Your Kids

4-Year-Old Faces Death, Lives to Tell the Tale

Posted: 11/16/2011

One book tells the story of a 4-year-old boy's faith and survival.

(NewsUSA) -"Now here was my kid, in his matter-of-fact, preschooler voice, telling me things that were not only astonishing on their face, but that also matched Scripture in every detail, right down to the rainbow colors described in the book of Revelation, which is hardly preschool material. And as he babbles, Colton asked me, his pastor-dad, every so often, 'Did you know that?'

And I'm thinking, Yeah, but how do you know it?"

Not a typical conversation you would expect to have with a 4-year-old, but nonetheless one that occurred between Todd Burpo and his son, Colton, in the novel "Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back." Co-written by Burpo about his son's brush with death, the book recently topped the New York Times Best Seller list and has become an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of readers.

The harrowing tale begins in March of 2003, when Colton suffered a burst appendix and developed a life-threatening infection. Doctors told Burpo and his wife that surgery was his only chance. His survival, while miraculous, was not as spectacular as the journey he took while doctors worked to save his life -- while Colton's body was in surgery, his consciousness ascended into heaven.

Skeptical? So were his parents when months after surgery, Colton mentioned that angels had sung to him in heaven. But Colton accurately described his parent's actions while he was in surgery. He talked about meeting his grandfather, who had died 30 years earlier. He even revealed that he had met a sister who had been miscarried -- except that his parents hadn't told Colton about the child they had lost prior to his birth.

"We have all accepted the truth of Colton's witness," said Todd. "As we read the Bible and hear Colton say over and over again, 'yeah, that's the way it is,' [it] affects us all."

Colton's story has spread like wildfire, having been featured on the Today Show and even exploding onto the social media scene. The Burpos created a Facebook page asking readers to share what their beliefs are on the afterlife. Since its conception, about 16,000 people have flocked to the site to share stories of similar loss and inspiration.

To learn more, visit www.heavenisforreal.net/.

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