The Publication of Habitat for Humanity International | February/March 2003
| The Publication of Habitat for Humanity International | February/March 2003 |
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"I delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and I plucked the victim from his teeth." -Job 29:12-17 In beautiful poetic language, Job describes how he had been helping the poor. This is a powerful description of what all of God's people should perpetually be about. Notice how Job states that he "searched out the case that I did not know." This is reiterated in Matthew 25: "I was a stranger and you invited me in." A stranger, by definition, is someone who is not known to you. Yet, the teaching of the Bible is to "search out the case" and "invite them in." Habitat for Humanity has been taking this very action for more than 25 years. It has "invited in" more than 700,000 people to a new Habitat home and to a better life. This work is God's work, pure and simple. We reach out to strangers, to the widow, the "perishing man," the blind, the lame, the fatherless, and we "pluck the victims from the teeth of the wicked." Just recently, I saw proof of this again when I spent time with three new Habitat homeowners. One was a woman who years ago had been in prison, and then had lived in a shelter. Christian people found her there and "took her in." She got a job, became active in a church and, on the night I met her, she was celebrating the dedication of her new Habitat home. Friends were packed into her beautiful new two-bedroom house. Emotion and joy abounded. A few days later I met a deaf woman and her two daughters (one of them was also deaf), as they were joyfully dedicating their new Habitat house, complete with flashing lights instead of a doorbell. This woman was aglow with excitement and joy about their new house. The third homeowner was a man who had been partially paralyzed by a stroke. He had limited use of his left leg and arm. When his new Habitat house was being built, he did the painting. In the process of pushing and pulling the paint roller, his lame arm got stronger. He regained much use of the arm as a result. As he told his story, he dramatically raised his left arm up over his head exclaiming, "Painting my Habitat house made this possible. Before, I couldn't even raise my arm at all. I'm going to paint all future Habitat houses built by my local affiliate." God's word is clear. We should "deliver the poor who cry out." It is a joy to do so and a blessing to those who are being helped. --Millard Fuller
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