BONUS: Story about our Executive Director saved from near death experience!

Check out this bonus episode where we share the story about an Elijah Rising presentation that went horribly wrong! Our Executive Director, Micah Gamboa, experienced cardiac arrest during her presentation at Celebration Church of The Woodlands. Amazingly, God worked a miracle, and Micah was able to recover in just a few days with no lasting effects. Hear the story from Pastor Frankie Mazzapica on what it was like to walk through this experience, and the amazing testimonies of how God is using this testimony to bring healing to others!

Transcript

Near-Death Experience at Church

Speaker 1 0:24

Welcome back to the Elijah Rising podcast. Today we have a bonus episode, and I'm joined today by Frankie Mazepika, one of our good friends. You lead a church called Celebration Church of the Woodlands. We've known you for about five years and our story begins probably whenever I died on your stage.

Speaker 2 0:49

Yeah, it's so funny because your listeners are like oh, that's a figure of speech. No, no, you died.

Speaker 1 0:58

So we will share that story today. We love to use bonus episodes kind of around some of the backstory of Elijah Rising, things that happened not necessarily behind the scenes, but just things that you wouldn't you know the public may not get a chance to hear the real life stories life in ministry.

Speaker 2 1:17

This is what you get. Yeah, so many people want to be in the ministry until they find out what's going on.

Speaker 1 1:26

We joke that, like the Elijah Rising book, is going to be called demons and sinkholes which is a whole nother story. But there's all of yes, exactly ministry life. So why don't you tell us from your perspective?

Speaker 2 1:39

How you died.

Speaker 1 1:40

How we got to know each other.

Speaker 2 1:41

Yeah, okay, so let me start there. I was. I was in my kitchen and I opened up my laptop. I was having lunch. I saw on the Fox News page, which is my splash- page. It says Elijah Rising stops Canadian company from bringing robots to open up a sex robot brothel. I'm like what in the world. So then I find out that you're in Houston, okay, and we're in the woodlands, and so that's. You know. I mean, what do we? You?

Speaker 2 2:15

walk across the railroad tracks and you're in Houston, right, and so I'm like, okay, I got to reach out, so I call you guys up and we talk over the phone. We ended up meeting and once you come to our church and we're going to just raise a whole bunch of money for Elijah Rising, bless you guys, because I'm like anyone who just shut down a robot brothel which is the weirdest thing I've ever heard.

Speaker 2 2:40

We want to bless you guys, and so we had two services, and so we bring you on the stage and there was a round table and I was sitting on one side, you were sitting on the other and I said okay, micah, you know, introduce yourself.

Speaker 1 2:57

Wait a minute. I have to back up because I don't remember anything about this event. But my husband was there and he tells me some of these things, so we had only met one time, that's right, so we didn't really know each other.

Speaker 2 3:09

No, no, no, I think we showed up to interview you and then I mean it was a real quick interview.

Speaker 1 3:16

It was and you wanted to like, make sure you know. Come to the facility, see the safe home. Yeah, Are you guys legit, or was that just like?

Speaker 2 3:25

who are you guys, and so I remember we had it. We brought a team with us to interview you, and so it was real quick.

Speaker 1 3:32

I mean, we were just bang bang.

Speaker 2 3:34

And I think we introduced ourselves to each other. It felt very professional.

Speaker 2 3:39

Right it was just kind of like boom. And then I was like, okay, see you next month Sunday, the whatever it was. And so when you came I would guess I'd call you know my relationship with you and David, acquaintances, I suppose. And so I said, hey, micah, go ahead and introduce yourself to the church. And my goodness. So you said well, first of all I want to say thank you for inviting. And then you dragged out that word inviting and all of a sudden I look at you and your eyes like I've never seen this in my life. It's like the life went away and your eyes just rolled back in the back of your mouth, I mean not in the back of my mouth.

Speaker 2 4:29

They just rolled backwards, yeah, and you started slipping out of the stool and I was like, oh, my goodness. And so the only thing that came to my mind was, okay, she's having a seizure, okay, and, and so I went around and I caught you because you were slipping out of the school. Yeah, you're welcome. So you know, I lay you down on the ground and I don't know much about seizures, but what I do know is that they know what's happening around them, but they can't stop what's happening to them right.

Speaker 2 5:07

And so I just said, hey, Micah, you know, relax, yeah, everything's okay, and little do I know that you are going into full cardiac arrest or like right before my eyes, and and and. So I look up and we thank the Lord we had a doctor and she works in the emergency unit.

