2025 LOTS#: “Life on the Streets” and by the Grace and Mercy of Jesus, “Life off the Streets”

(No access to shelters at this stage)

LOTS# is an autonomous interdependent Jesus Centred outreach striving to be ‘The Body of Christ’ on the streets of Alberton, Gauteng, with a view to restore, in some small way, dignity and self-worth within those who find themselves sleeping on the streets.

Where did it start?

As a member of Alberton Methodist Church, in 2014 God laid it on Clive’s heart to care for the homeless. This was affirmed by Collin Muttit, one of the elders. Furthermore, on a mission trip to Mozambique Clive crossed paths with Derrick Prowling, who affirmed that they had ventured out at  Northmead Methodist. To crown it all, there was an interpreter on the mission trip who, as a small boy had been abducted from Soweto while asleep, to wake up as a street child in in Maputo. Alone and abandoned he turned to drugs, was eventually taken in by the Heidi Baker group, and grew up in Maputo – just another affirmation. Derrick was consulted and the realisation dawned that Clive could not do this alone. Back at AMC and in Prayer, Clive was pointed to Jorg Schwartze and John Mc Allister who had a similar calling. Together they visited Derrick and experienced the same setup LOTS# has now, a pot of soup and bread, blankets some clothes, and a lot of Prayer. Street people were ‘targeted’ where they slept, houses for prostitutes, drug dens, and by God’s guidance wherever they sensed a need. When thy left that first outing there remained a feeling of passion and one of change, both within and without.

Immediate families of Jorg and John joined to collect clothes and blankets, butter bread and make soup, initially at Jeroleen’s house with Porche cooking over and open fire. The Alberton Street Ministry was birthed from Methodist Church grounds. As today, updates as to where people were sleeping, needs and fervent Prayer started the evening of ministry. More people were found and more joined, the likes of De Wet, Sophie and many more. Many people left their mark with us. Many Ladies and Gents cooked for us. Many supported, and still support, us with donations of clothes, provisions and money. The group grew, the street people confided in us, trusted us, with many lessons learnt. During these early days Nico and Jimmy Abbott were invited and were indeed the first who attended Church, where they were treated with the utmost care by congregants.

In 2016 LOTS# registered as an NPO (2016/332396/08) with additional management members, Graham Hartley and Eric M^c Kechnie.

LOTS# has maintained the core structure and approach and by God’s Grace and Mercy can only thank and praise those who have supported us; people who give of their time and talents to provide and cook a nourishing meal every Thursday.

Along the way LOTS# was instrumental in starting the Alberton HELP (Help Enable Less Privileged) Forum to better understand the work done by organisations and Churches within the greater Alberton area. The idea is to leverage specific requirements as provided by these member and other institutions for the betterment of needy people. LOTS# also cemented ties with Ekurhuleni Social Services, Child Welfare, Amcare, the Alberton Methodist Church, Doxa Deo and Christian Fellowship Church, and not intending to stop there. LOTS# is truly Blessed to be a Blessing, by the Love, Grace and Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

LOTS# Vision

Our vision as LOTS# is to restore hope to the hopeless, reconcile and bring back people to Jesus and to fulfil their life’s purpose in God. (Jeremiah 1 vs 4 – 5)

LOTS# Mission

Our mission is to build a place where those in need, abused, harassed, despised and rejected can flee to and experience the love of God – and to be comforted, healed from that which is drawing them down, family problems, rejection, being unloved, misery, frustration and be made whole. Romans 13 v 8 says: “Owe no one anything except to love, uplift, comfort one another for He who loves another has fulfilled the Law.”

Our vision based on five pillars

1. Spiritual – Instil a set of guiding Christian beliefs, principles, and values that help give direction to life based on Scripture.
2. Physical – Acquire a building to provide for the physical needs in terms of a meal, clothing, washing facilities and safety.
3. Social – Interact successfully showing respect for others; being accountable to develop trust and displaying the Love of God, to create a support network of friends and where possible, family members.
4. Emotional – The ability to love and be loved like Jesus loves thereby raising levels of optimism, self-esteem and self-acceptance, irrespective of circumstances.
5. Occupational – Making use of God–given gifts, skills, and talents in order to gain purpose, happiness, and enrichment in life, giving God all the Glory.

