Habitat for Humanity brings Jimmy Carter to Michigan to build

PUBLISHED: June 23, 2005By Gina JosephMacomb Daily Staff Writer

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The former U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter, 80, and his wife, Rosalyn, arrived in Michigan on Saturday to kick off the event. Their presence in the state created a wave of thundering hammers and zipping saws that has played for four days -- not only in Pollard's neighborhood but also, all across Michigan.
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Watching everything unfold in Detroit was the Catholics and Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II. Wearing a long black robe and a Masco baseball cap His Holiness -- equivalent in Armenia to a pope -- walked the grounds asking questions. Then, to the surprise of Zara Tonapetyan of Yerevan, Armenia, who is the resource development coordinator of Habitat for Humanity Armenia, he went to work painting a room in one of the houses.

"To see the Patriarch building and actually painting the walls. It's lots of enthusiasm," Tonapetyan said. "Have you ever seen a pope building a home? It is inspiring."
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"We are very glad to be here to see how the volunteers with joy are building houses and how they support cities," said Karekin. "People from Armenia and other nations are coming together, building the houses and friendships, which is a blessing for the families and the volunteers."
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"The best part for me is knowing that on Friday there will be 238 families who will have decent and affordable housing and in addition to that, there will be volunteers who will have sore muscles and bruises but their hearts will be filled with joy," said Ken Bensen{, president for Habitat for Humanity Michigan, who has been with the ecumenical Christian ministry based in Americus, Ga., for 20 years. }

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.