wfn.org | NCC leader joins Habitat in Korea as partnership blossoms

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Aug. 15, 2001  News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
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NEW YORK (UMNS) - The Rev. Robert Edgar is the first to admit he is not a
handyman.

But the United Methodist pastor and chief executive of the National Council
of Churches was among the thousands of volunteers participating in Habitat
for Humanity's Jimmy Carter Work Project 2001 in South Korea. Because he's
afraid of heights, Edgar joked, "...they had me doing the roof."

Volunteers and homeowner families finished building 136 housing units in six
sites throughout the country during the Aug. 5-11 event. During the same
week, leaders in 43 other nations took part in "World Leaders Build," which
led to the construction of more than 1,000 other homes. President George W.
Bush, for example, helped out at a Waco, Texas, Habitat site.

For Edgar, the importance of Habitat for Humanity's work is not just the end
product but how it is achieved. "The value of Habitat is more than the
houses that are built," he explained. "The real value was the energy and
work that happened among the builders."

The sense of community created in the process can generate an enthusiasm
that translates to repeat volunteers. "It reminded me a lot of summer church
camp, where you meet people and like them and want to see them again," Edgar
added.

He hopes that a new partnership between Habitat and the National Council of
Churches, formalized last March, will whip up similar enthusiasm among the
council's 36 member denominations.

The partnership is a component of the council's 10-year poverty mobilization
plan. "One of the most successful organizations over the last 25 years to
address poverty housing has been Habitat for Humanity," Edgar said. He noted
that Millard Fuller, Habitat's founder and director, has a goal of
eliminating inadequate housing for the poor in his lifetime. "He's
demonstrated by building all these houses that it's doable."

Fuller praised United Methodist support of his organization while speaking
at the denomination's 2000 General Conference in Cleveland. Conference
participants built three houses in conjunction with the meeting. But Fuller
also said that the work is so enormous "it can't be done just by one
denomination."

The NCC's goal is to try to help Habitat build another 100,000 homes over
the next five years. Excited by his experience in Korea, Edgar is looking
forward to Jimmy Carter Work Project 2002 in South Africa. "My goal now is
to raise $50,000 and take a minimum of 50 people with me when I go to South
Africa," he said.

Both the 2001 and 2002 work projects have symbolic meaning as well. The
South African project will be built on land originally owned by blacks that
was taken away under the apartheid system but is now returned. The message
in South Korea - where President Kim Dae Jung joined volunteers at the
"village of reconciliation" being built in Asan -- was reconciliation with
North Korea. Edgar participated in the "South and North Korea 2001 Common
Prayer Sunday Worship for Peaceful Reunification" on Aug. 12 at Ah-Hyun
Methodist Church in Seoul.

Edgar will be a part of Habitat's 25th anniversary celebration in September
in Indianapolis and members of the NCC's general assembly will help build
homes in Oakland, Calif., during their November meeting there. Church World
Service and the NCC's Justice for Women Working Group also are exploring
collaborations with Habitat.

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United Methodist News Service
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