Our Experiences

The Thursday feeding regimen has been a very fruitful activity, not to be relented, in which LOTS# has been able to build relationships, get to know the people face-to-face, typical numbers, and in many cases personal situations. It has become evident that within the realms of addiction, where lying, manipulating, cheating and thievery are core behaviours, there is the one person who genuinely wants to change his / her ways and LOTS# need to discern individual intentions. For this we require the insights of LOTS# members who have talked-the-talk and walked-the-walk to identify the genuine intentions of those who want to better themselves but do not have the wherewithal to take the first step. This, as opposed to those who are not willing to set aside their ‘street life’ and the need to overcome the withdrawal symptoms as a deterrent, even to the extent of denying serious medical situations. Most addicts have had the exposure to a rehab, where the short term interventions seem to be more  of a ‘comparison of war stories and experiences’ during which those, less experienced, learn more ‘tricks of the trade’. This said, LOTS# members will always give the wishes and needs of any person top priority and where possible entertain such so that our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified.  

Also evident, amongst those who have been on the streets for extended periods, despite the addiction, there is also a major adaptation to the structures, disciplines, rules and regulations which they are subjected to when entering a rehabilitation centre which, in itself, causes them to run. To assist the committed intentions of addicts there is a need for a nurturing environment where commitments are prayerfully validated by means of a daily program over a period of time, with due rewards / consequences, culminating in accommodation and a more intensive God Inspired program during which a Godly Soul can be ‘adopted’ by a support group  who in turn become accountability partners while the person is in rehab and thereafter. The ‘adoption process’ is also an education process for both the adopters and  the greater public who want to get involved.   

A Thursday expectation as another source of food had been created to the extent that the Garage People sent youngsters to receive numerous meals and not the Food for the Spirit in the form of a Bible reading, Prayer and Message. To this end, LOTS#, as with other ministry groups, decided not to serve the people at the ‘funny farm’, as known on the street. Those who come to meet LOTS# during their stops will never be denied the Word or any provisions they may require.

There have been cases in the past where street people have passed on without a dignified burial. Alberton Methodist Church, amongst other denominations, have opened their door as an opportunity to ‘Minister’ to the lost.

A modern day ‘leprosy’ exists where rehabs do not want to treat some street people because of a medical condition (infected drug administering area), and the hospitals do not want to treat them because they are addicts. In cases such as these, a ‘shelter’ would be a place where medical treatment can be administered by, or under the supervision of an appropriate professional.

LOTS# has identified a ‘gap in communication’ and are not effectively reaching black people in the same way that white people are more willing to open up to us. For this we need people who have a command of the various languages to assist in a more effective ministry.Despite interactions with Ekurhuleni Real Estate and Social Services, LOTS# does not have any facilities and hence the ‘license’ to set any expectations is not possible; Free rehabs are hosted by Gauteng and Ekurhuleni Social Services where the rehab provides limited time and medication for a total rehabilitation, but this also depends on the intentions of the addict. LOTS# works by Faith as in Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. In line with this, never have we been exposed to rain on a Thursday night that could dampen our enthusiasm and outreach – praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. For those wanting to join LOTS#, be it for a one-time experience, or on a regular basis, we go out every Thursday night, departing from the Alberton Methodist Church at around 19h00 in summer and 18h00 in winter – all are welcome, irrespective of age or denomination.

There have been times when finances have been in short supply but God is Good, all the time, and we have never been short of food with deep freezers stocked most of the time (fortunately no power outages – Praise to God!) In addition, LOTS has been blessed with weekly donations of fresh vegetables and fruit from the Fresh Fruit Market. All such donations are either used or the excess distributed through the H.E.L.P Forum (Help Empower Less Privileged), set up by Jorg, Tammy (Alberton Victim Support) and Eric, to understand the outreach activities of organisations operating in the greater Alberton area for the purpose of referral and to reduce duplication of effort by being HIS hands and feet in Alberton.