Atlanta Pastor Lives On The Streets For A Week To Learn More About The Unhoused "The Least Of These" Documentary To Be Released In August

ATLANTA - May 28, 2025 - PRLog -- Pastor Mayo Sowell, lead pastor of LIIV Atlanta Church, made a bold and personal decision: step away from the pulpit and live on the streets of Atlanta for an entire week. His mission? To understand—on a human level—what the unhoused truly experience and how communities can respond with more than charity, but with connection.

"This was a deeply personal call to experience the life of those we often overlook," said Pastor Sowell.

Armed with only a backpack, a few essential items, and a camera to document his journey, Mayo walked, slept, and ate on the streets. He met people from all walks of life—each carrying stories marked by loss, resilience, and quiet endurance. To his surprise, it wasn't the struggle of finding shelter or food. It was the much deeper, unaddressed issues that he discovered during his time documenting the experience.

"There are ways to survive, but finding someone who deeply cares about your situation can be nonexistent for people," he explained. "Relational poverty is a very real thing."

When asked immediately following the experience what surprised him the most, Pastor Sowell didn't hesitate:

"It's more than just a helping hand needed—this will take an aggressive hand to pull someone out of homelessness with strength, patience, and tenacity."

That urgency hits close to home. Before the pulpit, Mayo's life took an unexpected turn. After a successful college football career at Auburn University and a shot at the NFL, he spiraled into a path that led to five years in federal prison. "I know how it feels to be alone, overlooked, and considered the least of those in society," he said. "But all it takes is one person to care enough to change your life around." After a radical spiritual transformation during his last year in prison, Mayo was released with a new purpose: to become a pastor.

Today, he is a husband, father of three, and pastor of a thriving church in Atlanta. His mission is to show others that a little empathy can have extraordinary outcomes. "It took one person to care enough for my whole life to change its course. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone."

To learn more about Pastor Mayo Sowell, visit https://www.liivatl.com/about.

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