Speaker 2 5:36

And then we had a guy who was he was in the military for several years, who worked in Iraq, right. So I looked over there and in both of them kind of were looking at me like hey, do you need help? And I looked at them and I was like yeah, I, you know, come up here. So they come up there and you know, at that point I'm a couple feet away from you and I've never like obviously, but I can't explain this to anyone and communicate it well, unless they've seen it. But you're looking, I'm looking in your eyes, trying to determine how well you are, and the life just goes away Like you're gone, you're not here, right, and so you know, when you go to a funeral and you walk past, the casket and everybody always says the same thing right, they're not here.

Speaker 2 6:36

But to see someone like in a second, like you're there and you're gone, it was like I can't even explain. Like, oh my goodness, like she's not here and I don't want to get like too graphic, but I do want to paint the picture. David, the guy that served in the military, he was like doing like pumping on your chest to try to keep your heart beating and because you had already gone.

Speaker 2 7:09

Okay, blood was coming out of your mouth and it was coming out of your nose and he had the wherewithal of hey, if we have any chance of saving this girl and nobody knew what was happening we got to keep her heart beating until the paramedics show up and, looking back, had he not done that, we would have lost you Totally. Like there's no way. Then we find out later. You know what happened. You went into full cardiac arrest, which and you know more about this than I do, clearly, because you've you've learned a lot more but full cardiac arrest is when your breathing stops, your brain stops and your heart. So all of that, is that correct a die word? That while? Yeah, and so if someone goes into partial cardiac arrest, one of the three or two of the three, well, in your case it was all three you're gone no brain, no heart, no breathing, breathing that's called dead.

Speaker 1 8:07

It was like the first service, the first.

Speaker 2 8:11

Yes, and, and so you know. So someone called 911. Thank God right. The paramedics come down the aisle and as soon as they get there they said who's the pastor, and I was like that's me. You need to get everybody in the sanctuary out of here.

Speaker 1 8:30

Yeah, all like 400 of them are what all of you guys need to get out, right, get out of here, okay.

Speaker 2 8:35

So, and so they all leave and they're in the lobby like praying, okay, and and and then after that I'm sitting on the front row and I'm sitting next to the doctor at this point and she's giving me a play-by-play, right, they're hooking you up, they got IVs, and, and you're just laying there like you're gone, you're, you're dead, and I'll never forget. Your husband was calling people. I'm so glad he had the wherewithal to do this. He was calling people and saying hey, look, I need you to pray and it hang up with him.

Speaker 2 9:10

Call the next person. Yeah and so I'm not a doctor, right, but I am familiar with that sound where you know somebody, you can hear somebody's heartbeat you know, beep, beep.

Speaker 2 9:21

And well, yours was like beep, I mean. I mean, it was just so eerie. And our second service Was much larger than our first service, and so they need parking Right, and so Attendance-wise it's just much larger, and so they're trying to get in, but the people in the first service don't want to leave, and so it was just a madhouse. I didn't know what was happening out there. I could have you know, I was kind of thinking about it and and so about 15 minutes went by and I remember watching the paramedics say okay, you know, it's time to pack up. And so they start packing up and they had like IVs in you and stuff like that, and they started taking out. The last thing that they were going to take off is what was keeping your heart right, telling them what they, how your heart was doing the machine that was going beep Right.

Speaker 2 10:27

And so they had packed up everything and then all of a sudden it starts going beep, beep, beep. And so I look at the doctor next to me and she looks at back at me and we're like big eyes and we're like, oh, my goodness, like what's going on here? And so I heard one of the paramedics say okay, we got a heartbeat. And so they throw you on the gurney and they throw the blanket around you and but it's not over your head, Right? So everybody knows, Even if you're not a doctor, if it goes over the head it's, it's, it's over, right.

Speaker 2 11:01

And so we're like, okay, it's not over her head. And so they start pushing you out. And so the doctor sitting next to me and said, look, we got a long road ahead of us because, just because she's breathing, her brain is not working. And she's not, she's, her heart's not working. Okay, the only thing. No, her heart is beating, but her lungs are not, and neither is her brain. And so you know, and it's been 15 minutes- yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 11:30

And so they, they put you in the ambulance, they, they, they run you off, and and so I'm trying to wrap my head around what to do now, because there's blood on our stage. Yeah, I know Right, there's blood on our stage.

Speaker 1 11:46

And you have people like filing in yes.

Speaker 2 11:49

Filing in and I remember because I was trying to move you around for the doctors and so I had blood like in my finger.

Speaker 1 11:58

Oh my gosh Frankie.

Miraculous Recovery and Long-Lasting Partnership

Speaker 2 12:00

And so I'm like I have to go upstairs and and I got to wash my hands and I'm like I can't believe this is happening. Um, but you know, it's so interesting I think I gave it to you. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I saw a needle that they had in your IV and they left it on the stage. They took everything, but they forgot to pick that up. And I picked it up and I was like, if a miracle happens, I'm going to want to remember this moment.

