AMERICUS —

As the shovels dug deep into the Georgia red clay Friday afternoon, broken ground began to be made whole, in a manner of speaking, as Koinonia Farm, Fuller Center for Housing, and New Horizons Habitat for Humanity come together for the first time to complete a joint-project at Koinonia Farm, replacing the house lost to fire earlier this year.

During the prayer of dedication at Friday’s service, Lewis Overholt, former pastor of the local Mennonite church, asked the group to speak aloud names of those who have served as a “great cloud of witnesses” to the three organizations and were unable to be at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Included in the many names spoken aloud was Millard Fuller, honored last week with a Legacy Build in his hometown of Lanett, Ala. In many ways, this coming together not only honors and celebrates the Fullers, but it represents a reconciliation of sorts for the two well-known organizations they founded.

“Koinonia is a place of healing and restoration, of dialogue and people of different persuasions coming together and not just talking, but discussing and sweating side by side,” Koinonia Director Bren Dubay said at Friday’s ceremony. “Koinonia wanted to be a catalyst for getting everybody back together, but I never imagined that would be accomplished by losing one of our homes to a fire.” Habitat for Humanity began at Koinonia in 1969, as the Fund for Humanity, with two 30-house villages built on land surrounding Koinonia. As Millard Fuller realized the international potential for this project, Habitat for Humanity was birthed and since has become hugely successful on an international level.

In 2005, after Millard and Linda were asked to leave Habitat for Humanity, he once again chartered an organization at Koinonia to eliminate sub-standard housing. The Fuller Center for Housing has flourished since its birth, with 53 covenant partners in 26 states and 15 international covenant partners in 2009.

Construction on the energy-efficient house is scheduled to begin as soon as additional monies and material can be raised for the foundation. Walls for the house and a $1,500 grant are donated by Crossroads Missions, an organization that seeks to be “a doorway for churches and individuals seeking ministry opportunities in places they may otherwise have difficulty serving.” The organizations are still seeking donations for the foundation, roofing, doors and windows.