Top: Homeowners, like these in Piracicaba, Brazil, become neighbors as well as friends by completing sweat equity together. Below: Teamwork lightens the load as volunteers carry siding in Korea at the Miracle Across the River build in 2000.

Building on Common Ground (continued)

The ethical imperative, voiced by Jesus himself as loving one's neighbor, suggests that basic human need, always and everywhere, is the same: food, water, clothing, medical care and a decent place to call home. When one recognizes this truth, it becomes evident that there are not 6 billion human lives in the world, but rather one human life shared in the world by 6 billion people.

It is because of its Christian identity, then, that Habitat extends its reach unconditionally, says Robin Shell, HFHI's senior vice president for Program.

"Jesus gives us the example of crossing social boundaries," Shell says. "We invite people to lay aside their differences and take up a hammer to build together."

It is in this context of the Christian faith that Habitat operates, according to Fuller, and just as God's love extends to all, so does the need for decent shelter and Habitat's drive to provide it.

"We are an organization with an open door," says Fuller. "Habitat for Humanity doesn't have to quit being Christian in order to help [those who are not Christian]; we don't have to exclude Jesus in order to include others."

This notion of inclusion manifests itself in countless examples throughout the world, where Habitat affiliates open their doors, their arms and their construction sites to those of differing backgrounds, experiences, faiths, abilities and politics.

During National Refugee Week last July, for example, asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka helped Habitat for Humanity launch a new building project in Birmingham, England.

Among those involved was Qadir Shirzad, 29, from the Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan. An architect who speaks six languages, Shirzad returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1999 from studies in the Ukraine, only to find his house destroyed and his mother, father, two brothers and a sister missing.

Soon thereafter he was assigned to remove landmines at the front line in the battle with the Northern Alliance. Escaping the perils of that task, Shirzad made his way to England, where he began using his talents to design Habitat houses and to help low-income families secure a solid foundation on which to improve their lives.

"Habitat is a human mission with no borders," says Shirzad, "and it offers good opportunities to help everyone everywhere."

Diversity in the Habitat for Humanity movement surfaces no less frequently with the homeowners themselves.

Habitat's second affiliate in Nigeria, Gbata Habitat for Humanity, has three houses under construction in a community composed of both Muslims and Christians. The affiliate's first homeowner, Shammah Makpa, is a Muslim leader in the area. Before moving into his Habitat house, he and his children lived in a mud-wall house with rusted roofing sheets, no plaster and no paint. Today, his family lives in a solid Habitat house made of compressed earth brick, stabilized with concrete. The neighborhood is cleaner, according to Theophilus Damap, field officer for Habitat in Nigeria, and the house is better ventilated than the previous one.

'Jesus gives us the example of crossing social boundaries. We invite people to lay aside their differences and take up a hammer to build together.'

Makpa was somewhat uncertain about whether a Christian organization would help him build a better house. A successful Habitat partnership, however, convinced him otherwise, and now he "never fails to participate in any sweat-equity program organized by the local Habitat committee in Gbata," says Damap.

"Initially, I thought Habitat will not build for me because I'm a Muslim, but I am very happy to announce that Habitat has built my house," says Makpa. "I am most proud because my family now has a place to sleep comfortably. I will tell [others] to come and participate in the communal work of building houses."

While conflict can surface among Muslims and Christians in parts of Nigeria, those in Gbata have come together for the sake of a stronger community, realizing that their commonalities bridge them in a concern for one another.

"Gbata is unique because the members of the community understand that to build community and improve lives, they must work together," says Brenda Ruth, an international partner with Habitat in Africa. "This teaching of partnership and cooperation between neighbors is emphasized by both faiths."

In the United States, affiliates experience diversity that enriches their efforts as well, not only through interaction with various faiths, races and cultures, but also through work with families experiencing some form of physical disability. Through a partnership with Lions Club International, Habitat affiliates are supported in their efforts to build houses with families with disabilities. The resulting accessibility the house affords them makes a difference far beyond decency and affordability.

For Carol Seumptewa in Flagstaff, Ariz., decent, affordable--and accessible--housing meant that her quadriplegic daughter, Toni, could successfully negotiate the hallway, the bathroom and the kitchen, among other features of the house. Before their Habitat partnership, that wasn't the case, as they both met their own obstacles in a tiny, insufficient apartment.

	Everyone can agree that families need and deserve a decent place to live, and it is to that common ground that Habitat draws its volunteers, donors and prospective homeowners.

"It's such a wonderful experience working with so many caring people," Seumptewa says. "Sometimes, it seems those early days of 'barn-raisings' have left us, but Habitat has rekindled that spirit of working together, and we're so grateful for the opportunity."

It would be difficult to overemphasize the point: Habitat for Humanity works with everyone and invites everyone into its mission of eliminating substandard housing from the planet. Misunderstandings, however, still surface.

One misconception is that, given its identity, Habitat builds only with Christian families or that it accepts only Christian volunteers. This could not be further from the truth, says Fuller.

A foundational component of Habitat for Humanity is a concept called "the theology of the hammer," which unites everyone around a tool for change, for manifesting God's love for people everywhere.

In his book of the same title, Fuller writes:

"This theology is about bringing a wide diversity of people, churches and other organizations together to build houses and establish viable and dynamic communities. It is acknowledging that differences of opinion exist on numerous subjects--political, philosophical, theological--but that we can find common ground in using a hammer as an instrument to manifest God's love."

According to Fuller, volunteers find that their similarities are more important than their differences in race, economic class, nationality or theology. Everyone can agree that families need and deserve a decent place to live, and it is to that common ground that Habitat draws its volunteers, donors and prospective homeowners.

--Shawn Reeves is managing editor for Habitat World