Building on Faith Highlights - 1995-2006

The Beginning

1995
Northern Alabama HFH (Huntsville) blitz built a home in 10.5 hours in the parking lot of a major shopping mall and then moved it to a permanent site. They also dedicated six homes and worked on three others. Most were sponsored by churches.

1996
More than 1,000 people worked to finish the home designated as HFHI’s 50,000th house in just over seven hours in Pensacola, Fla. Thirty-nine churches helped revitalize an area where Habitat homes replaced condemned structures.

HFHI’s 50,001st house was constructed next to the 6,500th house built in Mexico, City, Mexico. This project was the first time that the local affiliate reached out to churches.

Moving Internationally, Gaining Momentum

1997
Amid squawking chickens, barking dogs, wandering horses and children selling sweet breads in the streets, more than 150 local church volunteers representing nine faith communities built 21 block homes in San Pedro Sula in Honduras.

French and English-speaking groups came together to build the first Habitat for Humanity home in Quebec, Canada.

At a worship service on a construction site in Lynchburg, Va., Yolanda King, daughter of the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “We need a faith that not only moves mountains, but moves us.”

1998
Four affiliates in the Seattle, Wash., area challenged churches and other members of the community to “spend one week of your life making a lifetime of change,” as they built four houses in eight days.

HFH of Greater Canton (Ohio) observed its 10th anniversary by blitz building 10 houses locally and committing to fund and build 10 houses in Nicaragua.

The Women’s Missionary Union, an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention, kicked off an eight-house project in Birmingham, Ala. The land on which four of the houses were built had been formerly occupied by a rundown nightclub and was the site of several shootings. “We turned scorched earth into sacred ground,” said Jan Bell, executive director of Birmingham HFH.

Reaching New Heights

1999
When Omaha (Neb.) HFH considered how to commemorate its 100th house, affiliate leaders decided to begin construction during Building on Faith week. “It was a natural match,” said Executive Director Nancy Hemasath. “It takes a lot of faith to build houses.”

HFHI Affiliate Support Managers Mark Lassman-Eul and Margaret Gilmore in the Middle States Region made concerted efforts to encourage participation in Building on Faith. The result: 59 percent of affiliates in four states planned events that included building projects, worship services, house dedications, benefit concerts, clergy workdays, community meetings, ice cream socials and much more.

Building on Faith in Northern Ireland was part of a larger goal for the new millennium to build communities without fear across the province.

2000
Twenty-two church coalitions answered the call in Jacksonville, Fla., to build 30 more houses than originally planned during Building on Faith week. That brought the affiliate’s total to 200 houses in one year.

Local churches struggling to repair and rebuild their own places of worship following Hurricane Floyd, joined together to build four houses during Building on Faith week in Greenville, N.C. The kick-off event was a well-attended sunrise service. “We wanted to make this a symbolic start for a new day and for new hope,” said Sylvia McCreary, chair of the Church Relations committee.

On the land where the stately 99-year-old Memorial United Methodist Church once stood in Lynchburg, Va., seven families moved into Habitat for Humanity homes. The church burned in 1983 and the land remained vacant afterwards. Three of the homes on the former church lot were built in memory of special people in the community during Building on Faith week.

“I believe that the practical testimony of love in action offered by Habitat creates a bridge that allows the church to become directly involved in the lives of our neighbors,” said International Partner Jeffrey Tomer who spoke about the first two Habitat for Humanity houses in Mongolia, which were built during Building on Faith week.

Responding the theme “Love Heals, Faith Bridges, Peace Builds,” 14 Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the Philippines worked on or dedicated 120 houses at 16 sites during Building on Faith week.

A Catalyst for Action and Positive Change

2001
“When I remember the fall of 2001, the memory of walls and rafters being raised at our Habitat site (in Memphis, Tenn.) will transcend the image of towers being attacked in New York City,” said Martha Boyd, building coordinator for Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion.

2002
More than 3,000 volunteers assembled throughout the week to build 15 houses and to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Lubbock (Texas) HFH. Fourteen churches built seven of the 15 homes. A grant program funded by local businesses provided matching funds for churches of 1,000 members and smaller. This allowed 12 smaller churches to participate.

In Tacoma, Wash., 73 church partners sponsored four of six houses that were under construction during Building on Faith week. The lots were on the site where trash from rampant drug trade had been evident. Said a resident of the neighborhood: “Now I’ve got good neighbors; Habitat is turning this neighborhood around.”

