Some four years ago, I sat in the single room where the Moga family lived in Beius, Romania. Lenuta Moga and I chatted, haltingly, through our translator (and HFH Beius founding director) Adrian Ciorna. We spoke of what a Habitat house would mean to this family of five. Her thoughts ran deep as she remembered the three dreams she clung to growing up in a Romanian orphanage: to be married, to have a good husband, and to have a home of her own. Today, thankfully, she has all three.
Her story of dreams realized is the result of another dream born 25 years ago. Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, along with his wife, Linda, and a small group of friends dreamed in 1976 of building 100,000 simple, decent houses with people in need. Today that dream has been fulfilled, and a new one takes its place: that of building Habitat’s second 100,000 houses by the end of 2005. It is the dream of a visionary, made real by God’s people.
Growth of this organization has been exponential: from a handful of U.S. affiliates to some 2,000 worldwide; from a couple of countries to 79; from a few houses to more than 100,000. And Habitat World has grown as well, from a few thousand readers in 1984 to nearly 2 million today.
This issue you read reflects that growth. It is still your old friend, though now in a new style format that will be easier to read, display and share with others. This special edition is a “prototype,” distributed at HFHI’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. The October/ November 2001 issue of Habitat World will begin our publication of this new format.
Be assured that with this new and improved look, Habitat World’s staff continues to be dedicated to the effective utilization of production, printing, paper, postal and delivery techniques allows us to produce this new look for about the same cost as the old format.
Like you, we are dedicated to building houses that meet real needs of real people, like Lenuta Moga. Her words to Millard Fuller speak to us all. “Tell the boss in America we feel he did a very God-pleasing thing,” she told me. “...There are so many families in so many countries who are happy with the program. …There are so many [people] who can do the good, but they don’t. This kind of unconditional help, without profit or interest from the Habitat side, this is amazing.”
Amazing, indeed. Thanks for reading…and for building.
—Milana McLead is the editor of Habitat World. |
|
