Day One Q & A

Jacob Battle

Americus, Ga.

Board Member

What’s your favorite part of a build?

Meeting the people, the volunteers, the homeowners--and being able to work alongside of them. And meeting old friends.

What do you think of when you think of Millard Fuller’s Legacy?

I think of all of the things that Millard accomplished throughout his life. I think we should do everything within our power to make sure that his legacy goes on and on. I think of all the millions of people that are being helped day by day by his vision and his obedience to God. I don’t think we could do too much to keep his dream alive.

What does home mean to you?

A place that is neutral from the everyday rat race. A place where children are able to be given opportunities to develop, to become what God would have them to be. Home is a place where there’s love and security.

Nashua Chantal

Koinonia Farms, Ga.

Volunteer and crafter of the Greater Blessing Box

What’s your favorite part of a build?

It’s about three days into the build where I feel that I’m comfortable, I know where everything is. I’ve met the homeowner and get to talk to them more. And then I’m starting to joke around with folks. And feeling comfortable about what I’m doing.

Because at first, you’re just feeling everybody out. Asking people a lot of questions and when you get all that out of the way you start to become more like family after awhile. The next couple of days in the week that you’re there you just bond. It’s something you can never forget.

What do you think of when you think of Millard Fuller’s Legacy?

I didn’t know much about Millard when I met him, but it didn’t take very long to know Millard because his spirit is openness. He absorbs everything right away and remembers you the first day.

I can just see that this is starting to take off now, the legacy. It’s starting to spread. It’s even spreading into Habitat. Millard started both [Habitat and the Fuller Center]. We’re part of both organizations. And Koinonia, that’s where it all started from. And his what he started is so big.

He always talked about the mustard seed. Everything rests within the branches giving the tree strength. In Millard’s legacy, I think the roots come from Habitat, the trunk from the Fuller Center, the branches are the affiliates, and the leaves of the tree of course are the volunteers that come from everywhere. Every year, just like autumn, they go back home, the leaves fall and then become refreshed as spring comes, and summer comes, and more volunteers come. The tree is just getting flourished with new enthusiasm. That’s what a build creates every year.

With a lot of prayer and dedication, Millard created something so huge that everyone’s taking part, we’re all learning from the legacy. Wherever we go we’re teaching folks how to do it on their own and they’re getting it. And a community starts to develop their own type of build.

What does home mean to you?

It’s a place of comfort and security. If you have children, it’s for their well-being to have something--their own room, being warm in the wintertime and cool in the summertime. If they can bring their friends home to something nice, they can feel proud. I think that helps their self-esteem to continue on their journey.

Otherwise if they didn’t have any of that, that’s where they’d fall into the cracks. Building that home we become part of their family--maybe just in our memories, but we gave them something, and they gave us something to appreciate when we go back to our home.