“I have stood in the pulpit of many Easters in the past,” Livingston added. “This is the first time I’ve been in the pulpit as a wounded soldier of God. I am wounded, but I am not dead.”
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Livingston is seizing the opportunity to preach now, as his upcoming operations will make it more difficult for him to speak.
“Not one day has the call to preach left me,” he said. “Every day, when I rise up to when I sleep or slumber, God is on my mind.”
Speaking of how his injury has affected his faith, Livingston said, “You really don’t know how hard you can pray until you’ve been through a crisis like I’ve been.”
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting. However, Livingston expressed his hope that the suspects will be rehabilitated rather than simply locked up.
Livingston also said that this ordeal has increased his awareness of the connection between poverty and crime, and he intends to spend more time in the community providing opportunities for young men.
“Get your life straight,” Livingston said of his assailants. “Some of these young men, they haven’t been given an opportunity to get jobs, to buy their own car.”
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“Help these guys. Teach them how to put a roof on. Teach them how to lay bricks,” he went on to say. “That’s my plan. Teach them all these things. Whatever it takes. Stop the killing.”
