Testimony : 'God saved me from death many times'

Bishop Everton Robinson is convinced he is favoured by God because of the many near-death situations he faced.

Robinson, a Christian for 24 years, has been in ministry for 18 years. He is the pastor at the Lacovia New Testament Church and district overseer for the Lacovia District of New Testament Churches in St Elizabeth.

The church leader testified that God has a special plan and purpose for his life.

"I have come close to death so many times. There are persons from Salt Spring, St James, where I am from, who are of the view that I am like a cat with nine lives. I do not know how many (lives) are gone already; but I can remember a few of those near-death situations," said Robinson.

He said at age 10 he went to the river with his brother and a few friends, against the wishes of his mother. He shared that he saw persons jumping off a rock into the water and followed. "I realised that when I came up I could not feel the bottom of the river. I went down about two times and I thought to myself that I was going to drown. I then felt a hand on the back of my neck, then I heard a voice saying, 'out there so is not for you'. The hand held me and pushed me all the way back to the shallow area," recalled Robinson.

Robinson shared that when he turned around he could not see or recognise anybody who may have held him. He said none of the persons who were with him at the river knew what had happened.

"When I became a teenager, got saved and baptised at the Salt Spring church, I was stabbed three times. Some might call it retribution for sins of my past, but it was after I decided to change my life when I was attacked; but God brought me through that. I got 32 stitches. I had internal bleeding. I had to spend two weeks in the hospital," he testified, adding that he believed he was going to die. "But God saved my life once more. Before I got saved I was chased by about two dozen men because of something that I did to one of them. They chased me and I thought that I was going to die; but God miraculously saved me from those men. I surrendered my life to God after that incident."

The man of God also recalled being hit unconscious by a truck, but was again spared by the mighty hands of God.

"I felt excruciating pain. My shoulder was dislocated, I had head injuries; and this was in 2005, just after I got married. I thought I had died. Several persons thought I had died; my mother got the message that I was dead; but fortunately, God's plan for my life takes precedence. I am still alive and I have my scars to prove it. I am where I am at now because of the Lord; I am what I am because of Him," he testified.

Feedback: pehenrya@hotmail.com