The Fuller Centre Nigeria displayed pictures of the deceased humanitarian covering his days as a child to when he became a missionary working across the continents of the world.

The late Fuller, who while on earth worked towards helping the poor get decent accommodation for themselves, died 3rd February 2009. He was aged 74.

Speaking at the two-day exhibition, chairman of the board of the Fuller Centre Nigeria, Archbishop Josiah Idowu Fearon, said the late Fuller rose from a humble beginning in Alaba, the US and through a ministry in housing, he built many modest houses and gave them out on no-profit basis, thereby making homes affordable to families with low incomes.

He said homeowner families were made to invest their labour into construction of their homes so money for building went into a revolving fund, enabling the building of even more homes.

The archbishop explained that the late Fuller came to Africa in 1973 to test his housing model.

Having succeeded in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Fearon said, “Fuller became convinced the model could be expanded and applied all over the world.”

According to him, the project has found its foot in Nigeria with the construction of 50 housing units in Masaka, Nasarawa State.

He said a unit is sold for N480,000. All one needs do to own Fuller’s house in Masaka is to pick a form, fill it and pay initial deposit of N80,000. The rest is spread over five years.

Sam Odia who is National Director of the Fuller Centre Nigeria stated that 50 houses have been completed and given out so far.

He however lamented that bottlenecks and high cost of land in the urban areas stand as barrier to the efforts to provide many affordable houses for the poor.

He pleaded with authorities to donate land to the centre like it is done in other countries so more homes could be built.

Millard Fuller, the founder and former president of Habitat for Humanity, was a personal friend to me and many Members of Congress. Many of us worked closely with Millard Fuller, particularly in the last 15 years of his extraordinary leadership.

I wish to take a minute today to pay tribute to Millard and his family–his wife Linda, his son Christopher, his daughters Kim, Faith and Georgia and his nine grandchildren. He has left behind these loved ones who will carry on his important work. Linda was a cofounder of Habitat for Humanity, and a driving force in the creation of this organization that has touched the lives of literally millions of people around the world.

When I think of where Millard Fuller died unexpectedly earlier this month, near the small town of Americus, GA, I cannot help but be reminded of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the most inspiring documents ever written. This declaration reminds us that when we speak about human rights, we must remember that the recognition of these rights begins in small places close to home, places so small that they can’t necessarily be seen on maps.

It is in these small places that people long for dignity and respect.

Sometimes in the Senate, we get carried away with grand visions of universal rights and broad, sweeping policies to protect these rights. But when you get right down to it, our visions are carried out in our own neighborhoods, in our own courthouses and in very small places like Americus, GA.

By the age of 29, Millard Fuller had made his first million dollars. He was a man with a great mind and extraordinary leadership abilities, who could have made a great fortune for his wife, his children and himself. But instead, with his wife’s urging, Millard Fuller and Linda decided to take the multiple talents God had given them and refocus their lives on Christian service. They set their hearts on making a difference in the world, and the result was an organization that is one of the greatest nonprofits I have come to know.

In 1968, Millard Fuller and Linda began a Christian ministry on a farm in southwest Georgia where they built decent housing for low-income families using volunteer labor and donations. This concept was expanded into what is now Habitat for Humanity International and the Fuller Center for Housing. By 1981, Habitat had affiliates in 14 States, and was carrying out its mission to build homes with volunteer labor, ensuring that these homes were affordable to the poor and those of modest means.

Many Senators have commented privately and publicly about his extraordinary organization, and President Carter once remarked that Millard Fuller was one of the greatest talents he had ever known–serious words coming from a President. President Carter was a personal friend of Millard Fuller, and in 1984, he became a Habitat volunteer, giving his name and resources to Millard Fuller’s organization. President and Mrs. Carter became the faces of Habitat for Humanity, and would attract thousands of people to volunteer during the Jimmy Carter Work Project, an annual week-long effort to build Habitat homes all over the world. By 1992, Habitat had a presence in 92 nations.

I was very fortunate to have met Millard Fuller. He was an inspiration to me and, as I have said, to many Senators. Many of us come into our young adulthood and say we want to make a difference in the world, and we all try in our various ways. Many of us never quite accomplish that. But Millard Fuller did. He had an impact on the world, and the world will remember his life and his vision. The world will remember that in this great land of wealth and opportunity, Millard Fuller thought it was shameful that people were living without decency and respect.

He said it is not what Jesus would want. It is not what the Bible teaches. It is not what those of the Christian faith believe. He built Habitat on a simple principle that the poor are not lazy, but very industrious–that if the poor were given a chance, they could accomplish a great deal.

