2009 was a great year!

I am so thankful for Jesus laying @theLOTproject on me and Matt Beasley's heart in 2009! It's been a long and crazy year! We have seen Jesus save souls, marriages, and feed and clothe thousands! For that we are so very thankful! We as a ministry are so excited to see what Jesus is going to do in 2010! Remember taking care of the poor and the least of these is God's vision not ours! Matthew 25:40! We have seen when the body works with the body and lets the Holy Spirit lead we can make a difference in our community! Thank You so much to all of the people who served Jesus through this ministry and helped us plant this ministry this year! We LOVE you all! With Love through Christ, Jason and Matt

Check Out The Article In The Paper...

Jesus Made The Paper!!!

The 1st Annual Harvest of Hope

We would like to let everyone know that on November 24th from 4-6pm we will be feeding the homeless and needy of Anderson SC. The event is called "Harvest of Hope" this is the 1st Thanksgiving event we have ever put together. It will be held downtown Anderson at Sullivan's Cafe. If you would like to get involved and help us serve or prepare the feast you can contact us at www.theLOTproject.com. If you wish donate to this cause, please don't hesitate. To help change a life you can click the donate button on our website or you can mail your gift to P.O. Box 4181 Anderson, SC 29622. Thanks in advance for your support and we are so pumped up about serving the Least Of These and showing them the LOVE of Jesus Christ. Get on board and help us help others. Thanks again!

East Side Block Party

We're having an all day block party!!! There will be a 3 on 3 basketball tournament, registration starts at 9:00 and the tournament will begin at 11:00. There will be free food and water all day. Street Pastor and Katalyst will be performing at 7:00. Come and hang out, get involved, and share the love of Christ! DB walker park is at 401 south main st. Anderson, SC

Thank You Card From A Mother...

If you follow The LOT Project's progress as a ministry, you know that recently God allowed us to help a single mother get on her feet. She sent us a thank you card and we just had to share it. It is amazing how God works through the lives of those that serve Him. Personal thank yous are just one of the blessings that come from that. Enjoy...

To The LOT Project:
I don't know all the faces and hands that were involved in giving us a home, but I want each of you to know personally how grateful I am. My daughters and I are only a few of so many other women and children in need-much greater than ours. But I thank God for His faithfulness and provision to us. I thank y'all for allowing Him to use your time, finances, and energy to get us into a home. There are probably many faces I will never know names of who helped out, yet God does know them by name...I am praying many blessings for them. I ask one more thing...please pray for God to open up doors for me to reach out to the many women and children in need these days. I am so undeserving, yet God has showed Himself faithful. I don't have the space or time to tell all of you what I've been in and done and what God has brought me out of, nor how I ended up here. But I can tell you there are women all around us in need. They have children who are living through their mother's choices. This is the burden God has been burning on my heart since 2004. I ask for your prayers- That His will be done in the hearts of women and their children and that His provision will be shown to them that He will make clear to me how I am to do what He's given me a passion to do.

Simply amazing that we get to do what we get to do. If you have questioned whether God has His hand on the LOT Project, then let this thank you card be an example of what God is doing through this ministry. We pray that God will allow us to continue to be the conduit that He uses to bring His kingdom to this earth.

1822 Prayer Group...Don't Forget To Submit Your Requests...or Sign Up To Pray...

We are a group of regular  people that are passionate about following Jesus Christ everyday.  Matthew 21:22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."  Romans 12:12 says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."  There are many other scriptures that tell us about the POWER of prayer, so we believe that prayer vital to a fruitful Christian walk.  We have put a prayer team together, so we can be lifting others up throughout the day.  We have named this group the 1822 Prayer Team.  The title 1822 stands for a double 911, obviously that means it is an emergency, so we wanted to express the urgency of prayer.  You can choose to join us and commit to pray, or you can just submit a prayer request.  Naturally, we will submit our own prayer requests here, and we want the public to share theirs too.  We are committing to pray for each prayer request that is submitted.  We wont be in prayer for hours over each of these requests, but we will commit to pray for each one for at least 30 seconds.  Know that each prayer, that we pray, will be prayed in faith that God will answer it according to His will.  We believe that each request that we receive is equally important, no matter how small.  We will not gossip, make fun of, or discuss any of the requests that we receive; however, we do reserve the right to screen the requests just in case someone tries to play games.

