On one of those “tornado alert” days back in the summer, Royce and I met the Rev. Harold M. Clark at Clarke-Venable Baptist Church. We became friends and have enjoyed having him over often since then. He was new to the area and had just suffered the loss of his beloved wife of 56 years. We considered our meeting him truly a “God thing.”
Bro. Harold, as we like to call him, has been such a blessing to us and many others in Newton County, as he is a master gardener and loves to do gardening “free gratis” anywhere he sees a need for beautiful flowers. More importantly, however, is the fact that he loves the Lord so much and is always willing and available to teach anyone who is hungry to know more of the God’s Word, since he was a Bible college professor for many years.
Harold M. Clark was born to Myron and Fauneil Clark on July 25, 1937, in Lincoln, Neb. An only child, Harold’s father was a welder and his mother a secretary. After high school graduation, he went on to Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minn., where he met and married his wife, Donna L. Wiley, from Marion, Ohio. He graduated in 1959, and they were married on May 27, 1961.
They moved to Portland, Ore., where he attended Western Seminary, graduating in 1963. Donna’s father had been a pastor then a chaplain at the state prison in Marion, Ohio. After Harold’s graduation, he became the chaplain of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, where they cared for all kinds of veterans, even some who had served the United States as far back as the 1898 Spanish-American War. Soon after he arrived there, he had to do 13 funerals in one month! At age 26, he preached the sermons, directed the choir, and ministered to the needs of many who had dedicated their lives to the service of this country.
The Clarks were blessed with two boys, James, born July 25, 1963, and Ben, born Jan. 28, 1965. James is now the Chief Weather Forecaster at Seattle International Airport, while Ben works for the United States government in the field of intelligence in Athens, Greece. James and his wife Maria have no children, whereas Ben and Marija have Bianca, nine, and Alec, four.
Bro. Harold and Donna moved to Norfolk, Va., in 1965, where he taught in a Bible college until 1967. While there, he also taught Sunday School and directed a church choir on Sundays and for Christmas and Easter cantatas. He then taught at Mid-South Bible College in Memphis, Tenn., until 1986, when they moved to Clay County. This move was requested and paid for by one of his best students, who had become a pastor in a rural area, west of West Point. Bro. Clark taught there as his young friend pastored for five years, leaving in 1991 when his friend’s situation changed.
The Clarks then became residents of Noxapater, where he worked in Patient Accounts at Neshoba General Hospital, until he had an accident and retired at age 62. After he recovered, he began doing volunteer work. His wife had health issues at that time and had a stroke on Jan. 4, 2017. A second stroke brought on her death on January 29, 2017.
Bro. Clark told me, “I had been impressed, ‘Something bad is going to happen, and you need to buy a house.’ The larger house was needed so as to have room for hospice for my wife. I moved here because of the college, and because I felt impressed to come to Decatur.” He is presently a member of Clarke-Venable Memorial Baptist Church, and he actively volunteers in the community in a number of ways.
Bro. Harold’s salvation experience began at a young age, when, reared in a
Christian home, he began “wanting God” at about age five. He was extremely conscientious as a child, and, at the age of 12, a Sunday School teacher explained how to be saved. After making that decision, he explained, “ I wanted to be good, and I knew I could not do it myself — it had to come from the Bible. I accepted God’s life-directing guidance. I’ve sought that ever since.”
As a teenager, he prayed specifically for guidance, and on New Years’ Eve, at the age of 16, he received his answer and knew it.
“The pastor spoke on the importance of reading the entire Bible, start to finish, in one year. If every high school student would do that, meditating and interacting with the Bible, they would not lose their faith.”
He declared, “I knew—when I came across a situation — I knew what was right or wrong, because I’d read the whole Bible.”
He told of studying chemistry in high school, of learning that you can expect things to happen.
“It is the same as the Bible. There are moral principles. If you ignore them, you’ll suffer the consequences.”
He also commented of his experiences of reading the Old Testament thirty minutes in the morning and the New Testament 30 minutes in the evening, “It was absolutely fascinating to read clear (nothing vague) predictions in the morning and their fulfillment in the evening.”
While reading the Bible and studying chemistry, Rev. Clark says, “That’s when I got the vision to treat the whole person — Body and Soul, as well as Spirit. I was very concerned about older people having chronic degenerative diseases. So I read S. I. McMillen’s book “None of These Diseases.” He also studied nutrition and natural medicine for five years. He says these “will cure whoever will listen, but very few do listen.”
“As far as the Soul is concerned, I was personally trained by Norman Wright to do personal, marital, and pre-marital counseling. I was also certified to do so by a company in Los Angeles… I was also trained to identify the part that chronic negative emotions have on degenerative diseases like cancer and heart disease.”
In regard to the Spirit, Rev. Clark refers to his study of both Hebrew and Greek, which he says enhances a person’s knowledge of the Bible and God’s will greatly.
Rev. Clark still enjoys teaching, especially “the whole Bible, emphasizing the prophecies and their fulfillment. Plus how to study the Bible with the right tools: Exhaustive Concordance, Bible Dictionary, etc. I want to impact many for good.”
Upon request, Rev. Clark is available to answer biblical questions or discuss biblical subjects. You may contact him at 601-635-3099, in the evenings.
You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
