--and we at The Fuller Center are marching boldly into it. We were pretty proud of ourselves four years ago when we came up with our first web page and I’m still giddy about the whole blogging thing. But the world marches on. Now we have Facebook, Twitter, social networking and the unfortunately named viral marketing. In order to keep up we’ve organized our own Tech Team, with Faith, Ryan, Kirk and Erica leading the way. They let me sit in on the meetings, as long as I don’t say too much.
But I’m learning. Check this out—
This is a widget, created by our very own Ryan Iafigliola to promote his upcoming Bicycle Adventure. What’s even more remarkable is that I imported this into the blog all by myself. And they say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
As we learn more about the marvels of the age you’ll be seeing us communicate in more interesting ways. Our web page will be going through some major upgrades. We’re learning to be interactive. I invite you to help us with this by offering suggestions and sharing your thoughts.
Since I’ve got the Bike Adventure widget successfully imbedded here I should say a word or two about it. All of the details can be found on our web page, fullercenter.org, or on the Adventure’s own page at fullercenterbiketrip.com. This is going to be a great trip. There are 17 riders signed up for the entire tour—from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Panacea Beach, Florida, a distance of a mere 1300 miles. Riders who can’t go the whole way are invited to join the trip at any point along the way. For my part I’ve signed up for the Tallahassee to Panacea leg. They told me it was a 25 mile run when I committed, but then they changed the route and now I’m told it will be closer to 50. I don’t think there’s time for me to get this old posterior of mine in shape for that much bike time.
Do check this out. There are lots of ways to get involved beyond riding. Those living along the route may want to host the riders, offer them a home-cooked meal or lend them a washing machine. They’ll be building at Fuller Center sites along the way as well. It should be great fun. I’ll let you know for sure when we get to Panacea Beach.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Email blast-- unredacted version
I was asked to create a message for an email blast, which I dutifully did. Turns out there's a whole science to this and, being new to such things, my message was a little difficult to cast into a good email message. So I went through the painful process of being edited. The results, though, were good and you may have received the blast in your email last week. (If not, drop me a line and I'll make sure your name is added for future messages.)
I kind of liked my original message, though, so thought I take advantage of this space to post it. It has a lot of the same information, but also a flight of fancy or two. So here you go---
It’s springtime, and the earth on this side of the equator is starting to show signs of renewal. I’m writing this from Colorado Springs where we celebrated Easter with four inches of new snow on the ground! But there, by the front door, our garden of daffodils was standing in defiance of the storm with their little yellow flowers poking up through the snow. I love these little guys—they’re always the first of nature’s gifts to announce that spring’s a’comin’ and all will be well.
We had a glorious Easter—the church was packed and the spirit was strong as we reminded ourselves of our Heavenly Father’s great gifts, not just that he gave His Son to die for our sins, but that He rose Him up to show us that there is life after death and that the reward can be ours. Much of what we honor about Jesus’ life we share with those of other faiths—living worthy lives, loving one another, striving to be holy—but two things separate us from all other religions: the redemption and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What a great testament of hope this gives us.
The messages of renewal we get from the glory of Easter to the humble daffodil are especially meaningful to us here at The Fuller Center for Housing. We suffered a tremendous loss with Millard’s passing and have had to ask ourselves what that means to us and the future of this ministry. But just as Easter and those little flowers give us hope and promise our Covenant Partners and our supporters around the world have come forward with a unanimous voice saying this work must go on.
And so it shall. I spent last Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis, meeting with some of the folks who are working on the Millard Fuller Legacy Build, which will be held there in 2010. The excitement there is palpable as they begin developing their plans. In the Chattahoochee Valley, where this year’s Legacy Build will be centered, the excitement is turning into action as plans are firmed up and volunteers begin to register.
I just got a note from Sharon McFalls, director of The Fuller Center of Spartanburg—the little Covenant Partner that could!—with updates on a dozen separate projects they are working on or just completing. Houses are going up in Shreveport and Webster Parish LA, and Greater Blessings projects are going on at covenant partners across the country.
