30th Celebration!

Celebrating God’s Faithfulness On May 21 we had the privilege of hosting the 30th anniversary of H2H celebration. The Alpha Omega Church graciously allowed us to use their space which was a great location for our needs. We had around 90 people in attendance and we were blessed to have kids that are currently in our programming, young adults and adults that were a part of our programs either in the orphanages and schools and/or our transitions programs, previous directors we worked with, previous and current H2H staff, local church members who support us and a few American guests who were able to make the trip and celebrate with us!

The evening started out with time to mingle. We had a timeline and pictures from over the years plus vintage H2H t-shirts that could be purchased and new information cards. We had a meal together with a fun slide show that showed throughout the mealtime. I was going through the room during this time, greeting people that I maybe hadn’t greeted yet. I stopped at Alex Oprea (originally from Peris orphanage and went through BTH in 2012) and when I spoke to him he said “I can’t talk right now, I don’t want to miss seeing a single picture from the slideshow!’ It was so fun to see the joy and smiles of so many of our kids as they looked back on pictures of their pasts.

We had a program that was full of too many highlights to recount. It, of course, began with a greeting from Jim and Jodi, followed by one from Costel. A greeting from Costel is not complete without an original poem (he was still in his pjs finishing at 5 p.m. that same day!). Valentin Mitrache, who was a youth at the Diosti orphanage in 1997 shared his testimony of how God used the summer teams that came there to bring him to Christ and change his life. We also had a testimony from Flori Ursache, who was a baby at the baby hospital in the early 2000’s. She was adopted by a family that now attends our church and is a symbol to me of all of the babies that we loved on that are somewhere out there! What a blessing to be reminded that God holds each and everyone of them in His hands, even when we can’t see it here on earth.

Other speakers included: Doro, previous BTH director, Adi Ionuescu (BTH-2007), Mirela (GTH- 2008), Isabela (GTH-2017), Florenta (computer school 2000-2009), Heather McGarvey (Music program 2018-2021), Ghita Dragusanu (H2H staff), Angela Laurain (Baby hospital 2007-2009). Sarah Johnson (15 years of short-term teams), and Melissa Perghel (current H2H staff). We were also able to see about 15 greetings that were recorded from previous staff and team members. When each greeting was played there was gasp of joy as people in the room recognized the face that appeared on the screen.

I was able to give introductions and stories to connect the pieces and also talk briefly about where H2H is going from here. Thanks to all of you that celebrated alongside of us physically and in spirit! We know that many, many people from around the world were celebrating with us and I love that the H2H family is universal. Thanks to all of you that sent in greetings, prayed for our time, gave financially towards the event and continue to support and cheer us on in countless ways. My take away from the evening was that it is amazing to look back and to be reminded of everything that God has done and to be encouraged that God’s not finished with His work in Romania yet! Here’s to the next 30 years!