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Valerie's mother chipped in: "I know if God hadn't sent Habitat to this town, none of us sitting at this table would have a decent place to live."

Fuller has deliberately built an organization that relies on personal inspiration and motivation. He can't give orders, because each of the 2,000 affiliates is an independent corporation. And Habitat depends on volunteers who do only what they want.

It's an extraordinarily open-ended structure for an organization this big, but it suits Fuller and the way he sees the world. As God has moved him in so many improbable directions, he may be counting on God to preserve Habitat's inspiration. Or, to put it another way, perhaps he hopes Habitat's Christians will be strong enough to spread their faith rather than surrender it.

For the last 100 years, secularization has seemed like an unstoppable force in American institutions. Capturing so many schools, hospitals, and charities, it appears as inevitable as gravity.

Secularization is not inevitable for Habitat, though. By not drawing lines or screening partners on the basis of religion, the organization seems to have released the forces of faith rather than squeezed them. Habitat has raised the reputation of all Christians through its unimpeachable popularity, and as Fuller says, influence runs in all directions. Optimist that he is, Fuller trusts Habitat's influence will continue to run outward—key in his hope to accomplish Habitat's lofty goals.

Tim Stafford is a senior writer for CT.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A ready-to-download Bible Study on this article is available at ChristianBibleStudies.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

Also appearing on our site today:

Keeping the FaithHow other Christian organizations stay true to their mission.

Evangelism of the HammerHow Habitat's Christian identity gets translated in Costa Rica.

The official Website for Habitat for Humanity has extensive information on where it builds and what the organization does including a quick tour, history, and profiles of Millard and Linda Fuller.

Millard Fuller's Theology of the Hammer is available at Christianbook.com.

Previous Christianity Today articles on Habitat for Humanity include:

God's ContractorHow Habitat for Humanity's Millard Fuller persuaded corporate America to do kingdom work. (June 14, 1999)

Habitat Builds 50,000th HomeHabitat for Humanity had its busiest week ever starting September 8, constructing 150 homes in 70 cities. (Oct. 26, 1998)

Building Straw Houses on a Firm FoundationHabitat for Humanity goes low-tech with big results. (Feb. 3, 1997)

Philip Yancey's most recent Christianity Today column focused on Jimmy Carter, the "Servant in Chief."

The "Keeping the Faith" sidebar about how other Christian organizations stay true to their mission is a shorter version of a CT online exclusive article from April, "Keeping Christ in Christian Organizations."

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June 10 2002, Vol. 46, No. 7