“I don't know what's happening,” Felipe Piazza said as he thought back on the fateful night his wife, Dina, lost consciousness. “It's like the color in her eyes went out. My brain was bombarded with, what if she dies? I love my wife very much. What am I going to do if she’s gone?”

June 2nd, 2021 – Felipe and Dina were attending an evening service at Restoring Hope Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. This was only their second visit to the church, and while they were enjoying the worship music Dina began to feel ill. She then collapsed in Felipe’s arms.

“All of a sudden she just like, went sideways and that was it,” Felipe said. “The color in her skin went out, the color of her lips went out, like, everything went out. She wasn't reacting at all. I'm scared. I don't know CPR.”

But members of the church did. Nurses in the crowd rushed to Dina as Pastor Amanda Crabb was informed of the situation.  

“I didn't have time to think,” Pastor Amanda said. “I jump off the stage, I got on the microphone and began to declare to the worshipers, ‘Go to the front lines, begin to war in the spirit. Let's pray in faith, no doubt in this moment, we're going to declare the life of Jesus Christ in this room.' And so the prayers were praying, the nurses were administering, I was declaring the prophetic word of the Lord, and it was in that moment that you saw the full activation of what The Body of Christ is supposed to be.”

“When I saw how they reacted, that gave me a lot of peace,” Felipe said. “I don't have to do anything else. Let me call 911. Pastor Amanda started declaring life over Dina. The whole church is worshiping, praying, they never stopped. We were just visiting. They didn't know who we were at all and they still fought for her life.”

Emergency Medical Services arrived within six minutes of Filipe’s call. Paramedic Alex Smith attended to Dina.

“She didn't have a heartbeat and she wasn't breathing,” Alex said. “I just remember a lot of people being there and they were praying, but there was also this deep silence.”

Alex moved Dina’s lifeless body to the waiting ambulance outside. At this point, she’d been without a pulse for ten minutes. After several failed attempts to shock her heart back into rhythm, Alex gave it one more try. Miraculously, this time it worked. He updated Filipe and the congregation before taking her to the hospital – Dina was alive, but now in a coma.

“She's not moving,” Felipe recalled. “If you knew my wife, she's very energetic, but at that moment she’s just lying there. It was pretty rough. She means the world to me.”

It was found that Dina had a blockage in her heart that caused a cardiac arrest. A stent was inserted to open the clogged artery and she was stabilized, but the doctors said that even if Dina came out of her coma there was still the threat of long-term complications such as brain damage. They told Felipe to prepare for the worst. In the meantime, Pastor Amanda and other members of the church came to visit the Piazza’s in the hospital. For three days they fasted and prayed for Dina’s healing, then something happened.

“One of the nurses, she stopped me and she's like, ‘She woke up.’” Felipe said. “I'm like, ‘What do you mean she woke up?’ They're like, ‘She woke up. She's totally awake, she’s totally conscious.’ The doctors didn't have a clue what was happening. All the tests that they were running on her were coming back, you know, like good. I mean, this was a miracle.”

“They kept on telling me, you died, you died,” Dina said while remembering her experience waking up from the coma. “I was like, ‘God, I am so thankful.’ I was overwhelmed with joy, but at the same time I felt like, ‘Why? You picked me up from the dead?’ I was dead for so long, I could have been brain dead. A lot of doctors to this day say that they cannot believe what happened.”

Within a week she was given a clean bill of health and released from the hospital to reunite with Filipe and their son, Christian. She’s had no lingering complications since. Those who witnessed her survival give all the credit to God.

“Knowing the diagnosis she had, this was very unique,” Alex said. “Seven days later she walked out of the hospital like nothing was ever wrong – this was a miracle.”

“People prayed, we worshiped, we declared God as the center point of this whole night,” Pastor Amanda said. “It was The Body coming together, functioning according to where we had been commissioned and granted in our level of ability. By faith we saw a miracle that day.”

The Piazza’s have since officially joined Restoring Hope Church. They now boldly speak about how God can use The Church Body to do amazing things, even in the lives of complete strangers.

“I'm super grateful to God for still having my wife,” Felipe said with tears in his eyes. “It's very emotional because it's like you see The God of Love. I’m super grateful for what He did, but I’m also super grateful for the church. Not knowing who we were, and they still showed us that love. They took care of us like if we were part of them, as if we’d went to that Church for forever.”

“I am so thankful,” Dina said. “I am so grateful for Restoring Hope Church. They have become my family. I just glorify God. I just have to glorify God for what He did with me. That He healed me. Not only saved my life, but He completely healed me. It is important that we understand that the power of prayer, the worship, the faith, the unity of The Body together, praying for something, for a miracle, even if you do not know the person, is something that can change anything.”
 

“I wanted to be relentless in my pursuit of success.” Recalls Malissa, “I particularly wanted to prove to my mom, prove to my dad that I could do it on my own.” Feelings of condemnation from her childhood, along with her own ego drove Malissa to do whatever it took to be successful. “People were completely disposable to me, dispensable to me. I didn't find value in relationships. I would get rid of you and kick you outta my life in the same way it was done for me.”

Her ambition to be successful brought opportunities in Atlanta, selling high end watches and jewelry. She says, “I was a million-dollar writer for the company. I was doing great. I had celebrity clients, big clientele, and I would be selling a diamond ring to someone's husband. And at the same time going to Miami with the same man.”

