Nicolae Buzulan, right, works with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity volunteers for a wall-raising in January. Buzulan, his wife, and four children closed on the house in July after 10 Baptist churches provided the other volunteer labor on the home.
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Thanks to teams from a broad array of local Baptist churches, a needy Moldovan family in Asheville, N.C. is living in their new “dream house.”
A coalition of teams from congregations belonging to the local Buncombe Baptist Association participated in the “Building on the Dream” house project through Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.
“Baptist churches have been extremely supportive” in both volunteers and contributions, said Betsy Warren, house sponsor coordinator for Asheville Area Habitat.
The “Building on the Dream” project was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist pastor and civil-rights martyr. It started in January, the month of King’s birth. “It made sense to us to pull together some Baptist churches in the area,” Warren said.
Two big events exemplified the project’s ability to unify: A wall raising in January and a key presentation in July.
Warren said 10 churches — First Baptist Church in Arden, N.C.; Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Asheville; Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden; Ecclesia Baptist Church in Fairview, N.C.; First Baptist Church of Asheville; First Baptist Church of Weaverville, N.C.; Hominy Baptist Church in Candler, N.C.; Inanda Baptist Church in Asheville; North Point Baptist Church in Weaverville; and Starnes Cove Baptist Church in Asheville — raised $25,000 to build the four-bedroom home for Nicolae and Luiba Buzulan and their four children.
Nicolae and Luiba Buzulan stop for a family photo with three of their four children on the porch of their new home.
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Nicolae Buzulan works with Carolina Transportation. Luiba Buzulan takes care of the children. She has worked in the past, but the cost of child care was too high.
Nicolae's father is a pastor at a local Moldovan congregation where the family is involved. The family was renting a three-bedroom apartment in Asheville that had severe mold problems, flooding issues, leaky windows and other problems. Because of his income and the family’s size, the Buzulans did not qualify for a conventional mortgage. The new house has four bedrooms and 1,416 square-feet.
“This was special in the sense that is the dream house, connected with the life and ministry of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Jim McCoy, pastor of First Baptist in Weaverville.
“There’s a group of our men that go out almost every Tuesday” to work at the site even before the dream project started, he said.
Eddie Morgan estimated that 50 members from First Baptist of Asheville helped with the project.
“When you are building a house, No. 1, you really appreciate the Habitat style, in that you’re working alongside the family to really build a home,” said Morgan, the church’s minister of missions, outreach and pastoral care. “In building a home, you’re building a sense of pride and confidence. It is particularly enjoyable to see children in those houses. It almost changes the sense of who they are to have this safe, affordable roof over their head. They can say, ‘I live here.’”
Jim McCoy, pastor of First Baptist Church of Weaverville, N.C., takes part in a key presentation service in July.
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First Baptist of Asheville has been involved with Habitat since 1990. Morgan estimates the church has contributed financially to 15 houses and sent volunteers to help build 30 more, including projects in other states and in Bolivia. They currently are working on homes in Perry County, Alabama.
“One of my philosophies of mission/ministry is if you can put a face on someone in need, it changes who you are,” Morgan said. “If you put a face on poverty it changes you.
There are families that want for their children what you want for your children.”
At the key presentation McCoy described the new homeowners as gracious and shared that Luiba Buzulan is a wonderful cook who prepared the Eastern European feast participants were about to enjoy.
McCoy said he has deep appreciation for Millard Fuller, Habitat’s founder, and Clarence Jordan, who was a Baptist farmer and biblical scholar who established an interracial Christian community in then-segregated Georgia.
Their love for the dispossessed is inspiring, McCoy said.
“We can get very busy within the walls of a congregation,” McCoy said, but Habitat “draws us into the larger adventure of what God has for us.”
McCoy said volunteer work “is a good leaven within the church.”
Asheville Area Habitat builds an average of 17 houses per year. Warren works with individuals and groups to raise sponsorships. A full one costs $55,000.
Participating faith communities usually provide a raise-the-roof sponsorship of $25,000 and then provide all the volunteers and build a house in about six months.
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Dianna Cagle is assistant managing editor of the North Carolina Baptist Biblical Recorder.