"Journeys" to Heaven
By: Carly Vandenberg
Nasir Siddiki
Tamara Laroux
Colton Burpo
Colton Burpo and Akiane Kramarik's Connection
For several years after Colton Burpo's story of visiting Heaven, his parents continued to show him numerous pictures of Jesus. Every picture they came across of Jesus, they would ask Colton if that was Jesus, but Colton would always find something wrong with the picture. One day the Burpos saw a Lithuanian American girl, Akiane Kramarick, who was on the news for having visions of Heaven and then bringing those visions to life in paintings. She had one called Prince of Peace that was a painting of Jesus. They decided to ask Colton what was wrong with her picture, in which he replied, “ Dad, that one’s right” (Burpo 145). Colton was so excited that they finally found a picture of how he remembered Jesus to truly look like. After three years of searching, Colton’s parents were thrilled to know that this picture was what Jesus really looked like. The picture lit them up as if they had seen Jesus in person, and wanted the world to know that this was the right picture. Akiane was also told to spread the word of God to the rest of the world. At three years old, her first message from God was, “You have to do this, and I’ll help you. Now you can help people” (Akiane Kramarik). Growing up, her family never mentioned the word God, or did not even know what he looked like. Her family had changed religions when Akiane started speaking of and painting her visions. God had came to her at such a young age so that she could spread his word for the rest of her life.
Heaven is for Real
It has been declared repeatedly by people of all walks of life that God works in mysterious ways. Thankfully we have evidence of this from individuals who have gone to Heaven or who have had interactions on earth with Jesus himself. Their realistic and descriptive accounts of their “journey’s” can only solidify what people have been told for generations. These stories will help others who are struggling, with their faith, to find their way.