Volunteer and Information Meeting

Date: Saturday, May 30th, 2009
Time: 6pm
Location: Building 302
Address: 302 W. Market Street, Anderson, SC

The LOT Project is hosting an evening for all interested in learning more about us, becoming a volunteer, or just seeing the building.

We want to tell you about the vision God has placed on our hearts, where we have come from, and where we are going. We will also answer any questions you may have.

Christian Chapman, from Kingdom Building Ministries, will be preaching. Then we will cast the vision for this ministry that God has blessed us with.

Pizza and soda will be provided. This meeting will last about two hours.

Directions:
Coming from I-85 take exit 19A onto Clemson Hwy(US-76)
Continue straight on N Main Street(US-28)
Turn right on W. Market St.
Go two blocks and the building will be on the corner across the street to your right. It has a white brick side with red drains and a red brick front with large glass windows.

Parking:
Continue down W. Market St. just past the building on the right there is an open parking lot.

For more information or any other question please contact us at thelotproject@yahoo.com

My personal story (short version)

This is my story (the Short Version)  I grew up in Honea Path, SC. My life as a child and teen were very difficult. My parents divorced and my father went to prison for drugs, he is still in there today. I went through emotional and verbal abuse for years and suffered lot of heart ache as well. Having a broken family is hard on the kids. When I became a teen I had no father figure and my mom worked all the time. Thank You mom for being our rock! So slowly I began to explore Drugs and Alcohol. Over the years I began to use drugs everyday. I thought drugs and alcohol could take the pain away but it never did. I began to do everything that comes along with partying: sleeping around, lying, stealing, and being disrespectful. As a result, high school was a blur! Later, I met my wife and we did everything backwards. We had a kid, lived together, and then we got married! Our first years together were hell. I worked all the time and continued to use drugs and alcohol, as well as a heavy addiction to pornography. I was a pathetic husband and father but, somehow, my wife had hope! Then in 2002 my wife began to attend New Spring Church in Anderson and immediately I noticed a change in her! She got saved then baptized and she began to invite me to come with her to church. I disliked church and everything that came along with it, but praise Jesus she never gave up on me! I went to New Spring about 4 months after she began to invite me and the rest is history! I got saved, baptized, and we both immediately began to pour into our church. My addictions stopped and for the first time in my life I realized what was important, my relationship with Jesus and family! I then began to be the leader in my home and started to beg God to show me why he made me. What was He calling to do for him? That’s where my passion for the streets arose. I began praying, serving my community, and reaching out to prostitutes, drug addicts, drug dealers and the homeless. My PASSION for the lost and the streets continued to grow and that’s when I met Matt. He had been praying for God to send him a leader and I had been praying that same prayer! We casted vision together and were blown away at how similar our visions were! So we let our guards down and began to see Jesus Christ piece this ministry together one life at a time! The LOT Project began and Jesus Christ has blessed us beyond words! We have seen hundreds of people come to Jesus and even marriages restored through this ministry. We are constantly asking Jesus to break our hearts for what breaks his. We want to see, with the strength and power that comes from Jesus Christ, a move of God sweep the streets of Clemson, Anderson, Central, Greenville and wherever else he tells us to go! We ask that you continue to pray for us as we seek God’s plan for this ministry. Thanks to all of our supporters we love you all!

-Jason

Do Your Deeds Line Up With Your Creed?

Regardless of your denomination or your doctrinal beliefs, those that follow Christ should all agree on the Apostles Creed.  We can debate over eternal security or infant baptism, but we wouldn't lay our life down for those.  These are the FACTS that Christians have been, are being, and will be martyred for.  Are you willing to lay down your life for these?  Does your life reflect that?

The Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended into hell.

On the third day He rose again;

He ascended into heaven,

He is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Added To Their Number Daily...

We have been absolutely blown away at the way God has been moving among us lately.  The bus ministry blew their record number out of the water last night.  One of our leaders, Craig Walker, wrote an encouraging email to the bus leaders and I wanted to share it with those who read our stories.  Craig writes : "There were 55 kids on the bus today! That is simply amazing!  What an answer to our prayer.  If anyone ever doubts the power of prayer, these last two weeks have been a perfect example. We had been averaging 28 kids for the past 5 weeks before last week.  Last week, we all asked God to bring 40 kids and we had 42! This week, we prayed for 64 (bus capacity) and we got 55!  Prior to last week we had not been praying for a specific number as a whole.  As soon as we started praying for specific number God showed up and showed off!!!  This happened for two reasons. 1) Our God is FLIPPIN amazing!!!  2) All of your hard work and prayer.  Thank you so much for everything you do and your prayers. None of this would be possible without each and every one of you!  I know it can be trying at times, but you are making a difference for eternity in our community.  I truly believe that God smiles when He looks down on the L.O.T. Project and all of your contributions."  DANG!  This email can be directed towards all of you, that support the L.O.T. Project.  We could not run this ministry without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or without support from people like you!  We want to thank every one of you for your prayers, your time, and your financial contributions.  The fruit that we are seeing within this ministry is strikingly similar to the fruit of the church in Acts 2:42-47.  God has seriously been adding to our numbers daily, and it is our prayer that every person that we work with will be saved.  We stand by 1 Corinthians 15:58, which says, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Obedient To The Call...

This is a guest post from Danielle DiMuzio.  She is an 8th grade girl that attends Fuse*, NewSpring's youth service.  She blessed us with a simple act of obedience.  I hope you enjoy...

For a couple of months I’ve been saving up for an ipod nano, because my last mp3 player was stolen. I don’t get an allowance, and I don’t have a job, so my total savings only amounted up to about $50. I was pretty proud that I hadn’t spent the money on something stupid and was over ¼ of the way to my “prize” – the esteemed ipod. But I hadn’t been giving any money to God, and that fact weighed on me every time “tithing” was mentioned at church. I was able to brush off the guilt by saying that I’d start tithing again once I had the ipod and had money I could “afford” to give up. Anyway, I regularly attend Fuse* at NewSpring on Wednesday nights, and on April 1st, Brad was talking about listening to what God was calling you to do, and then actually doing it. As I was listening, I felt a sort of tugging at my heart, which turned into pulling, which turned into my heart beating faster and faster until I was like, “OK God! I know that’s you, what do you want me to do?” Then the video began to play. (the video was about the L.O.T. project and how it got started.) Instantly, I knew that was what God wanted me to do. I was to give $40 dollars to the L.O.T. project, and the remaining $10 of my savings was to go to the church for “general purposes”. And you know what? I wasn’t even reluctant to give the money. There’s something alluring about doing what God wants you to do, especially when you can see that MAJOR good will come out of it. So that night, when I went home, (I hadn’t brought the money to Fuse* with me), I took out the $50 and set it aside so that I would remember to give it to its rightful place next time I went to church. Unfortunately, doubt started creeping back into my mind during the two weeks between times I was at Fuse*. I started questioning if God had really wanted me to give ALL the money. But God shot down all my arguments, and this past Wednesday, I gave the money to the L.O.T project, and I feel so much better for it. God showed me that His plans are always better than mine, and that if I will just give myself – all of myself – to Him, He can do amazing things through me, or anyone in the same position.

Dr. King Kept It Real...

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most passionate men that has ever lived.  When I read some of the things that he wrote, I am encouraged beyond words.  I was in class this morning and a friend shared this quote, of  Dr. King's, with me.   

