower pots... they were moved on several times.

After three restless and emotional challenging days and nights they were so worn out and tired that they fell asleep on the train back home, and nearly missed their station :) Jim & Lynda were shocked to see the street life after two o'clock at night among the addicts, homeless and illegals. 'It is not too difficult to gather food and money', said Jim, 'but what people really need is a new life through Jesus Christ.'

And that is exactly what Teen Challenge wants to offer: practical help (shelter, care, detox etc.) and spiritual help (a possibility to experience the love and grace of Jesus). Getting 'clean' can happen in any regular clinic, but staying 'clean' is only possible with the help of God.

Visiting Dennis Griffith house in Slovenia

Jim & Lynda raised 3,328 euro (so far) with their homeless honeymoon and funds are still coming in. We expect to be able to give a donation of 3,500 euro to the Dennis Griffith rehabilitation home (watch the video!) in Nova Vas, Slovenia. Part of the money will be used for the purchase of safety gear (do you remember project chain saw back in 2011?) because the men are getting more and more jobs cutting trees.

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Jim & Lynda who went on this adventure and of course to everyone who sponsored them by giving a donation. The team in Nova Vas will be very, very happy!

Project winter fuel Winiarczykowka, Poland

Winiarczykowka gang :)

This past summer we gave a donation for a new sewage treatment plant to the rehabilitation and crisis home of Teen Challenge in Winiarczykowka, Poland.

In the meantime all necessary documents and permissions have been obtained and some inspections have taken place (read: lots of paper work and official dealings). Now they're waiting for the go-ahead sign, so the contractor can begin the digging.

Work shop in the basement

During our visit in June we were shown around the whole house. Yes, we even got to look in the basement, where there is a small workshop with tools and also the heating system. Contrary to most houses in eastern Europe, Winiarczykowka is not being heated with wood, but with oil.

Each winter the enormous tank needs to be filled again, which costs several thousand euro's. Money that comes in through donations and fundraising. Traveling Light has a warm heart for the work of Teen Challenge in Poland, so we would like to encourage them with a gift towards the purchase of this fuel.

oil heater

Janusz en Bogusia Gornicki (the directors of the center) have opened their doors for elderly people as well, mostly the lonely and weak. It is important to offer them, not just a safe place, but also a warm place to live! The winters in Poland are very cold and on the streets or in a poorly heated house they would not survive.

It would be great if we could bless them with a heart warming gift of 1,000 euro.

When in EUROPE, you can send your gift to: St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275, BIC: RABONL2U

When in USA, you can send your gift to: Eastern Europe Outreach, make sure to mention: TC Poland Winiarczykowka

Thank you very much!

Runners in action for Bertine House, Ukraine

Crazy, sportive, good and fun activities in order to raise funds for small scale, practical projects... that's exactly what we LOVE to do at Traveling Light.

On October 26th the marathon of Etten-Leur will take place in The Netherlands and some wonderful brothers from our church have decided to run as a fundraiser for Bertine House in Ukraine.

Bertine House is a rehabilitation home for mothers and their children in Donetsk, founded by Magne & Olga Gulbrandsen. We know them from several conferences. Bertine House is a beautiful and big house with plenty of room to play.

Bertine House in Donetsk

A few weeks ago the women and children had to leave their home in Donetsk due to the current war situation in that area. They were happy to find temporary shelter in a home in Poltova (which is about halfway between Donetsk and Kiev).

They are now desperately looking for a decent place to live in Poltava, a place big enough for everyone (women, children, staff and volunteers). The current house in Poltava does not have proper sanitary services for so many people and does not have enough room for everyone.

Bertine House gang :)

We love to help them by raising funds which will be used to buy or rent a good house! The children are often traumatized because they grew up with addicted moms (thank God they are clean now) and the current war situation adds even more to that.

Gotta be creative

We want to see the children (and their mothers) in a safe environment. This is a practical project with direct contacts, the money will go straight to the project, nothing will stay behind. Also, Bertine House is part of Teen Challenge Ukraine, which we have good contacts with.

Temporary home

Thomas van Dartel (5 km), Erik Slobben (21 km), André van Slooten (21 km) en Jan Verschoor (21 km) will run to give these women and children a home. You can sponsor them by giving a donation per kilometer and/or per person or by donating a certain amount for finishing the race or by giving a general amount. Everything helps!

ALL donations are welcome. Send your gifts to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht, IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: BERTINE.

They really need a good and safe place to live. Will you help us to make it possible to find that place?

PS: Click on the pictures for an enlargement

News-n-stuff

Restart drugs prevention work at schools

Four weeks ago we announced project minivan Restart, Serbia on this weblog. Restart is a non profit organization with the mission to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help addicts and former addicts and their families.They are in need of a minivan for their outreach and prevention work.

