Pastor Selman: Help each other financially

Pastor Courtney Selman has called for families, friends and communities to join together for the equal financial benefit of all involved.

Pastor Selman, who heads the Prayer Warriors International Foundation, was speaking on CBC radio recently. He made this recommendation during the celebration of the 18th anniversary of preparing and presenting “Quarter Hour of Prayer Power” and “Children’s Quarter Hour of Power”, on CBC 100.7 FM.

“First, I wish to give God the praise, honour, glory and thanks for allowing us to reach this milestone! Secondly, I wish to thank two great stewards of God, in the personage of Angela and Anthony Edwards, of Eddies Trading and Eddies Supermarket, who have unselfishly sponsored this programme for the past 18 years.”

He also thanked the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for providing an avenue to reach the masses. “We thank the management and staff of CBC, especially Mykey Clarke and Cammie Collins who edit our recordings. We thank all of you here in Barbados, the Caribbean, the USA, Canada, England and indeed across the globe for listening to our programmes. I would be remiss, if I did not mention those who have contributed immensely by the giving of their time as we presented the programmes on radio.”

The prayer leader then made the suggestion to families, friends and even co-workers to band together to help each other financially. He stated that this was the time for everyone to be proactive, prudent and frugal with spending.

“I wish to suggest that you get together in groups of fives, tens or even more and purchase food items and produce, wholesale, and distribute them amongst yourselves. Now, tell me if this makes financial sense to you? Let us assume, hypothetically, that you are spending $200 a week on food, for you and your family; of course, it would vary by the size of your family. That is approximately $800 per month, multiplied by 12 months in the year, equals $9,600.00 yearly. Now if by getting together and buying groceries wholesale, you can possibly save, I wish to respectfully suggest, a minimum of 30% on your food bill, you will save a whopping $2,880.00 yearly,” explained the pastor.

Be self-reliant

Addressing the issue of the local food import bill reaching $800 million a year, Selman said that it was too high and encouraged people to consider growing aloe vera crops for local use as well as export, instead of the more popular ‘mind-altering’ plant.

“A crop that has tremendous healing properties, and is used in many countries across the world. Aloe vera is used in hair products, drinks, for burns and in many other natural products. Other benefit of aloe vera is that after harvesting, the rinds of the aloe vera leaves are tilled back into the ground to fertilise the soil. It does not need a great deal of attention or irrigation. Research reveals that 20 aloe plants can convert the same amount of CO2 into oxygen as a tree. Aloe plants, I am told, cleanse the earth of tons of CO2,” said the prayer leader.

Selman admitted that he had not conducted any scientific tests of his own, but was made to understand that Barbados has the right climate and soil to potentially produce some of the best quality aloe vera. He also highlighted that the plant would be great for export purposes and to earn foreign currency, which could potentially help transform the Barbados economy.

“Even though we have this misguided notion that God is a Bajan, we are not exempt from catastrophic events, diseases or plagues that have happened in the past that decimated and caused the demise of people from reoccurring. The COVID-19 pandemic is a new one. We need to be proactive, like the man of God – Joseph, and prepare our country so that we are able to be self-reliant in the future when we are faced with more calamities or catastrophic events,” urged Pastor Selman. (AS)

Barbados Advocate

Mailing Address:
Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
Fontabelle, St. Michael, Barbados

Phone: (246) 467-2000
Fax: (246) 434-2020 / (246) 434-1000