Americus Times-Recorder, Americus, Georgia

Local News

Related Photos

  • This photo of Milalrd and Linda Fuller was taken in Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they launched a global affordable housing movement in the mid-1970s. A delegation from The Fuller Center for Housing is headed back to the same village this weekend. Submitted photo

    Full(er) circle
August 8, 2011

Full(er) circle

Fuller Center trip returns to roots of Millard Fuller's mission

The Americus Times-Recorder

AMERICUS — Representatives of The Fuller Center for Housing and the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) will leave Sunday on a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they will work in the very village where Millard and Linda Fuller began building houses in an experiment that launched a global affordable housing movement.

By revisiting the village of Mbandaka, the UCC delegation hopes to retell how the Fullers put into practice the concept of a revolving loan fund they called “fund for humanity.” They originally implemented this concept on a small scale at Koinonia Farm with their mentor, Clarence Jordan.

Millard Fuller first visited the settlement located deep in the Congo, in 1966. He was intrigued by the potential of a “Block and Sand” project, which was used to create building blocks for houses, that the UCC had inherited from unsuccessful missionaries. Though the operation was in disrepair, when the Fullers received a grant from the United Church Board of World Ministries, they turned it into a successful, working project.

They worked on donated land that was a dividing property separating the Africans and whites in colonial days. Called “Bokotola,” which means “man who does not care for others,” it was there they built the first 114 Habitat for Humanity homes.

“The houses were completed; they were well-kept, and they provided more funds for additional houses,” said Kirk Lyman-Barner, a member of the UCC delegation and the director of covenant partner development for The Fuller Center for Housing. “The original community is one of the nicest sections in Mbandaka to this day.”

Lyman-Barner will be on the trip and is leading an effort to raise money for a portable sawmill that will help the community increase its self-sufficiency in building houses. He said the fundraising drive needs about $3,000 more to purchase the sawmill.

“When they asked for sweat equity or repayment of some sort to help their neighbors, that was a new concept,” he said. “It also changed the way churches did missions. No longer did they just send money or send Americans over to convert people – that was the old style of things. What Millard and Linda did was say, ‘We can actually participate in this mission work physically. Come to the project, pick up a hammer.'

“We want to teach those basic principles, go back to the original roots and celebrate how successful those original principles were. The next generation of volunteers might not remember this history if we don’t get it recorded and share it.”

Also joining the delegation will be Fuller Center for Housing President David Snell and Ryan Iafigliola, director of the Fuller Center's Global Builders program.

For more information about the trip or how to donate to the sawmill fundraiser, contact Lyman-Barner at 229-924-2900 or visit www.fullercenter.org/donate.

Text Only
Local News
House Ads
AP Video
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting Raw: School Bus Crash Injures Five Children Quick Response Saved Baby on Phila. Train Tracks One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
More
Weather Radar