Baptisms are never ordinary, but those who know Kenny Gutierrez would say his baptism story is extraordinary for sure.

After camp meeting in June, Kenny returned home and shared with his parents his desire to be baptized. They had watched his spiritual journey and sensed Kenny's strong conviction and readiness to take his stand for Jesus.

Kenny’s father, Sergio, is a pastor. He visited the Adventist Book Center and purchased the Discipleship Guide for Juniors. He and his son committed to study the lessons together daily.

Ileana, Kenny's mother, remembers the day he announced, “I want to be baptized at Oshkosh.” The family planned to attend the Faith on Fire Pathfinder camporee to be held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in August. They believed his wish could be granted. He was excited and his anticipation grew daily.

The Gutierrez family traveled to Oshkosh where they enjoyed a wonderful week of activities, camping, fellowship, and programs. But on Sabbath morning their pleasant experience was interrupted.

Sergio awoke with a sharp pain located in the lower right side of his abdomen and discovered every step he took was painful. Blood drawn at a nearby walk-in clinic revealed an elevated white blood cell (WBC) level of 15,000, far from the normal range of 4,000-7,000. With this information and his symptoms, appendicitis was suspected. Sergio was instructed to consult with a surgeon at a nearby Catholic hospital.

The Gutierrez family was concerned — not just for Sergio’s health, but about Kenny's baptism scheduled for 5:30 p.m. that afternoon. Sergio and Ileana told Kenny he could be baptized as planned if someone else was willing to perform the baptism, or he could wait until his father recovered and be baptized when they returned home. Kenny was conflicted and felt locked in a horrible decision. He shared with his mother, “I have already prayed and I know Jesus will do something because this is too hard for me.”

Arriving at the hospital, Sergio met wonderful nurses and physicians who seemed to immediately understand his predicament. The importance of the baptism registered with the surgeon who, after reviewing Sergio's CT scan, administered pain medication and granted him permission to leave the hospital briefly for the baptism service. Kenny and his family were overjoyed.

Arriving back at the campground, Sergio hurried to the baptism site where arrangements were made for Kenny’s baptism to be the first of about 300 baptisms. Just prior to his baptism, Charlie Thompson, Indiana Conference youth director, explained to those present the journey Kenny had been on that day with his dad and then prayed for Sergio's healing. Surrounded by many friends and family, Kenny experienced the joy of baptism with his father.

Sergio returned to the hospital for further observation. When he awoke Sunday morning, without pain and with a WBC count of only 5,000, surgery was avoided and his doctors were left puzzled by his sudden recovery.

Kenny remarked to his father as the family was packing to return home, “Pastor Charlie prayed yesterday and I was praying so hard. I think Jesus heard and made it possible for you to be healed.” He continued, “Jesus did something really important for me that day so I could have both Oshkosh and my Daddy.”

Sergio doesn’t know why he had this experience, but believes strongly God was in control. He was able to witness to medical personnel about his church and answer many questions when they discovered he was a pastor.

Kenny was right, Jesus did do something really important in Oshkosh. It will be exciting to discover His complete plan when we get to Heaven.

Diane Thurber, Lake Union Herald managing editor as told by Ileana Gutierrez