In order to occupy a Habitat house, the family who is going to live there gets to build the home with their neighbors, with the kind of old-fashioned, rock-ribbed community values of pitching in, building a home, and building upon that solid foundation.

Not only was it Millard Fuller’s vision to give families a decent place to live, he wanted to give them something to own. Owning a home paves the way for being able to finance against the equity in that home to build a business, to send children to college, and to establish a future.

I want people to know that paying tribute to Millard Fuller is about more than just building homes. Millard Fuller’s life was about building hope, building a future and literally changing the course of life–creating an upward trajectory for people around the world.

I don’t believe that Millard Fuller knew what an impact he had. I only hope we will remember him often. And when we do, as leaders in the Senate and the House, as Governors, and in the White House, we will recommit ourselves to realizing the simple principles that Millard Fuller lived every day.

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastation that hit the gulf coast, Habitat was one of the first organizations on the ground. Millard and his wife Linda came to Louisiana and helped us to start building on higher ground. They built not just in the New Orleans area and along the gulf coast of Mississippi, but also in Shreveport, LA, where they joined with a group of local leaders to start new organizations that built homes for people in northwest Louisiana.

I would like to read one personal testimony from Cherie Ashley, who is the executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Northwest Louisiana. She and her family were beneficiaries of this work. Cherie was originally from New Orleans, but the flood waters of Katrina forced her out. She fled to Shreveport with her family. She said:

I was blessed with one of the first of the three homes that was built in Allendale, in Northwest Louisiana. Mr. Fuller was passionate about the work he did and he was passionate about eliminating poverty across this nation. The Fuller Center for Housing and Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Louisiana have provided me and my children the opportunity to regain stability and normalcy after such a life altering event–Hurricane Katrina. I am not just the Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Louisiana, most importantly, I am a proud Habitat homeowner, and that’s what God–through Millard Fuller–did for me.

He most certainly was a man who lived up to God’s calling. I believe we would do ourselves well to remember him often, to thank Linda and his family for the tremendous sacrifice they made, and to honor him by continuing his work.

I ask unanimous consent that his obituaries from the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution be printed in the Record.

Millard was one of a kind. It was though he was specifically designed to do the work he did — intelligence, an effervescent personality, amazing communications skills and faith all combined to produce one of the truly remarkable philanthropists of our time.

He and his wife Linda gave away their wealth at an early age, so Millard didn’t have money of his own; but he was a master at getting others to joyfully part with some of theirs to fund a righteous cause. Millard wasn’t a carpenter either, but he motivated thousands of skilled and unskilled workers to build hundreds of thousands of houses all around the world. He was a remarkable man, and those who knew him were inspired by the experience.

One measure of success is creating something that survives, and in this Millard did very well. Habitat for Humanity, the housing ministry Millard and his wife Linda founded 34 years ago, continues to build with families in need and The Fuller Center for Housing, a second housing ministry that Millard founded, is thriving even though he only had four years to put a foundation under it. I’ve had the daunting task of following Millard as the leader of this ministry and I’ve been amazed at how his inspired leadership has encouraged people to continue to support his work.

The Fuller Center was established to carry on Millard’s dream of eliminating poverty housing. As a young organization with 30 years of experience, The Fuller Center has the enviable ability to be agile and innovative while at the same time thoughtful and deliberate. This helps account for our remarkable growth — in fewer than five years we have covenant partner organizations in 60 U.S. cities and 17 other countries. We have broken ground in North Korea on a pioneering project that will bring Americans and Koreans together, building houses in that distant land. The sun never sets on The Fuller Center for Housing.

The tragic earthquake in Haiti has given us the new challenge of building disaster resistant houses with families in need, but in such a way that our efforts help rebuild a damaged society and a broken economy. No one has been left unaffected by the magnitude of suffering that has been visited on the Haitian people, so this effort is one of great significance. Rebuilding will take tremendous resources, and we have not been shy about asking individuals, churches, schools and civic organizations to remember the long term reconstruction needs we face in their giving plans.

Today, as we honor the first anniversary of Millard’s death, the Fuller Center staff will be working on a house here in Americus. We figure the best way to remember him is with a hammer in our hand. We invite all of those whose lives were touched by this remarkable man to join in this great ministry. Like any nonprofit we can always use more leaders, volunteers and money. We invite you to help fulfill Millard’s dream — work on a building site, sponsor a Haiti House, send in a check. This is a righteous undertaking, and by God’s amazing calculus, the gifts you give with be multiplied and returned to you.

So it’s been a year since Millard died. We have worked hard to keep the vision alive. I think he would be proud.

David Snell, president

The Fuller Center for Housing

But by the time Millard asked us to stand on our chairs, to physically and visually symbolize the idea of Building on Higher Ground, I think we would have just as readily stood on a flagpole. We were that inspired.

