In recent decades, many young people have publicly shared their profound experiences of visiting the Celestial Realm, meeting Divine Beings, and remembering their eternal soul. In this two-part series, we will highlight some of these remarkable testimonies. We begin with the near-death experience of nine-year-old Annabel Beam.
Since the age of five, Annabel suffered from life-threatening digestive disorders. The pain was so intense that she often could not even get off the couch. However, one afternoon in December 2011, her two sisters, Abbie and Adelynn, convinced her to go outside to play. While climbing a large cottonwood tree in their yard, Annabel reached a branch high above the ground. Suddenly, it snapped, and she fell 30 feet (9.14 meters) headfirst into the hollow trunk of the tree. While trapped inside the tree, Annabel’s soul journeyed to Heaven.
The first thing I noticed was it was really bright. And then, when I kind of clicked that I was in Heaven, it’s because I saw my Mimi (grandmother) who had died a couple years back, and that’s how I kind of like click(ed), “Oh my goodness, I’m in Heaven.” I was just in such awe, like, “Wow, I’m in Heaven.” And God said to me, “Annabel, the firefighters are going to get you out. And whenever they do, there will be nothing wrong with you.”
Young Annabel then sat on the lap of Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian), who shared a profound message about her life.
And so, then whenever I was there, I was like, “Jesus, can I stay here with You where there is no more pain? ” He said, “No, Annabel, I have plans for you on Earth that you cannot fulfill in Heaven.”
Just as God said, the firefighters got Annabel out safely with no major injuries. Then, another miracle happened. When God told Annabel that “there would be nothing wrong with you,” she thought it only meant that she would survive the fall. However, what the Almighty really meant was that Hes would take away her severe intestinal illness. After Annabel’s accident, her parents began to take her off all her medications. A few months later, she was completely healed.
Annabel, for people who say, this little girl, she made this whole thing up, and there has to be some scientific way to explain that now she is free from these illnesses that were so debilitating before, now she’s symptom-free, going swimming and playing sports with her sister once again. For people who are skeptical, what would you say to them?
I would say, you don’t have to believe our story is true, but this is a chance for you to get closer to God in your relationship.
To inspire others through Annabel’s Divine encounter, her mother, Christy, authored the book, “Miracles From Heaven: A Little Girl and Her Amazing Story of Healing.”
Then, in 2016, Annabel’s life story became a major motion picture called “Miracles From Heaven.” Up next, we share a near-death experience of a young boy that was caught on camera! While skateboarding at a local skatepark, young Kason Gray fell and broke his arm. His mother then rushed him to the hospital, and doctors performed emergency surgery. While recovering, his mother and nurses sat with him as he came out of anesthesia. Suddenly, he began to have an open-eyed vision of Heaven and saw the Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian), God Almighty, and his late father, who had passed away just one year earlier.
Kason Gray’s excitement at seeing his deceased father in Heaven truly illustrates the joy we will all feel when we reunite with our loved ones who passed on to the Other Side before us.
In 2003, at three years old, Colton Burpo was suffering from what doctors thought was the stomach flu. However, after a medical exam, doctors realized he had a ruptured appendix and needed emergency surgery to save his life. Colton’s operation was successful, and over the following months, he revealed to his family that while on the operating table, he traveled to Heaven and had an astonishing meeting with Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian),God, and deceased family members
You say angels and Jesus came to you and took you to Heaven. Did they just show up in the operating room?
Actually, Jesus showed up first, and He helped calm me down, because I was scared at first. I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then He had the angels sing to me, and that calmed me down.
What did they sing?
They sang “Jesus Loves Me,” “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.” Those were my favorite songs at the time.
After being comforted by the angels, Colton was taken to Heaven. He shares how he saw his parents praying from above.
When I left the hospital, the angels, one of them, took me and flew me up to Heaven. But I could see down, and I could see my dad and my mom, and they were both in separate rooms having separate conversations.
With who?
They were both praying to God, making sure that I would come out of the operation.
Later, it was confirmed that the prayers Colton saw from Heaven did indeed take place. Colton describes being taken into the Throne Room of God and looking into the majestic eyes of Lord Jesus during his NDE.
Well, God, He was just there. He was just a Being that radiated Love, and even though He’s so big, you’re not scared of Him because He loves you so much. And what He did is He helped make Heaven be a happy place. A majority of the time I was in Heaven, I was with Jesus. His eyes – they were unlike any other that I’ve seen. They were just sparkling. It’s hard to describe, because there’s no words that we have that can describe just how beautiful His eyes are.
Incredibly, in the Afterlife, Colton also met his deceased sister for the first time. She had died before she was even born during a miscarriage by their mother, Sonja.
Well, she actually met me at the Gates of Heaven. She just ran out and hugged me. At first, I was like, “Who are you?” And then she told me who she was.
Sonya, let me ask you: who is this sister? Between Cassie and Colton we miscarried a baby. We didn’t know it was a daughter. We hadn’t told the kids, because how do you tell anybody you had a miscarriage? And so, when he told us that he had two sisters, it gave us such a healing. We thought we had gotten over it, but we still had that hurt, and this has provided some healing, and she’s okay, and it’s a she.
After his NDE, young Colton Burpo shared his Heaven testimony through speaking engagements and by singing worship music across the United States.
He really, really loves you. He wants you to know. He really, really loves you. He wants you to know.
In 2010, Colton’s father, Pastor Todd Burpo, published the book “Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back,” which has been translated into 25 languages and has become a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Then, in 2014, “Heaven Is for Real” was released as a major motion picture. Now, more than two decades after his NDE, Colton Burpo is a worship leader dedicating his life to bringing people closer to God Almighty and Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian).
My experience in Heaven, there were two conversations with Jesus that I’ve been able to remember all these years later. One of them is Jesus just teaching me, “Colton, this is how you get to Heaven. If you love Me and follow Me. Salvation is there; it is up to us to choose if we want to take Him by the hand or not.
What a wonderful spiritual lesson for all of us! We thank near-death experiencers Annabel Beam, Kason Gray, and Colton Burpo for sharing their testimonies about the Celestial Realm, which remind us that our soul is eternal and that Heaven is our true Home.
