Worship Singer Requests Prayer Of Revival After 2-year-old Daughter Dies Suddenly

1QTPie

Elder Sim


After the sudden death of their daughter last week, one Bethel Church family has taken the unusual step of enlisting others at the Redding megachurch to attempt to bring the child back to life.

Since Saturday, members of Bethel Church have been using prayer, music and singing in the effort.

Andrew and Kalley Heiligenthal's 2-year-old daughter, Olive Alayne, died early Saturday morning after she stopped breathing. One Instagram post about Olive had more than a quarter-million views within six hours Tuesday.

The family called 911 and medics attempted to revive the child at home and at a Redding hospital, where she was declared dead. From there, her body was taken to the Shasta County Coroner's Office.

On Saturday, the child's parents asked that "friends, family, and others from the church gather to pray for a miracle of resurrection (the basis for which is modeled by Jesus in the New Testament of the Bible)," Bethel Church leaders said in a statement Tuesday.

"Bethel Church believes in the stories of healing and physical resurrection found in the Bible (Matthew 10:8), and that the miracles they portray are possible today," the statement said.

Kalley Heiligenthal, a Bethel Music singer and songwriter, also posted her beliefs on a GoFundMe page set up for the family over the weekend. As of Tuesday evening, it had raised more than $36,000.



“We believe in a Jesus who died and conclusively defeated every grave, holding the keys to resurrection power. We need it for our little Olive Alayne, who stopped breathing yesterday and has been pronounced dead by doctors," Kalley Heiliegenthal wrote.

"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. Her time here is not done, and it is our time to believe boldly, and with confidence wield what King Jesus paid for. It’s time for her to come to life,” she wrote.

The family began its prayers shortly after their daughter died and took to Instagram to ask others around the world to pray for Olive Alayne. A hashtag, #wakeupolive, had garnered nearly 1,500 posts on Instagram.

Attempting to bring someone back to life is not widely accepted in the Christian faith, but may be more particular to Bethel Church, said Patrick Blewett, dean of A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary at Simpson University in Redding.

"This fits more into Bethel Church and into what they're teaching," Blewett said.

Blewett, who knows the Heiligenthal family, said it is more common to view death as the next step in life, he said, quoting from 2 Corinthians , which says "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."



The Bible associates miracles of resurrection in reference to Jesus, either through his own or in bringing others back to life, said Blewett, who added that he and others at Simpson pray for the family during its time of grief.

The public prayer gatherings for resurrection are also apparently not a common occurrence at the church, said Aaron Tesauro, a spokesman for the church.

“There are references to resurrection in the Bible, and we believe that with God, nothing is impossible, even things like resurrection. Although at Bethel, this is the first public gathering of prayer for resurrection that I have seen in the over 10 years I’ve attended the church,” Tesauro said.

Church officials said they are doing more for the family than praying for the child to come back to life.

"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 leadership is committed to caring for and serving the Heiligenthal family during this difficult time," the statement says.

https://www.redding.com/story/news/...fe-through-prayer-song-and-praise/2676273001/


 

1QTPie

Elder Sim
I'm not posting this to talk about their grief or their beliefs. I posted this to talk about this church. $100K to do what? That's the GoFundMe. One hundred thousand dollars to take advantage of a family in grief. Doesn't even look like they asked for this to be set up. I'm so ticked off.


Church leaders wrote that the fund, which has raised more than $38,000 toward a $100,000 goal, was to cover 'unforeseeable expenses the Heiligenthal family will incur, medical and otherwise.'

 

B_Phlyy

Pineapple Eating Unicorn
This makes me think of the 10 month old on life support story. I truly feel for the grieving parents but there comes a point where they have to know the child won't be living a meaningful life and they need to make peace with that.

And in this case, they are going to run into the issue of the child already being pronounced dead for a few days. No medical facility in it's right mind will take this with a 50 mile pole.
 

cocosweet

Well-Known Member
What a world.

Even in an alternate universe where Olive could be brought back to life, do the dubious overseers of the GoFundMe think that $100,000 would be anywhere near enough to pay for managing the effects of irreversible brain damage???

The Go Fund Me is at $42,470 currently.
 

Ganjababy

Well-Known Member
The first stage of Kubler-Ross stages of grief. It must be the worst grief to lose a child.


But even if she came back after a few days, would she not be a zombie? I would be scared of the child.
 

michelle81

Well-Known Member
The first stage of Kubler-Ross stages of grief. It must be the worst grief to lose a child.


But even if she came back after a few days, would she not be a zombie? I would be scared of the child.

I think it's denial as the 1st stage.
If so, then that type of denial is very real and scary at the same time.

I won't derail this thread, (I may make a thread on it at some point) but I went through that denial for more than 6 weeks after recently losing someone close.

Paying for miracles? That's wrong on many levels.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand why y’all are so taken aback by the GofundMe. It says on the GFM page that it was set up so the family would have no financial worries during this time. Every time someone dies these days, a GFM is started for one reason or another. I’m not seeing the duplicity here.

The resurrection party was weird, not the GFM.
 

Farida

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand why y’all are so taken aback by the GofundMe. It says on the GFM page that it was set up so the family would have no financial worries during this time. Every time someone dies these days, a GFM is started for one reason or another. I’m not seeing the duplicity here.

The resurrection party was weird, not the GFM.
I think it’s weird because usually the GFMs are often explained as necessary for medical bills, funeral costs or for lost wages. The fact that it was set $100k without explanation makes it odd.
 

michelle81

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand why y’all are so taken aback by the GofundMe. It says on the GFM page that it was set up so the family would have no financial worries during this time. Every time someone dies these days, a GFM is started for one reason or another. I’m not seeing the duplicity here.

The resurrection party was weird, not the GFM.

I think someone mentioned upthread that the GFM wording was changed after they realized the baby wouldn't be resurrected.
It originally said family expenses and future medical expenses for the baby.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...rect-dead-daughter-raise-43-000-GoFundMe.html
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
I think someone mentioned upthread that the GFM wording was changed after they realized the baby wouldn't be resurrected.
It originally said family expenses and future medical expenses for the baby.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...rect-dead-daughter-raise-43-000-GoFundMe.html

From your link, it says the GFM was set up: “To help cover unknown expenses for the family during this time and any future expenses for Olive”.

Now that the child has not been resurrected, it says that all of the money will go to the family, so that they have no financial worries while they grieve. Either way... what’s so sinister about it?

Also, according to your link the GoFundMe page was set up by friends and co-workers of Kalley. It wasn’t started by the church to profit directly from the child’s dead, as some have suggested.
 
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