St George's of Forest Hill along with many other churches in the Waterloo Anglican Deanery had the opportunity to be a part of the build in Kitchener at 170 Cherry Street where there were 4 homes to be built this year.

Habitat House Blessing and Dedication Ceremony

Congratulations once again fellow-Anglicans! Our Habitat project was finished ahead of schedule by a stronger than expected contingent of volunteers. Well done, indeed! Now it is time to gather at the build site, reacquaint with new friends from other parishes, join in the House Blessing and Dedication ceremony...and meet our new family!

We are pleased to introduce Sabah Saed, his wife Dilber Sallih and their three children, son Zaneen aged 9, daughter Dilnaz aged 6 and son Adam aged 2. Sabah and Dilber moved to Canada from Kurdistan in 1992 and in Sabah's words, "We want to give our kids a better life and proper education. Having a home of our own will give us a place to settle down". We have a family photo which will be posted in the narthex.

The ceremony will be held on Saturday Nov. 8th at 10:00 a.m. at the build site, 170 Cherry Street. The length of the proceedings will be approximately one hour and The Ven. Peter Townshend, Archdeacon of Waterloo Deanery and rector at Church of the Holy Saviour will preside.

See you there!!

Project Memories

Many people worked on the Habitat project this summer, doing jobs big and small. Some of the workers have shared their experiences here.

My Trip to the Habitat for Humanity

When I went to Habitat for Humanity, I was in charge of lunch. The lunch arrived around twelve. Once the lunch got to the habitat build I helped place it on tables. Once the food was out, the workers started coming like flies to honey. Lunch was delicious.

We had egg salad sandwiches, chili, bread rolls, muffins, and many kinds of juices and pop. I ate lunch with some of the people that I know from church. Once lunch was done, it was time to do the dishes. I did a couple, and then I had to leave. I said goodbye to everybody and promised to come back.

Reflections from a first time Habitat Volunteer

"A long, long time ago, I can still remember" walking by the Jimmy Carter worksite and being in awe of the work that had been done, the pride in ownership and belief that the people working on the site must have had an incredibly moving experience. I have learnt how to frame, build a ring joist, add sheeting (2nd floor and roof), attach outside insulation, shingle, insulate with old jeans, drywall, provide snacks on a day where they were needed, cater snacks and lunch with a friend, or whatever. I have learnt that with great team work and an unbelievable effort, roof trusses can be manually moved from the ground to the top of a second floor house and how a skid of shingle bundles can be moved from the ground to the roof. There is no educational opportunity that could provide that experience in such a short period of time.

I can now state, unequivocally, that the people working on the site had to have had an incredible experience. I don't think that anyone working on one of these sites can not experience the awesome power of a higher being (I think that it is God). Between the incredible number of volunteers who work on Habitat sites from year to year, the staff who believe in the task, and the 'virgin volunteers', I am one of them, who gain incredible knowledge, feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, I don't think anyone can go away from a habitat build without learning something. Sometimes it is about building and sometimes it is about people and sometimes it is about the power of God.

As a life long Anglican - I can surely say that I have learnt more about living the Word this summer than ever before in my life.

There are still four more units to be built next summer (two more this fall) and I can't imagine that I can walk away from them before they are done. I will also be looking to raise enough money so I can participate in a Global village build next summer to share what I have learnt this summer with those in developing countries.

Habitat is still looking for volunteers in the fall so if you can do it (I can't I will be teaching) please help out where you can.