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Review

Sophia's Miracle

After discovering their daughter had been born with total hearing loss in both ears, Kim and Cory Caron prayed for a miracle and saw the healing hand of God move in the life of their infant daughter.
Kim and Cory Caron of Somersworth, New Hampshire, near Boston, celebrated the arrival of Sophia, their fourth child, in July 2023, but it soon became apparent that Sophia wasn’t able to hear.

“She seemed like a totally normal infant except she slept really well and wasn’t startled easily,” says Kim. “She was super, super chill and we felt blessed by that.”

That is, until Kim noticed that Sophia didn’t flinch when their new puppy barked near her. Neither did the infant turn in the direction of Kim’s voice. At six months old she made no noises of her own, and her doctor confirmed she was not responding to any noises. Sophia was diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss, meaning she wasn’t hearing with either ear. Further tests showed her ear drums were not functioning at all.

For the Carons, the discovery became a crisis of — and opportunity for — faith. The couple attends Restoration Church’s Dover location where they met eight years ago and now serve in youth ministry. Kim, from Vermont, has served in AG churches as a youth leader over the years and attended Master’s Commission in Portsmouth.

The Northern New England AG district was holding its first day of the Invest Conference at Restoration’s Plymouth location on the morning of Sophia’s third hearing test. From the start, Restoration’s pastor Nate Gagne felt certain that Sophia would be healed and told Kim they would pray over the baby at the conference.

“In my mind I thought, ‘Yes, I believe you, but also, I don’t know. I’m hearing these doctor reports and this is my baby,’” Kim says.

By then, several adverse diagnoses had “crushed” hers and Cory’s spirits.

“I thought I would never hear her say ‘I love you’ or ‘mama’ or ‘dada,’ and that’s heart-wrenching,” Kim says.

Even as defeat crept in, Kim recalled the miracles she had seen at church and on the mission field: a woman healed of heart problems; blind eyes and ears opened. Her prayer now was, “I know it’s possible, but is it possible for my baby?”

On the second night of the conference, a time of prayer for healing was held and Kim fetched Sophia from the nursery — but then felt arrested by doubt.

“I kept hearing in my mind, ‘You don’t need to bring her up there. She doesn’t need to be healed. She’s perfectly fine; she’s still alive. She’s still here with you,’” Kim recalls. “I felt paralyzed but somehow by the grace of God I was able to walk up with her and looked at Pastor Nate and he was like, ‘Yes,’ and started praying for her.”

At first, Kim found she could not verbally agree.

“Something was holding me back from praying over my own daughter,” she says. “Nate said, ‘You need to pray over her.’ I said, ‘I can’t,’ and stood there. He spoke the words with authority and everything broke free. I felt the move and the power of God over all of us.”

Back home she shared what had happened with Cory and they agreed in prayer that Sophia be healed.

“We kept believing that and we were excited,” Kim says.

Two days later at home, she called Sophia’s name, and the baby turned and looked at her.

“I went, ‘Did that just happen?’” Kim says.

Then a friend came in and greeted them and Sophia looked right at her. Both women started weeping because “she had never done that before,” Kim says.

A hearing test now showed that Sophia could hear every sound doctors made.

“I was so awe-struck by how wonderful God is that I couldn’t say anything,” Kim says. “Sophia has perfect hearing. There’s nothing faulty or not working. When God heals, he heals big. She talks all the time.”

Indeed, the now-16-month-old babbled in the background and said clear words during the interview with Kim. Medical records show the before and after diagnoses, clearly demonstrating Sophia’s transformation from complete hearing loss to normal hearing range for a 1-year-old. The medical professionals involved, including an ear, nose, and throat specialist and an audiologist, offered no explanation.

“They all said, ‘We don’t know what happened, but she can hear now,’” says Kim.

As soon as the Carons told Gagne about the healing, “We just laughed together because what else do you do? He was adamant that he knew the Lord was going to heal her.”

Gagne shared the testimony and the hearing tests during the church’s Sunday morning livestream, giving glory to the Father for his continued healing work. He says, "It was encouraging and another sign to us that God is moving in New Hampshire and that there are even greater things ahead." 

Sophia’s testimony has already affected many, including those in her own family. As a result of the miracle, some members of Kim’s family have begun attending church and her nieces were baptized in water.

Joel Kilpatrick

Joel Kilpatrick is a writer living in Southern California who has authored or ghostwritten dozens of books. Kilpatrick, who served as associate editor of the Pentecostal Evangel in the 1990s, is a credentialed Assemblies of God minister.