DUO Mobile Mission
Life Church, Cookeville, TN
Initiative: New equipment for DUO Dental truck and upgraded EHR software
2022 Grant: $25,000
Six Buses, One Mission on Wheels
Halfway between Knoxville and Nashville, the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee is rugged terrain characterized by deep hollers, tall ridges, and plunging waterfalls. There is lots of beauty, but there is also something else: sparse populations of underserved communities suffering from economic distress and unemployment. The poverty rate for the region’s 350,000 residents1 is higher than the national average.2 And Tennessee ranks 40th in the nation for overall health care.3
Enter Samuel LeFave, six buses, and hundreds of hearts.
Doing Unto Others Mobile Mission—referred to as DUO—seeks to empower individuals to lead a healthier life physically, mentally, and spiritually. DUO is a ministry of Life Church and offers free wellness services on wheels, staffed with fully licensed volunteers serving a single-minded mission: to bring essential care where poverty has created a barrier to access.
At 23 years old, LeFave serves as the director of DUO Mobile Mission, and a native of Cookeville, Tennessee. A passion for rural health and wellness comes from his undergraduate years where he organized free medical, dental, and vision clinics for Upper Cumberland residents. He relies on his background in biochemistry and health care law to help shepherd the DUO mission.
Six Buses of Care
DUO operates a convoy of buses and trucks, each equipped to serve its unique function: wellness, dental, vision, food, hair, and outreach. Each bus comes with a fully licensed, all-volunteer care team—from doctors, medical assistants, and even cosmetologists.
The medical buses do not treat and diagnose. LeFave explains that local health services do a great job with that. Instead, DUO’s aim is to support public health initiatives, preventative medicine, and health education. “We don’t ask for I.D. or insurance. If you’re here, you’re getting care.”
LeFave applied for the Kingdom Advancing Grant with hopes of funding a two-fold purpose. The first – to purchase new equipment for the dental truck. “The grant money will help us ramp up dental care. More fillings and more extractions equal better oral health for more clients.”
The second – to secure licensing for an electronic health record system (EHR). Since all six buses rarely go out together, having stronger EHR networking software allows each DUO bus to share information across wellness care services.
Mobile care services include point-of-contact blood screening for diabetes and cholesterol. The vision bus can make eyeglasses on site. The food truck offers meals—it’s even been deployed to feed local victims of a flooding disaster. And the outreach truck is a traveling stage. LeFave describes it as “our pure ministry truck” but adds that it’s also used for entertainment. “Because we’re in middle Tennessee, local bluegrass and country musicians volunteer their talent to supply good music for folks, too.”
“A meal and salon-quality hairstyle or barber service demonstrates our faith in action. It helps build trust from the get-go.” Samuel LeFave, Director of Duo Mobile Mission
Show, Not Tell
For people encountering DUO for the first time, the hair bus is a bit of a head-scratcher. “It’s our ritzy salon on wheels,” said LeFave. And it’s the first stop before a guest receives care on another bus. He explains that some people in underserved communities are church hurt. “A meal and salon-quality hairstyle or barber service demonstrates our faith in action. It helps build trust from the get-go.”
In that way, DUO helps introduce people into a system full of compassion that they’ve likely not encountered elsewhere. “It’s how we show, instead of tell, what it means to have a heart for Christ. And it may ease our guests back to taking steps toward their own faith again.”
Challenges and Support
Operations of this scope come with challenges. For LeFave, the biggest challenge has been learning how to manage volunteer teams and meet each team member’s needs. Plus, the mechanical component of an entire ministry on wheels adds a wrinkle of chaos, too. “If it can go wrong, it will go wrong,” LeFave said, then laughed. “I put that into practice daily.”
One unique feature of the Kingdom Advancing Grant is that awardees receive leadership support from Granting Council Partners in their area. LeFave expressed his gratitude for the guidance he believes is worth as much as the monetary award. “When I heard you were in my corner, I was most thankful. Praise the Lord!”
1 “Community Needs Assessment.” Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency, Community Action Agency’s Needs Assessment, 2020. 04 Regional Profile, Population Data, 05 Regional Profile, Poverty Data. https://uchra.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PY21-UCHRA-CNA-Final.pdf.
2 “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018.” United States Census Bureau, 9 September 2019. Release Number CB19-141. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/income-poverty.html.
3 “Health Care Rankings.” U.S. News & World Report, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/health-care. Accessed 9 September 2022.
The Kingdom Advancing Grant supports innovative church programs and initiatives that are unique in the way they bring people closer to Jesus, that can be sustained over time, and that can be replicated by other Christian churches. Learn more about the Kingdom Advancing Grant and the Brotherhood Mutual Foundation, including the application deadline and eligibility requirements.