Building on Faith
Faith Groups Unite and Build Worldwide

Since its founding in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has been consistently supported by faith groups from around the world. “Building on Faith” week—observed annually prior to the “International Day of Prayer and Action for Human Habitat” on the third Sunday of September—provides an opportunity to celebrate the organization’s partnerships with faith communities and to build bridges with new partners.

“Building on Faith is a tremendous opportunity for people of faith to live into and love into what the faith traditions in the world invite,” says Sr. Betsy Van Deusen, director of HFHI’s Church Relations department.

The 6th Building on Faith week took place Sept. 11–17 (coinciding with this year’s Jimmy Carter Work Project), drawing unprecedented worldwide support. From New York City, where 150 churches, synagogues and mosques raised money to support the Jimmy Carter Work Project, to Mongolia, where Christians built alongside Buddhists, this year’s Building on Faith week actively demonstrated God’s love. Thousands of volunteers from all walks of life helped build thousands of houses in scores of countries and the 50 United States. Their unity of spirit was a tangible testimony to the power of love and reconciliation.


United States
A majority of U.S. affiliates participated in Building on Faith. From Lubbock HFH’s Texas-sized 17-house blitz to North Platte, Nebraska’s completion of its fourth house, U.S. affiliates celebrated their faith partnerships. In Tacoma, Wash., Tacoma/Pierce County HFH took a leap of faith, deciding to build five more houses than usual. As a result, its church partner-ships jumped from 17 to 71.

Guatemala
HFH Guatemala has two reasons to celebrate its third successful “Construyendo Sobre la Fe” event: 106 new houses went up during the week, and it dedicated the country’s 7,000th Habitat house. According to Luis Samayoa, national director for HFH Guatemala, 80 percent of the 110 churches invited to participate in Building on Faith accepted, contributing time, food, volunteers and cash to the countrywide building effort.

Canada
Building on Faith week in Canada was boosted by support from two corporate sponsors, Home Depot Canada and RBC Dominion Securities. Affiliates that qualified and built houses during the event week received a $10,000 grant from these sponsors. “I will always remember the look of happiness in the children's eyes as they talked about how exciting it was to finally move into their own home,” says Bobbye Goldenberg, CEO of HFH Canada, who visited many of the builds on the East Coast and throughout Ontario.

Northern Ireland
Members of Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church and St. Colmcille’s Catholic Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, have long desired a closer relationship. So members of both churches formed a Global Village team as a joint millennium project. Together, the team completed three houses in 10 days in Botswana.

Romania
In Beius, Romania, the partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Good Samaritan—an organization that mentors young adult orphans—continues to grow. HFH Beius staged an eight-house blitz build with Good Samaritan participants as crew leaders. Remus Varga, 19, who learned construction skills by participating in Habitat builds, led a house crew. “When Remus handed over the key, Bible and a bouquet of flowers [to the homeowners], I realized the double impact of this blitz build,” says Adrian Ciorna, a director in Romania. “A family in need got a house; Remus, an outcast as a Gypsy and as an orphan, found confidence. He, who has no house of his own.”

Madagascar
On Saturday of Building on Faith week, about 50 missionaries and local clergy gathered in Antsirabe, Madagascar, to lay a foundation for the city’s third Habitat for Humanity house. “The event was a success, but next year will be bigger and better, and so will it be every year after that,” reports Paul Krumholz, national coordinator for HFH Madagascar.

Mongolia
HFH Mongolia built its first two houses in partnership with World Vision during Building on Faith. Jeffrey Tomer, international partner, writes: “As we seek for God to bless our initial endeavors to introduce Habitat for Humanity to Mongolia, I recognize that already, God has utilized several Mongolians who are joyful Christians.”


--Angel Porteous





Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, December 2000/January 2001.
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©2000 Habitat for Humanity International