Faith in Action: faithful flip

SPRING HILL (FOX13) - Josh Bonner's sights are set on South Africa. A house in Spring Hill is going to help the missionary get there. 

"I'm going to move there and be their PE coach, which is something I've been doing here in Spring Hill for 10 years," Bonner smiled.

He's not asking the cash-strapped school for a dime's pay during his three-year tenure. Instead, the group Habitat for Missions is helping him flip a house now and use the proceeds to pay for his living expenses.

"We purchase homes with interest-free money from investors. We partner with a local church to then renovate the house," Habitat for Missions' Bill Foster said.

After paying back investors, 90% of the proceeds will go to Josh's trip. The other 10% will go toward buying the group's next project house.

Josh admits flipping a house sounded daunting at the start.

"It was terrifying. I'd never used a power tool, I don't own any tools! I've watched a lot of home renovation shows by it was never my thing, you know," he laughed.

A group of volunteers from his congregation at Fellowship Community Church dedicated 1,600 hours to strip the house down to the studs. All are seniors with construction backgrounds. The oldest crew member, Rex, is 99-years old.

"Rex would do just about anything. We had a little stool for him and he would sit here and mud the walls for drywall, he sanded the walls," Bonner said.

About six months after purchasing it, the golf-course, manicured home is hitting the housing market. Josh says the start-to-finish process is a humbling example of his faith in action.

"I was the first thing that God restored. I was the first renovation project. Everything that's come after that was an outworking of that," he said.

Josh plans to leave for his mission to Africa in May. For more information about the house, visit www.Habitatformission.Com.