Fort Worth church shows love by ‘sweating for Jesus’_101804

Posted: 10/15/04

Dawn Larley (left) of Handley Baptist Church in Fort Worth cleans the kitchen of fellow church member Geneva Moore (middle). Handley Pastor Robert Bennett (right) rakes the yard

Fort Worth church shows love by 'sweating for Jesus'

By George Henson

Staff Writer

FORT WORTH–Sixty members of Handley Baptist Church recently converged to turn a house back into a home.

Geneva Moore has lived in the house many years–so long it had fallen into disrepair.

The first time Pastor Robert Bennett visited this faithful church member, he knew something had to be done.

“I was crushed by the fact that this lady could hardly get around in her own home with her walker because the floors weren't level. There were multiple other problems, because her husband had died years ago, and she had just gotten older and couldn't handle the house's problems,” he said.

The city threatened to condemn the structure.

Volunteer Chris Hamilton (left) hangs a window screen.

But her church family came to her rescue. A small crew of workmen spent three weeks repairing the roof and raising the home's foundation to level the floors. Then on one Saturday morning, 60 people wearing bright yellow “Sweating for Jesus–We are His Hands” T-shirts gathered to give the home a good going-over, inside and out.

They painted the exterior and interior, cleaned the kitchen, garage and yard, repaired a gaping hole in the front porch, installed new telephone wiring, and replaced the windows, including the frames. The home received the finishing touches of new carpet and draperies a few days later.

All of that took a lot of hands.

“We had kids, grandmas, students–all kinds of people,” Bennett said.

Bob Taylor, a retired layman charged with crew leadership for structural and exterior projects, said they all were drawn to the house by the same motivations.

“People are actually hungry to serve–they just don't always know it until the try it,” he said. “The Lord has always given me a hunger for helping widows.”

Bennett said the project goes well with the church's emphasis for the year. “Our whole theme has been 'Love God, Love People,'” he said. “We're just trying to put our hand into God's hand and see where he leads us.”

In addition to fixing up the house, the church also passed out flyers in the neighborhood, encouraging people in the area to come to the worksite, have a doughnut and meet church members.

Bennett expressed surprise at the number of people who answered that invitation.

The project encouraged several other residents in the area to clean up around their homes, he added.

The project also encouraged the people who took part, Bennett said. A celebration meal with photographs capped the evening and added to the enthusiasm.

“They're ready to tackle another one,” Bennett said.

“We've found four or five people with smaller things that need doing, and the church is ready to take them on.”