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A Missouri patriarch sparks the involvement of his community - and his two sons
 The Houston family knows all about "carrying through." The Houston patriarch, Julian, passed away in late 2005. He held the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of Liberty, Mo., for nearly 25 years, beginning in the early 1960s. "My dad was, in his way, a social justice warrior," son Henry recalls. "He just lived his life that way."
"Poverty and housing issues were always things very close to his heart," says Henry's younger brother Graham. "He saw the message of the gospel as speaking very clearly to that. It wasn't enough just to say, 'That's wrong.' You have to go out and do something about it."
Julian educated and encouraged his congregation along those lines. "The kinds of things that grew out of that church--I'm not saying it was my dad, but he was a gardener, you know?" Henry says. "He found good seeds and helped get them in the right soil."
John and Mary Pritchard, for example, were members of First Presbyterian. One day, Julian handed John a book titled Bokotola, Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller's account of his work in Africa. Out of that exchange, Habitat's seventh U.S. affiliate, located in Kansas City, Mo., was born, established by the Pritchards and supported by their fellow church members. Julian and his wife, Mary Jane, were among the volunteers who helped on the construction of the affiliate's first home and remained vocal supporters through the years.
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"I think that the Habitat experience has helped me move my life further toward the way I want to live it."
--Henry Houston |
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Graham's involvement got rolling when his father clipped an article for him from Habitat World about a fund-raising bike ride called the Habitat 500. An avid cyclist, Graham was daunted by the prospect of riding 500 miles in one week. "It took me about six months to make up my mind," he says. "I decided to go ahead and try, and I survived." He has returned to participate in the ride nine times. In 2002, Graham finally convinced his brother to come along. "We're lifers," says Henry, who has made the ride five times.
Each brother found that their experiences on the road inspired them to get involved back home. Graham spearheaded a Kansas City house build sponsored by his health care-industry employer. After the build was complete, he stopped by the Habitat affiliate for a visit--just as they were beginning to advertise for a development director. He joined the affiliate staff full-time in spring 2005. "I was ready for change in my life and really looking for work that brought my faith into action on a daily basis," Graham says.
Henry also felt the pull, calling his local affiliate to offer his services as soon as he returned home to Destin, Fla., after his first ride. A plumbing contractor, Henry now does all of the plumbing for the Okaloosa County affiliate, donating so much of his labor and materials that the affiliate has dedicated a house in his name. "I think for Henry--and I certainly feel the same way for myself--he felt he was doing a little catch-up in life, trying to reach out and be helpful to others. The bill being due, or something to that effect," Graham says.
Henry now also serves on the board of his local affiliate. "I had all this background, and personally, I'd always resisted the call to service," says Henry. "But I think that (the Habitat) experience has helped me move my life further toward the way I wanted to live it. And that's through service to others."
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