Project Teen Challenge women's home, Lithuania

Teen Challenge women's home in Slievana

It is always nice to introduce a 'new' country on this blog. Well ... new, Lithuania is not new of course, but it is the first time that we will support a project there.

We have been in contact with the people of Teen Challenge in Lithuania for years, although we have not been there yet (we will definitely do so!).

Teen Challenge has been active in Lithuania since 2001. There are now three drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers; two for men and a house for women.

Rasa Pakėnienė.

The women's center is located in Slievana, near Kaunas. The house has fifteen beds and women can live and recover safely, together with their children! Rasa Pakėnienė is the director of the women's center.

A while back we received a request for financial assistance. The roof of the women's center is leaking and water is flowing through it. The current roof is too old to be repaired, so it needs to be replaced with a new one. 

Replacing also means insulating, so that it will stay warm inside in the winter and cool in summer. The roof surface is about 200 m2.

This means quite a big job that requires extra funds (estimated quote: 12,000 euro). We would like to help Teen Challenge Lithuania, so that when winter comes again, women and children will stay warm and dry.

Teen Challenge women's home, Lithuania

If we team up, it should be possible to raise at least part of the funds necessary to complete this construction job. We hope you want to help in giving the women and children in Lithuania a new roof over their head.

Please, send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: LITHUANIA.

When in the USA you can donate to: Eastern Europe Outreach Inc, make sure to mention: LITHUANIA.

Travel and project news

Board meeting ETC, Krakow 2018

We recently made a trip to Germany and Poland, together with Jim & Lynda Hayes. We made some encouraging visits on our way to Krakow, Poland, where the Europe Teen Challenge conference took place. We will tell you more about that trip soon. Keep an eye on this blog!

"Let your light shine before men ..." [Matthew 5:16] is the motto on our website. Everyone who has been reading this blog for some time, will know that we do this on a local, regional, national and international level. Shining our light simply by (for example) offering a helping (technical) hand, raising money for a new washing machine in a rehab or through sharing personal prayers and encouraging words.

Over the last few years we have been organizing monthly prayer meetings: for Europe, for our region and for individuals. We meet on Fridays and Tuesdays in our secondhand shop Twinkeltje and pray for unity and a spiritual revival in our county.

It is therefore that we would love to sponsor the Slingeland festival that is being held from June 22nd to 24th June. Every year this festival is being organized by Hart voor de Waard, an interdenominational organization that aims to share the Gospel in a simple and outgoing manner.

Far away and close to home, let's support outreach events and in doing so encourage one another! You can send your gift to St. Traveling Light, Papendrecht IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U. Make sure to mention: FESTIVAL.

• We were able to transfer 3,000 euro for project village kitchen Navazi in Georgia. As soon as we have photos/news, we will post it on this blog.
• The next project will be the support of the Teen Challenge women's home in Lithuania.
• This Friday, May 25, we organize a special Israel event in Twinkeltje. We have al kinds of products, snacks and drinks. Doors will be open between 19:00-21:30. Korenbloemstraat 20 in Papedrecnt. See you there!

Prison ministry

Cora Donk

Traveling Light visits and supports (small scale) projects throughout Europe. We are also very active in our home town, particularly since the opening of our secondhand shop Twinkeltje in September 2016.

Twinkeltje is so much more than a coffee house, we use the facility to organize workshops, prayer evenings, mission events, bicycle lessons for new immigrants and discipleship trainings.

👉 But did you know that we are involved in prison ministry as well?

Board member Cora Donk is the owner of Twinkeltje and takes care of daily business there, but she is also involved in prison ministry in the penitentiary prison in Dordrecht. She serves as a volunteer in the interdenominational team that organizes the church services and since last year she is involved in giving the Alpha course.

Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. Alpha is run all around the globe, and everyone's welcome. It runs in cafés, churches, universities, homes and prisons. More than 24 million people worldwide have done Alpha. In the Netherlands there were more than 265,000.

The current course is coming to an end and Cora has bought a nice present for all participants. The prisoners may choose an inspiring book, such as 'The Cross and the switchblade', 'Run baby run' and 'Knock-out'. All of them stories from people who have personally experienced that God can and wants to give everyone a new beginning!

Changed lives! It keeps us going because we believe it is always possible.

Gifts (large & small) for the various projects are always welcome! Make your gifts payable to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht.

Project Udruženje Restart, Serbia

Drugsprevention lessons

In the past we have supported Udruženje (foundation) Restart in Serbia. An organization that aims to reach and encourage homeless and addicted people to leave the streets and enter a faith-based rehabilitation program.

With a team of volunteers, initiator Boris Štrbac is committed to helping people get a start on new life. The team of volunteers regularly visits the streets of Novi Sad and Subotica to make contact with homeless people and addicts. They also provide drugsprevention and information lessons in primary schools.

Good connections with rehabilitation centers in Serbia and neighboring countries are a must. At the end of last year, Teen Challenge Macedonia organized a 'Living Free' training in which participants from Albania, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia were present.

Living Free training

Living Free is a course that can be followed by people who do not want to enter a residential rehab but nonetheless are struggling with addiction problems.

According to Boris, one of the biggest problems today is to help people, who have finished rehab, to find useful jobs. Restart helps as much as possible and has now begun to raise funds in order to buy a van and to start a moving business (following the example of Teen Challenge Slovenia). In addition, the old computer equipment in their office needs to be replaced.

We received a request for support. Restart can do the work thanks to donations and a great team of volunteers. We know how that is!

Volunteers in front of the Restart office

Traveling Light would like to see that all the good work in Serbia continues. There are various christian organizations working in the field of rehabilitation and street outreach. Reintegration in society is certainly part of this work and ideas to create employment surely make us happy.

Restart is a ministry of the New Life in Christ Church in Novi Sad.

You can (indirectly) let your light shine in Serbia by sending a gift to IBAN: NL91RABO0118582275 BIC: RABONL2U St. Traveling Light in Papendrecht. Make sure to mention RESTART.

If you know of someone who can help with equipment or a van, that would be great. Contact us!