Former Evangel Student Shares the Other Miraculous Resurrection Story You May Have Missed

The inspiring modern-day resurrection of a boy from the Midwest—dramatized in the movie Breakthrough—captivated viewers over the weekend, helping the 21st Century Fox film remain in the top six box-office attractions. Breakthrough depicts the reality drowning of 14-year-old John Smith in an iced-over Missouri lake, and his return to life after submersion in freezing water for 30 minutes.

Looking back on that fateful January day in 2015, Smith tells Fox he was running from God’s call to ministry at age 14. View the interview here. The movie, it turns out, continues Smith’s stated mission to share the power of the Holy Spirit as spoken by his mother in prayer over his flat-lined body four years ago.

But he’s not the only one who has seen a miraculous resurrection after death.

Steffani Besch also drowned at age 13, her spirit went to heaven, and then she returned to fulfill the Lord’s call to a speaking ministry that—in a big way this year—highlights her miraculous resurrection after 30 minutes stuck in fetal position on a public swimming-pool drain.

There are parallels between her story and Smith’s in the book and movie—including their shared surname, Smith, before Steffani married husband David Besch. Both drowning victims remained submerged under water for at least a half hour.

In both stories, an Assembly of God (AG) minister played, well, pastoral roles. In Besch’s case, Pastor Victor Unruh felt an impression by the Holy Spirit that a family in his congregation needed protective prayer covering during a Sunday-morning worship service. In John Smith’s case, his AG pastor was close to him and the family before and after the drowning.

There are also differences: Besch was knocked unconscious after her head hit the concrete wall of a public swimming pool in Kansas; John Smith drowned after falling through the ice on a harsh, wintry day in neighboring Missouri.

In ministry of different kinds for over 20 years, Besch recognizes God’s call on her life and on Smith’s. Based on experience telling her supernatural story to thousands of people across the country, Besch offers advice for Smith’s ministry beyond the success of the movie.

“I think, as with any miracle done by Jesus, it’s an opportunity to lift up His name, so that people are drawn to Him,” Besch said. “Whether it’s a platform ministry, evangelizing on the streets or in the business world, we all have a testimony and a story to tell. So, for John, I would say seek God first and His righteousness, and everything else will added to you.”

Telling her life-from-death story began with an AG youth group and, today, Besch reaches thousands through mass media, and at speaking engagements across the country as a women’s pastor; John Smith’s story is spreading through his mother Joyce’s book, Impossible, and through the movie in English and Spanish.

In a taping scheduled to air this week, Besch appeared on God’s View—a biblical spin on daytime television’s The View—where Spirit-filled hosts and guests listened in awe of the heavenly conversation Besch heard before being instructed by God to return to her cold, gray body. Watch a pre-screening here.

Coinciding with the pre-Easter debut of Breakthrough—adapted from the book Impossible for the big screen—Besch’s resurrection story was published recently in video, based on the title Genuine Miracles. The book is a compilation of supernatural stories. View Besch’s testimony here.

Before her death in 2007, PTL Club co-host Tammy Faye Bakker broadcast pictures of Besch during an interview with her mother about Besch’s drowning, heavenly visitation and resurrection.

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