Speaker 1 12:29

Yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker 2 12:33

So so, uh, I know that sounds gross, but it was significant at the time, Right. And so I, you know, I just put it in my pocket or whatever. And so I go visit the hospital and obviously, you know, I'm dropping every single title I can think of. I get a Goldbastard, blah, blah, blah, blah. Nobody cares, You're not getting in there to see her. And then, uh, I went to home and I have a friend of mine there's another friend of mine, he's a doctor and he said, look, you know, brace yourself like get your head together, like I think it's like she.

Speaker 2 13:04

She had a 4% chance of getting to the hospital alive, right? Uh, when people go into full cardiac arrest, there's a 96% chance that they're dead by the time they get to the hospital. And so he's telling me look, you know, just brace yourself. And then he said this this was crushing too. I'm like, man, you are not the bearer of bad news, I mean good news. And he said and if she lives, she's not going to be who she once was. And he goes I don't know what's going to be different. I don't know if it'll be physical, I don't know if it'll be mental, emotional or all, but she's not going to be the girl that she once was. And so I'm like. And so I said well, what if? What if she lives? And what if she has no residual effects? And he said don't let your head go down that road. And he goes that's not gonna happen.

Speaker 2 14:03

Yeah, and I said, well, just what if? Like what if? And he goes, look, if that happens, I don't wanna stand anywhere close to you or your church because lightning just struck.

Speaker 1 14:16

You're like your church. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was like I thought it was our church. No, it's your church.

Speaker 2 14:23

Yeah, I was like, okay, he goes. God just did something that I've never seen before in the medical world. And you know, I don't know if you know, this lightning just struck and so, anyway, I finally get an opportunity to go visit you. Like four days later, I walk into your hospital room and I've talked about this so many times when I travel around the country, or whatever I walk in, david's in there, he's in a chippy mood.

Speaker 1 14:58

My husband, yeah, your husband, david, he's in there.

Speaker 2 15:01

He's in a chippy mood, he's happy. I look at you you're in your bed eating pudding, Pudding and you looked at me and I'll never forget what you said. You go. I'm really sorry, I messed up your service dude.

Speaker 1 15:17

And I was like she just called me dude. That's the most awesome thing I've ever heard of my life.

Speaker 2 15:21

And I'm looking at you and I'm like what in the world is happening? And they kept you for like a couple more days or whatever, for like.

Speaker 1 15:34

Yeah, cause it was the week of Thanksgiving and they couldn't like get the doctors, you know, to come in or something, and I'm like this girl could walk out right now.

Speaker 2 15:45

They kept you for a couple of more days and they were like okay, you can go. And then we, you know, they said there's no reason for this, you don't have it in your family tree.

Speaker 2 16:00

You're healthy, you're strong you're young, this should not have happened. And I'm like, okay, I just saw someone die and come back to life Like this is and I say this all the time whenever I tell the story. But I can't not tell the story and leave this out. When you were on the on the stage, you got blood coming out of your mouth Like it was so intense. I felt the Lord just speak to me, not out loud, just like right in my heart. He told me two things. He said hell hates this girl. And then, just like, a few moments later, I felt him again say they are at. They meaning you and your husband, your ministry, elijah, rising. They are at the tip of the spear. And you know, and I knew what that meant. You know in the church world, you know the church is the bride of Christ and so people, you know they're supposed to go to the temple to worship the Lord. Next chapter two but, um, you guys go to them, you guys go to the brothel you go into the darkness and um wow.

Speaker 2 17:21

that's why you guys are at the tip of the spear. And then from that moment it was so um, it was like okay, we're, our church will be a supporter of Elijah rising forever.

Speaker 1 17:32

It was it was obvious.

Speaker 2 17:34

Okay, and what's crazy? What's so crazy is. Our church started experiencing people getting healed. You know blind eyes open ears, cancer and uh. Every time we pray for you people, people get healed. Ever since that day.

Speaker 1 17:51

Not everybody gets healed that we pray for.

Speaker 2 17:53

But ever since that day. People have been getting healed since 2018.

Speaker 1 17:59

So thank you for taking one for the team. I don't know.

Speaker 2 18:04

You had to pay the price, and we all benefited from it, so thank you for taking one for the team.

Speaker 1 18:09

Well, it's one development strategy that I don't recommend.

Speaker 2 18:14

Nobody volunteers. They all died, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 18:17

And it's like you were like okay, well, can either go either way. You're like okay, I never want to see that girl again. Or you're like okay, now we are together Together forever.

