A huge steaming pot of soup stood inside the Treasure’s Heaven Ministry meeting and worship room on Joe Slovo Street in Nemato on Saturday August 3. The icy weather may have abated for the day, but there were lots of hungry tummies, grateful for what may have been their only proper meal of the day.
Outside, a group of young people laid out on the grass second-hand clothing they had collected, washed, dried and sorted. Not longer after, community members lined up for a chance to look through the donated collection and choose an item or two to take home.
Behind the day’s activities was Melikhaya Mangcoto, who is a member of the Treasure of Heaven Ministry.
“I live here in Ward 7,” Mangcoto said. “And it breaks my heart to see hunger written in the faces of young children, and hopelessness in the faces of youth.
“The idea to help in this way was an idea sent by God. But I realised I can’t do it alone, so I spoke to other young people I know and we put this together.
“I love helping people,” said Mangcoto, who works as a casual labourer. “I am also struggling, but at least I can afford a few things. There are people who really have nothing.’
Mangcoto and his friends approached PR councillor Thunyelwa Mbekela, who didn’t hesitate to step up to the task.
“They said as a councillor I would know lots of people who can help, said Mbekela. “And they asked me to be part of the project.”
So she did washing – lots of it.
Founder of the Treasures in Heaven Ministry Melumzi Monti said he was proud of what the young people were doing to help others.
Monti established the ministry after a strong spiritual calling took him away from a life in Gqeberha that comprised little other than working, sleeping and drinking too much alcohol. That was a couple of decades ago
A painter by occupation, he opted to be sober, started a ministry and ditched the drink. The Treasures of Heaven Ministry has around 25 members who meet in the lrge room on SLovo Street.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 15, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.