Honouring President carter

For those lucky enough to work on the Carter Work Projects that took place all around the world you’ll know a few things to be true.  First, the Carter Work Projects were very hard work.  Second, if President Carter didn’t have a hammer in his hand, he had Roselynn’s as he walked to the lunch tent, or home after a long day to the volunteer quarters for the night.  Finally, you had better not ask President Carter for a photo, ever! That is unless all of the homes were finished.  The response you would get was always: “No! We still have a lot of work to be done.”

The President never shied away from work, no matter what type of task it was.  This included his work on a Habitat Build, at the Carter Centre or as an elder at his home church.  I will never forget worshipping there with Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity.  We were at Maranatha Baptist, in Plains Georgia, the Sunday before President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize so he was understandably absent.  On the order of service there was a congratulatory note to the President for receiving the world’s highest honour; and on the back of he paper it spelled out that he was on volunteer duty that week to cut the grass at the back of the church.  What an extraordinary juxtaposition.

Whether championing human rights or negotiating peace agreements or swinging a hammer or cutting grass – President Carter remained the finest example of servant leadership.  He showed up and he showed us clearly that we can all make a difference.  It doesn’t matter our state in life, we can all advocate, volunteer and be an example of how to live a life of service. 

President Cater lived a life of service above self. With integrity, grit, smarts and hard work he demonstrated his faith through each personal and professional action he took. The issue of our country’s lack of affordable housing is at crisis levels. Jimmy Carter is right, “there is a lot of work to be done.”

The sad news is we have all lost a world leader; the good news is we are all still invited to join in the movement until the work is done, and everyone’s right to housing is realized.