He also shared a word new to most of us “” Oyee (Oh — yay). A word of African origin, it was a rallying cry and a shout of affirmation we would hear many times.

For Shreveport, the meeting that morning led to the 38 beautiful new homes, built by volunteers from around the nation, now standing in the Allendale neighborhood. Millard committed to at least 60, and I have no doubt we will reach that number.

For me, that meeting led to one of the greatest honors of my life: to work with and for one of the truly heroic servant leaders of our time. Millard made $1 million before he was 30, but when it nearly cost him his marriage, he gave it all away, took his family to the mission field and then returned home to start Habitat for Humanity. Under his leadership, Habitat housed more than one million people in 100 nations.

Millard died from heart failure in an ambulance not far from his Georgia home Feb. 3, one month after his 74th birthday. Despite his age, his sudden death came as an absolute shock. He had tremendous energy and often seemed to have a hammer in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

Community Renewal International founder Mack McCarter drove to Georgia soon after the hurricane to meet with Millard, a longtime friend, and to seek the help of The Fuller Center for Housing in Shreveport. Millard answered the call like a father rushing to the bedside of a sick child. He visited Allendale and saw in his visionary mind more than houses for hurricane evacuees. He saw something few Shreveporters ever imagined for that crime-ridden area “” a new community. Today on these streets of Allendale, where flowers bloom and children play outside, we can see what Millard saw back in 2005.

Millard spoke so often about Shreveport in his travels the past three years that the Chamber of Commerce should have put him on the payroll. He believed in this city with a force that put many of us to shame.

Ever smiling, always optimistic, he challenged us to stop driving by our downtrodden communities as though they don’t even exist. Because of Millard, many people who never dared go into Allendale volunteered to build houses there and now have friends there.

Millard made Shreveport a better place. He made the world a better place.

He also sensed that his time with us was drawing to a close. The last time I heard Millard preach was in Union Church of San Salvador before the start of the Millard and Linda Fuller Blitz Build last fall.

“I started Habitat for Humanity when I was 40 and I started The Fuller Center when I was 70. I tell people I have to go faster now because I have less time,” he said that morning in El Salvador. “When you are approaching the goal line, when you are coming to the end, you need to speed up, not slow down. My philosophy is you oughta wear out instead of rusting out.”

Millard certainly did not rust out, and I don’t think he wore out, either. I would rather believe that God needed another builder for the mansions in heaven and he gave Millard a new assignment.

We miss you terribly, Millard, but it is a well-deserved promotion. I only hope the angels remembered to shout Oyee when you arrived.

© David Westerfield

David Westerfield is the director of communications for Community Renewal International and a member of the board of The Fuller Center of Northwest Louisiana.

“You need to follow your dreams on what I call a faith-foolishness line. When you plan to do something for society, you need to get as close to the foolishness as you can without actually getting into the foolishness.”

In hindsight, that’s easy for Fuller to say. The former lawyer and businessman left both professions to found Habitat for Humanity, one of the largest nonprofit home construction organizations in the world, housing 1 million people and counting in more than 90 countries.

Fuller separated from Habitat for Humanity in 2005 and immediately started the Fuller Center for Housing, an organization similar to Habitat for Humanity. The Fuller Center is doing a Blitz Build in Shreveport’s Allendale neighborhood, with nearly 60 houses expected to be built there by mid-2009.

Fuller, 73, said giving up has never been an option. Sweating in a T-shirt and jeans after working the nail gun Monday morning, the septuagenarian said he has no plans to retire for the foreseeable future.

“You know, a lot of people have asked me that. … When you feel blessed, why would you want to quit? Going around, gawking at tourist sites is not appealing to me.”

Faith surrounds Fuller, on the construction site and off.

“People his age, you question why don’t they retire,” said W. Russell Meade, CEO of New Hope Construction, a Tennessee contractor helping out in Allendale. “But the Bible never speaks of being retired.”

One of the Fuller Center’s latest programs is the Greater Blessing Box Initiative, in which Fuller Center supporters repair homes for elderly residents who are physically unable to do the work and leave a wooden box with prepared envelopes for the residents to pay back the cost of materials when able.

“I’ve always loved coming by Shreveport,” Fuller said. “It’s a wonderful city. … But there are still pockets of need.”

Fuller still lives with his wife, Linda, in Americus, Ga., the home of Habitat for Humanity. On Monday, he was on his way to Minden to examine another Fuller Center project in the Webster city.

Fuller praised the local communities for taking on projects so passionately.

“The Bible says it’s a blessing to receive but an even greater blessing to give. We want to give people the opportunity to receive the greater blessing.”

