CHURCH DEDICATES HABITAT HOUSE

Isaac Egbuka picked up more nails from the yard than he could count, but he didn't mind because the nails were being used to help build his family's new home.

Regina Egbuka and her three children, Isaac, Joshua and Kimberly, received the keys to their newly constructed, three-bedroom house Sunday during a dedication service with First Baptist Church and the Cape Area Habitat for Humanity.

The completion of the Egbukas' home at 50 Green Acres Drive makes the 12th Habitat for Humanity home built in Cape Girardeau.

About 100 people attended the open house and dedication Sunday to welcome Egbuka and her children into the home. The family will move into the house in the coming weeks.

Several members of First Baptist Church told stories about their work on the house during a special worship service held at the church prior to the dedication. Nearly 400 people and businesses in the city helped with the project. Placed at the foot of the church's pulpit Sunday were housewarming gifts and canned goods to help stock the Egbukas' cabinets.

Sam Gunter saw the house as it progressed from the foundation to walls and a roof. He and Egbuka often worked together so when he handed her a copy of the house keys and said he was retiring, Egbuka just laughed.

But Gunter left her a reminder of the efforts she and First Baptist members put into creating the home. The gift, a birdhouse built as a replica of the Egbuka house, was made from scraps of siding, shingles and wood.

"I cried all morning," Gunter said, "knowing that I'd helped someone who needed it."

Egbuka will use her house payments to help her neighbors. Two other Habitat houses are under construction along her street, and payments from Egbuka's no-interest home loan will help Habitat start more projects.

In addition to receiving no-interest loans, Habitat homeowners are required to put in 300 hours of "sweat equity" before becoming eligible for ownership. Egbuka helped build a house on Rainey Street as well as working on her own.

Habitat worked for Egbuka because "I didn't have the means to afford a house on my own and this helps people with lower incomes work to own a home," Egbuka said.

Dr. John Owen, pastor of First Baptist Church, said building the house with Egbuka and her family not only helped the Egbukas but also helped the church.

"We had teen-agers and college students working alongside 70-year-olds," he said. "There was a lot of fellowship and relationships that grew out of the project."

The church funded the Habitat construction project from start to finish. It provided the funds and collected material donations to build the house and provided the volunteer labor to get the work done.

"This is the first time a church has taken on an entire house," said the Rev. Miles White, a Habitat board member, "and it's been one of the fastest built in Cape."

Typically one Habitat house is constructed at a time, but this year three houses are under construction.