Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Bishop Choyes Codner has the testimony of a true survivor.Donna-Marie Rowe, Contributor
BISHOP CHOYES Codner almost lost his life to gunmen more than five years ago. The assistant pastor at Bethel Born Again Church on Oakland Road in St. Andrew was once employed as a driver by one of the taxi operators in Kingston. May, 1997, will be forever etched in his memory.
It was a Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock and Bishop Codner was heading to his church to assist with a wedding when a man stopped him along Constant Spring Road. They agreed on a fare and the passenger asked to be taken to Devon Road. He had a bag with him which he threw on the back seat and took the seat beside Bishop Codner.
The two chatted while the strains of one of Bishop Codner's favourite songs played on a cassette.
"The song says, 'I know a Lord who can never fail and will never fail; do what you must but I know a God who will never fail'," Bishop Codner recalled.
He explained those particular words were very significant to him as during the journey he rewound the cassette a number of times just to hear the words over and over again.
When they reached their destination, the passenger alighted and while waiting on the fare, Bishop Codner said he was tapping his hands on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song and glorifying God.
The man opened the back door to retrieve the bag from the back seat. It was then that Bishop Codner felt something cold being pressed against his neck. When he turned around, he was staring down the barrel of a "high-powered weapon".
"I wasn't really frightened," he said. "I just called out for Jesus and then I heard an explosion. I still cried out for Jesus."
Bishop Codner said he heard the gunman order him to "shut up" and he cried out for Jesus even more. He saw the gunman try to pull the trigger three times after that, but the gun never fired after the first explosion and even then Bishop Codner said he didn't realise that he had been shot.
He heard a voice say to him, "This is your time to go to the hospital." Bishop Codner told how God directed him to drive himself to the nearest hospital, Andrews Memorial on Hope Road, amidst the afternoon traffic. He had been shot in his mouth but he never lost consciousness. Although the gunman grabbed unto the door, Bishop Codner managed to swing the car to and fro to dislodge him. He saw that there was now an accomplice whom he surmised was the one who handed his passenger the gun. The men had planned to kill him, or any taxi-driver for that matter, and take the car to carry out their misdeeds.
As he drove away, he said he overheard the plot of the men as they quarrelled loudly over their plan that was foiled by a man who called on Jesus. As he sped off, he could hear them saying, "We nuh get fi get di car and him get 'way."
Only a nurse was on duty at the Andrews Memorial emergency room and she quickly arranged for him to be transported to the University Hospital, not allowing him to drive himself. His employer was contacted and two of his co-workers were dispatched to provide assistance.
At the University Hospital, a team of doctors and nurses awaited his arrival and it was only then, Bishop Codner says, that he realised what took place. He theorises that when he opened his mouth to holler 'Jesus' in his strongest voice, the gun went off and a bullet went under his tongue and exited on the right side of his neck.
The doctors were concerned that his vocal cords were damaged for life and that he would never be able to speak again, and if he did speak again, he would not be able to form his words properly. But Bishop Codner sought to convince the medics that he served Doctor Jesus, who he believed already performed the job. He says the doctors expressed amazement that for a man to have gone through his ordeal, his blood pressure was normal, he gave statements to the police and he did not need oxygen. In fact, he refused the oxygen because he says he was confident that God had done the job already.
Bishop Codner said the doctors told him that he had lost more than a half of the supply of blood in his body. Many tests were conducted from the time he arrived at the hospital until midnight. His face was swollen and he could hardly talk, he said. He was admitted on the ward and stayed there for three days.
His miraculous release after just three days came as a result of his practical faith. Bishop Codner tells how he was uncomfortable with the tubes that were in his nostrils. After asking for them to be removed and being refused, he took matters into his own hands, yanked them out and subsequently slept soundly throughout the night.
When the nurse and doctor arrived with breakfast and told him to eat if he wanted to, he did so heartily and shortly after received his discharge from the hospital. He reports that he was able to speak after three days and the swelling disappeared. Bishop Codner says he visited the out-patient clinic one week after his discharge, and the throat specialist, who was equally amazed at the fast-healing process, told him, "You don't need to come back."
Today, Bishop Codner, who has a strong bass voice, preaches, sings aloud and shouts to the glory of God. Wherever he goes he ensures that he gives his testimony of how God saved his life from the hands of gunmen. At first, Bishop Codner admits that he was a bit scared to talk about it but he said, "It was in a vision that the Lord showed it to me that anywhere I go I must tell my testimony and people will be saved."
Bishop Codner, who is married to Yvonne since September 1982, has travelled extensively in the United States, including Atlanta, Baltimore and New York, where his testimony has had tremendous impact on people resulting in persons giving their lives to Christ.
Now a full-time minister of the gospel, having left the taxi business a year after the incident, Bishop Codner, who has two daughters, says, "If I don't show anybody where the bullet exited, they won't know."
Bishop Codner has since learnt that both men are dead.
"This is something that had to happen," he says, and encourages persons that although some things happen to them, just trust in God. "This is a testimony that I cherish."
E-mail Donna-Marie Rowe at dmarowe@yahoo.com.
