Amanda-Lee Chili

Amanda-Lee grew up in a small town on the north coast of South Africa.

“When I was a young girl, I was drawn to Jesus and used to go to Christian holiday clubs and Sunday school.

When I gave my life to Jesus as a teenager, I was the first person in my immediate family to become a Christian.”

After coming to faith, Amanda-Lee’s heart for people on the margins grew. She worked for her Church’s nonprofit organisation that supported widows and orphans.

She also went on short term mission trips to Uganda and Mozambique with her church, to uplift the community, both practically and spiritually, sharing the gospel with the locals, and strengthening and encouraging church members and their leaders during these trips.

When Amanda-Lee relocated to London as a full-time missionary, she found other opportunities to come alongside people overlooked by others, by befriending people living on the street and inviting them to church.

“The longer I spent time engaging with people living on the streets, the clearer God’s calling to help and minister to the homeless became.”

Amanda-Lee works in our homeless and marginalised specialism, supporting churches to connect with those who are homeless and marginalised through regular outreaches, to those who are homeless or vulnerable that they come across in local squares and parks.

“The aim of the outreach is to engage and befriend the homeless population in the area, by sharing the love of Jesus with them, by signposting individuals to appropriate services and support, and by inviting them to church.

Many of the people we meet have experienced broken relationships and rejection. They’re often isolated and lonely and are looking for community, purpose and meaning.

As local churches, we can be a welcoming, accepting and non-judgmental community for those who are looking for hope and are needing to encounter the love and saving grace of Jesus.”

Amanda-Lee has recently launched a safe space for homeless women at LCM’s homeless day centre Webber Street which is a much-needed safe space for women.

“Our aim is to be a space that women can come to that is warm, accepting and safe, a space where they can have their practical needs met, where they can be signposted to other services and support, and most importantly be a space where they can hear the good news of Jesus.”