Head of the Prison Fellowship of Barbados, Thomas Watts (left); head of Prayer Warriors, Pastor Courtney Selman (centre); and Pastor Josephine Alexander, who donated one of the four weed-whackers the Prayer Warriors handed over to the Fellowship.
Weed-wackers donated
PRAYER Warriors International Fellowship has donated four weed-whackers to the Prison Fellowship of Barbados to be used by persons released from prison that are unable to get gainful employment because of a restrictive stigma.
Head of the Prayer Warriors International Fellowship, Courtney Selman, explained during a handing-over ceremony at the Fellowship’s Carrington Village, St. Michael headquarters, that his organisation thought that the gesture of providing the weed-whackers would help to support the ex-prisoners and their families.
He suggested that the initiative will possibly impact on the “in, out and in again” traffic by some of the ex-prisoners. He said it may possibly also cut down on the crime situation.
“You may agree with me that when one is deprived of the basic necessities of living, and has no means of being able to provide an income to support themselves and that of his or her family, he or she will find alternative methods of doing so,” he said.
Selman proposed to the Fellowship’s management team that those ex-prisoners who will be using the weed-whackers are required to “give back” 15 per cent of their daily or weekly earnings.
He said ten per cent of what is returned will be put towards the cost of the weed-whacker and five per cent to the Prison Fellowship towards their administration costs, until the cost of the weed-whacker is covered.
“Once this happens, the weed-whacker is now owned by the person working it. The 10 per cent will be used to purchase additional weed-whackers in order to benefit others. Recipients are more than welcome and encouraged to continue with some donations after their obligated amount is covered to enable more weed-whackers to be purchased,” he said.
The four weed-whackers were donated by Courts, L.E. Smith Funeral Home and Garage, and Pastor Josephine Alexander. Selman appealed to churches, private, and business persons to donate or provide the money for more weed-whackers to be purchased.
Head of the Prison Fellowship, Thomas Watts, said he was thankful for the donation, and is asking homeowners or businesses to contact the Fellowship if they wish to pay for the service of getting the grass around their properties cut. (AH)