"On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This guy was known for keepin' it real, even to the point of being jailed, beaten, and eventually killed, just like someone else I know.  I pray that I can live a life of passion/suffering (2 Corinthians 6:3-10) that reflects my love for Christ, as Dr. King and others have done.  

Da Ice Cream Man...

What if we had an ice cream truck, and were able to drive it through the community?  Not only would we be offering ice cream for next to nothing, but we would be able to offer the gospel to everyone that we encountered.  Is it too far fetched to think that people could meet Jesus b/c of the ice cream man?  I guarantee I have someone that could fill this spot, we just need the truck.  Call me crazy, but this could and will work.  Your thoughts...

God Is Always Faithful...And We Are Trying To Be...

What’s up readers? Just wanted to update you on how God has been moving through this ministry. Last night at Fuse*, which is New Spring’s youth ministry, God moved in mighty ways. He really pressed down on me through the worship and the teaching then challenged me in mighty ways. Let me just say thank you to all the staff and volunteers that make it happen each week YOU ARE AWESOME! You are all not only making a difference in youth’s lives but also leaders lives. Now back to my story. We had small group after the worship service and it was great, but something happened at the end of small group as one of our leaders Craig Walker was praying. He was praying about the gauntlet and he said, “God its not if you are going to save people, it’s how many?” That prayer just rocked me to the core. God told me, “Tonight when all the kids get on the bus you are going to share my son and his love with them and I’m going to save souls.” I must say it was overwhelming at first because getting 27 students to be quiet on a bus is hard to do. But shortly after he told me that, it was time! I shared Jesus with those kids and told them about my past and what God has done for me! I told them God loves them no matter what but they need to turn their lives over to him and he is the only way to go John 14:6. I told them it’s not a prayer that saves you, its acknowledging Jesus as lord and truly accepting his gift in your heart and living for him that saves you. Folks I have never heard a bus of normally hyper kids be so quiet! Then God did as promised, he moved through that bus and saved lives. We took 7 kids and led them in a prayer to recieve Jesus. It was overwhelming, to say the least. My spirit was going crazy and my heart was rejoicing as I prayed with them. Hearing them say to Jesus, “Come into my life and take control,” moved me beyond words. Hearing them say, “I confess my sins to you and I need your forgiveness,” brought me to tears. You see that’s why we do what we do, to see LIVES CHANGE. Since then, we have followed up with them and will continue to disciple these students. All I have left to tell yall is that we at The L.O.T. Project are blown away at what God has been doing through this ministry. I ask you all to continue to pray for us as we share Christ with anyone and everyone. We are begging God for more of him and less of ourselves. It’s our prayer to reach our surrounding communities for Jesus and HE CAN DO IT! I Love you all and a special thank you to our bus leaders, you make it happen every week. We are so thankful for everyone's prayers and contribution. Know that God is using all of them to glorify HIS name.

Love you all,
Jason

All In A Day's Work...

First let me say thank you to all who prayed for the LOT project street ministry today. We started the day off feeding biscuits and coffee to dozens of homeless people. Then we had what I like to call, “A Street Side Service.”  I taught out of Romans 8, and it went really well. These men had a lot on their minds and I feel like Jesus provided them with HOPE. I know that we poured the Love of Christ all over these men and they felt God’s presence. We also provided several of them with backpacks full of supplies like soap, toothpaste, deodorant and food; the basic stuff we all use everyday. Shortly after the service, we began the more hardcore part of the day. God has been telling me all week to be bolder and more passionate in my approach while sharing the gospel.  He told me to invade the drug houses with the love of Jesus. So that’s what we did. We shared Christ with addicts, dealers, prostitutes, and anybody else who we came across. We were able to plant a lot of seeds and it was AWESOME. At one point I had a dealer ask me, “Do you know where you are?” I responded with a smile and told him yes, this is where Christ called us to minister. I then went on to tell him that I loved him and I just wanted to serve him. He was shocked, seeing his reaction was mind boggling to me. He opened up and we had an awesome conversation. You see folks these people are trapped in a lifestyle many of them did not ask for. Many of them grew up in a fallen community and had no parents. I believe that’s a bad way to start your life, TRAPPED! I feel like these people want out but many of them don’t have people that love them and pour into them. Many of them have lost HOPE and that’s one of many things Christ Jesus can give them. It’s up to us to show them Jesus and love them like Jesus does. You see that’s what drives this ministry THE PASSION OF JESUS. We want our whole community to feel loved and needed! Jesus can use anyone and everyone no matter your past he has a plan and a purpose for you. Just look at who he used in the Bible, ordinary men and women. I will end this post by saying thank you to all of our supporters and thank you to all of you who pray for us. On this day of ministry we had several people accept Jesus and several needs were met. Finally Praise be to Jesus Christ and his kingdom! God we beg you to continue to work through us and change this community we love you! Amen! Thanks Jason

