For Rachael Rowland, August 13, 2012, began like any other day. She woke up, spent time with her 3-year-old son, and headed to the gym before going to work.

A 2000 Rhema Bible Training College graduate and former Lady Eagles basketball player, Rachael had followed this routine many times before. But on this day, as she finished up at the gym, things changed swiftly.

"I felt something like a disc slip in my back," she recalled. "And I was 28 weeks pregnant, so it made me nauseous." Shaking badly, Rachael lowered herself to the floor. "I probably looked pretty crazy," she said. "Pregnant and lying on the floor at the gym."

After a few moments, Rachael struggled to her feet. But she felt as if she could pass out, so she stood leaning against a wall.

Concerned by what he was seeing, a man working out nearby came to check on her. As he turned to get help, Rachael's eyes rolled back and she passed out. The left side of her head slammed into the tiled, concrete floor.

"I talked to this man and his wife later, and they said they'd never seen anything like what happened that day," Rachael said. "My head actually hit first, so it got all of the impact. This couple didn't think I would live.

"There was another gentleman working at the gym whom I had never met," Rachael continued. "His name was Whitney and he later told me he heard me hit the ground and came running. He said, 'I thought you were either dead or dying.' "

Rachael didn't find out until later that Whitney was a Rhema student. "Thank God for Rhema students," she exclaimed. "The first person who had contact with me knew the Word and knew what to do! My body was convulsing because of the impact and the head injury. Whitney just laid hands on me and said, 'In the Name of Jesus, stop!' And I stopped convulsing. I was still unconscious, but he said he just prayed in the Spirit and spoke life into me."

Even as blood began to come out of Rachael's left ear, Whitney spoke and declared that there would be no side effects and that she would be completely healed and whole.

Paramedics finally arrived and rushed Rachael to the hospital. Her husband and parents arrived not long after and knew something was not right. Cupfuls of blood were now pouring out of her ear.

The neurosurgeon looked at her CAT scans and immediately determined that Rachael needed emergency brain surgery. She had fractures to the temporal bone in her skull and two types of intracranial bleeding. But even with the surgery, there was no guarantee that she or the baby would make it.

"There's no way to describe it," said Sally Daniels, Rachael's mom. "It's your baby and your grandbaby. But on the inside there was always a peace. I thought, 'She'll be OK.' "

After a four-hour surgery, Rachael was still alive. And doctors did not have to do a C-section to save the baby. Because of the severity of Rachael's injuries, though, recovery remained uncertain.

The next morning, God proved Himself faithful once again. Rachael woke up in the intensive care unit with doctors and family closely monitoring her. She didn't remember passing out, but she knew who she was and who her family was. She even remembered things she needed to do at work!

"We didn't know how serious it was," Rachael said. "My brother is a doctor in California, and as soon as he heard, he got on a plane. The nurses let him see my CAT scans and he said it's a miracle. I should not have lived. If I did, I should have been severely mentally and physically handicapped for the rest of my life.

"My brain shifted because of the fall, which is really dangerous," she explained. "And because of an arterial bleed, I lost 2 1/2 liters of blood. They actually didn't give me any blood, either, because of the baby. That's another miracle."

That same week, much to the surprise of doctors and physical therapists, Rachael was released from the hospital. One of the neurosurgeons told her, "People aren't just walking out of here like you're about to do with the kind of injury you had."

"God protected me," Rachael observed. "And He also held my baby in His hands the whole time. Not once did they even have to contemplate stepping in to do something to save her. Her heart rate never fell."

After hearing Rachael's story, a fellow church member commented that Rachael had everything in her that she needed to bring her through.

"That just stuck with me," Rachael said. "As I thought about it, it brought me back to my parents moving here when I was 9 years old to go to Rhema—and to the foundation that was set. Then at 19 years old, I felt like the Lord called me to go to Rhema. The word of faith was in my heart—in my spirit.

"So when my body was lying there and my mind was not working, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead . . . He was in me! He was dwelling in me, and He was quickening my mortal body! The guy at the gym, Whitney . . . he had the spirit of faith. It had to be scary, but he just jumped down there.

"I'm so thankful that I've been hooked up with this ministry for all these years. When the biggest storm of my life hit, not only did my spirit work, but the people here were praying. They were believing for me to walk out of this and receive a miracle. And I did! When you have a team of neurosurgeons, OBs, and nurses tell you that you shouldn't be here, you're a miracle."

Rachael with her husband, Jason; son, Hunter;
and new daughter. Ali-Joy was born totally
healthy on November 1, 2012—the completion
of the miracle!