Is it possible to live free from fear in a world that is plagued by it?
I believe it is, and this became especially important
for my wife Hayley as the birth of our first child drew near.
When I was pregnant with Gabriella,
I decided that I didn't want didn't want to have any fear during the birth.
And that was something that was really important to me.
I believe that I didn't have any fear during the birth,
and it was a very good birth.
While Hayley was in labour, the nurses kept
commenting on how peaceful we were.
They weren't used to that,
and then I would pray for them,
and they definitely weren't used to that.
Especially one with a neck injury who was healed as I prayed.
I'll never forget the first moment I saw Gabriella.
She was a perfect little baby.
I can remember looking at her and saying,
"Hayley, she's got your lips."
The first half an hour was the most incredible half an hour of my life.
Her name is Gabriella
Little did we know that in an instant everything would change
and our decision to have no fear was about to be put to the test.
About half an hour after she was born
they noticed that she was breathing really quickly.
It kept getting worse and worse.
She required more and more oxygen.
She started to have some breathing problems
and needed some oxygen,
so at that time we got the pediatrician
to come in and help us as well,
And from there she just rapidly deteriorated very quickly.
The pediatricians and the people I called in to assist
took Gabriella with Nathaniel to the special care nursery.
I joined Gabriella in the nursery
and it became clear that this was really serious.
They had her on oxygen
and they were trying to get needles into her tiny veins
in order to sedate her.
And they kept missing the vein over and over again.
All the while I had my hands on her
and I was praying for her,
telling her, "Daddy's here, daddy's here."
If we're not careful we'll be thanking God when things are going well,
and moments later blaming him when they're not.
But it's the enemy who comes to kill steal and destroy,
Jesus brings life.
Finally they got Gabriella to sleep
and Hayley came in,
and the doctor took us into the next room.
At this point she was unconscious,
because they had heavily sedated her.
They had to put a tube down her throat
and give her one hundred percent Oxygen.
Nathaniel and I were in a little room
next to the room where Gabriella was.
Five minutes after they put the tube down her throat
her heart stopped.
None of the doctors expected that.
Nobody expected that.
We heard the sound of doctors and buzzes going off.
They were doing CPR on our daughter
and we heard the sound of
1 - 2 - 3 - Breathe! 1 - 2 - 3 - Breathe!
What do we do as Christians in moments like this
when we're facing serious trials?
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed and even pray out of fear.
What if we were not moved by situations around us
because of who He is within us?
So that's exactly what I did.
I looked at Hayley and I held her hand.
Nathaniel just said to me,
"Let's have no fear."
"Let's just pray and let's just believe God."
I was just like, "OK."
And I put my hand on his hand
and the nurse next to us put her hand on our hands
and she said, "Let's pray."
It was at that moment that we realized
Amy the Midwife was actually a Christian.
So we just started praying
and I just thought,
I'm here today because I need to stand in the gap.
Nathaniel said, "I rebuke the spirit of death."
and I was like, "Woah, harsh."
You know like, but it really challenged me,
it's like no, there's actually a fight right now going on for her life.
Minute after minute went by without a pulse
and we continue to pray,
not begging God but partnering with him,
knowing it was His will to heal her.
For me that was a very weak moment
but right then,
I saw a vision of Jesus.
And I saw Him walk up to Gabriella,
and I saw Him put his hand on her.
After four minutes, Gabriella's heartbeat came back.
From that moment when I saw that vision of Jesus,
for me, it was ok.
(Midwife) Her heart had started again after four minutes, but
she was grey.
It's the color of death.
The logical conclusion was that
Gabriella wouldn't survive.
Doctors came in to us, and they said
things are very serious.
We don't know what's wrong
but something is very wrong.
They were very concerned
and trying to prepare us for the worst.
But I've made a choice in my life
to share the gospel no matter what.
And the nurse that was telling us the bad news
seemed to have an issue with her throat.
So even in that moment,
I told her, "We're not worried."
"God has our daughter, but let me pray for your voice."
So I prayed for her.
The doctors were used to people
being distraught in situations like this,
but Hayley and myself had a God-given peace.
So they assumed we were in denial
about the gravity of the situation,
and contacted our Pastor,
hoping she'd speak some sense into us.
But they didn't know our Pastor.
I got a phone call from the hospital, saying
"Pastor Katherine, something has happened."
And I could tell from the tone of her voice she was very worried.
So I said, "What's going on?"
And she said, "Well, the baby's had a heart attack."
And that was enough for me,
these guys are family.
