HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, FULLER CENTER!

It was four years ago, on April 16, 2005, that a small group of committed followers of the “Theology of the Hammer” and friends of Millard Fuller gathered at Koinonia Farm to launch what became The Fuller Center for Housing. Throughout his life, Millard was continually known for tapping people on the shoulder and telling them “God is calling you to help your neighbors in need.”

Those at the first meeting responded to Millard’s invitation and said, “I believe!” In just four short years, their vision for the new organization was planted in more than 50 communities around the United States and 15 additional countries around the world. The year 2009 also marks the fortieth anniversary of the first house built that started this movement. It was 1969 at Koinonia Farm, and noone knew that the movement would bring new hope and a safer, healthier life to more than one million people in four decades.

“This is a bitter-sweet event,” says the Fuller Center’s new vice president of communications, Faith Fuller, and daughter of Fuller Center founder Millard Fuller. “My father would have loved to have been here with us for this celebration. This was his life’s work and he loved every second of it.”

This 4th anniversary celebration is a time for friends and volunteers to pause and give thanks for the generosity and leadership of the movement’s founders: Clarence Jordan and Millard and Linda Fuller, three people who had the audacity to say, “All of God’s people deserve a decent place to live.” The Fuller Center staff will be joyfully honoring the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who have helped house over 1.5 million people around the globe.

Want to wish The Fuller Center a happy birthday?

• Make a $40 donation as a symbol of four great years of service, four decades since this movement first began and to the next forty years fulfilling Millard’s dream of providing a simple decent home for all God’s people in need.

• Volunteer this weekend with your local Fuller Center chapter. Check this list to find the Fuller Center covenant partner nearest you.

• Go to our guestbook and send us your thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

Our new president, David Snell, has said that if Millard wanted to give every child in the world a pair of shoes, we’d be done by now. Instead, Millard wanted to make sure every child could live under a safe roof. That kind of work requires a bit more from everyone.

“We know we’re on the right track because of the blessings we’ve received,” says David. “In four short years, we’ve gone from nothing to having covenant partners across the United States and around the world. Our supporters have been generous and the work is expanding. We are truly blessed.”