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Education

Terence Lester
In 501c3, Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Collaboration, College Park, Community, Community Service, DRIVES, Education, Empowering Youth, Family, Family Values, Gospel, Great Commission, Homelessness, Journey, LBW Home, Leadership Development, Life Change, Life-dares, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Needs, Partnerships, Passion, Plant Love, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, , Sole Beauti, Struggle, Transform, Vision, Volunteerism

Floors are in the bus!

For the last month or so (since I got off the bus), our team has be diligently working to get the bus up and on the road! It has taken tons of sacrifice, effort, and focus to work on the bus. Along the way, God has sent some really cool people to help out.

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On Wednesday, Dave and Darren decided to lay the floors in the bus. As you can see from the picture below, the bus is really starting to change and transform on the inside…

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Although we have won’t immediatly have the showers installed (still have more funds to raise), we are aiming to get the bus on the road to start mobilizing barbers/stylist, and people who want to make people over with the closet inside the bus.

Terence

Terence Lester
In Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Community, Community Service, Current Events, DRIVES, Education, Family, Family Values, Fighting for the Hopeless, Homelessness, Journey, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Mission, Missions, Movement of Doers, Needs, Plant Love, Poverty, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, , Sole Beauti, Story, Vision, Volunteerism

11 Alive News Surprises Us!

Chesley McNeil from @11alivenews surprised us with a check to pay for the wrap for the bus this AM. Super humbled that this news station decided to invest in our work. ‪

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LBW Team

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, Community, Community Service, Documentaries, DRIVES, Education, Family, Fighting for the Hopeless, Gospel, Great Commission, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Leadership, Leadership Development, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Overseas, Partnerships, Plant Love, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, , Sole Beauti, Story, Struggle, The Local Church, Uncategorized, Vision, Volunteerism

Almost there – 2 nights to go!

Last night made 28 nights living on top of the bus! Terence only has two more nights to go to complete the journey.

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LBW Team

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, Community, Community Service, Diversity, Education, Empowering Youth, Fighting for the Hopeless, Give Miles Away, Giving Tuesday, Great Commission, Homelessness, Journey, LBW Home, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Passion, Plant Love, Poverty, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, , Sociology, Struggle, The Local Church, Vision, Volunteerism

Night 24 – 6 Nights Left

Today makes 24 days for Terence living on top of the bus… In six more nights he will complete the journey. Keep him in your prayers.

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LBW Team

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, CarryATL, Collaboration, Community, Community Service, Corporate Sponsorships, DRIVES, Education, Family Values, Fighting for the Hopeless, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Leadership, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Movement of Doers, Movies, Organization Update, Partnerships, Passion, Plant Love, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, Sole Beauti, Struggle, Thanksgiving, The Local Church, Vision, Volunteerism

Night 19 – Progress update

Last night made 19 nights on top of the bus! So far, we have raised enough to start the first phase of the bus project (barbershop/salon). Below is a snapshot of where we have landed with the bus project.

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Terence

Terence Lester
In 501c3, Be the Church, Blankets & Socks, Collaboration, Community, Community Service, Corporate Sponsorships, Diversity, Education, Empowering Youth, Family, Fighting for the Hopeless, Global, Gospel, Great Commission, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Organization Update, Passion, Plant Love, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Serve, Serving, Sole Beauti, Struggle, The Local Church

First Mobile Makeover Commplete – Night 17

Last night made night 17, and I am actually starting to feel inspired. Why? One reason is because we were able to mobilize, a barber, a tailor, and a few generous people to complete our first #mobilemakeovers (before we have gotten the bus up and going)!

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Who did we make over? We made over Robert and his younger brother, Willie. Below is a before and after picture that will give you a glimpse of what we’d like to do all next year once we get the bus up and going.

Additionally, we recorded the barber to capture his words about volunteering his time.

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We hope to launch our project with the bus soon to start the process of making people over from all walks of life, and hopefully connect them to agencies and programs that will help them take steps toward total life-change.

Terence

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, College Park, Community, Community Service, Diversity, DRIVES, Education, Empowering Youth, Great Commission, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Organization Update, Plant Love, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Serve, Serving, Sole Beauti, Struggle, The Local Church, Vision, Volunteerism

The Halfway Point – 15 Nights Straight

This morning, I opened the tent and it was wet again. It’s always hard when it rains because it makes the journey feel that much more intense.

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For the last 15 days, I have been living on top of a bus in College Park, GA to raise awareness about people in need that we are hoping to make over with our #mobilemakeovers bus! I am aiming to go a full 30 DAYS.

Honestly, I can’t believe I have survived this long because of the weather, and the intensity of this journey.

