Don't be a stranger

Name
Major David Blowers and Major Kathryn Blowers

Place of residence

Margate

Country of origin

Great Britain

Occupation

Salvation Army officers

Major David Blowers, 45, and his wife Kathryn, are Salvation Army officers based in Margate on the Kent coast. Prior to that they served with The Salvation Army in the Czech Republic. Margate has a growing population of Czech and Slovak people, many of whom are Roma or Romany. Roma people often suffer economic disadvantage and discrimination in their homelands. In Margate Major David and Major Kathryn have set up various programmes, including a drop in centre, to help these people feel at home.

Major David says, "Sometimes the problem is simply that they don't speak English well enough to get everything sorted out. Sometimes it is a cultural thing or sometimes it is simply that they don't understand the system. We give advice, we fill in forms with them and we walk the streets with them. At the drop in we have an education officer which helps with school placements and we have a local diversity officer from the police."

Major Kathryn says, "Our police officer advises on matters of law, even some basic things differ. For instance, there is the difference in car insurance - in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is the car that is insured. This does cause problems here, when someone lends their car to their friend, neighbour, man in the street who needs it - which is normal for a community which sees itself in terms of its valued extended family - and then finds that person stopped and unexpectedly not insured."

Major David says, "A number of Roma people are quite amazed at the responsibility that they can be given here. We had one guy who got a job as a cleaner and very excitedly came and told us that he had been entrusted with the keys. Well if I was starting work at six in the morning I wouldn't think it unusual that the boss didn't want to turn up till eight, but he had never had that level of trust ever shown in him before and he was excited about that.

We now run English classes here. Not according to the usually text book of how to teach English - one of the first things they learn to do is to give their name and address, spell it out and give their National Insurance Number - the important things first.

Major Kathryn says, "After four years the people at the 'drop in' began to ask about Jesus and The Salvation Army. Maybe we were slow, but we waited for them to know us and trust us. A house group started in January 2008 with six Roma people and the Corps Officers. It outgrew the first house, then the second and then the Young People’s hall of The Salvation Army and now we sit comfortably in the main hall with between 35 - 50 people on an average week. People are becoming Christians; people are changing their life-style and moving into a deeper relationship with God."

Major David concludes, "The only thing we were not doing was any church for them or providing any situation when we would preach the Gospel. It seemed that we were introducing them to a lot of Government Agencies, but not really introducing them to Jesus."