The faint beeping of little, day-old Jane's* heart monitor was the only outward indication that she was fighting to live. Born two months premature, Jane suffered from multiple complications that developed in the womb, and was now sustained only by life-support. Jane had little in her favor, and she was losing her battle. The doctors in the neonatal unit of Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis gave Jane's parents the heart-breaking prognosis.

Douglas Kizer, 39, chaplain for Riley hospital, and minister of pastoral care for Faith Assembly of God, was called in to be with Jane and her family. While visiting with them, he offered words of comfort and led in prayer. "We were able to pray together and to commit the coming minutes and hours and days ahead to God, and to invite Him into that [intensive care unit]." he said. "To invite Him into that family's pain, and grief, and invite his wisdom … to be with them in their understanding of what was going on and what was the best thing to do."

The doctors recommended discontinuing life-support. Wracked with grief, the family consented. Kizer was asked to be present in the neonatal unit while life-support was removed. After it was over, he stood with the grieving parents, holding Jane. "I held [Jane] in my arms and we prayed, and just committed her soul … unto God," he said. "As David said of his child, 'He will not come back to me, but I will go to him.' We left the family with that hope, that through Jesus they will be able to be reunited with this little one again."

Kizer's life and ministry tell of a man who loves to serve people. Prior to becoming a chaplain, he served the public for almost 17 years with the Delaware Country Emergency Medical Service, the Sheriff's Department, and later, the Yorktown Police Department in Indiana. He felt a call to fulltime ministry and began studying Berean School of the Bible courses through Global University. He completed the certified minister's courses while doing hospital ministry and policing concurrently.

In 1997, Kizer became a certified minister and joined the staff of Faith Assembly as pastoral care pastor. In May 2000 he finished the rest of Berean's 33 courses. He quit policing and was ordained in October 2002. However, he stayed on with Delaware County's police department as senior chaplain.

Now, concurrently serving as a chaplain at Riley, Kizer goes from room to room, visiting patients and ministering where doors open. Many of Riley's patients are chronically ill and hospital stays are a fact of life. Kizer discovered that the most helpful and effective way to minister to the sick and injured can simply be to listen. "I find that, sometimes, people are healed by the laying on of ears," Kizer said. "Sometimes there is healing in our listening to people, and being with people, and holding a hand."

The training and insight Kizer received while studying Global University's Berean courses have enabled his ministry to be effective. With a calling to fulltime ministry, he found that Global University's nontraditional approach to education was the most beneficial avenue through which he could have received training.

"Berean is wonderful, because it gave me a platform to stand on to do what I do," Kizer said. "[Using Global] as a gateway to places like Riley, and my church and the [police department], none of that would have been possible without my credentialing. And I don't see that my credentialing would have ever happened had it not been for Berean."

Kizer recommends Global University to anyone who wants to be trained for ministry, because it is the best way to know for certain that there is a calling. "If you're not sure what direction you are going, and you want to test and see if God's will is for you to be in the ministry … then Global is the perfect way to do it," he said. "I think [Global] is the perfect first step to take."

Kizer and his wife, Cindy, 29, a family practice physician, live in Indianapolis.

*Editor's note: The child's real name is not being used, it is being substituted with Jane.