The wife of a Tennessee pastor who was shot in the mouth last month outside his church is appealing to the public for help, explaining his injuries require multiple surgeries and a long path to recovery.
“My husband, Reverend Clemmie Livingston Jr., was the victim of a violent crime,” Gwendoline Livingston wrote in a GoFundMe description. “On Sunday, February 25, 2024, he, the Pastor of New Zionfield Baptist Church, was shot down outside the front door of his church.”
As CBN News previously reported, the shocking moment came when Livingston, 70, reportedly attempted to stop two men from trying to steal a Sunday school teacher’s vehicle, WREG-TV reported.
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The assailants reportedly shot the pastor while driving away from the scene.
“The victim was shot when he came out of the church as the suspects were stealing a 2019 silver Chevrolet Corvette,” a statement from the Memphis Police Department read. “As the suspects fled the scene in the stolen vehicle, they fired shots, striking the victim.”
Livingston, who preaches at New Zionfield Baptist Church, was in critical condition after the assault. Despite being listed in stable condition, Gwendoline said her husband is still in the ICU and is “awaiting at least two more surgeries approximately six weeks from now and then a third phase and possibly more depending on the outcome of his healing.”
The preacher faces what seems to be a truly uphill battle — one that has left the family needing financial assistance due to what she called a “senseless act of violence.”
“At this time, he is unable to eat or speak and communicates with us through notes and hand gestures,” she wrote. “Surgeons have drilled … and attached a brace to the right side of his face to try and hold the jaw closed, because the bullet shattered his jaw bone into many pebble size pieces.”
Gwendoline thanked people across America for praying for her husband and family and for acts of kindness. She said any donations will help pay for coming medical expenses.
Find out more about the GoFundMe here.
As previously reported, Livingston’s community and family have been shocked by the violent events outside the church. Kavion Woodin, the victim’s grandson, said his grandpa is known for being loving and kind, as the family grapples to understand why someone would harm him.
“He was a man of giving, willingness, kindness, compassion, and he was a man that never did wrong towards nobody,” he said. “Somebody tried to take one of the church member’s cars, and my granddaddy stepped up.”
Woodin continued, “He feared no evil. He came out the church to protect a car because he feared no evil.”
Livingston’s family told WATN-TV the pastor was already battling cancer before the bullet shattered his jaw. This created further complications when doctors needed to operate on him after Sunday’s shooting.
“They’re trying to watch it, because they don’t want it to spread trying to operate on him,” the preacher’s daughter, Kevona Livingston, said. “It’s bone cancer and they shattered his bone.”
Continue to pray for Livingston, his family, and church community as he recovers and everyone copes with the trauma of the tragic situation.
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