It was the worst way to start summer camp. Within minutes after campers had arrived, one of them was being pulled out of the lake and the lifeguard was desperately trying to revive him.
One of our global workers was a leader at the camp, and she gave us this firsthand account:
“I was in the main office building when, all of a sudden, a lifeguard rushed past me and grabbed the defibrillator and started running back to the lake. I followed her outside and caught sight of the horrific scene on the dock—a group of lifeguards doing CPR on a camper. I started to feel sick. We sent all of the campers and leaders to their cabins while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. As the lifeguards continued doing CPR, I stepped up beside the mom of one of our leaders who used to be a nurse on a cardiac unit. She was looking at her watch and counting the minutes. We started crying out to Jesus to save this boy’s life. Behind us, one of the leaders had gathered the campers at the cabins and was leading them in prayer. We were all asking God for one thing—a miracle. Because the CPR was continuing on and on, the nurse fell to her knees in the grass and started crying out to God. Then, suddenly, they stopped the CPR. The boy was breathing!”
As you can imagine, everyone at this camp was in shock. Our worker told us that, shortly after the camper started breathing again, the ambulance arrived, and the emergency personnel began to care for him. Apparently, when the lifeguards had pulled him from the water, the boy had shown no vital signs, no heartbeat. Later, the camp leadership learned that he had an undiagnosed heart condition that had caused his heart to stop and him to drown. Doctors explained later that the boy had died, and they couldn’t believe that his vital signs had fully recovered to 100%. Thankfully, the boy was at a camp with excellent lifeguards, and he received the medical attention that he needed. After doctors diagnosed his condition, they got him into surgery at the hospital. Our worker said that she visited the camper afterward, and he was doing well. But she had this to report:
“We believe we witnessed a miracle and that God brought this precious child back to life. A number of the campers said to us throughout the week, ‘We know God saved his life after we prayed.’ I’m so thankful for the life-saving power of Jesus! What the enemy meant for evil, God is using for good. We hope and pray that what these campers experienced will continue to remind them of how God responds to us when we cry out to him.”
When our Global Lead Team heard this report, we gave thanks to God for the opportunity that this worker had to witness a miracle firsthand and to see how it was bearing fruit in the lives of young people. One of the reasons why we were so excited about this camp was that many of the campers were from Buddhist backgrounds. They were all from diaspora families that had immigrated to North America and most were unreached with the Gospel. Let’s continue to pray for this ministry in North America and for the opportunities it is creating for the love of Jesus to be heard among diaspora people groups.
PRAY
Heavenly Father, thank you for saving this boy’s life in the sight of all these campers and leaders. May you receive the glory for bringing him from death to life. May this miracle continue to speak to the hearts of those who witnessed it and may the truth of your love be revealed in their lives today. Bless this ministry and give these workers faith and courage to keep proclaiming the hope of the Gospel among this precious diaspora people group. Amen.