When the rains came and the slabs could not be poured in time for the Building on Faith ceremonies in Lakeland, Fla., organizers did some quick thinking and set up tents on the sites where seven houses would be built by 24 churches and one business. Affiliate organizers were amazed that more than 300 people braved the rain to join the celebration.

Rutherford County (Tenn.) HFH kicked off Building on Faith week with a pancake breakfast and wall-raising. Mid-week they organized a candlelight vigil that was intended to remember the victims and heroes of 9-11 and to serve as a time of prayer for those in need of decent shelter.

“Most all of our churches have had their first participation with us through Building on Faith,” said Karen LiBassi, faith community director for Fort Worth Area (Texas) HFH. More than 150 clergy and staff members helped build one of seven church-sponsored homes for Building on Faith.

Miracles of Faith in Action

2003
In 2003, approximately 1,700 churches from 14 countries around the world built 575 houses as part of Building on Faith celebrations.

In Hartford, Conn., organizers reached out to churches and other faiths to fund and build six houses during the week. This was the affiliate’s eighth year to plan a week-long celebration of faith.

n Lexington, Kent., the 1000th house built by affiliates in that state was completed in 72 hours by about 400 people representing 20 affiliates.

Charlotte (N.C.) HFH celebrated its 20th anniversary by building 20 houses. Millard Fuller, HFHI founder and president, told Charlotte supporters that he travels to many locations to inspire people, but he comes to Charlotte to be inspired.

In Cincinnati (Ohio), a coalition of seven churches completed the affiliate's 100th house after working for 100 days. This is the seventh house built by this group known as the Shalom churches. Six church coalitions built 18 of the 12 houses under construction during the week.

“While I had always taken the unconditional love of my family for granted, now I had met with the love of this community,” said Colette Winterly Pierce, of Ridgecrest, Calif. “Imagine that. Me! All these strangers came to help me. They all came and worked on my behalf so I could have a house. This is the first time I have experienced such love. I decided that I wanted to be a part of that community. I wanted to be a Christian and asked to be baptized.”

Nineteen congregations each built the walls of the newest Habitat house in Montgomery County, Texas, in the parking lots of their churches. Those walls were then joined together during a Building on Faith event designed to celebrate church partnerships. Church members, including children and youth, wrote messages and Scripture on each wall. The homeowner family will be blanketed in blessings.

Turning Dreams into Reality

2004
For more than a year and a half, Habitat for Humanity field officer Stacey Schultz had dreamed of bringing Kenyan church leaders together to work on a home. During Building on Faith, she saw that dream come true. In many locations throughout Africa, churches looked beyond tribal and social barriers and traditions of exclusion to build houses with families and need.

HFH of St. Louis (Mo.) took every challenge in stride as more than 70 faith groups funded and built eight of the 20 houses under construction during Building on Faith. One organizer said, “When we come together and put our faith in each other and in God, we can accomplish great things. It was obvious in this project that there were a zillion things to do, but I witnessed the selflessness of hundreds of people who were willing to do whatever it takes.”

Building on Faith events in San Antonio, Texas, celebrated long histories and new beginnings, large faith groups and small congregations—and a spirit that inspired supporters to consider that with God all things are possible.

Volunteers began construction on 18 houses in September in observance of Building on Faith. Eleven of the houses were sponsored by the faith community. The project also marked the 100th house supported by churches and faith groups in the city where the first Habitat for Humanity house in the world was begun.

University United Methodist Church, a large congregation, sponsored and built its 10th Habitat house, and members of Woodland Baptist, a congregation that has a worship attendance of slightly less than 300 people, also funded an built an entire house on their own. Church members are urging other small churches to take the same leap of faith.

Churches in Lincoln, Neb., experienced the body of Christ in a powerful way when they came together to raise the walls on an Apostles Build house and then showcased eight musical groups in a fund-raising concert the next evening.

The concept of an Apostles Build project is simple—ideally 12 churches work together to serve as Jesus’ apostles as they build a Habitat for Humanity house. They share the cost of the house, and each congregation supplies construction volunteers.

“Since the cost of building a house has gone up so much, churches were beginning to withdraw,” said Nancy Muehling, executive director of Lincoln/Lancaster County HFH. “This project has provided an avenue for larger churches to give a significant donation without the financial responsibility for the entire project and has allowed us to invite new churches to get involved.