As I walked in the nurses were waiting for me,
and they said, "We're so glad you're here."
"You need to help them understand that this is much more serious"
"than they seem to realize."
I think they thought that I was going to help
with the grief counseling.
I looked at them and thought, "You've got the wrong lady, here."
As I walked in Nathaniel was praying for one of the nurses,
as you would expect because that's just who he is.
Hayley just had a supernatural peace.
I said to them, "Hayley you need to start expressing."
"Nurses you need to make sure she starts expressing milk"
"This baby is going to feed."
"This is going to be normal."
And I'm pretty sure the nurses were all thinking,
"I don't think they understand."
So we just prayed, we worshipped.
Well there was Gabriella,
all hooked up to the life-support machine,
and I said, "Let's take a picture!"
I remember overhearing one of your Pastors say,
"Take a photo of her like this"
"because you're going to need it for the testimony."
And I was like, "Oh Lord, please let that be true."
Because, all of the facts tell us it's impossible.
We were then transferred to one of the biggest hospitals in the area.
Gabriella was placed in a nursery for babies in critical condition.
Gabriella's state was rapidly deteriorating,
and they were struggling to keep her alive.
One lung collapsed, then the other.
They'd given her shots of adrenaline.
She had tubes everywhere.
But it was almost like I was in a bubble of God's peace.
I just knew that God was holding us, holding her.
Early the next morning,
I was sitting next to Gabriella, reading the Bible to her.
One of the doctors came in,
and he said to me, "Nathaniel, can you take a seat?"
I could tell this was a difficult conversation
for the doctor to have to have with me.
He was trying to console me about the situation with my daughter,
and at a certain point I stopped him,
and said, "Doctor I need you to understand,"
"I'm not worried, because I'm a man of God."
"Just tell me the facts, so that I'll know what to pray for."
Then he opened up and explained
that because of the lack of oxygen to my daughter's brain
during the four minutes that her heart had stopped,
he believed that she had brain damage,
and that that was the reason she was not responding.
I asked the doctor,
"What would you need to see to know that she's doing OK?"
And he said, "Well, she's not responding, so any response."
So I asked him, "What would you think if she opened her eyes?"
And he said, "I'd be astonished."
I looked him in the eyes, and I said,
"Doctor, prepare to be astonished. God's going to heal my daughter."
"What do you need prayer for?"
He was so impacted that he just said,
"Wow, you're very kind, thank you."
And I got to pray for him.
At this point we and many others
had been praying for almost two days,
and medically speaking there was no reason to think
we would ever see our daughter's eyes again, let alone any form of recovery.
I went into a bathroom and I shut the door.
"Gabriella wouldn't survive..."
"Something is very wrong with your baby..."
"Serious brain damage..."
I've learned that not every thought that enters my head is my own,
and as I was in that bathroom this boldness came over me.
I had complete confidence that God would heal my daughter.
But I also knew, that even losing my daughter
could not steal the peace I have in Jesus.
I said, "Enemy, your plans to take my daughter will not succeed."
"But no matter what happens to my daughter, my peace is in Christ alone."
That night Hayley and I were sitting and looking at Gabriella.
(Hayley) After two days of not seeing my baby's eyes,
She opened her eyes, and she looked at us.
And that was just amazing.
The doctors were surprised.
Not only had she opened her eyes,
but it was suddenly as if she was perfectly healthy.
Even her lungs, which had previously collapsed,
and should have shown abnormalities, now looked completely normal.
And the same doctor to whom I said, "Prepare to be astonished"
came running in with an X-Ray of her lungs, and he was like,
"This is amazing! This is amazing!"
And I said, "This is Jesus!"
The doctors kept doing their tests,
and they couldn't find anything wrong.
No brain damage. No lung trauma. Nothing wrong with her heart.
No one could explain it, but she was instantly well.
She didn't even need a feeding tube,
she went straight to breastfeeding.
She was healthy and normal,
developmentally you look at her and she is perfect, absolutely perfect.
I love it, there is nothing God can't do.
My mind couldn't reconcile this grey child with tubes everywhere,
to a robust newborn going home.
She was healed miraculously.
It certainly was obvious that these guys were a Christian family.
They had called upon God and their God had answered their prayers.
Over the next few days, most of the doctors and nurses who had
helped with Gabriella came to see her, amazed at the change.
All the world's waiting to see what it looks like
for Christians to go through trials and have unconditional peace.
In every situation,
God wants us to have no fear, because he is perfect love.