RAISED FROM THE DEAD!

Melanie and Ron Belcher In January 2003, it was exactly 10 years since Melanie Belcher fell terribly ill as a 19-year-old student. As Melanie was born and bred at Baltimore in the Bushveld she built up immunity to the malaria that is prevalent in this region. Moving abroad after finishing school, her body - without her being aware of this - had lost its natural immunity when she returned to South Africa after a year. She enrolled at the Pretoria Technikon and started to live and study in Pretoria. Early in her first year she felt sick constantly, but thought it was due to the very physical initiation process that the first year students had to go through. Three doctors diagnosed and treated her during this time for different illnesses ranging from flu to bladdder and kidney infection. One weekend she didn't go home to visit her family, but stayed at the Technikon's hostel. On returning after their weekend away, her fellow-students noticed she was still sleeping in the same position as when they had left on the Friday. Not suspecting anything however, they left for class, but when Melanie was still in the same position that afternoon, they realised something was terribly wrong! She was rushed to hospital. With her parents so far away in the Bushveld, her grandparents gave permission for her to have brain scans and varied tests done. Melanie's comatose and bloated body underwent numerous tests for a range of possible causes and she was diagnosed with meningitis, jaundice and bronchitis. No one suspected malaria as Melanie was living in Pretoria. In the meantime, Melanie's family rushed from the Bushveld to be at the bedside of their second child. Her sister remembers that, except for a small white spot on her tooth, she was totally unrecognisable with a hugely enlarged body and head - and strangely popped eyes. Strangled from inside A professor passing the ward she had been admitted to realised something was seriously wrong and immediately arranged for her to be transferred to the neurological unit (ICU). He sent her for brain scans and malaria tests, which confirmed she was suffering from cerebral malaria - the worst form of malaria that infects the brain instantaneously! Due to the advanced progress of this undetected parasite, the blood flow and oxygen to her brain were eventually cut off, resulting in all her organs - including her kidneys, liver and heart - ceasing to function. She was operated on to drain fluid from her lungs and her parents were informed that she would never be able to walk again. All her sensorial activities stopped and Melanie was declared totally blind. A valve was planted in her brain to relieve the pressure but the doctors had no hope that she would ever live a normal life again. With the choice between death or her being totally disabled, they decided as a last option to overdose Melanie in an attempt to shock her system and evidently force her veins open! Despite the injection, she died and was declared clinically dead in her medical files, as no organs in her body were working without the support system of numerous tubes and monitors. Unlike others who have testified that they heard voices while in a coma, Melanie wasn't aware of anything throughout this whole ordeal stretching over six weeks - not even the intense pain that must have been present in her body. However, the only single thing she can remember, and today testifies about, is that she didn't just have a near-death experience - she died! Atheists declaring a miracle! "The moment I died, I was surrounded by demons closing up on me in a black-gray fogginess. They were grabbing my arms and legs and took me to Hell. An intense, indescribable fear came over me. I can remember clearly that as a 19-year old girl convinced of being a Christian, I screamed out to God: 'Lord, I am too young to die. I cannot die!' "Almost simultaneously a bright light surrounded us. I didn't see Jesus, but I knew it was Him! I opened my eyes and sat up straight in my hospital bed!" "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the Glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard" (Isaiah 58:8). "Five doctors were assigned to assist me and were standing next to my bed when I sat up. Two of them were atheists, and they ran to my parents shouting: 'I'ts a miracle! Your daughter is alive and sitting up!" Although she didn't realise it at the time, God had raised up people all over the country to pray and intercede for Melanie. A woman working at the hospital afterwards told her that she continually prayed and quoted Isaiah 43:19: "Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it," while she was in a coma. Melanie's sister, a radical born-again child of God was woken and given a word by God one night. She went to the hospital and prayed this Scripture, "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved. For You are my praise" (Jeremiah 17:14), over Melanie's body, declaring that her sister would one day stand in the full service of God. Walking to understanding Melanie testifies that after almost two months, she walked with the professor from the intensive care unit to a seminar that was conducted to discuss her miraculous recovery. The professor discussed her whole medical file, symptoms, procedures and results with the audience. They unanimously came to the conclusion that this could only result in death. The professor turned to Melanie and introduced her as the patient whose medical profile he had shared with them. Needless to say, all were astounded and totally bowled over by this announcement. Melanie is recorded as the first patient who recovered from such a severe case of cerebral malaria in that hospital. She carried her own suitcase and walked from her ward the day she was discharged. She was sent home to her parents to fully recover and was given her medical records for their local doctor to do the necessary check-ups. Melanie and her mother couldn't understand why he was so shocked when opening her file. He kept saying: "This can't be, it's impossible! You're dead, part of statistics." According to Melanie and her family her recuperation was a logical result of the overdose and, of course, the ardent prayers of friends and family. Only then did they hear for the first time that the record in her file stated that she had been clinically dead! Melanie's family never received any medical accounts other than the ambulance fee of R125,00. On inquiring, the hospital said she was exempt from all costs, as she had not just been a guinea pig for several medical experiments but also a total miracle! Today Melanie is in full-time ministry with her husband Ron Belcher, whom God supernaturally called from his life on the broad way to Hell to a singing ministry to glorify Him! [Condensed and used with permission]. Ron and Melanie will be ministering in Potchefstroom during 2004! Watch Good News for further details.