There Is Still Hope For The Streets...

Jason and Tommy hit the streets of Anderson yesterday morning at about 9:30 on Thursday morning.  We thought that interviewing some people in the community could leverage us in meeting their needs.  Jason and Tommy went out with some breakfast biscuits to help them show some love to the people that they met along the way.  As they passed the employment office, on Whitner St. in Anderson, SC, they saw a group of 15 men hanging out on the sidewalk.  Jason whipped his jeep in the parking lot and they got out to talk to the men.  They offered the biscuits to the men and they all hastily accepted.  As Jason and Tommy sat down to eat with them, they realize that all of these men were homeless.  They sit at the employment office, in hopes that someone will pick them up looking for a day laborer.  Usually they turn to the bottle, or worse, to help numb the pain that comes with being homeless.  These men were surprised that Jason and Tommy stopped to talk to them.  Jason states the reason that they are there, "We have come in the name of Jesus!  Have you ever heard of him?"  As Jason continued quoting some scriptures to the men, a few of them are moved to tears.  Apparently, these men are dealing with problems deeper than just shelter, food, or work.  Jason continues to explain that Christ died for them because He loves them.  Jason then quotes John 3:17, “For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”  To make a long story short, 7 these men accepted Christ on that sidewalk, and later on that day 2 more men and 2 women accepted Christ.  Several of these men ended up staying the night at the Haven of Rest, which is a homeless mission with a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program within it.  Sadly, upon contacting the mission this morning, they informed us that they had left after breakfast.  One of the biggest problems with ministering to these people is the follow up.  How can you follow up with these with these people when they have no phone number, address, or workplace?  If you have an answer to that, please let us know!  The closest thing that we have come up with is to be persistent in pursuing these people.  We are learning their names, hearing their needs, and feeling their pain.  We can’t help but feel this way because being weekly involved in this community truly breaks your heart.  When your heart truly breaks for something, action has to follow.  We wish we knew what we were doing, but the truth is that we just trust the Holy Spirit to prompt us and we try to be obedient.  The people were informed about the bus that we bring to the neighborhood on Sunday mornings, so hopefully they will all file on.  Please continue to pray for these people that are in our community, and for us as we slowly try to submerge ourselves into their world.  Thank your for your supporting us, there is still hope for the streets...

Our Story...

