My Story - Clive Jacobsen PDF Print E-mail
I am the second eldest of 7 children from Bankstown, NSW, where I lived until 18 years of age.  My parents, Fred and Coral, were converted as a result of a Sunday School drive conducted by a nearby Protestant assembly called 'The Peoples Church' in 1954 when I was 7 years old.  That church was to be a focal point of our family, where we attended all the various meetings held there.
 
  In 1959 as a 12 year old I went with the church to a Billy Graham Crusade at the Sydney Showground.  I did go forward when the appeal was made to commit my life to Jesus Christ and I did communicate with a counsellor for several weeks but somehow it didn't seem to mean that much after awhile.  By the time I was 16, I was much of a rebel against the church and my parents.  I took up smoking and drinking during my 17th year, and also quit going to church.  It was a boring irrelevancy to me.
 
  When I was 18 I left home and hitch-hiked to Melbourne where I worked 3 months.  Then I hitched back to Sydney, where I promptly joined up with a travelling carnival as a roustabout in early 1965. That same night the whole troupe travelled in convoy down to Canberra, where we opened the show--Sid Flaherty's Carnival--for 2 months at the O'Connor shops, then one month behind the Civic shops. Then after a month at Cooma, I left with another roustabout--Fred--and we hitched up to his parents place in Warilla, Shellharbour.
 
  After a few weeks working at the Cringila Steelworks, we decided to get a car and drive up to Brisbane.  After later abandoning our conked-out Fiat 1400 at Dorrigo, we hitched up to Brisbane.  Here we found it quite hard to get work, particularly as we had no fixed address--indeed we were sleeping in parks and vacant buildings.  So with our collective money spent on smokes and alcohol we were getting desperate.  The upshot of all this is that we were caught with the goods in our hands (someone else’s goods), and we came face to face one Friday night with the police constabulary of Brisbane who had drawn guns, spotlights, and just as quickly handcuffs placed on us !
 
  I spent 5 months at Boggo Road Gaol and Wacol Prison Farm.  And to top that off, I got into more strife inside and served 14 and 10 day stretches in solitary confinement--which they called the "Black Peter".  This meant that you only get bread and water for sustenance, and with only 2 blankets and a Gideon's Bible in the cell. Of course the Bible did come in handy, seeing as I was running out of cigarette papers.  But also being a keen reader, I read many books of the Bible, and had lots of time to consider my state of affairs and as to what God might require of me.  I did intend to get on the "straight and narrow", but once I finally served my time and got away from prison, I was able to put all such thoughts behind me and get on with my life (or so I thought).
 
  So I hitch-hiked back to Sydney and got into a job for 12 months.  I then teamed up with an old Sunday School chum--Peter--which then saw us frequenting the hotels and billiard rooms of Bankstown.  Some months later with the help of the alcohol, we got into more trouble with the law and I ended up in Long Bay Gaol.  Ten days later on a Thursday night I received a visit from my father and my sister-in-law, Sue, who had come to bail me out.  Later on I was fortunate to be given a five year good-behaviour bond.
 
After working again in Sydney for a year I had a variety of experiences living in Melbourne again, living in Adelaide--then back to Sydney.  Then I joined up with 3 guys who had built a 32 foot Ferro-cement yacht (the "Hephzibah") and intended sailing to the Barrier Reef on a pleasure trip. I had previously crewed on charter yachts on Sydney harbour, so I guess I was accepted as likely to be crew-worthy by the skipper Bill.  We left Rushcutters Bay in August 1970 and took a leisurely 4 weeks to sail to Gladstone in central Queensland.  From there I hitched to Townsville--Darwin--Wave Hill--Townsville--Hay--Adelaide--and here I teamed up with an itinerant Scotsman, John.  We travelled to Perth where we worked for 4 months.
 
  And it was here in a hotel room that God finally dealt with me in a real way.  A burning question was thrust to the forefront of my mind--"out of the blue" !  And that question was ’if I were to die now, where would I go’?  Having been brought up in an evangelistic church, I knew the answer to that--I knew I was going to hell!  The life-style I had lived included heavy drinking, smoking, drug-taking, theft and a very introverted but self-centred outlook.  And while my choice of reading matter included the sublime and idealistic, it also included the vilest of subject matter.
 
  I decided on the spot that I could no longer put off the matter, so I purposed to go back to that same People's Church in Condell Park when I got back to Sydney--and that I would also buy a Bible.   And if I could get the courage up I would get baptised.  Anyway, we finally hitched up to Geraldton and there heard of work to be had 120 miles inland in a gold mine at Mt Magnet.  So for 2 months we worked 700 feet underground blasting and digging the gold-bearing ore. 
 
  Then in May of 1971 I continued alone hitching north via Meekathara--Marble Bar--Port Headland--Darwin--Townsville--Sydney, then since it had been 2 years since I had seen my older brother Dennis, I travelled to Canberra for a visit.  He was then a sergeant in the RAAF, and unknown to me, had had a conversion experience 6 months previously. So on my first Sunday there, I went with Dennis and his family, Sue, Barry and Diana to their church, which was a United Pentecostal Church, held in the Downer Community Centre, pastored then by Robert Hargreaves.  Within a fortnight of attending church there, Jesus had drawn me to Himself and I had a number of beautiful repentance experiences--and wonder of wonders--I found out it was possible to know and feel the presence of God in a powerful manner.  Shortly thereafter, I was baptised one mid-winter’s night in Lake Burley Griffin, into the name of Jesus for the remission of my sins.
 
  Soon after I returned to Bankstown and started attending the Belmore UPC pastored by John Brian.  Six weeks later one Friday night at home, in a time of personal prayer, singing, and Bible-reading, Jesus placed His Spirit in me and I spoke another language for four hours!
 
  This (along with my recent new-found faith, repentance, and baptism) meant that I had finally found out the real reason for my existence; I had finally tapped into the reality of God.  And the real journey was only just beginning !