Millard Fuller originally founded Habitat for Humanity not simply to help provide people with housing; instead, it was also created with an eye towards evangelizing to people and getting them to convert to his type of Christianity. Today, there is a chance that Habitat for Humanity could become much more secular - a prospect that disturbs Fuller greatly.

ABP News reports:

"I have a deep concern that Habitat for Humanity remain firmly a Christian ministry," said Fuller, the organization's president. "From the beginning, I have seen Habitat as a new frontier in Christian missions -- a creative and new way to proclaim the gospel. ... Ironically, success may be the biggest impediment to Fuller's vision, he conceded. Habitat has attracted millions of volunteers who want to help end poverty by providing affordable housing.

"Some of them are not Christians," he noted. "We have an open-door policy" to accept all volunteers who want to build homes in order to end poverty. Consequently, people of all kinds of faiths and no faith have stepped up to participate. ... "We urgently need [Baptists], not just to saw boards and pound nails, but to have a presence on site that introduces people to Jesus," he stressed. "But you can't do that without presence ... without Christians on site."

The very Christian character of Habitat for Humanity should be kept in mind by anyone volunteering to help. I'm not saying that people shouldn't help; rather, I'm saying that they should always remember the goal of the organization is at least as much about proselytizing as it is about building houses. Fuller may be disturbed that the latter may become more important than the former under secular guidance, but personally I can't see anything wrong with that.

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