This post is also available in: Romanian
30th Anniversary (1991-2021)
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3 CSB)… in our 30 years of ministry.
Now, as we are celebrating our anniversary, we can say like Henry Ford did: “Coming TOGETHER is a beginning. Keeping TOGETHER is progress. Working TOGETHER is success.”
TOGETHER we have built a small, united, and efficient team. Our team consulted on what to do and how to do ministry. We spent many beautiful moments together and enjoyed each other’s company. We went through life together, grew mature, we suffered together through trials and hard times. We experienced the grace and blessings of the Lord, we have overcome trials, turmoils, and failures inherent in our ministry. We have learned to survive, we have endeavored to unite our works with faith, we spent time in prayer, and we sought to glorify God with all our hearts, experiencing in many moments of our ministry the words spoken by the apostle Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 CSB)
TOGETHER we served the people from our community: children from orphanages, orphan boys aging out of foster care, pupils and students, elderly people in nursing homes, poor families, homeless people, people with disabilities, Gypsies from disadvantaged groups, sick and helpless people, pastors from countryside churches, and servants from the Gypsy churches. Thus, meeting needs and highlighting the first part of the foundation’s mission “to present Christ to the community in a practical way”.
TOGETHER we invested from the resources God has blessed us with in: supporting a group of 12 Christian families to start and grow small businesses, supporting the Charis Chamber Choir, building the Charis Functional Center in Sântion, setting up and developing God’s Garden farm, starting a Baptist church, building a church in a village, and renovating two churches in the Gypsy communities. Thus, fulfilling dreams and highlighting the second part of the foundation’s mission “to bring the community closer to Christ and His values.”
TOGETHER we have built collaborative relationships and partnerships with individuals, churches, and organizations from the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA, and Romania, relationships that have demonstrated “For we are God’s coworkers” (1 Corinthians 3: 9 CSB) and highlighted the mechanism stated by Mother Teresa: “I can do things that you cannot, you can do things that I cannot; TOGETHER we can do great things!”
TOGETHER, on the occasion of our 30 years anniversary of our ministry, we can affirm with all our conviction that “The Lord has helped us to this point” (1 Samuel 7:12 CSB), we can say with all our hearts “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14 CSB) and we thank all those who have been involved and have supported the mission and ministry of Charis Foundation along the way.
Daniel Ciupe
General Manager of CHARIS Foundation
Leave a Reply