President helps United Methodists build house
6/12/2001 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.
By Michael Wacht* TAMPA, Fla. (UMNS) - President George W. Bush helped fellow United Methodists construct a Habitat for Humanity house June 5 for the family of Johana Rodriguez.
Bush spent about an hour helping a team of mostly United Methodist pastors from the Tampa District raise a wall in the house, which will be home to Rodriguez, a single mother, her two children, two siblings and her mother. The family is now living in two rooms, a bedroom and a kitchen.
The house is sponsored by the Florida Conference's Tampa District, which is raising the $45,000 needed for materials and supplies, according to the Rev. David Brazelton, former superintendent of the Tampa District. In the first three weeks of raising money, the district has collected about $14,000.
The Rodriguez house is one of four Habitat homes under construction in the Grant Park area east of Tampa, where the ministry recently acquired a plot of land. Habitat is a nondenominational faith-based organization.
Brazelton, who led the morning devotional for the team and a second devotional for the president's entourage, said he wasn't comfortable with some of the hype surrounding the president's visit to the site. "I'm not here to support a political party, but to support persons who legitimately have a need for a home," he said.
After about an hour of work, the president also took time to promote cooperation between the government and faith-based organizations.
Bush said he wished he knew of a law he could sign that "would make people love each other" but that "love does not happen because of the government."
"This is a land of hope, a land of promise, a land of opportunity," Bush said. "It's a land of compassionate people."
He paid tribute to Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, calling him a general in the "army of compassion." The president said he was proposing the federal budget line item for Habitat be tripled.
"Our government should not fear working side by side with faith-based organizations," he said. "To the skeptics, I say come to a Habitat for Humanity site and listen to the words that inspire people. Critics don't understand the power, hope and promise of faith."
Brazelton said he spent a few minutes chatting with the president while they worked together on the house. They spoke about family and their mutual interest in Habitat for Humanity and other faith-based initiatives.
"His presence is very ordinary," Brazelton said. "He's just another human being. He worked hard and was sweating."
Working with the president was "a lot of fun," said the Rev. Ron DeGenaro, pastor of Seminole Heights United Methodist Church, which houses Habitat's Hillsborough County office.
"I asked him, 'What's the greatest thing about being president?'" DeGenaro said. "He said it's seeing the United States and seeing people of faith walk up and tell him they're praying for him."
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*Wacht is the assistant editor of the Florida Annual Conference's edition of the United Methodist Review.
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