There are those who open their hearts to others...
who never think twice about giving of themselves.
They are the wonderful, warmhearted people
who make all the difference in our lives.
Thank you for all the ways you give so much of yourself.
From: The Carter Family
"2003"
I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of you for your gifts to the Habitat for Humanity project this summer. Your commitment to this project is evident in the comfortable home Harriett Carter and her family moved into recently. Your dedication to this ministry is greatly appreciated by Harriett, Habitat for Humanity, and Trinity.
A dedication ceremony for the home was held on August 23rd at the Greater Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church. After the dedication ceremony, celebrants walked to Harriet's new home to take part in a home blessing and house warming party. The four churches that comprise Interfaith Builders also presented Harriett with a house warming gift.
Your enthusiasm, love and support of this ministry have been overwhelming and it has been a pleasure working with all of you. If you have enjoyed participating in this ministry, or if you have had a less than enjoyable experience, I would like to hear about it (pcg@wustl.edu, 314-727-1471 home, 314-935-6271 work).
"Habitat"
The men and women, mostly white, arrive
after seven on Saturday morning;
idealist college kids meander in,
the architecture student, his girlfriend,
who seems to know this scene better than most,
even some high school boys and girls arrive
in a part of town they'd not otherwise
see, never be aware of, if it were
not for this call to pick up a hammer,
tape measure, level, try-square, trimming knife -
the rudimentary tools of the trade -
and slip them, along with handfuls of nails,
into a canvas belt tied at the waist.
For a day they will play at laboring,
and they will labor, and rest at delay,
and learn to measure twice before the cut,
and learn to make do with less-than-perfect.
You might question the motives of those here.
Do they come to make themselves feel better?
Are they really here to help build a house,
or do they want to glory in goodness?
Will you quibble with bloodied knuckles, with
people up on ladders in December?
Looking into the eyes of the families,
seeing what they are all willing to do,
one can only come to the conclusion
home is the most potent word in the world.
Idealism is a thin, worn blanket;
sleeping under it reminds some of us
to wake, to strap on tools and try again.
