Posted on by admin

SARAH D. CLARKE

Mrs. Sarah D. Clarke was one of God’s noblewomen. For thirty-one years she labored incessantly among the outcasts and downcasts of Chicago with that love shed abroad in her heart which only the Holy Spirit can give. During the early years of the Pacific Garden Mission, her husband, Colonel Clarke, was with her, and when he died she bravely took up the burden where he laid it down.
She achieved something that few women have equaled. It is possible she holds an all-time record. For over six thousand successive nights she never missed a night meeting in the old Mission! During this time she also visited the county jail two and three times a week, going from cell to cell and talking to prisoners.


Her power and influence over drunken and unruly men was remarkable. One night in particular a poor fellow on crutches came in very drunk and almost crazy. He disturbed the meeting incessantly until two of the ushers remonstrated with him, and soon there was trouble and all three fell to the floor together. When the drunken man in a frenzied rage reached for his crutch and would have done serious injury to those around, he felt the touch of a small hand upon his arm and looked up into the face of “Mother Clarke.” The man suddenly became quiet and the meeting went on.
Her life was simple and humble. She was visiting in a hospital one day and stopped to talk with a poor sick girl who was unsaved and hardened in heart. She seemed unmoved by all Mrs. Clarke could say to her. In the next bed lay a piteous outcast, wasted and worn, and this rebellious girl said to herself, “If that woman gives that girl a kiss, I will believe in her religion.” Mrs. Clarke passed on to the next bed, spoke a few comforting words to the poor girl and as she was leaving, stooped and kissed her on the forehead.
That kiss led to the other girl’s salvation. She wrote to Mrs. Clarke and said: “That kiss was the means of my conversion, for I afterwards gave my life to Christ and have a happy home, and shall never cease to thank God for your visit to the hospital.”
Hundreds of men and women date their entrance into the new life to the time when Mrs. Clarke with a few chosen words induced them to take a stand for Christ.
Mrs. Clarke became Mel Trotter’s mother in the Lord. To the glory of God he found himself surrounded by loving hearts. Among all of his friends, Mrs. Clarke proved to be a “mother in Israel.” Her letters to her spiritual boy reveal a depth of love and understanding for the one who so narrowly escaped a drunkard’s grave. In her letter from Chicago she said:
March 6, 1900
My dear Beloved Boy:
Nearly one whole month and not a peep from you, but my dear Bro. you are faithfully remembered as I promised every day, and sometimes I feel led to remember you often. I know the Lord must be blessing you for He has promised.
As usual I am on the rush every day, hardly know when or where to stop. We are having wonderful meetings. The tide is rising higher and higher. Well, we all miss you so much but know the Lord needs you there, or He would not have sent you. Therefore you can depend upon His promise that His wisdom, grace, and strength will be sufficient for you. In sweetest love, kind remembrance to dear Mrs. T. and with Christian fellowship,
D. Clarke

Read full article...