wfn.org | Indiana family celebrates birth of conjoined twins

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 22, 2004	      News media contact: Kathy L.
Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 7 E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7ALL{020}

INDIANAPOLIS (UMNS) - United Methodists "in hundreds of churches" are joining
in prayers for conjoined twins Stephanie Nicole and Rebecca Marie, born to
April and Rocky McCray on Jan. 20 at St. Vincent's Hospital.

The Rev. John Boyanowski and his wife, Marsha, are maternal grandparents of
the babies. Boyanowski is the pastor of Pleasant Lake United Methodist
Church, which the McCrays attend.

 "Never underestimate God," Boyanowski said, as he, his wife and members of
the church surrounded the young couple in celebrating the birth of their
granddaughters.

April, 18, and Rocky, 19, learned in August they would be parents to a rare
type of conjoined twins called dicephalus, which means they have separate
heads. The babies are joined from the shoulder to below, and they share two
legs and two normal arms. The twin's remaining arms are fused together around
their heads.

The young couple named the babies as soon as they learned of their condition
so they could pray for them by name. The twins were born seven and a half
months into term and weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces.
 
"The doctor reports are not very good," said the Rev. Larry Ray,
superintendent of the Fort Wayne District, where Boyanowski serves. Ray is in
continual contact with the family.

Ray reported the family is not expecting the conjoined twins to live long and
has planned for no life support. "They're wanting to make a witness out of
this," Ray said. "They're putting this in God's hands."

Boyanowski has kept the district updated on the progress of the babies, so
Ray and the other clergy members of the Fort Wayne District have known of the
pending birth for months. The district sent out requests for prayer for the
families after learning of the pregnancy.

"They have hundreds praying with them all over the state and the nation," Ray
said.

"April is an amazing young woman," said the Rev. Rob Barton, a family friend
and pastor at Huntertown United Methodist Church. The Boyanowskis were once
members of Huntertown.

"She is able to hold joy and sorrow together at the same time without falling
apart," he said. "Her demeanor through this whole thing reveals an inner
strength I cannot imagine an 18-year-old having."

Barton, who has visited with the family and seen the babies, said, "They are
beautiful little girls."

The parents are doing well, Boyanowski said. "Their faith in God has brought
them through all of this. They keep telling everyone God has a purpose for
this."

As a father, he said he just stands back and watches God's grace unfold in
April and Rocky's lives, as the two have experienced more than most couples
do in 20 years. 

"As a pastor, I stand back in awe." He baptized Stephanie and Rebecca shortly
after their births. He also baptized Rocky after the couple found out their
babies were conjoined.

The conjoined twins were breathing on their own as of Jan. 22, but were
hooked up to feeding tubes because they were in the stage where babies learn
to suck, eat and swallow. 

"They're doing remarkably well. They are so amazing," Boyanowski said.

"We do have a flood of emotions," he said. "With every moment, there is good
and bad.

"We want to embrace every moment with the girls. We've been holding them
since they were born. We just have not put them down."

A spokesperson at the hospital reported the babies were still in critical
condition. It was unclear when April would be released from the hospital, but
she hoped to bring the babies home with her when she leaves.

Members of Pleasant Lake United Methodist Church, which averages 75 in
attendance a week, have rallied around the family. They have encouraged
Boyanowski to take as much time off as needed. 

The Sunday before the babies were born, Jan. 18, the Boyanowskis were called
forward by the church and presented with a love offering and keys to a van. 

Pleasant Lake and Huntertown churches are planning benefit dinners and
fundraisers to help with expenses for the twins. "They've surrounded us with
prayer and accepted April and Rocky since the beginning," Boyanowski said.

April and Rocky live with the Boyanowskis in Fort Wayne. Furniture and
baby-supply shopping will be done shortly, since the family did not know what
to expect or how long the girls would survive. "We didn't know what to
expect," Boyanowski said. "Now the dream is coming to reality."

When he first found out the twins were conjoined, he thought of Psalm 46,
which reminds us of how God is a refuge and strength in all times, he said.

"We're seeing church congregations coming together. We're seeing families
come together." Boyanowski said strangers have stopped family members to wish
them well and express prayer support. "Everyone's in unison praying for two
little girls," he said. "How can you not be encouraged and see how God's hand
is in this?

"I know Sunday, if they're going to be home, they're going to church. We're
going to live normal lives as much as we can."

# # #

Matthew Oates, North Indiana correspondent for the Indiana Area Office of the
United Methodist Church, Dan Gangler, Indiana Area communications director,
and United Methodist News Service writer Kathy L. Gilbert contributed to this
story.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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