Giving Glory to God

From a medical emergency to a modern miracle

Like many “New Songers,” Jeanie Wolny arrives on Sunday morning and places her purse on the chair that is her regular spot. It’s near the doorway leading into New Song Community Church’s sanctuary — a place where the church holds worship and Pastor Herb Shaffer shares biblical truths during Sunday sermons. 

On this particular day, July 7, 2024 — only a day after she celebrated her 77th birthday — Jeanie almost contemplated taking a “lazy Sunday,” she says, which would have meant staying home from church. 

“But I suddenly had the strong sense to get ready and go,” said Jeanie, who after arriving that day started heating up water for tea, wiping down the glass windows of the building’s front doors, and folding a large stack of bulletins to help the church prepare for the day. 

“Jeanie is like a sweet grandma,” said Alex Wright, 29, of Brookline, who can count on a hug from Jeanie as soon as he walks in the door. “She’s very loving and comforting.”

Alex connected with Jeanie when they participated in New Song’s “Welcome to the Family” class and were baptized at the church last summer. 

“To see her coming and greeting us that morning and then to see her come out on a stretcher…” said Alex. “I was very scared.”

Miracle in the Making

“She’s going to have a miracle.” Those were the words that came out of 7-year-old Zoey’s mouth soon after the 911 call was placed. 

Pastor Herb had just led a meditative prayer where he had asked everyone to open their hands on their laps as they surrendered everything to God. 

“He said if you feel you need prayer, if you feel you need God, open your hands and accept and talk to Him,” said Jeanie. 

“So I had my hands open and I was totally still. But I then realized I could not move.”

Eric Hoellein, 54, of South Park, was one of the first to respond. 

“I heard a faint ‘help me,’ said Eric, who was sitting a couple seats away from Jeanie. “I looked over and knew something was off.”

Others quickly sprung into action. Jeanie was displaying several signs of what was later diagnosed by doctors as an acute stroke. 

“We all surrounded her and heard her say, “‘God with me,’” said Michael Scott, 57, of Brookline, who made the 911 call.

“We all confirmed and said ‘Yes, God is with you, Jeanie,’ and she said ‘No, God is here,’” said Michael, gesturing with his hands to show that Jeanie meant with the church body at New Song. 

“I’ll never forget it. It still brings tears to my eyes.”

Faith in Action

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, several members of the church body prayed and laid hands on Jeanie. 

“I was praying, ‘Please God, help me to know what to do at this moment,’” said Victoria Sabo, 49 of Bethel Park, who was one of the members leading the prayer while also monitoring Jeanie’s symptoms. “This was very serious.” 

Jeanie recalls the men at New Song trying to help her sit up, but even the EMTs who arrived could not straighten her legs that seemed to be frozen in a seated position. 

“I was able to speak to the ambulance driver only with my eyes. Blink once for yes. Twice for no,” said Jeanie, who was first treated inside the ambulance parked in the New Song parking lot. “I remember drifting off and the (EMT) pinching my skin really hard to keep me awake.”

She heard them suddenly yell: “We’ve got to get her out of here!” 

Jeanie said she could feel God’s presence the entire trip to Mercy Hospital. 

“I could hear His soft voice say, ‘You will be alright.’”

By the time the ambulance reached Mercy Hospital from the church, Jeanie’s body was no longer paralyzed. “I could move my arms, legs, and face,” she said.

“When I got inside the hospital, I said ‘God healed me,’” said Jeanie, who was able to maneuver herself onto the hospital bed. She also quickly regained her speech and motor skills.

During her brief overnight stay in the hospital, Jeanie also had an opportunity to be bold in her faith. 

She said when a nurse came to her aid while she was coughing, she heard a man’s voice say in a mocking tone, ‘Why didn’t she call on her God?’ The person was among the other patients partitioned in hospital beds next to her. 

“I immediately took everything off that was pinned on me,” said Jeanie. “I even took out the needle and went running to the nurses, calling ‘Who said that?’”

“Good thing I had on underwear,” she laughed. 

Sharon Burkes, one of the New Song members who visited Jeanie in the hospital, described her friend as “glowing” in the emergency room. 

“She was sharing her testimony with every human that walked in the door,” said Burkes, who attends weekly women’s bible study sessions with Jeanie at the church. 

“She kept saying ‘I’m defending my God,’” said Burkes. “Nobody talks about my God!”

God’s Handiwork

The following Sunday, Pastor Herb led a sermon on John 9 about a man who had been blind from birth who was healed by Jesus. 

In John 9:1-3, Jesus’s disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” 

Jeanie was invited to speak in front of the church body to give a full account of what happened and the miracle that had undoubtedly taken place. 

“I needed to be here in church,” she said. “So people would see it.” 

During the service, Pastor Herb commended New Song members for working together as a church body during this time of crisis. 

“This congregation responded in the way a church should respond,” said Herb, who founded New Song Community Church in 1991. “People just went into action.” 

For Alex, that action was prayer. He instinctively reached out to his friends and co-workers to pray for Jeanie whose life hung in the balance. 

When he received the news of her miraculous recovery, he said that his hands immediately went up into the air –  “That is the power of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“Seeing how God worked in Jeanie’s life is truly amazing,” Alex said. “I can’t wait to share that story and tell others about the power of God.”