Faith Is a Verb: On the Home Front With Habitat for Humanity in the Campaign to Rebuild America and the World

Goodrich traces Habitat’s history back to an unsung American hero, Clarence Jordan, who in the 1940’s founded a Christian community in south Georgia, Koinonia Farm, dedicated to social and economic justice. Millard Fuller, a millionaire businessman, arrived at Koinonia during a spiritual crisis in the early 1970’s, but under Jordan’s guidance realized he was a "money-holic," gave away his forture, and in 1976 founded Habitat for Humanity. Goodrich shows how Fuller's Southern Baptist, Friday-night-revival personality helped turn Habitat into the world’s largest non-governmental home-builder, his inspirational leadership greatly abetted by the support of former president Jimmy Carter. Even Carter couldn't prevent Fuller from being fired by Habitat, however, in early 2005 over allegations of sexual harrassment, a crisis the author describes in a postscript written just as Habitat completed its 200,000th house.