Church Holds Prayers For 2-Year-Old's Resurrection

A prominent megachurch in California has called on its members to pray for a miracle, as they try to resurrect a 2-year-old who had died over the weekend.

Kalley Heiligenthal's daughter, Olive Alayne, stopped breathing last Saturday. The family called 911 and medical professionals attempted to revive her before she was declared dead at a local hospital. Her body was then taken to the Shasta County Coroner’s office, Fox News reported.

Since then Heiligenthal, a Bethel Music artist and worship leader, has openly called for help from people to pray for her girl to be resurrected.

“We are asking for bold, unified prayers from the global church to stand with us in belief that He will raise this little girl back to life,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s time for her to come to life.”

Heiligenthal’s large following on social media helped the movement to bring Olivia back to life a viral phenomenon, with almost 3000 posts put up with the #wakeupolive hashtag. These posts included songs, selfies, dancing, and original artwork, Slate reported.

A GoFundMe page has been set up in order to help the family cover unforeseen expenses. As of Thursday, the account had raised $50,000.

The church itself was involved in spreading the word about the prayers and worship services being held at the request of the family.

"As a church family, our hearts are with the Heiligenthals, and we are both praying for Olive and walking with them through their deep grief and sorrow," Bethel Church told Fox News in a statement. "Bethel leadership is committed to caring for and serving the Heiligenthal family during this difficult time."

According to the church, it is the first time they have held public gatherings of prayer for resurrection.

Bill Johnson, Bethel Church’s senior lead pastor, addressed their beliefs in a video saying that there is a biblical precedent for such miracles, citing biblical accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead. However, he also acknowledged that the outcome cannot be predicted.

“There’s no manual that tells us ‘fast this many days, pray this many hours,’ ” Johnson said in the video. “But there’s a biblical precedent that tells us to keep praying.”

However, Craig Keener, a professor of biblical studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, said that though Bible gives resources for being positive, it also gave resources for being realistic about the world that we live in.

Bethel Church was involved in a similar incident last year when the 2-year-old son of Bethel Music CEO Joel Taylor was miraculously healed from a deadly disease, sparking a worship anthem from Bethel Music.