Articles

Jars of Clay: Grassroots Nonprofit Ministry Tackles Metro Area's Social Ills

By Rosalyn Dailey Shareef
Faith And The City E-Letter
Volume 2 Issue 8
June 17, 2003

In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. -- II Timothy 2:20 (NRSV)

Jars of Clay is a seven-year-old outreach ministry created by Ministers Anita and Rodney Favors, a married couple who serve thousands of homeless and otherwise needy neighbors each year.

Citing II Timothy 2:20 in the Christian tradition's New Testament, Anita Favors explained: "If you look closely at clay, you can notice different colors, a lot of hues, and if you put it together or mold it together, it'll be a beautiful vessel for GodŐs honor." So it is with the diverse socioeconomic range of people in any given community.

The Jars of Clay outreach ministry addresses metro Atlanta's social ills, including homelessness, joblessness, poverty, prostitution, and drug trafficking. Located on Sims Street off University Avenue, the ministry operates in one of the city's most distressed neighborhoods, an area that is home to 23 percent of metro Atlanta's crime.

As a former fire department medic, Anita Favors has witnessed tragic deaths from gang wars and drug addiction. "I remember going home one night after my shift and telling God that if I had an opportunity to be financially secure," she explained, "I would go out on the streets and help the same people that I was watching [self-destruct] -- if God would help me."

In 1996, Anita and Rodney launched their ministry. In 2000, following four years of successful mission and ministry, the couple established a homeless shelter. Today, Jars of Clay offers temporary housing for women and children and a night shelter for men. Registered with United Way, according to Favors, the program also serves as a referral agency for job and computer training, community service, and counseling for the juvenile justice courts of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Months ago, a 211 phone call to the United Way introduced 18-year-old Ashley Hall (not her real name) and her girl friend to the Jars of Clay ministry. Homeless and living the life of a prostitute, stripper, and drug dealer, Hall was hesitant at first about the shelter. Nonetheless, in January of this year, she and her friend, who was in a similar predicament, self-admitted themselves to the shelter. Today, Hall is working on her GED high school equivalency diploma.

According to Hall, Jars of Clay provides the family setting that she missed in childhood. "I had a mother, but my mother was a single parent so the majority of the time she was working," said Hall. "But when I came here, I was counseled and I was really accepted into a family that I really never had as I was growing up."

Hall -- like other participants in the program -- resembles a piece of clay being molded and crafted toward perfection through loving support. Between its shelter and training programs, Jars of Clay serves 7,000 to 10,000 people a year, according to Favors.

Favors' vision is to eliminate the program's debt so that she and Rodney can build a larger, 24-hour facility to house and care for hospice patients, homeless people, and rape victims. The building will also include an arena for worship.

"We've seen it already," she said. "And we're just praying that God gives us favor and continues granting us mercy to do it on a larger scale that we could model it for every city."

The faith-based non-profit organization has turned many lives around, with Ashley Hall as merely one living testimony. Nearing the end of her participation in the Jars of Clay program, Hall explained that her experience has been very positive, emphasizing that spiritual uplift was the most important benefit. "Jars of Clay helped me learn how to speak with God and how to pray," she said, "and how to ask God for forgiveness and also to listen to God."

Jars of Clay is supported in part by City Lights, a group of business people and clergy leaders who work together to improve the inner city of Atlanta. Additional donations come from individual contributions and churches. Volunteers constitute 90 percent of the Jars of Clay staff, and additional volunteers are always encouraged. To give your time, make a contribution, or simply learn more about Jars of Clay, contact Anita or Rodney Favors at 404-586-9793, or visit their website at http://www.jocatlanta.org.

Rosalyn Dailey Shareef, an Atlanta-based freelance writer, can be reached at yomashareef@hotmail.com.