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Churches Unite to Build Homes

By Rev. Jacqui Thomas King

NuFaith Community UMC

2 Corinthians 9: 7-8, 11 (New International Version)  ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

The gathering began around 8:00 am on a cloudy Saturday morning. Prayers are shared along with directions and instructions because a group of strangers have assembled to start building and changing lives.

At the corner of Richey Road and Champions Forrest in Northwest Houston lots of prayers for families are being answered through the gift of service and sweat equity. Four United Methodist congregations of the Central North District are building a house together for a partner family in the Faith Build Project of Habitat for Humanity – Northwest Harris County.  

Every weekend from April through August, teams from Faithbridge UMC, Lakewood UMC, Klein UMC, and Nu Faith Community UMC are hammering, raising walls, installing siding, painting, and serving together as they live into a risk-taking mission of building a house from the ground up. 

Our teams include all who want to serve including, teenagers, parents, neighbors, relatives, retirees, teachers, pastors, siblings, and new persons to our churches.  The crew leaders work with everyone at all levels from the novice who has never used a hammer to the expert who builds homes. 

Why would a new church start get involved with a project like Habitat? Nu Faith was invited by Lakewood UMC to serve with them to help build homes in this new community called Hamil Ranch. 

Our team thought it was a move of God to be a new church bringing forth sweat equity on this FaithBuild Project in Northwest Houston with Habitat for Humanity!  It is a blessing for Nu Faith Community to serve with existing churches to help build a home together that is being prayed for by many. 

Gifts of Sweat

Why give “sweat” to neighbors? Bill Bryant, who is the Habitat Volunteer of the Month and lay person from Lakewood said, “I’ve enjoyed giving my sweat equity and time to this mission for eight years. 

When people work together as partners for their home, it is an amazing feeling for me to be part of the whole experience. There are lots of mission opportunities but this one fits me the best and I keep coming back every year to serve.”

A teenager from Nu Faith said, “I volunteered but I was not sure that I could do something like build a house. Now I see that I can do anything with God.” Jacqui King offered the Faith Build Project as one of the confirmation class service projects.

“It is a great blessing to our team to build a house and community together.  Our team could not have raised the roofing trusses without the energy of both youth and adults working shoulder to shoulder.”

Gustavo Amador, new Habitat Project lead for Faithbridge UMC, believes that Habitat provides a way to show the compassion of Jesus Christ to all who are involved.

“The people building the home are witnessing through their volunteerism to the people who need support for their home to be completed.” The partners believe that strangers and friends who love the Lord will come together on their behalf to do great work on their homes until completion. 

What is at the heart of it all? 

Someone who needs a home works with people who believe in an awesome God who wants them to have a home. 

Each of the four churches sends teams of 8-10 people to work once a month. The financial investment depends on the church’s ability. The sweat investment is paid in 6-hour workdays.

The Faith Build Project is greater than just building a house and connecting with the partner family.  It is about the tears cried at night and the faith lived through love when Jesus tells us all to go and make disciples for Jesus Christ. 

Faith Build is one way United Methodist Churches in the Central North District have connected to say yes to the Lord! 

It’s about 2:30 pm and all the clean-up is completed.  We glance over our shoulder at what God has done through all who have gathered to serve. Warm hands connect, heads bow, and prayers are shared.  What a day!

If you want to get your church involved for future Faith Build homes at Hamil Ranch contact Rachel Wright from Habitat for Humanity at 281-820-2307, www.habitatnwhc.org. 

If you want to serve on this home, join us every Saturday from July 11 through August 1 at the site.  Check out the slideshow at www.nufaith.org/habitat