A pastor from Nevada who was stabbed nearly two dozen times forgives his attacker and said God kept him alive through the ordeal.
CBN News reported that Abundant Peace Church’s Rev. Russ Smethers was attacked by an unidentified assailant and stabbed with a six-inch butcher knife 21 times on the night of March 8. Smethers was rushed to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas and survived the attack with injuries on the neck, head, face, arms, and chest.
CBN News said Smethers has forgiven his attacker and “hopes to inspire others to do the same.”
“I forgave him that night when I was laying in the trauma center. People need to do that. You can’t have that hold you back from moving forward in life…that negative approach. That spreads like a virus. It goes into your life. You’re never going to forget but you must forgive,” Smethers said.
“God didn’t do this to me, He gave us free will. It means that that gentleman had the free will to stab me. God kept me alive and He made me a better person from it,” he added.
Smethers said that in the most critical moments of that night of the attack he knew that God was protecting him.
“God spoke to me and said, ‘You’re going through some stuff right now, but you’re not going to die tonight.’ It helped me, but God got me through it. It was all God. He put that extra skill in the doctors and nurses,” he recalled.
In addition, Smethers disclosed that the man who attacked him is now in prison, which he called as a “controlled environment,” which is what that man “needs” and is “safer for him.” Smethers also hopes the man will get psychological care in the same way he is getting one through a psychologist to heal from the ordeal.
