Media Release August 27, 2009
Minister ‘on the watch’ for Armageddon
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AUCKLAND - When Jon Clarke was just a boy a crippling disease saw him trade dreams of football fame for a Bible and a
55-year mission watching out for an event that most people seem sceptical about.
As a 13-year-old at New Plymouth Boys High Jon’s rugby skills had already seen him lined up to play for the school’s
prestigious First XV. But disaster struck when an injury developed into osteomyelitis, a debilitating infection of the
bone marrow that would see him laid up for six months of rehabilitation, unable to participate in any sport.
Unusually, during the long recovery process he started filling his time with study of the Bible.
“It was really my grandmother’s fault,” says Jon. “She was one of those black-dressed ladies with an umbrella and a hat
and a Bible in her hand that she couldn’t stop talking about.”
During the evenings he remembers listening to experiences of Christians in Siberia who were sent to labour camps because
of their beliefs. He was captivated by their efforts to smuggle in Bible literature and preach to others, baptizing new
members in barrels of freezing water.
Those stories left Jon convinced that Armageddon was going to come before he was 18. So in 1954, at the age of 16, he
was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and became a full-time minister, preaching ‘the Good News of God’s Kingdom’
at every opportunity he could.
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In 1958 he travelled to New York for an international convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses attended by nearly quarter of a
million delegates. Meeting Christians from other countries and hearing of missionary experiences from foreign fields
sparked his imagination again.
Since then he has travelled the world studying the Bible with anyone who will listen. He and his wife, Margaret, have
served in the Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Malaysia and Mexico, and have recently returned from a journey through
the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam – three very different territories for a Christian minister.
“In the Philippines everyone is Catholic,” says John. “So they have respect for the Bible and believe in God. In
Cambodia they believe in Buddha and have never heard of the Bible, but they respect holy books. While the Vietnamese
live in a communist society where most have never seen the Bible or even thought about the existence of a creator.
“Often students would approach us so they could practise their English, and we would talk to them about their beautiful
country – about creation. Often they would come back in a couple of nights’ time to talk some more.”
Over half a century has passed since Jon first started his mission, and Armageddon still hasn’t come. But at 70 years of
age Jon is still preaching full-time about God’s coming Kingdom, and he has no regrets.
“I’ve had a charmed life,” he says. “I’ve moved to different towns, met hundreds of people who are now friends, and
moved overseas. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He is still convinced that Armageddon is coming, and he’s still telling other people about it.
Over the past three weeks he and Margaret, along with other Witnesses throughout Auckland, have been calling on people
in their homes to extend an invitation to the annual three-day district convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Held at the Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau on September 4-6, the convention will develop the theme ‘Keep
on the Watch’ and the public discourse on Sunday will answer the question ‘How You Can Survive the End of the World.’
“There’s a thrill and a joy from a convention like this,” says Jon.
“Those who attend will be convinced with what they hear and be motivated to line themselves up with God’s purpose before
the winding down of this old system and the bringing in of the new.”
ENDS