Saffrey: Homeless benefitting from church attendance

AS part of its programming, the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society (BVHS) has been allowing homeless persons, especially men who are willing, to attend church services and benefit from pastoral counselling, which is proving to be a turning point in their lives.

Kemar Saffrey, Founder and President of the BVHS, noted that the idea stemmed from information received via a recent trip to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas, Texas, USA for a training conference organised by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). The AGRM serves as the network where leaders of approximately 300 partner agencies find the training, resources and support they need to serve the individuals and families who are dealing with hunger, homelessness, abuse and addiction.

“One of the things that we did when we came back, we decided to focus a lot more on our programme, in terms of church, like having sessions with the men on mornings, getting pastors to come and speak with them, and I must say that has made a tremendous difference because the guys are starting to get baptised,” Saffrey revealed.

“There is a church that just opened right next to us and that has been tremendous, because these guys have been going to church every (weekend). You now have seven to eight men coming to church all on their own and we see that as a major breaking point for these guys. You are not only giving them physical food, but spiritual food and they are now asking to be baptised. That has been working really great,” Saffrey stressed.

“So this event, this conference that we went to, has helped us to look at different things when it comes to the guys and ensuring their lives are in tune. We really like where it is going. The conference has really been a tremendous help to us,” he maintained, as he stressed the need to maintain contact with international organisations which can aid the BVHS by offering techniques that can used to complement the work the organisation is presently doing.