Fullmers put 'giving' before thanks

While most people were indulging in seasonal bounty last week, Evan Fullmer and his family turned the holiday upside down. They put giving before thanks and serving before being served.

Two days of travel and two days of labor produced a gift that will last a lifetime.

The Fullmers – Evan, his wife Trudy, son James and his girlfriend – joined about 15 other people on a homebuilding excursion to Tijuana, Mexico, during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Generous hands turned a small concrete slab into four exterior walls, a solid roof and a new home for Thomas (a mechanic), his wife Alma, son Saul, and daughter Alma. Construction began Friday morning and was finished late the next day.

Fullmer, a longtime District 5 transportation technician, accepted his son’s invitation to become part of Homes of Hope, an outreach ministry of Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The international, faith-based organization has more than 10,000 full-time workers worldwide.

It began as a youth ministry and now includes volunteers of all ages.

James Fullmer, a graduate of Marsh Valley High School in Arimo (about 30 miles south of Pocatello), works for the Indiana-based security company Defender. The home security company provides and helps fund ministry projects for its employees. Among this year’s opportunities was a partnership with YWAM and its Homes of Hope project.

The company provided transportation to Mexico and lodging for the Fullmers. It has a “culture of giving back to the community,” Evan said, and has been involved in other home-building projects in the past.

“We sacrificed only our time and energy,” Fullmer explained to colleagues after returning to Idaho. “We had a great time building and getting to know the family and other group members.”

Defender teams, including the Red team on which the Fullmers served, built five homes in Ensenada and four in Tijuana during the Thanksgiving holiday. The company also donated money for finishing the YWAM compound building on the commitment that no money would ever be borrowed

Volunteers assembled early Friday morning at the construction site where a concrete slab had already been poured and materials were waiting. By the end of Day 1, the exterior walls with three windows and a door were in place, interior walls were connected and roof trusses were attached.

On the second day, crews continued to frame interior walls, added wallboard and built the roof. While some YWAM volunteers purchased food at a local market, others installed a propane stove and added a table, chairs and beds. Most of the construction was completed and the family started occupying its new home by 3 p.m.

Although the project was Evan’s first, Trudy had previous construction experience with Defender employees, arranged by James.

“I felt like we had really done something for somebody that they wouldn’t have had for many, many years,” Fullmer said of beneficiaries.

Homes of Hope is a volunteer experience that brings families, church congregations, businesses or co-workers closer together for a weekend home-building project. The result is a life-changing gift for the lives of a needy family in Tijuana or Ensenada, Mexico or San Pedro, Dominican Republic. “You bring the labor, we’ll bring everything else.”

Homes of Hope:

• Is a fantastic team-building event
• Offers hands-on participation – more than just writing a check, you actually build a home
• Creates a sense of teamwork and unity
• Allows participants to become more aware and informed of conditions/needs outside their “world”

Each home takes two full working days or a total of 16 hours. It takes approximately 15 people (ages 15 and older) to build a house. Family teams with children 14 and younger can be larger going up to 25 total in size.

 

Published 11-30-2012