Originally published in Charisma News
“We’re going home,” is almost all Bethel worship minister leader Joel Taylor could say in an Instagram video as he walked out of the hospital with two healthy children Tuesday evening.
The entire family is seen in the video smiling, singing and dancing as they leave the hospital and the fear of death behind.
It’s a sight thousands of people have been praying for ever since Taylor’s 2-year-old son, Jaxon, and 4-year-old daughter, Addie, contracted the same dangerous E. coli infection that threatened to take their lives.
“Miracle! Thank you for all your prayers! Love you all!” Taylor wrote in the video caption.
The family’s joyful cheers follow weeks of desperate prayer and intercession.
It all started when Jaxon came down with a bad case of diarrhea, which quickly became something much worse.
“Jax was admitted first for dehydration because he had terrible diarrhea,” Taylor’s wife Janie told CBN News. “We quickly realized his kidneys were shutting down.”
A raging E. coli infection was attacking his organs, forcing him to undergo numerous blood transfusions and go on dialysis.
“We’ve seen his lungs fill up with water, respiratory issues. We went through a season where brain damage was a high potential. Seizures were happening. His eyes were rolling in the back of his head for a couple of days. We completely lost all communication with his where he wasn’t responding for days,” Joel added.
The couple shocked the world days after Jaxon was admitted when they announced Addie had also been struck by the same dangerous infection.
“We just found out that Addie, our four-year old baby-girl, has the same strand of ecoli as Jaxon and needs to be admitted to the hospital immediately. Please pray that this doesn’t turn into HUS, which is what Jaxon is fighting for his life. God be our strength,” Joel posted on Instagram.
Despite the serious illness, the Taylor family never stopped putting their trust in the Lord and believing he would turn their tribulation into “a miracle testimony to the whole world.”
“This boy walked through the fire, with God by his side” Taylor said in a video showing Jaxon walking after being bedridden for nearly a month. “And he’s still walking.”
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you,” Taylor added, quoting Isaiah 42:3. “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”