Still she wanted more. She moved to New York for bigger opportunities and got a job selling Rolex and other high end watches on fifth Avenue, but sales were hard to come by – soon, she feared her job was on the line. “Feelings of failure. And also that old familiar feeling of condemnation hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt constant fear that I was gonna lose my job. And I felt this utter panic rush over me that I, in desperation, that I need to do something in order to save my job.” Says Malissa.

Former clients from Atlanta presented an opportunity for Malissa to make a large sale, but there was a catch, She says, “They wanted to buy two watches, and they were gonna do it with fake credit cards. And originally, I was like, ‘oh, no’, but I became, got more desperate and I got more desperate. My sales are not doing that good, I don't want to move back home and say, ‘I’ve failed.’”

She made the deal. A month later police brought her in for questioning regarding her role in the scheme. Malissa was once again overwhelmed with a sense of failure and condemnation. She says, “You're like the worst person. How could you do something like that? Like, look at you. This is ridiculous. You ruined your life’ and those thoughts were tormenting. They were over and over and over, these voices are like just in your head telling you like how you're not valuable and how this is so crazy and just dumb to made a decision what you did, now look at you.”

Eventually Malissa was charged with third degree grand larceny and faced the possibility of up to seven years in prison. Before turning herself in she talked on the phone with her aunt who told her about Jesus. “She starts to talk to me about how he wants to help me, and how he loves me, and how much like he cares for me.” Recalls Malissa, “And I was just like, well, why would he wanna help somebody who's done all these things? My whole life I've been against him. Well, why would he wanna help me? It just didn't make sense.”

While in a holding cell waiting for her bail hearing, Malissa says she had a spiritual encounter that changed her life. She says, “And I don't even know who I'm talking to. I'm just saying like, ‘I'm just so sorry.’ And in the midst of me saying that this bright white light comes and permeates the cell,  and it felt like a force, like a presence. And it like knocked me to the ground. Like, and when I was on the ground, I was next to the feet of Jesus. And I knew that it was Jesus. I knew it was him. Malissa says she then saw a vision of her entire life, every sinful decision and selfish action revealed in front of Jesus. Instead of condemnation she felt his love. “He overwhelmed me with a love that I have never experienced in my life. I didn't have a need in that moment. I didn't have a want in that moment, but I was fully aware of how sinful that I was.”

As she repented from her sins, she says Jesus told her about her future – ministering to women and children, and that she would go free that day. A few hours later, to her lawyer’s surprise she was released without bail. Malissa says, “I've only ever known condemnation. I never even knew what Grace was, and what happened in the courtroom is like what he did on the cross for me, that I was literally guilty, but because of what he did for me, I could go free. And that was where I had the big revelation of just who he is.”

Having experienced the unconditional love of God in such a powerful way, Malissa gave her life to Jesus. “I have never experienced unconditional love. Every piece of love I've known has been transactional and has been conditional. And when you understand the father's love, when you understand Jesus' love for you, it is what endows you to want to obey him. It is what endows you to wanna follow him.” She says. 

The feelings of condemnation she’d always known have been exchanged for the grace of God that set her free and gave her a new purpose. She says, “He chose to love me. And because of that I give my life to him. And I know that he has no respect of person, so what he's done for me, I know that he is willing and able and capable to do for others. To see everything that he said be true and to be working with women and children on behalf of him, it is just an absolute honor. And I'm not turning back.”

CREDITS:

Story lead courtesy of Delafé testimonies, building the world’s largest archive of Jesus testimonies: https://www.missiondelafe.org

For 30 days rain fell on the city of New Hamburg in southern Brazil.  Soon an earthen dam collapsed, sending millions of gallons of water through the valleys below.  The wall of water hit Luiz’s business and the apartment building where he lives with his wife and baby.  

“We saw the water rising, rising, faster and faster,” Luiz told us.  “We heard about the earthen dam.  The water hit our apartment building full force.  It was like a wave destroying everything.”  

The young family escaped their second story apartment to the safety to a relative’s house. As you can see from these photos, their food truck then sat under 10 feet of water.   

“I had this dream of setting up a cafe when I was 15.  All the jobs I had after that were to save money for that trailer.  It took 28 years for me to save enough to buy it,” Luiz said, sadly.  

When the water finally subsided after 30 days, Luiz and his wife returned to their business to assess the damage.     

“Everything was destroyed,” he said. “It was a mess.  Everything was dirty and it smelled awful. My eyes filled with tears. It was devastating to see my dream washed away.”

Luiz’s wife, Andréia, told us, with tears in her eyes, “Luiz went 45 days without working.  But he said, ‘God will provide. I don’t know how, but God will provide.’” 

Then, Luiz and his wife met Operation Blessing’s Disaster relief team.  After the flood, we handed out food, bottled water and cleaning supplies to residents hardest hit by the flood.  Thanks to YOU, we provided Luiz with new equipment and supplies, including stoves, refrigerators and other kitchen items so he could restart his business.  Luiz soon had the trailer cleaned and sanitized and within a few days they were open for business.

“I lost my business in just one day. Then Operation Blessing came with those gifts and restored it in a day.  Our hearts were beating so fast when we saw you arrive. The joy was overwhelming,” Luiz said with great gratitude.  “You are the real deal! What you do is real. And now we are fine again. Thank you.” 
 
Andréia chimed in with her heartfelt thanks: “It’s hard to put into words, but I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who supports Operation Blessing!  You are helping us to rebuild our lives. Thank you!”      
 
 

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