I am totaly flabbergasted by the news that some evangelist preacher is coming to pray for Barbados. Now what kind of prayer can this man do that our own learned preachers can’t do? Does he pray to a different God? How many Gods are there?
I am actually embarrassed to think that in the year 2014 we Barbadians, as educated as we are supposed to be, could make such a backward step and show the world that we have no confidence in ourselves. After being lauded worldwide for our educational system and exceptionally high literacy rate, we are now going to state to the whole world that we cannot even pray for ourselves.
How is this man’s prayer different from ours? Are we supposed to believe that this man has a link to God that we don’t have? What is he going to do for us that we cannot do for ourselves?
Is he going to find jobs for 3 000 people? Is he going to get Bajans to understand that it is crucial that we grow our own food? Will he cause Barbadians to understand that agriculture is our most vital industry – even more vital than tourism?
Is he going to solve our debt problem? Is he going to teach Bajans that is more important to feed and educate their children than to put on false fingernails and toenails and wear the hair of dead Vietnamese women who might even have had mange?
Is he going to stop the young people of Barbados from listening to Jamaican dancehall along with American rap music that blatantly preaches and glorifies rape, violence, unprotected sex, alcohol use, drugs, cursing, killing and other crimes?
Is he going to take us out of the hands of the International Monetary Fund? Is he going to teach us how to prevent the devaluation of the Barbadian dollar? Is he going to help us boost our depleted foreign reserves? I dare say no! Since he has to be paid and for sure he will not accept our Bajan money.
It is going to cost us $300 000 for a prayer. If he is so great and has an apparent link to God that none of us has, why does he have to come to Barbados to pray for Barbados? Why can’t he pray from overseas?
My mother used to pray for me when I was at school overseas and I have to believe that it worked because I passed all my exams and even made the Dean’s list on a few occasions.
But surely I did not pass because of her prayers alone. I had to do the work. I had to “burn the midnight oil”. There is a saying, “There is no mountain that has ever been climbed just by looking at it”. Barbadians must understand that work has to be done. Sacrifice has to be made. Prayer alone, no matter who does it, will not effect change.
Let world champion sprinter Usain Bolt pray long and hard and never train – do you really think he would still be a world champion? In The Bible it is written that God helps them who help themselves.
We have become accustomed to too much freeness. This is indeed a desperate time, and desperate times call for desperate measures. But the rules of common sense must still prevail. No man can wave a wand and make our troubles disappear. We have put ourselves in this hole and we must dig ourselves out of it. We must take pride in doing it for it will ensure that our children remain free.
It will be rough but not forever and it will be all for the better for it is known that “No smooth sea has ever made a skilful mariner”.
And what messages are we sending to our children in this modern time when we request these foreign evangelists whose “miracle healing” acts have been exposed as “fakes”. To get more in depth detail on this go to YouTube and watch Exposing The Fake Faith Healing by Derren Brown or watch the online documentary entitled Miracles For Sale.
They say they want “to fight a growing sense of fear and hopelessness in the nation”.
My fear concerns whether Barbadians understand the difference between praying for and preying pon.
I HOPE so!
• Mac Fingall is an entertainer and retired secondary schoolteacher.
