We’re wired for connection

Transforming Lives Through Love and Connection

about us

Caring Arms is a Christian ministry founded by Bjarne ten Harkel, focused on homelessness, addictions, and people struggling with mental health issues.

Rooted in a deep belief in God’s love and restoration, Caring Arms operates in Tenerife and travels across Europe, often literally on the road with campers serving as mobile bases for evangelism.

Over the past years, countless meals have been cooked, shared moments of connection created, and baptisms held. What makes this ministry unique is its dedication to those who want nothing (anymore) to do with God. Through genuine, long-term friendships, trust is built. Where others give up, Caring Arms continues.

In this perseverance, dozens of lives have already been transformed. Miracles have happened: people came to faith, were set free from addiction, and found new life. Caring Arms is guided by the belief that God’s grace reaches beyond every boundary, even those drawn by society around the people it often overlooks.

We seem to be wired for connection

both horizontally and vertically

A horizontal connection refers to our longing for meaningful relationships with people, animals, and nature. However, some of us have been disappointed in life, for example by parents, caretakers, organizations or churches. Because of this we choose to avoid certain people, places or things. Some of us moved to the edges of society, focusing on bare survival with all kinds of tools that no longer serve us, or even control us. Others were born never feeling like they belonged in society, and always felt different.

If trust has been broken in others, in religion, or perhaps in yourself, it can affect how we view what I would call a vertical connection. This vertical connection is spiritual, or maybe you recognize it as existential, God, or transcendent. After speaking with thousands of people like you and me, I believe the search for a spiritual connection is built into us, like a line of code in our DNA.

It is as if we are born craving a father and mother, but also on a spiritual level.

READ MORE about our services

Compassionate Support for Those in Need

Homeless Outreach

Addiction Recovery

Mental Health support

Support Our Mission

We live and work full-time as a mobile church. It is place of hope, love, and restoration, right out on the streets, in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, parks, or wherever we are needed. We intentionally seek out places where brokenness is visible, where people live with addiction, homelessness, loneliness, crime, or loss. There we bring the Gospel, offer a listening ear, pray with people and share practical love, often in the form of a warm meal or a conversation.

We live in a van ourselves and have no steady income or government support. Everything we do is possible thanks to God’s provision and the generosity of people like you.

God has laid it on our hearts to raise €80,000 for, among other things, a larger and more reliable vehicle, a bus, truck, or camper in which we can create a prayer space, make coffee for large groups and cook for many. This vehicle needs to be strong and safe enough to travel long distances and to go through areas where few others dare to go.

Would you like to help keep this mission going?
Your donation literally helps us move forward.
Every gift, big or small, makes a difference!

Thank you for your support, your prayers, and your trust in what God wants to do through us. 💛

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Caring Arms is part of the foundation JUSTGO4IT. This is a registered charity (ANBI) and has the account number: NL23RABO0105859621
BIC/SWIFT code: RABONL2U
Please always mention: Caring Arms

Get in Touch

We’re here to listen, support, and help. Whether you have questions about us or just need someone to talk to just send us a message.

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