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Board of Directors Spotlight: Chris Burch

Chris Burch has been involved with Third Lens Ministries from nearly the beginning of the organization. College friends with Third Lens’ founder, Lee Carol, Burch jumped on board with the new organization relatively quickly.  “Lee founded Third Lens in 2009, and then he told me what he was doing,” Burch said.  “When I heard about it, I told him I wanted to be involved. He knew that I was in construction, and he knew that I had also had a passion for serving the Lord however I could with my time and expertise.” The first trip Burch took with Third Lens was to Honduras in October of 2010. The project was to help Predisan Health Ministries build a clinic in the community of Wasparani, located in an isolated mountain region. “We came in and told them that we were there to help him,” Burch said. “That we were going to be coming back in a few months, and we were going to start construction on this building for them to build a medical clinic. So we called a meeting with … [Read more...] about Board of Directors Spotlight: Chris Burch

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

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

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 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