The founders Boris & Jelena were heroine addicts for many years until they came to know the love and grace of Jesus Christ in the Teen Challenge program in Serbia. The doctors gave them no hope to become pregnant. But with God all things are possible! They have a healthy baby girl!

In the previous weeks about 3,000 euro came in towards this project. Thank you very much for your quick and generous response. We would love to donate 3,500 euro for the purchase of a minivan. We trust the last bit will come in soon. Boris is looking out for a suitable vehicle.

Jim & Lynda Hayes

Next Friday Jim & Lynda Hayes will be heading for Amsterdam for project Homeless Honeymoon. They will be roaming the streets for a few days, as many homeless people do, and raise awareness about the work among the poor and addicted.

The proceeds of their fundraiser will go towards the work of Teen Challenge in Slovenia. We have already received more than 1,200 euro! You can still sponsor Jim & Lynda by sending your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: HONEYMOON.

The telephone keeps ringing and emails and FB messages keep coming in at Traveling Light. We have direct and personal contact with the people behind all of our projects. We currently have some projects lined up for next month, for example:

• Half marathon Etten-Leur fundraiser for Bertina House in Donetsk, Ukraine. The women and children in this Teen Challenge rehabilitation home had to leave everything behind, because of the war. They are looking for a new home in a safer location. Big need!
• Project winter fuel for Teen Challenge rehabilitation and crisis center Winiarczykowka in Poland.
• Project Beit Hallel Messianic congregation in Ashdod, Israel. In October they will start an Alpha course again!

Women & children Bertina House

And these are only a few of the upcoming projects. As always: small scale, direct, practical and personal help. Without your prayers and financial support we would not be able to take on so many projects. Keep an eye on this blog and/or our Facebook Page.

We count on your support!

Veggies and spiritual food

Happy sailors with their new Bibles

Below you will find a thank you note from seafarer's  evangelist Guus Peters, which shows that practical help will result in spiritual blessings.

"Again, thank you very much for your generous donation towards the sailors on board of the ships that are being held in the port of Gent, Belgium.

There is good news: seventeen of the twenty-two crew members have been able to go home with their salaries. Christian Roos from ITF (International Transport Workers Federation), which is the international union of seafarers, has done a great job. There are five more man still on board of the two ships. The owner of the ships has been put under a lot of pressure, also to provide food for the men.

I want to thank you very much on behalf of the sailors and my dear colleague Ann van der Sijpt from Stella Maris in Gent for your fantastic help.

There is also spiritual fruit: Three of the sailors wanted to know more about the gospel and I was able to explain several things and handed them Bibles in the Russian language."

Work week Italy 2014

Working hard and always smiling

As we did last year, Traveling Light again organized a work week in Italy. Offering practical help with a group of volunteers in Communita Brezzano, a Christian Therapeutic community in beautiful Tuscany.

[click on the pictures for an enlargement]

Camfire

Communita Brezzano consists of three old Tuscan homes in the mountains. Maria Meier (a German widow who has been in charge of the community for many years) lives in one of the houses and receives women with emotional, psychological or addiction problems.

Her long-time helper Boris lives in one of the other houses and receives men with similar problems. The third house, Casa Shalom, is being rented out as vacation or groups home, which brings in some income to keep the work going. We rented Casa Shalom for a week.

pizza from the wood oven

Each day the guys disappeared into the woods to cut trees and chop wood. They did a tremendous amount of work and stacked enough wood for the upcoming winter in the cellar of the men's home. A very labor intensive job, that would cost Boris weeks and weeks to accomplish.

All three houses are being heated through wood heaters, and so they need a huge supply to survive the cold months. Thanks to the help of David, Jan, Menno, Nick and Teun this job was done in several days. Thumbs up for our faithful volunteers!

The theme for this week was 'spiritual warfare', we did Bible studies on this subject every night. Those were precious evenings, sitting together talking, praying, discussing, and singing songs. Teun brought his guitar and was leading the group each night in worship. He did an awesome job!

Sunday brunch with Maria and Boris

Thank you very much David, Menno, Nick and Teun for your endless energy, humor and enthusiasm. Together we were able to let our light shine in Italy and it is our prayer that our time given will bring forth much fruit in the lives of the people there, as well as in our own lives.

It is indeed so much better to give than to receive.

Check out our photo album on Facebook.

Project Homeless Honeymoon

Jim & Lynda Hayes

Traveling Light is blessed with sporty, generous, creative, and loving supporters and volunteers, who keep coming up with new ideas to raise funds for the small scale projects we support throughout Europe. Such people are Jim and Lynda Hayes...

At the end of September they will celebrate their 30th (!) marriage anniversary and they want to do so in a very special way. No, not by giving a big party, buying more stuff or going on vacation, but by spending a homeless weekend on the streets of Amsterdam... (yeah, really!)

