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| April - May 2008 | Volume 57, Issue 2 |
Walking into the house last month, I recalled that hot summer morning last June when people from Olivet, First Presbyterian and College Hill along with others gathered at what was little more than a small parcel of land with a deceptively small concrete slab. Here, just seven months later, many gathered again, but this time not to build, but to bless a home. The air that day was cold, but the atmosphere in the house was warm and we celebrated with Charlotte Travis and her son Nathan as they prepared to begin a new life in a new house built with faith and love.
Of course, I am speaking about the partnership between Olivet, First Presbyterian of Easton, College Hill and Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley to build a home. The project actually began over a year before the first nail was driven. All of us, I think, had our doubts. We needed to raise over $50,000. We needed to have people coordinate volunteers for our Blitz Week. Breakfast and Lunch needed to be provided each day. It seemed like a daunting task. Yet, it all came together. Fortunately, Habitat helped us to raise the money through various sources and we reached out to other groups in our community for assistance. Habitat told us that we would begin work in late June and we still seemed a long way from our financial goals, but everything worked out well.
Olivet provided workers on each of the first two days of the Blitz build. Members also prepared meals to feed the hungry work crews. By my count we had over twenty members of Olivet involved in some way during the Blitz. What is Blitz Week you ask? Essentially what happens in the Blitz week is a house is built from the floor to the roof (exterior work only). It takes a lot of planning to make sure all the material is there and a lot of expertise from people who know what they are doing. Oh, and it takes a lot of sweat.
I've had the good fortune to work closely with Habitat for many years through volunteering before I became a pastor serving on the Board of Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley for six years. Habitat describes its work as the theology of the hammer. "This theology is about bringing a wide diversity of people, churches and other organizations together to build houses and establish dynamic communities. It is acknowledging that differences of opinion exist on numerous subjects - political, philosophical and theological - but that we can find common ground in using a hammer as in instrument to manifest God's love. "As we focus on working together to build a house, we realize that the things that make us the same become more important than the things that keep us apart. Putting the theology of the hammer into practice will help us to eliminate poverty housing and will also glorify God."
I'm proud of the work that Olivet contributed to this project, from those who swung hammers, to those who prepared meals, to those who put a dollar in the jar in the back of the church, to those who participated in our buy-a-brick campaign, to those who made a monetary gift through the special offering taken at our Scottish Communion service, and to those who helped on the organizing committee. Thank you all for making a difference Let us pray that Charlotte and Nathan have a long and healthy life in their new home.
-- Pastor Bob
Millard Fuller, The Theology of the Hammer, (Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc., 1994) p.7
