From misery to ministry

Jahzeal Clarke realised his calling in life was to help individuals who have been through similar, if not worse, circumstances than himself.

Despite the fact that his mother died when he was only 10 years old and his family abandoned him, forcing him to live in an abandoned house while attending school, Clarke has maintained a spirit of stewardship towards others throughout it all.

Remaining highly motivated to help others while attending St Andrew Technical High School, Clarke made sure that his roughly 40 classmates would get a taste of the food he would occasionally receive from a generous neighbour who was aware of his plight.

“I used to have one khaki pants and one white shirt and I used to wash them out every single day, but at school, they never knew that I was living in an old abandoned building and that was where every single night I had to lay my head,” said Clarke who was head boy at the time. He added that many of his meals came from a mango tree nearby.

“Where I am coming from, I used to eat mango morning, noon and night ... until my belly was full, but now I have come to a place where I am able to help provide for families and their children,” the young missionary explained.

In 2012, Clarke started the Jahzeal D. Clarke ministry and the Good Samaritan Food Bank in 2020 to help assist vulnerable Jamaicans across the island through monetary donations, food contributions and aid in building homes. He travelled as far as Westmoreland to offer such assistance.

SATISFIED WITH DECISION

Clarke said he is now satisfied that he “decided to [operate a] healthy and pure [ministry] with the help of God,” as his Christian faith has taken him “from misery to a ministry [and] from trials to be able to triumphant”.

The 28-year-old also credited a large part of his success to those who supported him along the way in shaping him into the man he is today.

Clarke has been able to assist over 50 people since the ministry’s inception, and he is continuing on a mission to help more vulnerable Jamaicans.

So far, the ministry has given over $1 million in medical aid, housing construction, back-to-school items, and food. Jamaicans living in the United States and Canada, as well as local Jamaicans, are among the ministry’s sponsors.

Clover Powell, her two children, and her ailing mother benefited from the hands of Clarke and his sponsors after previously living in a dilapidated home that required two pieces of lumber to hoist a perforated zinc covering.

After learning of her plight a few years ago, Clarke made an appeal to his audience and raised enough money to help Powell build a new home for her family of four, complete with two bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a bathroom.

He also partnered with the HEART institute to assist her in learning how to make soap, and would periodically visit her home since then to donate food and money.

Powell was given $5,000 and a food package on Tuesday, which included tin food, flour, and rice, among other things.

She testified about how the ministry has helped her in her darkest hours and is appealing to the public for further assistance to help to send her eight-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son to school as she remains unemployed due to her inability to afford the ingredients to make natural bath soaps for sale.

“I don’t like to just give help but I like to leave people in a place where they are able to sustain themselves,” said Clarke.

CASH AID

Althea Brown, 55, received a $45,000 cash aid from Clarke on Tuesday as well. Clarke met the candy vendor in 2019. She had been trying for years to get enough money to feed herself.

Just two weeks ago after losing her son, who was gruesomely murdered and dismembered by men in the Central Kingston area, Brown explained that she has been battling with high levels of grief, especially because she is finding it difficult to find money to bury her son.

“When I see Jahzeal, I remember mi son ... him cheer me up right in time and help me out,” she said.

“We know likkle is enough when God is in it ... and a start is better than no start at all, so we continue to assist her and to pray her up and to encourage her,” said Clarke.

Clarke’s next goal is to assist the mentally ill and homeless individuals, offering them an opportunity to bathe, have a hot meal and rest for a short time at his home that he is planning to expand.

“It’s not just stepping out and just giving what I can give, but stretching myself, making the right sacrifice to help fellow brothers and sisters,” said Clarke in a call for more Jamaicans to show compassion and more love towards the less fortunate.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com