© Drew Pierson – Shreveport-Times – dpierson@gannett.com

Pangborn’s chapel was full of interested listeners, the walls and stairs lined with those the seats couldn’t accommodate. The group welcomed Fuller with long and resounding applause.

With his Southern accent and humor, Fuller opened the speech by asking those in the back to try to move forward or else, he said, he “might think you’re Baptist.”

He also apologized for his manner of dress.

“You must excuse me for being terribly overdressed,” Fuller said, indicating the suit he had on.

Fuller greeted the audience, saying he was honored to be on Notre Dame’s campus for the weekend. He said he met with alumni Friday who were sponsoring a house in Shreveport, La. through his newest organization, the Fuller Center for Housing. He also broke ground for the 99th and 100th houses built through the South Bend chapter of Habitat for Humanity – 12 of which were built exclusively by Notre Dame students.

“Out of the 800 college chapters of Habitat for Humanity, Notre Dame stands way high on the list,” Fuller said. “I don’t know of another campus chapter that has built more than 12 houses.”

He said while he was at the groundbreaking, he related the story of 25 Matthew, which teaches service to the needy, for “inasmuch as you do it to one of the least, you do it to me.”

“Well, the father of the family receiving the 100th house just happened to be named Jesus, and his son was Jesus, junior. So that was pretty appropriate, being able to provide Jesus with a home,” Fuller joked.

He went on to applaud those who were participating in Shack City and sleeping outside in boxes, especially in the rain.

“It’s wonderful that you’re willing to get in a box and bear some discomfort to raise awareness,” he said. “In years past, one of the greatest problems Habitat had was making people aware of the problem, and what we were doing to help fix it.”

In his organization’s seventh year, Fuller decided to walk from Americus, Ga. to Indianapolis – a journey of 700 miles – to help raise awareness, he said.

“Needless to say, my wife was very skeptical,” he said.

He related the story of what happened when the group of walkers made it to Dunlap, Tenn., where the pastor they asked for shelter was reluctant to let them sleep in his church’s basement, because Habitat for Humanity “sounds like some kind of cult,” Fuller said.

The pastor let them sleep in his backyard and use the hose to clean themselves off – “It’s amazing, but you really can shower with your clothes on,” Fuller joked – and the next day invited them to service at his church. At the end of the service, while everyone was waiting to sing the closing hymn, the pastor turned to Fuller and said if he wanted to address the congregation, now was the time.

“The pastor said, ‘You got five minutes,’ but all I had was my standard 30 minute speech,” Fuller said. “But I stood up there, everyone standing with their hymnbooks in their hands waiting to get out of there, and gave my 30 minute speech in five minutes and walked out of Dunlap.”

Fuller said five or six years went by before he got a call from a man named Charles Henry in Dunlap, who had heard Fuller speak that day. Henry said he couldn’t forget what Fuller had said, and wanted to donate all the money he was making in a job he took on post-retirement to Habitat for Humanity. Fuller said Henry wanted to hear all the places Habitat was working, and stopped him when he spoke of their newest sites in Guatemala.

“He said, ‘Guatemala! I like the sound of that. Use my money in Guatemala,’” Fuller said.

Henry has been sending the organization checks since that day.

“I tell you this story because you never know when you do something what impact it will have. You don’t know, when you sleep out tonight, who you’ll impact,” Fuller said. “What you’re doing will certainly have an impact on you – it’ll be so uncomfortable, you won’t forget it.”

He told the audience that even though they could not fully understand the plight of the homeless, they could be witnesses.

He related a letter he received from a woman in rural West Virginia, who said she wanted to help Habitat for Humanity but had no money to do so. She had no legs, was losing her fingers, had a disabled husband and a brother with cerebral palsy and lived in a house with no running water.

“That’s her reality,” Fuller said. “And this is not in a Third World country – this is in America, one of the richest nations in the world.”

Fuller said he wanted to continue to expand his work and take it new places, as the problem of poverty was widespread and growing. He explained that even by building 30,000 homes per year, it would take 7,500 years to meet the current needs of the homeless in the world.

“So we need to up the ante, we need to sleep out more, we need to speak up now,” he said. “Everyone in this room lived in a nice home, but so many of our fellow humans don’t have that chance. It’s clear in the Bible – we are our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers.”

Fuller then bid farewell to the group, reiterating his praise for Notre Dame’s involvement in Habitat for Humanity and issuing audience members a challenge.

“You are wonderful representatives of your University and my organization,” Fuller said. “But remember – to whom much is given, much is required.”

Source: http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/2.2754/habitat-founder-addresses-crowd-1.265088