Christopher Gunderson was born with pseudo-obstruction syndrome. Because of this condition, his stomach was unable to process food and send it into the small intestine where the nutrients are absorbed by the body, Faithwire reports.

Because of this rare condition, Christopher needed to have medication and nutrients pumped into both his stomach and small intestines to feed him. The tube to his stomach tried to help him process any food that he ate, while the tube into his small intestine supplied additional nutrients through baby formula.

As he grew older and became more active, he began to experience severe stomach cramps due the back up of bile in his stomach resulting in severe heart burn. The body uses bile to breakdown food so it can be absorbed through the small intestine.

By the age of 16, Christopher’s parents were told several times, that doctors were uncertain how long they could keep their son alive.

Though Christopher’s family were Christian, they weren’t convinced divine healing was for today.

That would change in 2011 when Christopher was 16 years old. His mother attended a meeting featuring Bruce Van Natta, who was remarkably healed in 2006 after being crushed by a semi-trailor truck.

While lying near death, he had an out-of-body experience where he saw two angels being sent to look after him. He would live and doctors stated that they had never seen anyone with these type of injuries survive.

The Holy Spirit prompted Christopher’s mom to talk to Van Natta after the service. He encouraged her to bring Christopher to the service the next day.

When Christopher showed up for the service the next day, he had just sat down when he felt a strange sensation in his stomach.

“I had this pulsating sensation in my abdomen that I hadn’t had before,” Gunderson said in an interview with CBN.

Unsure of what was happening, God told Christopher this was prepatory work for the miracle that was soon to follow.

When Van Natta gave an altar call, Christopher went forward. Van Natta laid his hands on Christopher’s shoulders and started praying.

“I started to feel that pulsating sensation that I was talking about before, but to like the 10th degree,” Chrisopher explained. “It feels like when you flex your abdomen, which is like over, and over, and over again.”

“About halfway through the prayer, I actually felt this lightning bolt electric shock go from my right shoulder, down through my chest, and down through my abdomen, and I felt like God jumpstarted my stomach back up with a shock.”

Christopher added he actually felt pain as Van Natta continued to pray.

When Christopher went out to eat after a basketball game later that evening, he noticed something had changed.

When he ate a small amount of food, he normally experienced severe stomach cramps. However, this time he didn’t and for the first time was able to eat a whole meal.

Over the next several weeks, it was obvious that things had changed and Christopher cautiously started eating more food and eventually removed the tubes.

When he returned to his doctors with the news, they were started even skeptical. But it was clear that Christopher had been healed of this incurable condition.

The Laying on of Hands

Aside from the incredible healing miracle, there were was also examples of supernatural revelation including words of knowledge. The Holy Spirit spoke to Christopher’s mom to talk to Van Natta and to Christopher during the service when God was preparing him for the healing that was to come.

I believe this helped him handle the physical changes and even the pain that occurred when Van Natta laid hands on him.

In Hebrews 6:1-2, the writer describes the laying on of hands as one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. While it is rarely taught, the Bible reveals that when we lay hands on people an impartation of the Holy Spirit can take place.

This can include healing. When we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus often laid hands on people to heal them of their afflictions. During His time on earth, Jesus laid aside His Deity and functioned fully as a man, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Though the Lord never laid hand on the woman with the issue of blood, her healing after touching the hem of Christ’s robe, provides important information on the source of healing.

After she was dramatically healed, Jesus abruptly asked who had touched him. When the disciples suggested that the Lord had been touched by many in the crowd, Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me” (Luke 8:46 NASV).

The woman’s healing did not drop down from heaven, but it came from the Holy Spirit inside Christ. There was an impartation that took place. The same process still happens today. The healing comes from the Holy Spirit inside us.

The Apostle Paul adds that the spiritual gifts can be transferred to people through the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 4:14) as can the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17).

So this is why the laying on of hands is a foundational part of Christianity.