ONLY ON 3: New Hanover County pastor describes being stabbed

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The pastor stabbed at Castle Hayne Advent Christian Church about a month ago takes us back to that day.

December 23, 2014, was a normal Tuesday morning start for Pastor Randall Smith, but with a very abnormal end. Smith was preparing the church for a regular prayer meeting when he says a man approached him who looked cold.

“I told him to go ahead and come on in and get warm,” Smith said.

Smith says he would do that for anybody. As he prepped the coffee pot, Smith says the man followed him.

“As I got here, he was about where you are and he said, ‘do you have any money?'” Smith said.

Smith says he pulled six dollars from his pockets. It was all he had.

“He slapped that out of my hands and told me to turn my pockets wrong side out,” Smith said. “That’s the only time I really felt something was wrong.”

That is when Smith says the man walked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife sitting by the sink.

“He lunged at me and I took a step back, ’cause I got a bad knee,” Smith said. “I started to put my arms up in case he was going to come back at me and then I look down and there was a knife hanging.”

Smith says then the man walked out and the church’s deacon arrived shortly after and called 911. Smith says he feels more than just lucky the knife missed all his vital organs.

“I feel blessed,” Smith said.

He says he’s blessed, but still wondering.

“If I saw him face to face, I’d probably ask him why he did this?” Smith said. “I mean that’s the only thing I can tell you, ’cause I have no idea. That’s the one thing that haunts me is why?”

A why he says he may never get an answer to, but Smith tells us why he chose to forgive him.

“It’s what it takes,” Smith said. “You can’t walk around hating somebody. That hatred will build and eat you alive, so everyday I pray that god will give me the strength not to hate him.”

Smith says he’s also praying for the suspect.

“I want him to get help,” Smith said. “If it’s a mental issue, I want him to get caught, so he can get help. If it was just out of meanness, I want him to get caught, so he won’t do it to anybody else.”

The New Hanover County Sheriff’s office released a sketch of the suspect on Tuesday. The suspect is described as a white male, 5’9″ to 5’10”, 160-175 lbs., 30-40 years of age, long dark hair with a beard wearing a black hoodie with a green military-style jacket.