Missionary begs for Chris Brown’s party money - Fire victim wants partygoers to donate funds to rebuild his house

A man who said he lost his house in a fire six months ago wants persons planning to attend the Chris Brown party to give him the money they were planning to spend for the concert.

The man, Godfrey Williams, placed his request on a placard that he has been holding up across sections of Jamaica's capital city, Kingston.

"Chris Brown's partygoers, plz to donate your admission fee to Godfrey Williams house that was burnt out to my NCB account #234630024 a the Portmore Branch," read the placard, which Williams hoisted outside the Gleaner Company North Street offices last Friday.

Williams said his house, a five-room wooden dwelling, was razed by fire in St Elizabeth six months ago and he needs help to rebuild. A copy of a report from the fire department indicates that the fire, which took place in Mulgrave, St Elizabeth, on January 2, caused $8 million in damage.

"People are spending so much money to go parties, they are spending extravagantly; and I have never seen those absurdly high admission fees for parties in the history of Jamaica. Why not use that money to help a good cause?" he said in an interview with THE STAR.

He even use the scripture to justify his approach to seeking funds for the rebuilding.

"The Bible says, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you'," he said, quoting from the Book of Luke.

"If Jamaica has so much money floating around, why not ask for some of that money. I've never seen people spend so much. That's all I'm doing here," said Williams, who describe himself as a missionary.

"The money that I am earning is not possible to pay workmen and to buy back material. Time is going and I have to rebuild this house as quick as possible," he pressed.

Williams, who grew up in Kingston, moved to Mulgrave district about four months before the fire, which is believed to have been started after a lit candle overturned in a section of the building. Williams said he has been blamed for the destruction.

Dubbed BZR Weekend, which starts on Friday and culminates on Sunday with multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning superstar Chris Brown performing at the National Stadium in Kingston, the event has been attracting lots of attention for various reasons, including the ticket prices.

Tier 1 tickets for bleachers access at BZR weekend range from $7,665 to $29,011. Tier 2 tickets are being sold at a high of $97,972. The $1.5 million tickets for the 'Sky View' suites have been sold out.

Williams said he is "not jealous" of the fact that people are paying such high prices to attend the mega event. He would just prefer if the funds flow his direction.

"I am not jealous of what they are doing because they have earned it, whichever way they have earned the money; but all I am saying is, please let me get some of that. Just donate something! And if even Chris Brown hears this and he wants to give me a portion of the fee, probably US$24,000 (approximately J$3.7 million) or US$30,000 (approximately J$4.6) or US$50,000 (J$7.7 million) towards the building of my home, so let it be. I would be very, very grateful," Williams said.