Speaker 2 18:27

Now I mean, we're going to be old and raising our kids and giving our ministry to our kids if they want it, but we will be partners forever.

Speaker 1 18:36

And I love I have seen you. Know we didn't know you too well before that, right, but I have seen the trajectory of celebration church and just the incredible testimonies that have been coming out. I mean, I've sat there in the chair when someone's blind eyes were open and I'm like what is happening you?

Speaker 1 19:00

know it's been really exciting to watch and I just think that y'all I mean your church, you guys have y'all have really paid the price, in that it there's not a lot of people who would have stayed there and believed for a miracle.

Speaker 2 19:14

Who would?

Speaker 1 19:14

have believed for healing and been like, okay, I'm not going to give up. And and then invited us back.

Speaker 2 19:20

You know like that is the real test it was so funny is is that we, I think, attendance wise that we're in the lobby. They were standing in the parking lot. Everybody wants to see the dead girl that came back you know it was so good.

Speaker 1 19:35

They were like I prayed for you, I prayed for you and actually when I remember I can't I think it was the first time I came back and spoke with you Um. Some gentlemen came up and shook my hand. He was like hi, I'm Bob, or whatever his name was and he's like I actually, uh, I'm a CSI cleanup guy and I cleaned up all the blood on this stage after you.

Speaker 2 19:55

Oh, my goodness Wow.

Speaker 1 19:56

Thanks to you know.

Speaker 2 19:58

I forgot about that. We had to bring in professional cleaners.

Speaker 1 20:01

Yeah, he was like I just had the stuff in my car. I was like, okay, well that's a little wacky.

Speaker 2 20:07

you know we're not going to go. Yeah, thank you for your service. Who walks around with that stuff in their trunk.

Speaker 1 20:15

I know it was so like the way that the Lord had orchestrated it, because even the the, the doctor and the military guy, I mean, they weren't even supposed. They were like we weren't even going to come this morning.

Speaker 2 20:26

No, they don't even go to the first service, right.

Speaker 1 20:28

And they're like something compelled me to. They had these different situations that happened, if they weren't there, you wouldn't be here.

Speaker 2 20:33

It'd be a different story. Yeah, oh, yeah, For sure, yeah.

Speaker 1 20:37

Um, and so, yeah, I'm just and this is such a testimony to of I didn't do anything right, um, but it was the people around me who prayed. Yeah, and just to tie it in, like, you've written several books, one of them has been on the power of God to see signs, wonders, miracles, but then your most recent book has been about prayer.

Speaker 2 20:57

Yes, so ignite your life 14 things that happen when you pray. And I talk about this whole situation in that book Um, it might have been in the first book um, your divine invitation, I don't know, but I've told this story in so many churches I can't even count. Because, you're right, the people in the first service, they didn't leave, they stayed in the lobby, in the hallways, praying, yeah, and so, um, yeah, that, that whole incident, I think that's what we call it. Right, the incident, the whole incident, uh, changed so many people's lives, have changed that, like you said, changed the trajectory of our church. But nobody is ever the same after that. When, when you see, and and what was really cool is one of the mentors in my life, dr Randy Clark, he said well, if you've seen someone die and come back to life, you can believe God for anything.

Speaker 1 21:54

Now, they're, you're like okay, the bar just got a little higher.

Speaker 2 21:58

Yes, yes, like that. Interesting that was wow. It was a wild, wild experience.

Speaker 1 22:05

Well, it's just another day in the life of a ministry I know we could share like a dozen more stories.

Speaker 2 22:11

We can find one that can top that one, though that's the crown jewel right there. I.

Speaker 1 22:17

Love, I love it and I'm believing that the Lord is gonna give us some more testimonies that maybe don't have us so close to the Center maybe we can be nice, right, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 22:29

Let's have some testimonies that, yeah, it's not your me Well.

Speaker 1 22:37

I've loved, just kind of recapping I've let. We haven't shared this on the alligarizing platform at all. There's so much more to the story that the Lord you know the nuance of how the Lord did that. But yeah credit. You know, all the credibility goes to Jesus.

Speaker 2 22:52

I'm so glad we did this, because I don't think I've talked about it on on stages before and or in front of the camera you have, you know, but we've never talked about it together.

Speaker 1 23:07

This was fun, and then people when they invite us, they're like just, can we just not? I've loved it. Thank you so much for sharing our story on this podcast. I hope people enjoy it. If you've liked this episode, you can obviously like, subscribe and then share with your friends and you can Check out Frankie's other episodes on the alligarizing podcast wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for joining us and we will check you out next time you.