Christianity is the antidote for crime - DC
PORT MARIA, St Mary: AS A district constable serving in the Jamaica Constabulary Force for the last 20 years, Cashmine Warren has found her Christian faith to be of great value throughout both her professional career and private life.
Warren stopped attending church around 2000, but returned, after realising that she needed God in her life. However, since then, her faith has strengthened, and today, the St Mary-based police officer is a regular patron of the Shiloh Apostolic Church of Jamaica in Port Maria.
Speaking from her office at the Port Maria Police Station, Warren told Family and Religion: “I was a backslider, meaning that I stopped going to church and professing my Christianity. I was baptised as a young child and got married, but that didn’t work out.
“When my husband and I separated, I felt I needed to try something else, and that is what I did. I have never really been a party person, but I stopped participating in services and going to church regularly. And then about six years ago, I went through some sickness, was prayed for, and came through. Cashmine Warren has found her Christian faith to be of great value.
“Then, my mother died, and she was the one who always prayed for me. I ran into a cross road, needed someone to pray for me, and was then hit with a reality check: there was no more mummy to pray for me, I had to do it myself. That’s when I decided to continue my walk with Christ, and my belief in Him grew. Initially, I went to another Pentecostal Church, and then I went back to the church where I was born.”
Warren, whose favourite scripture is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13),” believes that christianity is the antidote for the rise in violent crimes plaguing the country and is grateful that her hometown is such a church-loving community.
She shared: “In Port Maria, we have a lot of people who go to church. I have seen a community that was very violent improve as church came in. Most of the people either became Christians or started going to the church, and it really lifted their faith.
“One thing I would like to see is more unity among the churches. There is a saying: ‘The family that prays together stays together,’ so I suppose the churches need to pray together for things to really happen because prayer changes things.
“I think when we are having a crusade, all the [local] churches should be invited to ensure they are all represented. And in doing so, more people will get saved. When that happens, the violence will go down because people will have a different way of thinking.”