When an Atheist Encounters God
“Even before the phone reached my ear, I could hear the sound of a mother’s wail in the background,” Anderson says. “It was unmistakable. And it was Mary Beth’s.”
As believers around the world prayed for the family amid their formidable grief, the Chapmans sheltered at the Anderson home for two weeks, leaning on one another’s faith.
“We’ll never really be able to put into words all they did for us through our darkest days, weeks, months and really years,” Steven Curtis says. “There’s no one in my life who has given me a better glimpse into heaven [than Reggie]. God has let him catch glimpses through the veil in some pretty profound ways throughout his life. And because Reggie’s a doctor, a guy where everything’s very scientific and medical and fact-based, you know he’s not coloring things up to make something fantastic out of something normal; it’s the real deal.”
“We knew Reggie’s story, his relationship with the Lord. They’re true stories—it’s all real stuff,” Chapman adds. “As God showing up in our day-to-day lives, [his story] will hopefully take some of that mystique out and people will say, ‘If God’s showing up like this in this guy’s life—this doctor who’s respected—then this is real. God’s kingdom really is at hand, and there really is a very thin veil between heaven and where we are.’”
Anahid Schweikert is a frequent contributor to Charisma. She lives in Memphis, Tenn., with her husband and their two daughters, who were adopted from China.
Watch videos of Bruce Van Natta and Dr. Reggie Anderson sharing supernatural encounters of “God with us” at emmanuel.charismamag.com
