Rev. Laverne Sinclair
Barbara Ellington, Features Co-ordinator
SHE became an ordained minister in February of this year, and had been an evangelist for some time before that, but, at age 17, Laverne Sinclair was a radical Rasta woman. Ironically, the Rastafari years prepared her for her journey to evangelism because during that period, she read the Bible from cover to cover - a chapter a day.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Rev. Sinclair who admits to having been a rebellious child, said that her life has been characterised by a call to serve God but she put up quite a resistance.
"After completing the Bible, I began reading it again and when I reached Isaiah, I kept hearing a voice telling me to stop being a Rasta," Rev. Sinclair said. But having been a six-year member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel she was fully aware of the stigma attached to members of her group. "Many people saw us as a disgrace to our families."
Rev. Sinclair who had changed her name to Shamaie Tafari, was in turmoil so she journeyed to Scarlett's Vale in St. Elizabeth where she sought counsel with her granduncle, Bishop C. Livingston Scarlett, on her spiritual future. "He was the only member of my family who understood my position. I told him God wanted me to be Christian. He told me to go back to Kingston and be baptised in the Apostolic faith," Rev. Sinclair told The Sunday Gleaner.
Although she trusted her granduncle, she couldn't understand the concept of being saved. She went back to her Anglican roots, met with Rev. Herman Spencer, did the catechism and continued the soul-searching.
In 1986, then married with three children, Rev. Sinclair travelled to New York where she converted to Catholicism. Following the birth of her last child, she again received the call to Holy Ghost revival, but again resisted.
"There was a three-day crusade at my church during which we experienced a Holy Ghost revival with charismatic priests from the southern states of America. It was unprecedented to hear Catholics speaking in tongues, she said.
She continued to resist the call to serve but eventually caved in. A fall in her bath tub which led to a "totally disabled" diagnosis was a major turning point. After praying for healing, she received it and resumed her normal activities. She survived two broken marriages, got bachelor's degrees in Theology, Psychology and Education and began to spread God's word through evangelism. She has recently incorporated the church "Victoria Jubilee Born Again Tabernacle (Apostolic)" and co-pastors at Gospel Prayer House Assembly in the Bronx, New York.
Rev. Sinclair is also the author of Anointed and Encouraged: a Collection of Inspired Biblical Poetry, and is currently working on Judgement: Inspired Biblical Passionate Poetry. The poetry evolved out of her early years as a dub poet. Rev. Sinclair wrote her first poem at age 11 and won the Tastee Talent Contest Scholarship to the Jamaica School of Drama for her original composition of "Creation Dreadlock" in 1984.
She does not regret having made the decision to serve God and since her church membership is now small, she will concentrate on "byways and hedges" ministry because the church is not confined to a building. "And since Christians are already the ones already attending church, therefore I have to go out and find the ones who need to be saved," she said.
For the immediate future, Rev. Sinclair, whose fervent prayers have led to the conversion of some of her former Rasta brethren to Christianity, plans to continue to 'walk as Jesus and John the Baptist walked.'
"I have no regrets about my life as a Rasta. Some of the things I did were wrong, but it led me to read the Bible from cover to cover and gained great insights. Many Christians do not know it or read it and it's the story of the life of Christ."
