Testimony : No weapon shall harm McLeary

Isaiah 54:17 states, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper."

Elder Steve McLeary of the Bethel Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Manchester can surely attest to that. McLeary, who has been walking with the Lord since 1999 and who testified that he is proud of this, shared during his testimony that he came close to being killed by a gunman while carrying out his duties as a police officer in Mandeville.

"I and a colleague officer were working in Mandeville. We went to a place where we suspected that there were thieves. I was dressed in civilian clothes. While we were there, he (colleague officer) held up the guys, while I tried to make a call to get reinforcement. When I returned, I saw what was happening," said McLeary.

The churchman further shared that a security guard who was close by took out a firearm and fired in his (McLeary) direction, with the intention of killing him.

"I mustered up all the courage I could as an agile person, and I grabbed at him. I missed the gun he had and caught his pocket. He swirled around and aimed at me point blank and fired. I saw blue, red, and yellow flames. I don't know if there were other colours. The shot he fired missed me and ended up hitting a woman in her leg," shared McLeary. He said that he reached for his service revolver and fired at the gunman, who he said started running. McLeary added that when he went back to the police station, a colleague said something that surprised him.

"He said, 'McLeary I knew that you could not get shot'. I turned and asked him why he said that to me. He told me that was so because I was under the blood of Jesus Christ. But what he said really spoke volumes because to be working in an environment such as the one I work in as an officer is really rough." said McLeary, who has been in the police force for 30 years.

The churchman said his service in the police force is not an ordinary one because whenever he speaks to persons while he carries out his duties, he doesn't only do so as a law enforcement officer, but also as a follower of Christ.

"Like Paul (Apostle), I am chief among sinners. I have my own weaknesses, but I try as best as I possibly can. The incident was so much that years after when they had parades for us to go on the street at Christmas time, my colleague officer said he was not going with me because they are going to shoot me," said McLeary, joking.

The church leader said he has had more than one experience with shooting incidents, but he has been blessed by God to escape being shot.

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