It all started as a "crazy idea" that we thought we were just making up in our heads, but  it has slowly become a reality.  God continues to show us that He is the one that put this vision on our hearts.  As we started looking at what and who was around us in our everyday lives, we noticed that we encounter many different types of people.  Some may be believers and others may not be.  Some may be criminals and others may be saints.  Any way you look at it, you are going to encounter those that don't know that Jesus loves them and wants to have a relationship with them.  What do we do about that?  LOVE THEM.  That is the only answer.  We have to love these people right where they are.  This is in no way going to be easy, but it is a must.  Personally, we believe that we will be held accountable for our interaction with the people that we encounter in life.  When I see that someone doesn't know Jesus, I want to do something about that.  God has given all of us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit we can do something about it.   First, we started taking some kids to youth on Wednesday and church on Sunday.  We also started taking homeless people to church on Sundays.  We have seen numerous people accept Christ in  a little over a month.  God is absolutely blowing our minds with the things we are seeing happen.  God has been breaking our hearts for people that don't know Him, so we have to do something about it.  What if more kids show up?  What if we encounter 100 homeless people? (Easy to find in Greenville and Anderson)  How can we help these people?  We really feel that God is leading us to start a non-profit ministry that reaches out to the people He loves.  Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."  We want to be able to do something for these people and we know that God wants us to too.  The ministry is called The L.O.T. Project.  It is an acronym standing for the least of these.  Also in the old testament, Abraham pleaded to God to spare Lot's life, and we are pleading to God to spare the lives of those who don't know Him YET.  Give us one more month, one more week, one more hour to show these people the love of Christ, that is our prayer.  We have been praying over this for months, we have been serving with all we have, and we have been asking others for advice.  The L.O.T. Project is becoming a reality and God is blowing our minds and lives are being changed.  Feel free to pray or donate to this cause, and know that your contributions are greatly appreciated.  Contact us for more info, or if you want to get involved.  

Anderson Independent Mail Story...

Check Out The Story

Rollin' Down The Street...

God is filling the bus up more and more every week.  Last Wednesday we took 23 middle school and high school students to Fuse*. (NewSpring Church's Youth Group)  Last Sunday we took 17 homeless people to NewSpring's Sunday morning service.  God blessed us with this bus, and He is going to fill it up.  It is awesome to see the numbers grow from week to week.  I am just amazed at how He provides the resources to bring others closer to Him.  These students and these homeless people don't even know that God has a plan for their life; but week after week, they are getting closer to the relationship that will change their life.  Please keep The L.O.T. Project in your prayers.  We appreciate EVERYTHING that our supporters do for us.      

Happier About That One...

Jason (3rd from the right), with help from some others, fed and loved on these homeless men from Anderson, SC.  He also got a chance to share Christ with them, and two of them accepted Christ as their personal savior.  That  makes all of the hard work involved with  this ministry worth it!  Jason is just trying to live Matthew 18:12-13 and that is what The L.O.T. Project is all about!

Reaching Out...

We try to take every opportunity to build relationships with students in the community.  Spending time with them. as much as possible, has a huge effect on their lives.  Prayer, willing servants, and financial contributions to The L.O.T. Project will help these relationships grow.

You Have To Relate...

The wheels on the bus...

We now have a bus that we use to take kids to church on Wednesday nights.  We also use it to take homeless people to church on Sunday mornings.  Only time will tell, what God has in store for this bus.

Support...

There is something we need more than money folks. We ask you for prayer more than anything. As this ministry grows we want to pray over every step that is taken.  Prayer is so important to us that we ask that you pray BEFORE you give a cent.  Keep the lines of communication open between you and the Creator who has made you in His image.  Eternal lives are at stake here and they are one act of Love away from life change. Changing lives is something that we take very seriously.  We want to impact EVERY life that we can.  Send contributions to 100 Rollingwood St. Central, SC 29630. We have not achieved a non-profit status yet, so make checks payable to Matt Beasley. Also, we can’t provide you with a tax write off, Yet! Thank you for your help

Kicks For Christ...

The L.O.T. Project wants to encourage people to give $25 or more to support Kicks For Christ. Kicks For Christ is a shoe ministry that provides new shoes for the kids that we work with. In many cases, these kids have never experienced the reality of getting a brand new pair of shoes. We want to be able to provide that to them. Among other outreach ideas that we have, we think that Kicks For Christ will prove to be a success. Providing new shoes for kids is one way of bridging the gap of trust and communication. We want the kids to totally open their lives up to us so that God can use us to disciple them. For just $25 a kid will recieve a brand new pair of Converse Chuck Taylors. Skip going out to eat one night and be apart of changing a kids life. Your prayers and contributions are greatly appreciated!