Last year marked two particularly momentous beginnings for me and my family. The first was the birth of our daughter, Sophia, who was born Mar. 19, 2007. The second was the birth of our new church, Victory of the Lamb, about a week later.

The birth of our church went about as well as it could have. After a lot of outreach and preparation, we had almost 200 people at our grand opening. Since then we’ve been averaging about 60 in worship in a rented soccer club, and we’ve consistently had people in our Bible 101 class. We’ve pulled off a few creative outreach events, and have had unchurched people come to everything.

Although classes and events are great ways to reach the unchurched, God provides us with many other opportunities to witness. The birth of our daughter, for example, didn’t begin very well. She came into this world neither breathing nor moving. Her body had totally shut down with the exception of her heart and brain, both of which were just barely functioning.

With the help of a breathing tube, our baby girl was alive; but Sophia’s doctor said she could die in the next three days. If she were to live, she would likely experience severe brain damage. “Lord, have mercy,” was all I could think to pray.

Well, Sophia made it! After only one week in intensive care, Sophia came home. Sophia’s neurologist was stunned. In fact, the way that Sophia bounced back is nothing less than a miracle of God. And miracle isn’t my word. It’s the one her neurologist uses to describe her, the miracle baby.

Over the last couple months we’ve had to take Sophia to her neurologist for regular exams. All of Sophia’s brain scans have looked great, and her neurologist expresses wonder every time. At our last visit, he said that he has no way to explain why she is alive and normal. I asked him, “Do you believe in God, doctor?”

He leaned back in his chair and said, “Seeing something like this makes you rethink your beliefs, because there’s almost no other explanation for what happened.” So we told him how much God has blessed us and answered prayers.

Now I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to talk more with the neurologist about God. I sure hope so. We’ll be seeing him again. But this is just one way that God keeps turning this worst case scenario into a wonderful blessing. I tell a lot of people Sophia’s story now, because it’s not as much a story about Sophia as it is about God. This story has provided me a way to talk to unchurched people about God’s greatest miracle—the victory that Jesus won for us. Blessed be the name of the Lord who alone does great wonders!

Ben Kuerth is pastor at Victory of the Lamb, Franklin, Wis.