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Meet Our Interns: Part 1

Third Lens Ministries would like to introduce our interns. These interns work in all aspects of Third Lens, broken down into three divisions: operations, construction and design, and marketing. These divisions are split into teams. The operations division is made up of the outreach and management teams. The construction and design division has the design team, project team and research team. Our marketing division includes the impact and creative teams. Below are some of our interns, with more to be introduced in upcoming posts. Operations Division: Outreach Team Armena Brown Grant Writing Intern Armena is a senior at Kennesaw State University majoring in International Affairs. She has a passion for cultures and languages D’wayne Guice Grant Writing Intern D’Wayne Guice is a police officer and Air Force veteran leveraging multiple years of proven experience in avionics, technical equipment repair and maintenance. D’Wayne has an obtuse educational … [Read more...] about Meet Our Interns: Part 1

Project Spotlight: Blueprint 58

After serving as mentors themselves to two young boys, the Stanleys decided that they wanted to create a way for more kids to receive mentorship and guidance. In 2011 the family moved to the Adair Park neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded their non-profit Blueprint 58. “We had been mentoring two boys and doing some work with kids in the neighborhoods downtown already,” said Becca Stanley, co-founder of Blueprint 58. “And we decided that we really wanted to put in roots somewhere and go deep in a specific neighborhood. So we bought a house, my husband and his dad finished it, renovated it and we moved in and started our mentoring program. So Blueprint 58 is primarily a mentoring and Community Development Program.” Blueprint 58 is community-based mentoring program that serves the Adair Park and Pittsburg neighborhoods. The goal is to have a positive presence in the neighborhood to help foster community development. “So our mission is to transform youth into … [Read more...] about Project Spotlight: Blueprint 58

Project Spotlight: The Exodus Ranch

The Exodus Ranch officially became a non-profit in 2012, but the need to help children appeared years before for Shelley and Joe Tufts. The family moved to Opelika, Alabama in 2005 with four children, their fifth would be born less than a year after they moved. Shelley had been staying at home with her children, but with four in school, she started asking God what she should start doing next. It was at a women’s retreat through her church that God started her on the path that would lead to The Exodus Ranch.  “I went to a women's retreat with our church and met this lady that had been in some programs and stuff with drug recovery and everything,” Tufts said. “ I came back, and several months later, she showed up at my door and asked me if I could watch her little boy. And so we ended up, after some time of trying to help both of them, she ended up asking us if we would take custody of him. So as the years went on, the Lord just brought more and more situations across our … [Read more...] about Project Spotlight: The Exodus Ranch

Project Spotlight: P.E.S.T. Relief International

In 2015, Andrea Hancock officially founded P.E.S.T Relief International, a non-profit with a focus on bringing Pest Management professionals together to provide comfort and relief to orphaned, abused and at-risk youth through safe shelter, nutrition, education, physical and emotional health and spiritual enrichment.  The seeds for the organization were planted when Hancock learned that so many people in the world live in homes that have bed bugs, because they cannot afford to get rid of them. Back in 2004, Hancock had started Mattress Safe, Inc., a company that manufactures mattress covers.  After learning about the people all over the world suffering from bed bug infestations, she began donating mattress covers to various shelters in the United States. In 2012, she went on a mission trip to Honduras, and she brought mattress covers with her to give to three orphanages.  “I started taking mattress protectors to orphanages down in Honduras, and I caught a … [Read more...] about Project Spotlight: P.E.S.T. Relief International

Partner Spotlight: McWhorter School of Building Science

In the fall of 2018, the McWhorter School of Building Science at Auburn University made a change to its curriculum. This change paved the way for a partnership between Third Lens Ministry and Auburn Building Science.  “The Building Science faculty revised our curriculum where we actually have a dedicated, required senior level service learning class in our curriculum,” said Scott Kramer, a professor at the School of Building Science. “So in Building Science, starting in the fall of 2018, every single building science student has to participate in what we call Building Science 4360, which is a senior level class and it's required. It's not an elective like a lot of service learning classes.” The way this ties into Third Lens in that through mutual contacts, Kramer connected with Brian O’Neil, the executive director of Third Lens. The two found that the building science students could provide the construction aspect for the nonprofits that work with Third Lens, and in … [Read more...] about Partner Spotlight: McWhorter School of Building Science

Board of Directors spotlight: Mark LeCraw

In 2017, Mark LeCraw began working with Third Lens Ministries. He is the president and co-founder of LeCraw Engineering, a Georgia-based consulting and engineering firm. Through his years of experience as a professional engineer, LeCraw has been able to help Third Lens with several projects.  His role involves planning the site for the buildings. “So the process for us is once the project is funded once, the architectural programming has been completed we're provided with a survey and a building footprint and a general idea of what what the needs and expectations are and, and we we put together a site plan,” LeCraw explained. “Sometimes it requires multiple iterations to get to the ultimate plan. But once the site plan is blessed by everybody involved we start to move into our construction design phase, producing a full set of construction documents.” So far LeCraw’s firms has helped with projects for myLifespeaks in Haiti, True Deliverance Holiness Church in Auburn, Alabama, … [Read more...] about Board of Directors spotlight: Mark LeCraw

An American In Cuba: The Gift of Hospitality

Easter has officially come and gone, and what I very different Easter we had this year. No fancy clothes, no rushing to church to get a good seat and no singing in the front pew, “Christ the Lord has risen today, Hallelujah!” As much as I enjoy all of this, the solace and calm of this Easter was just as special, maybe even more.  Following Ester, I have been pondering the stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples after his resurrection. It may be because I myself am eager to see Jesus these days of COVID life or maybe it’s a way to keep Easter going despite the day actually being gone. I am a miracle believer and perhaps Jesus may be appearing to us today, just not exactly has he did then.  My favorite of all these stories comes from John chapter 21; here, Jesus is seen standing on the bank at Lake Galilee. He advises his disciples on their fishing skills, then he sits with them and serves them bread and fish. There are few details of this story, which leaves … [Read more...] about An American In Cuba: The Gift of Hospitality

Partner Spotlight: myLifespeaks

In 2003, Mike Wilson first visited Haiti. Seventeen years later, Neply, Haiti is now home to his and his wife’s nonprofit, myLifespeaks. Mike and Missy live there along with five of their six children, three of which were adopted from Haiti.  “So we we moved here in 2014 with the understanding that in order for us to really truly effectively lead this ministry we had to be on the ground,” Wilson said. “It could not be done from the United States.” Mike and Missy at A Night to Shine, myLifespeaks' yearly event myLifespeaks was founded in 2012, and it focuses on three main goals: family empowerment, educational excellence and public health impact.  Wilson describes Haiti as a place that has systematic corruption which leads to a lack of education and a high rate of unemployment. “I couldn't understand why something would be so drastically different for being so close to the United States,” Wilson said. “The more I came back, the more I realized that Haiti has a … [Read more...] about Partner Spotlight: myLifespeaks