30 years ago

Jim & Lynda have a heart for the poor, homeless and addicted. By spending a weekend in Amsterdam without taking money, extra clothes or a sleeping bag, they hope to be able to identify with the life of a homeless person. They hope to get a feeling of what it means not to have a bed, a hot shower, and a refrigerator full of food at hand.

With this action they want to raise funds for the Teen Challenge Izhod rehabilitation home in Slovenia. About 8-12 men are living and working in that house (which Jim & Lynda visited on several occasions), mostly men who struggled with addictions and often know more about street life than about healthy family life.

Slovenia visit in April 2014

Getting off of drugs and alcohol does not take that long, but the phase that follows does! The men in the program receive a lot of love, grace, patience and prayer and often hear for the first time that God loves them and that He has a better plan for their lives.

Each life is so precious and we are very thankful for all the people who are giving their time and energy to help these men, to rescue what was lost, to bring light into dark situations.

If you want to encourage Jim & Lynda (and thus support the work in Slovenia) you can do so by sponsoring their homeless honeymoon. All proceeds will go to Teen Challenge Slovenia.

You can send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: HONEYMOON.

Project minivan Restart, Serbia

The projects Traveling Light supports and the contacts we are always making, are part of a growing network. For the next project we will 'take' you to Serbia again. If you go to the side bar on the right and scroll down to keywords, you can click on 'Serbia' and find out what we have done there in the past.

Boris & Jelena Strbac

In the picture you see Boris and Jelena Strbac with their daughter. They are the founders of Restart, a non profit organization with the mission to raise awareness about the dangers of addiction and to help addicts and former addicts and their families. The are trying to motivate people to go into one of the rehabilitation centers in Serbia or surrounding countries. Boris & Jelena have good contacts with the various rehab centers and over the past three years they were able to send more than fifty people (!) on their way to recovery.

Boris & Jelena know what they are talking about. As a young teenage kid Boris started to use marijuana, extacy, lsd, pills and at last heroin. Heroin took complete control over his life, even after he met Jelena. For ten years they were heroin addicts together, until 2008 when they went to the Teen Challenge rehab center in Serbia. They received deliverance through Gods love and power!

Part of the team at the restart office

In 2011, after they came out of the program, they established Restart, a ministry form the Holy Trinity Church in Novi Sad, where Boris is pastor. With a team of volunteers they go into the streets of Novi Sad and Subotica to make contact with the homeless and addicted. They also give prevention classes in elementary and high schools.

A while back Boris contacted us and asked if Traveling Light was able to help them with the purchase of a minivan. His own car ended up at the junk yard and currently they have no means of transportation. This past June, Jan met with Boris at My Brother's Keeper Conference in Bosnia and he promised that we would help them.

Restart logo

Between 3,000 and 4,000 euro is needed to purchase a good and reliable second hand minivan in Serbia; a Citroën Berlingo, VW Sharan, Opel Zaphira or something similar. Traveling Light is aware of the huge need in the streets of Serbia and we are thankful for people like Boris and Jelena who have given their lives now to help people in darkness, to share the gospel and to motivate people to change the direction of their life.

If you have a heart for street work, outreach, drugs prevention and evangelism, then you will love this project. Please send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U and be part of the change that Europe so desperately needs!

When we sow in fertile ground, we can expect a fruitful harvest!

Photo's port of Gent, Belgium

Haha, he who has ears...

A few weeks ago we announced project fruit & vegetables for sailors.

Seafarer's Evangelist Guus Peters asked Traveling Light to come alongside with financial help, so that he could buy fresh food for the Ukrainian sailors aboard two sea ships that are being held in the port of Gent, Belgium, for several months now.

Your reactions came in fast and they were heartwarming. We were able to help Guus with a gift of 870 euro!

Happy faces

Guus visits the port of Gent and the sailors a few times a week now, to bring fresh fruit & vegetables. A 82 year old man from his town came with a few boxes of groceries as well. Isn't if wonderful to see how people come into action? In the meantime the kitchen area is overflowing with good food!

In the pictures (click for a larger picture) you can see how happy the men are with this help. And we are happy with our supporters. Small scale, practical help, quick action, direct contact... that works best.

Abundance on board

Let us pray the sailors will be allowed to set sail soon and return to their families. The situation in the Ukraine is very unstable and dangerous, and they long to be with their families.

Thank you very much everyone!

• We received about 1,000 euro for project study grant Andrii Soloviov. If you still want to send in your gift, you can do so to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2
• We owe you a few pictures from the trip our church youth made to La Rocca, Italy
• From September 1-8 we are organizing a work week to Casa Shalom in Tuscany. There is still room, so if you want to come: email us.
• For a next project we will go to Serbia again.