Millard Fuller The Gift of Service, Part 2

Millard Fuller was quite wealthy, but his marriage was in shambles. He could sell toothbrushes, but his family life was full of holes. When his wife left him, he realized that unless he changed directions, he would lose her. She agreed to meet and talk. While sipping orange juice in a café, she suddenly broke down and began crying and couldn’t stop.

They stumbled outside and went for a long walk, eventually sitting down on the steps in front of a church. “There it happened,” he remembers. “Linda faced me and bared her soul. She confessed the ways in which she had betrayed our relationship. I poured out my own agony and regret for ways I had betrayed her. The wall was broken down, and love rushed in like a mighty flood.” They stayed up all night talking, singing, and praying.

When they returned home, they were determined to make God the center of their lives. They would give up their pursuit of wealth and refocus their lives on Christian service. The Lord convicted them to provide affordable housing for low-income families. They would use community volunteers for labor and donations, and only ask people to cover the cost of materials. They didn’t charge interest and they made no profit.

Their dream began in Georgia, then took them to Africa, and then to Texas, and soon their ministry—Partnership Housing—reached clear around the world. By 1981, the program grew into Habitat for Humanity. By 2003, Habitat affiliates around the world had constructed over 150,000 houses and were active in 92 nations. In 1984, Fuller drew in Habitat’s most famous volunteer—President Jimmy Carter. Eventually, Millard began a new program called the Fuller Center for Housing, and it’s going strong today.

Millard Fuller could sell just about anything, but he discovered that the gift of unselfish service—and the joy that comes from living for others—cannot be bought or sold.

Reflect: Have you ever participated as a volunteer in serving others? There is no greater joy than to give to bring happiness to people around you.

Key Bible Texts

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? (1 John 3:17 KJV)