I know it is only by God’s strength that I have not given up. God has been carrying me the distance, and given me more compassion about the cause.

Additionally, my wife has pushed me by caring for our children, and stepping up in a few places that I have had to pulled back from during this journey. She has been encouraging me the entire journey! In fact, she has sent me scriptures, and quotes to keep me uplifted.

There are so many lessons I’ve learned on top of this bus about trusting God completely, the importance of simplicity, blocking out the absence or negativity of people, persevering through rough times, and the importance of maintaining pure integrity and character.

Well, I am at the halfway point, and I am still believing that God will use this bus and our project to do something fascinating in the lives of those we seek to serve. I can’t wait to see what’s to come of this!

Terence

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, College Park, Community, Community Service, DRIVES, Education, Family Values, Fighting for the Hopeless, Give Miles Away, Giving Tuesday, Great Commission, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Movies, Partnerships, Passion, Plant Love, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, Sociology, Struggle, The Local Church, Transform, Uniforms of Hope, Volunteerism

Night nine – What keeps you going?

Below is a quick clip put together by sG3 Media asking me what will keep me going for the 30 nights on top of bus?

 Terence

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, Community, Community Service, Diversity, Education, Empowering Youth, Fighting for the Hopeless, Gospel, Great Commission, Homelessness, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Leadership, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Love In The Trenches, Love Kits, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Organization Update, Partnerships, Party for a Cause, Plant Love, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, , Sociology, Sole Beauti, Story, Transform, Vision, Volunteerism

Night eight – My friend joins me!

Last night was extremely hard (however I have made 8 nights of the 30 nights I am aiming for), but God sent me someone to help. In fact, last year on today I met my friend Robert while sleeping under a bridge in the heart of downtown Atlanta. He was homeless, and we formed a friendship. Today, he is living with someone, and is hoping to join a program that will provide housing.

Earlier this week I spoke with him and he decided come up here and stay on the bus to help me go the distance. This means a lot to me because last year we were under a bridge, and this year he is helping me raise awareness about this bus project.

I am grateful for him and our friendship! He has helped to understand why it is so important for people to have dignity. Below is a picture of my friend on top of the bus.

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Terence

Terence Lester
In Be the Church, Blogging Journey, Campaigns, Collaboration, Community Service, Education, Empowering Youth, Family Values, Fighting for the Hopeless, Great Commission, Homelessness, Journey, LBW Begins, LBW Home, Leadership Development, Life Change, Life-dares, Love Beyond Walls Story, Mission, Missions, Mobile Makeovers, Movement of Doers, Needs, Passion, Poverty, Purpose, Raising Awareness, Resources, Serve, Serving, , Story, Struggle, Transform, Uncategorized, Vision, Volunteerism

Night 1 – Doing it for the people!

Yesterday was unreal.

Around 10pm a small group of us arrived back at the office where the bus is parked… I talked to my wife and kids, we prayed, and I climbed up to start living on top of the bus for the next thirty nights straight. My friend Dave built a pretty secure platform on top of the bus for my safety. It includes a porta potty, a small heater, and a little power so I can blog about my experiences.

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However, I know people are probably wondering “what in the world does living on top of a bus prove. Better yet, why in the world would you do it in the middle of winter. It makes no sense.”

Well, to me this means everything. This past year, our organization encountered thousand of people through service. We served tons of apartment complexes, and served a couple thousand homeless individuals in the heart of the city, and I noticed something very unique among all those we served. People have lost hope, a sense of self-worth, and even dignity. It is hard looking into the eyes of people and knowing that the only self-worth they have is their existence (meaning they feel they only feel worth because they are alive). In fact, I can remember encountering a lady in the apartment complex where we serve that said, “I feel like I am forgotten about… and I’m all alone…” This same lady said that she hadn’t eaten in a week because she was a senior citizen and had few resources.

No matter how you slice it, communities and people who live in poverty deserve to have a sense of self-worth, dignity, and even receive help that could possibly help them rebuild the pieces to their lives. We’ve seen recently in the news a underlining call for all people to start working in communities to restore the broken pieces that leave stains, and scars that never go away.

One of the ways #lovebeyondwalls would like to start helping the community is by reaching out to communities and homeless individuals by providing makeovers with our bus. These makeovers would be more than physical touchups, they would be like a launchpad for people to taking steps toward permanent change.

Still… This doesn’t answer why sleep on a bus…. does it…

Well, I am staying on this bus because we are serious about transforming the bus, and sharing compassion with many people who have no hope! We desire to go mobile to serve people in the city of Atlanta. It’s just that simple. I believe in what we are taking a stand for… And I believe that we will be able to band together with other organizations to help people.

Terence

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