The Christus Movement
Donation protected
Christus Bowman is the owner of a 1998 black and yellow Toyota Camry that he painted and modified himself, and is very well known in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He’s very proud of his Camry and calls it his “Fast & Furious car”. Whenever he can show people his car, he’s very excited and passionate about all of the details he added and often asks to have pictures and video taken of him with his car and driving it. He loves cars and anything about cars- he is the very definition of a true car enthusiast.
Most people are initially pretty shocked when they see his Camry or the additional Honda Accord he modified with a similar design. Sadly, many people have been hateful- even to his face. He doesn't get upset or let it bother him while he smiles through it all, and just loves cars too much to let anyone steal his joy. Everyone who knows or have met him say same thing, similar to “Christus is such a nice guy, he loves his cars and he’ll ask about yours and always greet you with a big smile.”
At this point, you may be wondering "what's the big deal?" Well, Christus works 3 jobs with limited hours in order to barely get by, and this is despite having autism. Every day of his life is heavily structured, and he has every day planned out by the hour. The calendar he keeps on his fridge at home is what he lives by. He is an inspiration to those who know him, and all of them say he's a happy guy, nice to everyone, has a huge heart, and he'd give you the shirt of his back if you needed it. We need more people like him, but we also need to try to be more aware of those who are in the car scene…to not be so quick to judge or make fun of someone when we don’t know their story.
Some time ago, word got around about Christus, and he's been off-limits to bully online or in person. People from across the Commonwealth, whom are on the ‘Virginia Car Scene’ (VCS) Facebook group, are always quick to shut it down. Fast-forward to the last few days-- what started as a GoFundMe to raise money to buy Christus a new set of wheels for his Camry, has now turned into a complete mod list, free passes to events, plus free car supplies and more. All of this is mostly donations, on top of the money that has been raised so far. The goal now is to do a complete makeover on Christus’ car, and he is beyond excited about what is in store. First task is buying a new tire for his Honda Accord so he can drive it while the Camry is in the shop, and the process for the Camry makeover will begin.
During the planning phase, his friend Christy Thompson asked him, "If you could choose between paint, new wheels, and a sound system, what would you choose?" He said "Paint, but I'd keep the yellow and black the same." We are working toward a complete paint job that will be within budget, but there’s also a growing list of things in addition that need to be done. The first thing that needs to be fixed is the power steering so it's driveable. From there, the rest of the mods will get done. There are a significant amount of repairs to be done in terms of safety to include new brakes, all 4 struts replaced due to them being shot, a new windshield because the current one is cracked, new headlights and tail-lights, and his driver side door latch that is broken and could trap him in the car if anything were to happen. This is based on a quick assessment without popping the hood, just to be clear. We anticipate this list to grow in the coming days.
This is a group effort, and one that has come straight from the VCS community, which consists of 15k people from all across the state. Whether or not you live in Virginia, if you are passionate about cars and are touched by Christus’ story as much as we all have been, please join us in flipping the negativity that has been tormenting him for years, by making his beloved car into something that shows him just how much support he actually has-- that we see him….and we absolutely adore him.
Most people are initially pretty shocked when they see his Camry or the additional Honda Accord he modified with a similar design. Sadly, many people have been hateful- even to his face. He doesn't get upset or let it bother him while he smiles through it all, and just loves cars too much to let anyone steal his joy. Everyone who knows or have met him say same thing, similar to “Christus is such a nice guy, he loves his cars and he’ll ask about yours and always greet you with a big smile.”
At this point, you may be wondering "what's the big deal?" Well, Christus works 3 jobs with limited hours in order to barely get by, and this is despite having autism. Every day of his life is heavily structured, and he has every day planned out by the hour. The calendar he keeps on his fridge at home is what he lives by. He is an inspiration to those who know him, and all of them say he's a happy guy, nice to everyone, has a huge heart, and he'd give you the shirt of his back if you needed it. We need more people like him, but we also need to try to be more aware of those who are in the car scene…to not be so quick to judge or make fun of someone when we don’t know their story.
Some time ago, word got around about Christus, and he's been off-limits to bully online or in person. People from across the Commonwealth, whom are on the ‘Virginia Car Scene’ (VCS) Facebook group, are always quick to shut it down. Fast-forward to the last few days-- what started as a GoFundMe to raise money to buy Christus a new set of wheels for his Camry, has now turned into a complete mod list, free passes to events, plus free car supplies and more. All of this is mostly donations, on top of the money that has been raised so far. The goal now is to do a complete makeover on Christus’ car, and he is beyond excited about what is in store. First task is buying a new tire for his Honda Accord so he can drive it while the Camry is in the shop, and the process for the Camry makeover will begin.
During the planning phase, his friend Christy Thompson asked him, "If you could choose between paint, new wheels, and a sound system, what would you choose?" He said "Paint, but I'd keep the yellow and black the same." We are working toward a complete paint job that will be within budget, but there’s also a growing list of things in addition that need to be done. The first thing that needs to be fixed is the power steering so it's driveable. From there, the rest of the mods will get done. There are a significant amount of repairs to be done in terms of safety to include new brakes, all 4 struts replaced due to them being shot, a new windshield because the current one is cracked, new headlights and tail-lights, and his driver side door latch that is broken and could trap him in the car if anything were to happen. This is based on a quick assessment without popping the hood, just to be clear. We anticipate this list to grow in the coming days.
This is a group effort, and one that has come straight from the VCS community, which consists of 15k people from all across the state. Whether or not you live in Virginia, if you are passionate about cars and are touched by Christus’ story as much as we all have been, please join us in flipping the negativity that has been tormenting him for years, by making his beloved car into something that shows him just how much support he actually has-- that we see him….and we absolutely adore him.
Organizer and beneficiary
Devin Wright
Organizer
Roanoke, VA
Tiffany Dockery
Beneficiary