Gardner-Webb University
7%J>ilot
Campus Hard Hat
Advisory
, page 2
Monday February 8,1999
The Official Campus Newspaper
Volume 3 No. 1
Habitat for Humanity Founder Visits Campus
GWU Medallion Awarded
Mary Jones
Pilot copy editor
Millard Fuller, founder of
Habitat for Humanity
International (HFHI), told of a
woman he met whose house
was being renovated.
She said, “I don’t under
stand why you Christians do
this. If this is what it means to
be a Christian, then that’s what
I want to be.”
“The message we act out is
attractive to the world,” said
Fuller.
Fuller, whose vision of
building quality homes at low
cost and no interest for people
in poverty, visited Gardner-
Webb on Monday, January 18.
Gardner-Webb will be part
of a spring break project in
Charlotte to construct a house
along with other college stu
dents from around the state.
Fuller spoke to Divinity
School students at thejr
Monday night service where he
was given the first Gardner-
Webb University medallion, an
honor given for outstanding
service and character.
Fuller told the group that
HFHI is a “new frontier in
Christian missions” and “a
movement of God’s spirit in
our time.”
“It is showing God’s love
and helping people without
demeaning them,” said Fuller.
He said there must be an
“incarnational dimension” to
the Christian life - putting love
into action. He calls this the
“theology of the hammer.”
He said Christianity is
more than going to church, but
is living a life of gratitude in
response to the gift of God.
At age 29, Fuller was a
. self-made millionaire. But,
after coming close to a divorce,
he decided to “seek to live as
Christ.” He gave his fortune to
the poor, and in December
1965, he and his wife Linda
spent about a month at
Koinonia Farm in Americus,
Georgia, an experience that
“profoundly impacted” his life,
said Fuller.
Koinonia Farm, an interra
cial Christian farming commu
nity, was patterned after the
early church, said Fuller.
Fuller returned to Koinonia
Farm in 1968 to form the min
istry called “partnership hous
ing,” which provided rural
South Georgia sharecroppers
living in shacks with affordable
homes. Here, said Fuller, he
and his other partners devel
oped the theological basis for
HFHI.
Clarence Jordan, founder
of Koinonia Farm and a Bible
scholar, told Fuller that accord
ing to the Bible, interest was
not to be charged for loans to
the poor. In an early letter about
the plan, founders emphasized
that this was not a “handout.”
This is “God’s formula for how
the poor could catch up,” said
Fuller.
Fuller and his partners
decided they would build hous
es at no profit and no interest.
The money paid on loans
would go towards money used
See page 6
3^
photo by Stephanie Ware
Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity spoke to the Divinity School
chapel and was awarded the inaguaral Gardner-Webb Medallion for his work.
Celebration Week Challenges Students
Carla Catoe
Pilot news editor
Diarrhea, the attention-getting topic
of Doug Keene’s testimony in the
Celebration service on Thursday night,
caused lots of laughter.
“God hit me with diarrhea today,”
said Keene on stage as the crowd broke
out into laughter.
Keene went on to challenge students
to grow in God as a baby grows off milk
and begins to eat solid food.
Celebration services included many
surprises like this one in Keene’s testi
mony.
Celebration week began Monday
night at 7:17 p.m. and continued nightly
through Thursday. Tuesday and
Thursday Dimensions services were
also conducted by Jill Mayo and Becky
Boltz, Celebration Week co-coordina-
tors.
“We applied for the position last
April and have been planning for
Celebration Week since May. We decid
ed that we wanted the challenge for the
week to be finding out who God is. We
wanted people to put away preconceived
notions they had about God,” said
Mayo.
Each celebration service revolved
around the theme, “Who is God ... to
you?”
A variety of students and teachers
were challenged to step up to the micro
phone and share who God is to them.
Andy Cauble, giving his testimony
at the Monday night service, said that
God is consistency to him.
After attending the week of
Celebration services, junior Nathania
Heckert came to the conclusion of who
God is ... to her.
“God is my Savior above everything
else. I want to love Him and to serve
Him,” said Heckert.
Angie Henricks challenged students
during her time of sharing to “know who
God is to you and spend time with
Him.”
Mayo and Boltz selected the speak
ers based on their familiar faces.
“Becky and I wanted to get speak
ers that we see on campus everyday. We
selected students and teachers that we
knew were Christians so that we could
give them a chance to express them
selves through scripture and prayer,”
said Mayo.
Students also participated through
special music in solos, duets and trios.
Each night there was a time of worship
through singing familiar praise songs.
“l enjoy the music. I’ve always been
big on music,” said freshman Stephanie
O’Sullivan.
Arms lifted in adoration during the
praise time was not a strange occur
rence.
Campus Minister Tracy Jessup said
Thursday night after the last Celebration
service, “First of all, I want to praise
God for what He did this week. Our
campus was drawn so much closer in
worship than ever before. I pray that this
will continue when G-a-P meets
Tuesday.”
Freshman Jenny Treadaway said, “I
think we begged the Lord to come and
move during Celebration. Because of
the 24 hour prayer and the constant
prayer going on under the stage during
the service. He did. The Lord answers
prayer.”
Answering the question, “How do
you feel now that Celebration Week is
over,” Becky Boltz’s first response was
“Relieved.” She laughed and then
looked up with a straight face and said,
“I really feel like God moved. I don’t
know any other way to say it.”