There’s excitement on the international front as well. Nigeria will soon be completing their 50th house in their Luvu project near Abuja, and work is moving forward on both sides of the Congo River as the covenant partners in Makana and Bolomba build new houses in places that have seen more than their share of tragedy. There’s great news out of El Salvador where the Many Miracles sewing project has begun. This will provide the women of San Luis Talpa with a real and steady income.
So we are filled with hope in this season of renewal. We are being blessed and those blessings tell us that we are on the right track and that we need to redouble out efforts. We know that the best way we can honor Millard’s memory is by keeping his dream of eliminating poverty house alive.
Of course none of this is possible without the support of friends like you. We appreciate you interest in our work. We have some outstanding opportunities for service, opportunities that give more than they ask for. There’s the Legacy build this fall in Lanett AL which will use hundreds of volunteers. We have Global Builder Work Teams forming for Armenia, Peru, Nigeria and El Salvador. There isn’t a better way to see the world than on a Fuller Center Global Builders Trip. And the 2009 Bicycle Adventure is coming soon. Riders are invited to join the adventure for a day, a week or for the whole tour. And there are always opportunities to serve in one of the ever growing list of communities with a Fuller Center Covenant Partner. Learn more about all of this by visiting our web page, www.fullercenter.org.
And, of course, we can always use financial support. This is a great ministry, but an expensive one. I’ve often said that if Millard’s dream had been that all of God’s people have a decent pair of shoes we could have declared victory years ago. Helping all of God’s people to have a decent home takes a little more work and a lot more cash. We are grateful for the many gifts we receive and promise to use them wisely so that the funds we’re entrusted with build as many houses as possible.
God bless us now as we enter this grand season of renewal.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
FCH & HFH, Different approaches, similar goals
I got to travel this last week, so I have a certifiable entry to make here. (I’ve come to consider my back-and-forth to Americus as a commute, so it doesn’t qualify as travel any more). I went to Indianapolis on Good Friday to meet with some folks. It was my first trip there and I was impressed. I was hosted by our board member, Jeff Cardwell, who is something of a local institution and seems to know just about everybody in town.
Indianapolis will host the 2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build, and work is getting started for that big event. They plan on completing 33 units, some new, some rehab, during the Legacy Build week. 33 is the number of cars that start in the Indy 500, it’s the number of years that Jesus spent here on earth, and it’s the time Millard worked on eliminating poverty housing through Habitat and The Fuller Center. It will be one exciting project.
In my last post I said I’d work on answering the third of the major questions I’ve been asked since Millard died: “How is The Fuller Center different from Habitat for Humanity?” This is a tough one, not because the differences don’t exist, but because it’s hard to compare yourself to something else without implying a certain quality of superiority, and there’s no reason for us to do that. Almost everyone at The Fuller Center has Habitat experience in our background, and all of us have great respect for what that organization has accomplished and what it continues to do, and we pray for their continuing success.
As Habitat has grown, though, it has changed and will continue to change. It’s an inevitable feature of life, both for individuals and for corporations. The Fuller Center has moved the clock backwards, and we subscribe closely to the earliest foundational principles that got both ministries started. I like to think of us as the Old Order Habitat—we’re the ones in buggies and snoods.
Rather than line out differences between the two organizations I’ll list the basic principles that we at the Fuller Center seek to follow. (This is a preview of my article in the next FCH newsletter Building Materials, which will come out later this week. You, as a premium member of the FCH website, will get this before the rest of the world does.)
We at the Fuller Center for Housing believe that--
-- We are part of a God movement, and movements don’t just stop
-- We have been called to this housing ministry; we didn’t just stumble into it;
-- We are unashamedly Christian, and enthusiastically ecumenical;
-- We aren’t a church but we are a servant of the Church;
-- We are faith driven, knowing that after we’ve done all we can do the Lord will help finish the job—something that requires us to stretch beyond our rational reach;
-- We are a grassroots ministry, recognizing that the real work happens on the ground in communities around the world through our covenant partners, so a large, overseeing bureaucracy isn’t needed;
-- We try to follow the teachings of the Bible and believe that it says that we shouldn’t charge interest of the poor, so we don’t;
-- Government has a role in our work in helping set the stage, but that we shouldn’t look to it as a means to fund the building of homes;
These are our foundational principles and we’re sticking to them. And we know that there is plenty of need, as well as plenty of bounty, for us, Habitat and a thousand more like-minded organizations to get involved and it will still be a year or two before the work is done. We may do things a little differently; the families we serve may come from different economic situations and our funders from different parts of the charitable world, but we share the vision of eliminating poverty housing. So the differences probably don’t matter all that much.
