The Keys' to Success in High Stress part 2

I recently “retired” after six years as a board member with Tri River Habitat for Humanity. In the time that I served on the board Tri River completed three homes in partnership with needy families in the community. Our goal was to complete one home per year but as the following story illustrates, Christians define success differently from the rest of the world.

In 1940, Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, as a haven for racial unity and cooperation. In 1954, the Ku Klux Klan burned every building on the farm except Jordan's home.

In the midst of the raid, Jordan recognized the voice of a local newspaper reporter. The next day, the reporter showed up for a story about the arson while the rubble was still smoldering. He found Jordan in a field, planting seeds. He said to Jordan, "I heard the awful news of your tragedy last night, and I came out to do a story on the closing of your farm."

Jordan just kept planting and hoeing. The reporter continued his prodding, with no response from Jordan. Finally, the reporter said, "You've got two Ph.D.'s, you've put 14 years into this farm, and now there's nothing left. Just how successful do you think you've been?"

With that statement, Jordan stopped hoeing. He said to the reporter, "You just don't get it, do you? You don't understand us Christians. What we are about is not success, but faithfulness."

Here’s the cool thing about that story. Tri River Habitat’s last home, its 11th in Halifax County, was finished last year. Most of the volunteers were white. The partner family was black. The executive director of Tri River recently informed me that the Banister River Association of Baptist Churches, a traditionally black association in our county, will soon be a major source of volunteers with the ministry. Koinonia Farm is the place where the vision of Habitat for Humanity was hatched. Who succeeded and who failed?