A Letter to our Friends

 The Cross at Rama

TWI for the CHILDREN, Inc.
Training Workshops International (TWI) for the Children is dedicated to educational and emotional needs of all children

Dear Friends, with the people of the Balkans is an expression of our desire to be of service to those less fortunate than ourselves . I want to  thank all of our donors for supporting our work with 

     We started "TWI (Training Workshops International) for the Children" in 1996 after becoming involved in Bosnia. We are dedicated to helping the educational and emotional needs of children. In past years we  focused our work on children in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and now  we have become involved with people throughout the Balkans.

     The good news is the progress we are making in regard to helping at-risk children; children with special needs; and,  children in orphanages. The Balkans have made great progress over the past ten-years, but  the need for love and reconciliation is still apparent. There is a need to teach educators about dealing with at-risk and special needs children and to assist  disabled people. Our work continues to expand into new areas of need as they become known.

 Among other things, "TWI for the Children" works with parents, teachers and caretakers in schools and orphanages throughout the Balkans to teach skills they can use in everyday life; provides instruction in how to cope with specific adolescence problems; and, for those with special needs, how to become more independent at home and in the community.

Time was not waiting for the young adults who participated in the  TWI program for "at risk" teenage orphans. By law, orphans have to leave the orphanage as soon as they finish high school and this causes fear and anxiety for these young people. Attending school on a regular basis during the war was not possible for children in war zones. These children are becoming young adults and are paying the price of a delayed education. For the child in an orphanage, who has no job skills and no family outside the orphanage, there is fear and uncertainty as the time arrives when they must leave the only home they have ever had and suddenly become an independent adult.

     We are excited about the future. Our vision  is to continue expanding our work to schools, orphanages and universities in other areas of the Balkans.  In addition to our Training Workshops and Camps for Kids activities, we  began an internship program for university students to spend four to eight weeks in orphanages in Bosnia and Montenegro and are providing scholarships to help qualified young people attend university in the Balkans. Another major area of support is to the "Learning Center for Special Needs Persons" in Sarajevo.

     Our work comes from our love for the Lord. It is a great blessing to us to pass on the joy of serving to the volunteer leaders who go with us. It is exciting to see how this experience changes the lives of our team members. We have had volunteers return home to dedicate their lives to full-time mission work; others returned to their home churches to  witness to how their spiritual life profited from the trip. Our  Balkan team members  never fail to pray for us and for our country regardless of their religious affiliation. It is not our desire to be social workers, but to be servants…to teach the lessons of love, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion to children and their families in a region where conflict leaves many people filled with anger, mistrust and broken hearts.

     Our thanks go out to everyone for their support and prayers that make our work in Bosnia possible. Our future work in the Balkans is predicated on the continuing support of those persons who  assist us in helping the children of the Balkans.

Love to all

Bobby Houser, President