The Fuller Center marches on, building in small towns and large, partnering with churches wherever we can, and inviting all who will join us to help eliminate poverty housing. Our goal, though, isn’t just the building of houses. We seek to build decent communities for the decent houses to be part of. We seek to raise families not just out of poverty housing, but out of poverty. We seek to make the activity of building a house an opportunity for people of all backgrounds and ideologies to come together in a common act of kindness. Every house we build is both a sermon of God’s love and a sermon of His peace. May the good Lord continue to bless our efforts.
Indianapolis will host the 2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build, and work is getting started for that big event. They plan on completing 33 units, some new, some rehab, during the Legacy Build week. 33 is the number of cars that start in the Indy 500, it’s the number of years that Jesus spent here on earth, and it’s the time Millard worked on eliminating poverty housing through Habitat and The Fuller Center. It will be one exciting project.
In my last post I said I’d work on answering the third of the major questions I’ve been asked since Millard died: “How is The Fuller Center different from Habitat for Humanity?” This is a tough one, not because the differences don’t exist, but because it’s hard to compare yourself to something else without implying a certain quality of superiority, and there’s no reason for us to do that. Almost everyone at The Fuller Center has Habitat experience in our background, and all of us have great respect for what that organization has accomplished and what it continues to do, and we pray for their continuing success.
As Habitat has grown, though, it has changed and will continue to change. It’s an inevitable feature of life, both for individuals and for corporations. The Fuller Center has moved the clock backwards, and we subscribe closely to the earliest foundational principles that got both ministries started. I like to think of us as the Old Order Habitat—we’re the ones in buggies and snoods.
Rather than line out differences between the two organizations I’ll list the basic principles that we at the Fuller Center seek to follow. (This is a preview of my article in the next FCH newsletter Building Materials, which will come out later this week. You, as a premium member of the FCH website, will get this before the rest of the world does.)
We at the Fuller Center for Housing believe that--
-- We are part of a God movement, and movements don’t just stop
-- We have been called to this housing ministry; we didn’t just stumble into it;
-- We are unashamedly Christian, and enthusiastically ecumenical;
-- We aren’t a church but we are a servant of the Church;
-- We are faith driven, knowing that after we’ve done all we can do the Lord will help finish the job—something that requires us to stretch beyond our rational reach;
-- We are a grassroots ministry, recognizing that the real work happens on the ground in communities around the world through our covenant partners, so a large, overseeing bureaucracy isn’t needed;
-- We try to follow the teachings of the Bible and believe that it says that we shouldn’t charge interest of the poor, so we don’t;
-- Government has a role in our work in helping set the stage, but that we shouldn’t look to it as a means to fund the building of homes;
These are our foundational principles and we’re sticking to them. And we know that there is plenty of need, as well as plenty of bounty, for us, Habitat and a thousand more like-minded organizations to get involved and it will still be a year or two before the work is done. We may do things a little differently; the families we serve may come from different economic situations and our funders from different parts of the charitable world, but we share the vision of eliminating poverty housing. So the differences probably don’t matter all that much.
The Fuller Center marches on, building in small towns and large, partnering with churches wherever we can, and inviting all who will join us to help eliminate poverty housing. Our goal, though, isn’t just the building of houses. We seek to build decent communities for the decent houses to be part of. We seek to raise families not just out of poverty housing, but out of poverty. We seek to make the activity of building a house an opportunity for people of all backgrounds and ideologies to come together in a common act of kindness. Every house we build is both a sermon of God’s love and a sermon of His peace. May the good Lord continue to bless our efforts.
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