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Project Focus: Jolly Avenue Development Center

In Clarkston, Georgia, a small town proves that one area can be home to a variety of people from all over the world. In the 1990s, refugees from over 150 different ethnic groups moved to the small town located just outside of Atlanta. Around 60,000 refugees have called Clarkston home during their journeys to begin life in America. Friends of Refugees was started in 1995 by Pat Maddox, a resident of Clarkston who now serves as a volunteer and Board advisor. Friends of Refugees became a non-profit organization in 2005. The current executive director is Brian Bollinger. Bollinger first served as a volunteer with Friends of Refugees 14 years ago while he was on spring break in college. He stayed with a newly resettled family, and during that time, learned a lot about the process of refugee resettlement.  Friends of Refugees has several projects including a career hub, a community garden, a family literacy program, youth programs, and a program to help expectant and new … [Read more...] about Project Focus: Jolly Avenue Development Center

An American in Cuba: Fishers of Men

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:17 As a child I spent, my summers at the ocean with my family. I first learned to float with my grandmother in the ocean, and my first catch of fish as a child was on the beach.  I remember hovering over the innocent fish in my red sand pale for what seemed like hours. It was the only fish we caught that day. He was our little pet for the afternoon, and I remember throwing him back into the ocean.  I have fishing stories spanning my entire life, and it is something my husband and I do with our children today. We have fished streams, wide rivers in canoes, vast ponds and lakes all over East Alabama. I feel as though it is a life skill and a rite of passage for a child. “Teach a man to fish…” my husband says. And he’s right, it something you carry with you forever.  While in Cuba and visiting the Methodist church near Gerona (Herona), pastor Enrique told us of their “fishing … [Read more...] about An American in Cuba: Fishers of Men

Partner Spotlight: Hines Ugandan Ministries

Katherine Hines first visited Uganda in 1994, and during this trip she found the place that would become the home for her ministry. Kamonkoli is located in the Eastern region of Uganda, and in 1999 she started Hines Ugandan Ministries in the village. “Well, it's changed a lot since 1999,” Hines said. “Because when I first came here there were very few vehicles. Most of the roads weren't paved. They're paved now, but they're all messed up. But it's changed a lot since those days. Then there was no running water where I am, Kamonkoli, and electricity was really often on and off and on all the time, there wasn't hardly ever electricity.” Kamonkoli is home to around 18,000 and was just recently named a town. Ten kilometers away is Bali, which is in the process of growing into a city. Uganda is a country of children with 51 percent of the population being under the age of 15. HUM has 67 employees, several of which came from Kamonkoli. Henry Olupot, the manager of Kamonkoli … [Read more...] about Partner Spotlight: Hines Ugandan Ministries

An American in Cuba: Seek and you Shall Find…

God is everywhere, in all people. This is a fact. For I see it with my eyes, I feel it, and it is real. I have yet to visit one place where God’s presence and existence isn’t found.  I’ve seen him in prison. I have felt him at sunrise, singing worship with 400 children in Honduras. I saw him in a mother in Los Angeles, holding her 2 small children close and smiling, on a sidewalk, in a poor neighborhood. I see him at the local coffee shop and in the sunrise on our farm, holding hands with my daughter. He is all things and is in all things, and the farther I seek, the more God becomes real. My journey to Cuba with Third Lens Ministries was no different than any other. I knew I was to be amazed. Perhaps this is why I’m always eager to go. It’s one thing to read about God’s greatness and hear of it, but when you meet the Lord face to face, there is nothing more marvelous.  For when you have felt the closeness of the Lord, as if his hands are upon your shoulder, … [Read more...] about An American in Cuba: Seek and you Shall Find…

Tom Rhodes: Director of Design

Tom Rhodes started working with Third Lens Ministries nearly six years ago. He was introduced to Third Lens’ president Lee Carroll through a man at church. Carroll brought Rhodes on as an architect for Third Lens’ projects, and now Rhodes serves on the board of directors as the Secretary/Director of Design.  Rhodes is a principal member of Bradfield, Richards, Rhodes and Associates, an architecture firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been working as an architect for nearly 35 years after attaining both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also studied at the Le Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France.  Bradfield, Richards, Rhodes & Associates During his partnership with Third Lens, Rhodes has worked on projects in Uganda, Haiti, Cuba and other locations. He has also traveled to China and Venezuela to do mission work with his church.  Rhodes says he has learned valuable things about himself from his work … [Read more...] about Tom Rhodes: Director of Design

The Relationship between Third Lens and Plywood People

Plywood People is a non-profit organization who’s focus is helping improve the world of non-profit work. The organization was founded by Jeff Shinabarger in 2010 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. “Anybody that's interested in starting something or is part of a startup or organization that's going through growth, I would highly suggest looking into Plywood’s process and joining the community,” said Third Lens Ministries’ executive director Brian O’Neil. In the early years of Third Lens’ operations, O’Neil turned to Plywood’s process to learn better ways to run an organization.  “So I took the online course, Plywood Path, and then the next step after the path is get involved with their retreat,” O’Neil said. “So I went on a two and a half day retreat, and it was very intense, but it was just so eye opening. Kalyan Murray, at the time, was kind of my direct contact, and she was the one that got me set up. Plywood, it brought in a bunch of speakers from different areas from … [Read more...] about The Relationship between Third Lens and Plywood People

An American in Cuba: Javier’s Coffee

One of the first things I learned about Cuba is that there is normal time, and then there is “Cuba Time”. These folks get in no hurry nor do they always stick to a precise plan. On the flip side of this idea, is that they are all cool about this. No fussing or mumbling. No eye rolling or loosing their marbles. They just go with it. An ‘All is well and all will be well’ mindset. I loved this from the beginning. Everyone just gets along. It’s the neatest thing.  When our airplane landed in Havana, it took about 20 minutes to get some steps located to bring up to our door so we could exit the plane. When asked of the issue, the pilot announced, “They weren’t quite ready for us to be here.” I died laughing inside. How could they not know?? No one was upset though, or uptight about it. Not one, single Cuban. When we finally made our exit, a small bus took us into immigration. Once again, no immediate need to get through. “Let’s just all chill a hot minute and we’ll … [Read more...] about An American in Cuba: Javier’s Coffee

The Legacy of Frantzky

A little under 700 miles from Miami, nestled in the islands in the Caribbean Sea, is Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. One small village there is Neply, a village of 2,700 people.  One of those people was Frantzky, a young boy who faced more difficulties in his nearly ten years of life than most will face in a lifetime. Tragically, Frantzky’s life was cut short due to what, in a first world country, would be entirely preventable causes: a virus and dehydration.  Frantzky and Brian at the 2019 Night to Shine Frantzky died four and a half months before he would have turned ten years old. Yet, in less than a decade on this Earth, this young Haitian boy overcame so much and inspired so many. “He's a hero because so many children's lives will be positively impacted because of his memory and his life and that infectious smile,” Brian O’Neil, executive director of Third Lens Ministries, said of Frantzky. Haiti’s culture still has deep ties to … [Read more...] about The Legacy of Frantzky