We had quite the weekend here in Sumter County, Georgia.  We’d planned for some time to have our spring Fuller Center International board of directors’ meeting here.  Then President and Mrs.

 I was back in Indianapolis last week — seems that I visit there more than any other Fuller Center site (most likely because they keep inviting me back!).  I was there for their first annual Millard Fuller Legacy Awards Banquet.  It was a grand event.  Jeff Cardwell, a member of our Board of Directors and a key leader with the Fuller Center of Central Indiana, has been holding fundraising dinners for 30 years, and he’s got it down pat.

The event was at Jonathan Byrd’s, “the largest cafeteria, banquet and catering facility in the world!”  It really is something, the kind of place that can feed 200 people and make them feel to home.  Jonathan is on the Indy FCH board, so he was the natural host.  There were about 200 people there — a remarkable marketing achievement by the Indianapolis board.  This is the same group that hosted the 2010 Millard Fuller Legacy Build and has turned St. Paul Street into a showcase, so it shouldn’t be a surprise.

This was an awards banquet, and awards were given.  Unlike last Sunday’s event, where millionaires gave golden trinkets to other millionaires, this was just folks giving thanks to other folks for helping make life a little bit better for some of God’s people in need.  The first honoree was Indianapolis’ First Lady, Winnie Ballard, who was named Volunteer of the Year for her work with the Fuller Center as well as her tireless efforts in bringing financial literacy training to families across the city.  Allison Transmissions, a hometown business with operations around the world, was named Corporate Citizen of the year for their continuing partnership with FCH Indy, sponsoring houses and sending volunteer teams to help build them.

Last Friday marked the third anniversary of the death of Millard Fuller, who, with his wife Linda, founded Habitat for Humanity and The Fuller Center for Housing.  Those of us who’ve been called to continue the pursuit of Millard’s dream of eliminating poverty housing miss him every day.  Millard was one of those larger-than-life individuals who lit up any room he entered.  He was a master communicator, and had the uniqu

 We talk a lot about tithing here at The Fuller Center.  Our partnership covenant, the document that binds us to our partner organizations around the world, speaks directly to the issue: “The Fuller Center is a global partnership.  In recognition of and commitment to that global partnership, each Covenant Partner is asked to contribute at least 10 percent of its cash contributions to The Fuller Center’s international work.”

 We went to church this morning at Maranatha Baptist in Plains along with a fair contingent of Covenant Partner representatives, who wrapped up their annual conference here last night.  President Carter taught the Sunday School class (as he has done every Sunday he could since he was 18 years old—that’s just a year shy of 70 years of teaching).  The church was packed—in addition to us there was a large group from Mercer University, who were in town to work with the Americus-Sumter County Fuller Center, and a couple of Boy Scout troops.  A good day for Mara

 Another year begins.  How quickly they seem to pass.  2011 was a hard year for this old planet.  History will probably show that it wasn’t a whole lot worse than many years have been, but it’s the one we’re closest too, and it did have its challenges.  Now we look to the future, and despite the dire warnings that surround us I’m looking forward to a very good year.

This will be the year, the purveyors of gloom would have us believe, when the Euro collapses, gas and energy prices skyrocket, and our almost friends in the Mid

 It’s the day after Christmas.  The gifts are all opened, the turkey’s going into reruns, and thousands are heading back to the mall to exchange the gifts they just got for something they apparently need more.  What a strange and wonderful holiday!  It’s rich with tradition and consumed with controversy—the Christians think it’s too secular, the secularists think it’s too Christian.  It’s fitting, though, that the day is full of irony.  It does, after all, celebrate the birth of the One whose life was, to many in His time,

 We’re back home after a great week at the Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Minden, Louisiana.  Minden is a country town some 30 miles east of Shreveport.  Charlie Park, who heads up the covenant partner there, came over to Shreveport to meet with Millard about the Fuller Center in 2006, and Webster Parish became one of our first partner organizations.  Since then they’ve been hard at work in Minden and Spring Hill, getting God’s people into decent homes. 

This year’s event was a big one, with work on eight new homes and seven rehabs.  We had an outstanding volunteer corps of some 250 hardy souls, some at their first build and many of the old faithful.  Sheilla and I got to build this year, and it was great fun.  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to crawl into bed on Monday night—we did a lot of lifting and toting that day.  Things improved as the week went on and we were downright chipper by Thursday, when we had to say our goodbyes and go into Fuller Center board meetings.

Our house leader was Orie Lehman, a good Amish man from Shipshewana, Indiana.  He and his son Michael took the train down to Longview, Texas and a bus from there to Shreveport—a long, hard trip.  Orie is a master craftsman with a seemingly endless reservoir of patience.  He taught us all a great deal, managed to be in several places at one time, and made the build productive and great fun.  I’ll be looking to Orie to lead my house from here on out.