HE HEARD no words, no sound, except for the loud explosion of the semi-automatic pistol as the cold, hard bullet pierced his abdomen.

The impact of the bullet was so violent that it almost hit him to the ground, but Pastor Egnal Grant stood firm, threw his hands in the air and declared to his attackers: "My name is Egnal Grant and I am a minister of religion."

It was May 10, 2007, and he was standing in the garage of his home in the quiet, upscale community of Irwindale, St James. He had just exited his vehicle, after returning home from a number of pastoral engagements in St James, where he was head of the Seventh-day Adventist circuit of churches in Granville.

Pastor Grant's declaration of being a man of God had no effect on the two masked assailants, who immediately grabbed his hands, one on each side, and pushed him to the ground.

"Give me all the money yuh have," one of the thugs shouted - their first words to him.

"I have no money, you catch me at a bad time," Grant said he told them. "I started to explain to them that I was broke and that I had used all my money to pay down on a new car and that I really had no money left."

talking to God

But while Grant was speaking to the two men, he was also talking to God, asking Him to spare his life.

"My whole life story flashed before my eyes," he told The Sunday Gleaner. "I saw myself from I was a child, throughout my school days, my time in the ministry, everything.

"I said to the Lord, give me some more time, let me do some more work for you. Nevertheless, if it is your desire to let me go this way, I am ready."

One of the men went to search the pastor's vehicle for valuables, while the other took his cellphone, with his wallet containing $600 and his diary.

"When the other one came back from searching the vehicle, he used his foot and turned me over on my side, because I was laying on my back," Pastor Grant said.

This single act, the minister assumed, was a show of kindness from his attackers, a gesture, he believed, which helped to save his life.

"I don't know if he did it because he didn't want me to see when they were leaving, or if he did it in case I vomited and he didn't want me to suffocate," he reasoned.

showed mercy

Pastor Grant admitted that until this day he prefers to believe the latter, that the gunman, even in his moment of evil and brutality, showed mercy and attempted to spare his life.

After the men left, Pastor Grant laid still, his body in pain and cramping from the impact of the bullet.

"After they left I continued my petition, I kept praying, talking to God. I could hardly move and tried calling out for help, but no one heard me and my wife and children were not home. I saw all the blood and I knew I couldn't stay there and bleed to death."

Pastor Grant mustered all the strength he could, lifted his body and dragged himself to his vehicle.

"I drove to my neighbour's house and told them what had happened, and they drove me to the hospital."

Pastor Grant underwent six and a half hours of surgery as doctors operated on his intestines, which had been ripped apart by the bullet.

"What I would want to do is to baptise them," he told The Sunday Gleaner. "And if they are out there and I could talk to them, I would tell them to come, let's talk and I would try to reach them with the word of God."

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com