Jurgen Fritz provides a safe haven for troubled men

Jurgen Fritz embarked on a journey to positively influence the greater community of Buffalo Flats when he took over municipal space that was previously an eyesore littered with rubbish.

Over five years, the 40-year-old turned this space in Vergenoeg into a haven for men recovering from drug addiction, naming it Just Love Them into the Kingdom.

His support group aids the recovering addicts fight poverty through the supply of meals and helps restore their faith and sense of unity. 

Fritz said he was inspired by his own path when he was young and caught up in drugs from which he was able to escape. 

“I started… because I know that the use of drugs is not good for anyone.”

He said through the assistance of the KwaSizabantu church in KwaDukuza, in KwaZulu-Natal, men were offered shelter on the site for a two-week programme, and offered counselling during this time.

Fritz says he has helped hundreds of men in this way.

“It’s easier to have men alone in the container,” he said.

“I can’t have mixed sexes together in the same place.

“My heart truly bleeds, for there are mothers, sisters and daughters out there that need assistance.

“I am praying for God to open doors to enable me to accommodate women as well.”

Fritz said they also ran a group for recovered men and their families to provide support and guidance that met daily at 6pm.

Fritz’s family provides the daily cooked meals and relies on donations and his own contributions for this.

“We provide for the people with what we have.

“There is so much we still need to sustain the vision — but we are using what we have and many lives have changed already.

“I am seeking to create a safe environment not only for today but for tomorrow,” he said. 

His leadership has touched many lives and helped pave a positive path for them. 

Jason Korsten, 28, said his life had been restored, and he had rediscovered his purpose through faith and support from the centre.

“Before I came across the organisation, I was homeless for 2½ years, sleeping on the city’s streets.

“On a daily basis, I had a mission to search for food in black bags with no-one to help me,” he said.

Korsten said a relative had advised him to seek help from Fritz.

“Fritz took me in, provided food, clothes and everything that I needed and, most importantly, brought salvation in my life.

“He taught me how to read the bible, go to church on Sunday and have prayer sessions, and that is how I developed the habit of praising the Lord.”

Korsten said his road to becoming drug-free started with frequent counselling and help from KwaSizabantu advised by Fritz. 

“I have been drug-free for more than a year now and I continue to go to church.

“Last year, I was baptised and I am an usher in my church.

“God is working through Fritz to reach young people and to everyone that needs assistance, his  door is open to help,” he said.

Justin Dass, 33, said his journey had not been easy as a person who had lived on the streets.

“I have faced rejection in my life, including from family. I am the man I am thanks to Fritz.

“For the longest time, I have managed to forge and restore my relationship with my mother and she is in my circle.

“I have never stayed sober for so long,” he said.

Dass said when he came to the centre he did not have clothes.

“Fritz has realigned my perspective with how my life needs to be in a Godly manner. I am forever grateful,” he said.

Fritz was nominated by Monique Jonathan who said: “Our community is becoming a better place because of this young man who saw it fit enough to start something without any funding.

“The vision of Fritz does not end with recovering drug addicts. At times when there are means he requests his family to make soup as he believes that you cannot pray for someone and read the word of the Lord on a hungry stomach.”

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