A Fortune That Almost Destroyed Him
By age 29, Millard Fuller was a self-made millionaire. He had built a successful business empire in Montgomery, Alabama, with a Lincoln Continental, a cabin on a lake, and 2,000 acres of land. He also had a marriage falling apart and a growing emptiness he could not explain.
In 1965, his wife Linda told him she was leaving. The confrontation broke him open. They drove to New York City and met with a minister who helped them see that their wealth had become a wall between them and between them and God.
They made a radical decision: they gave away every penny. All of it. The businesses, the properties, the investments. Everything.
Koinonia Farm
The Fullers moved to Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, an interracial Christian community founded by Clarence Jordan. There, Millard saw something that changed his life: people building simple, decent houses for families who could not afford them, using volunteer labour and no-profit, no-interest financing.
He tested the concept in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) from 1973 to 1976. It worked. Families who had never owned a home put in sweat equity alongside volunteers and moved into houses they could actually afford.
Habitat for Humanity
In 1976, Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity International. The model was deceptively simple: volunteers build alongside future homeowners, materials are funded through donations, and homes are sold at no profit with no-interest loans.
By 2025, Habitat had built or repaired over 13 million homes worldwide, serving more than 59 million people in over 70 countries. It became the largest private homebuilder in the United States.
Fuller said the theology was straightforward: "Everyone who gets sleepy at night should have a simple, decent place to lay their head."
What This Means for You
Generosity is not a sacrifice when you discover what you gain. The Fullers gave away everything and said it was the best decision they ever made. Sometimes God meets you most powerfully in the act of letting go -- and in picking up a hammer for someone else.