In Fort Wayne, Ind., organizers were very successful in their efforts to focus on small churches and minority congregations. Forty-three churches, including five minority congregations, responded with funding and labor for the Building on Faith house.

Affiliate leaders worked with a coalition of churches in the community called Associated Churches, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary. Randy Fillmore, executive director of Fort Wayne HFH, said he had sought support from the church coalition for some time. The anniversary year seemed to be the perfect opportunity to work together.

Costs were broken down into segments that churches could sponsor. For example, a church could fund the price of the slab or the price of the framing package. A church could participate for as little as $200.

In Wichita, Kan., affiliate leaders realized that Building on Faith had lost its identity as a spotlight on the faith community. They tried several methods of general communication in seeking church support before they decided that they must make a concerted effort to identify the right people in each congregation. Conversations about their “Loaves and Fishes” campaign and their belief that God would bless every offering resulted in the construction of six houses.

Stepping Out into New Possibilities

2005

The premier Building on Faith event for 2005 was in El Salvador where 45 churches from the United States, Canada and El Salvador blitz built 20 houses to launch Habitat for Humanity International’s largest national campaign with churches outside the United States—building 500 houses with churches in five years.

Many countries such as Mozambique, Ecuador and Guyana organized their first Building on Faith events with local and international churches working together to build homes. HFH Shasta Cascade (Calif.) also held their first Building on Faith event where 400 volunteers framed three houses, painted the exteriors of three others, built a fence, hauled away 290 yards of trash and washed hundreds of windows. “It was incredible,” said Kirk Wayman, resource development director. “We had more Porta-Potties on the site than we have ever had volunteers before.”

Other programs such as South Africa, where Methodist leaders organized a six-house build, and Charlotte, N.C., where 15 churches worked on nine houses, continued their faithful work with churches as a strong and constant witness to presence of Christ.

In Portland, Ore., seventeen-year-old Sarah Baker headed the Building on Faith committee, where 10 returning churches from last year and three new churches worked on five houses during the week. Baker said she and her committee are especially proud of the youth involvement.

In San Angelo, Texas, Diana Warrick and her three children will soon be moving into the home sponsored by four downtown churches—First Baptist, First Christian, First United Methodist and First Presbyterian. Each sponsoring group was given construction pieces and was asked to return them as blessed boards to be used in the framing. On the window of daughter Andrea’s room is a dot-to-dot pattern that says, “God will connect the dots in your life.” The construction superintendent sat with prison trustees and talked about the Scripture written on many of the boards as the men assembled the walls prior to the church wall-raising event.

Iowa Heartland HFH (which serves the Waterloo area) organized 300 volunteers from 19 different churches plus other community groups who put in approximately 1,775 hours at 12 sites in two cities during their 10-day Building on Faith celebration. “We would like everyone to know how an average sized affiliate can involve small churches and groups of volunteers and make an impact in Habitat’s mission of building homes with families in need,” said Linda Morgan,” executive director. “That is exactly what Building on Faith is all about.”

2006

Teams of Methodists from the United States and the United Kingdom planned to build 10 houses for AIDS orphans in Mozambique. However, when they stumbled upon a woman living in a makeshift tent of sticks and plastic, they took up money among themselves to build an additional house for her.

In South Africa, Habitat for Humanity is hosting its fourth year of Building on Faith where a partnership with Dallas Area HFH in the United States is providing matching funding to help build 14 houses in Cape Town and KwaZulu Natal during the months of September and October.

On the final day of construction in Armenia, Rena Davis and James Cradler, two American volunteers, both 78, were married on the job site of a project that attracted more than 300 volunteers who built 37 homes. His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians, blessed the event held in his name.

Almost 8,000 miles away in El Salvador, more than 400 volunteers, some local and some from the United States and Canada, worked together to raise $39,000 and build 16 houses. This is the first Building on Faith project that is part of a campaign to build 500 houses in five years in that country.

Many U.S. affiliates planned special church projects as well. In Le Mars, Iowa, where the members of the Presbyterian United Church of Christ were just getting interested in the idea of building a house this time last year, volunteers are ready to dedicate the first of eight church-sponsored houses that local congregations have committed to build in that community over the next eight years.

Apostles Build projects in the mountain states in the eastern United States created great momentum among church partners. Apostles Build projects bring together 12 churches to serve as the Apostles of Jesus served. A number of Apostles Builds were planned throughout the United States with dedications on the Day of Prayer.