And Such Were Some Of You

Fifty years ago, David Clarke made a confession to the police of 24 crimes and appeared in Aylesbury Magistrate Court, on 9th February 1971. In court, Clarke related the reasons for his confession. In summing up and sentencing, the Chairman of the magistrates said, ''We have considered what we aught to do and have come to the conclusion that your evident desire to become a martyr is one thing we are not going to gratify''. He gave Clarke a conditional discharge for 3 years, pointing out that the sincerity of your conversion could be shown by his behaviour during that period. It was 30 years later, in September 1999, that David got news of his older brother Michael Clarke's own conversion to Christianity. Michael had served 5 years, of a 16-year prison sentence, in the Philippines, that he decided to go on a mission of help to the Philippines. This was to bring help and relief to his brother. This part of the story was reported as news by Portsmouth News. Their story was also reported in The Oldham Chronicle, the town where the brothers were born. David visited Michael in New Bilibid Prison, for the first time in 2001. This is the National and Maximum Security Prison. He visited Michael several times over the next four years and the brothers worked together within the prison with Religious Volunteers, and many prison inmates, seeking to help former criminals in their own rehabilitation. The brother's vision was to equip former converted criminals to return to their own villages, towns or Cities and preach the gospel to their own friends and relatives. The first inmate to be released with this commission was William O Poloc who was released, in August 2002, after serving 14 years for homicide. Many other prison inmates testified, in their own handwritten accounts, their own stories of reformation, which David writes about in their book, Trojan Warriors, that contains 66 testimonies of converted criminals. But Sadly, Michael died of Tuberculosis in New Bilibid Prison before their vision of bringing help to many had been realized. Michael's story was reported in the Eastbound Herald, on 27th September 2012, Since August 2002, William Poloc has worked in Baguio City Jail and Benguet District Jails, working with inmates and former criminals, and founded several church groups, called Christ-Centered Churches and a Theological Institute.