Gunmen shot a 49-year-old Seventh-day Adventist pastor and escaped after an unsuccessful robbery attempt in Jamaica on May 10. Local police are investigating the crime.

Pastor Egnal Grant underwent four hours of surgery to abdominal gunshot wounds at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James, West Jamaica.

Grant reports three gunmen ambushed him soon after he arrived at his Irwindale, St. James home Thursday evening. Pastor Glen Samuels, president of the Adventist church in West Jamaica, spoke to Grant soon after his surgery. According to his report, after the gunmen shot Grant, they searched him and demanded money. Grant told the attackers he was an Adventist pastor, after which they escaped.

Grant, who was alone at the time of the attack, was taken to the hospital by neighbors. He is now recovering from damage to his small intestine. 

The staff of the West Jamaica Conference met on Friday morning, May 11. They expressed gratitude over Grant’s spared life, but also alarm over the rash of gun-related crime in Jamaica in recent years.

“We continue to be concerned about the ... use of guns in this particular part of our Island,” Samuels said. “As a church we pledge to continue our support to this nation to restore and salvage our young men who have fallen in the unfortunate trap of vicious violence.”

This is not the first time the Adventist church in Jamaica has committed to quelling violent crime. Formal efforts began when, in 2003, Samuels was held at gunpoint by a well-known local gang leader. [See ANN September 13, 2005: Jamaica: Adventists Commit Church Resources to Stop Violence. The Adventist church in Jamaica will continue to reach out to the island nation’s considerable unemployed population who often turn to a life of crime.