10,000 Prayers and Counting: Praying for Sophia
By Beckie Lindsey
A nine-year-old girl, Sophia Campa Peters from Brownfield, Texas has a big request: get the whole world to pray for her brain surgery January 26.
Going Global
Sophia’s brother, Jonah age 12, encouraged their parents, Scott and Karyn Campa-Peters to go global with the prayer.
Sophia’s response was, “You mean everyone in the world will be praying for me? All 10,000 of them?” She was told there were many more people than that in the world. “So, 11,000?” She replied.
From this conversation, the family started using #10,000people as their hashtag on social media posts.
Since her prayer request, Sophia has received prayers from all over the world including one from the Oval Office. 
A Message from the President of the United States
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders delivered a heart-warming message from President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Click HERE to watch.
The Disease
This courageous young girl’s belief in the power of prayer is from first-hand experience.
Sophia suffers from an “unknown genetic vasculopathy.”
According to her mother, Karyn, “Her symptoms fall under the umbrella of a disease called MoyaMoya.”
MoyaMoya is characterized as the narrowing of blood vessels in the brain resulting in limited blood flow and eventual brain damage from the lack of oxygen to those areas of tissue. Basically, her brain is not getting enough blood. There is no cure.
The Journey
“Sophia began having medical problems at the age of six months and her entire life has been endless hospitalizations, testings, procedures, terrifying misdiagnoses, and almost always a statement that she would not live past one year. There were endless doom scenarios,” Karyn said.
At the age of six, Sophia had a series of four strokes—one being a major stroke which left her paralyzed on her left side.
The doctors said the damage done by the stroke was irreversible. Images revealed that the extensive damage would result in her permanent loss of use of her left side. She would never walk again. Never use her left arm again. She wouldn’t even be able to hold her own head up.
“The doctors would come into the room and openly discuss her situation,” Karyn said. “But Sophia became upset listening to them say what she’d never do again. Finally, she told them, ‘If you’re only going to talk about what I can’t do then I don’t want to hear it. Why don’t you let me try to walk? Unhook me from all this equipment and please just let me try.’”
“It’s not about me. It’s about God.”
At this point, Karyn says that Sophia set up her own rehabilitation goals, saying, “I’m teaching myself to move again.”
And Sophia has met her goals, including being able to walk. She still has weakness on her left side, but Sophia walks most places, only using her wheelchair about thirty percent of the time when she feels fatigued.
During the holidays in 2016, Sophia began suffering minor strokes again. Dural revascularization surgery was performed on February 6, 2017 at Cooks Children’s Hospital in Dallas, Texas. There was a chance that she would not survive the surgery without a stroke possibly killing or permanently paralyzing her.
But once again, Sophia came through miraculously. One of the neurosurgeons stated, “This little girl has God on her side.”
Sophia herself will tell you that indeed, God is on her side. She repeatedly tells her parents, “It’s not about me. It’s about God.”
Sophia’s Faith
After the major stroke at six-years-old, Sophia told her parents what it was like.
“I remember hearing this noise, it sounded like the ocean, like ocean waves were crashing over my brain. Swoosh. Swoosh. Then it was black. And then I heard God say, ‘Sophia, you need to wake up. I told God, I don’t want to get up, I’m so tired. I just want to sleep. Then He wouldn’t shut up. I finally said, okay!”
Karyn says that Sophia calls Christ ‘the true healer.’ In response to the doctors who say that she is doing things the medical books say she shouldn’t, Sophia says, “Because I’m awesome! You need to not look at the books. All you have to do is believe. It’s God.”
“She will say profound things like, ‘You only have one life, so you have to make it matter. So, make good choices,” Karyn said.
Sophia the Entrepreneur
Sophia loves to help others. She will often encourage young patients in the hospital.
“We are currently obtaining copyrights to her idea for helping other children,” Karyn said. 
Sophia is working with an artist to create a coloring book. She also has ideas for what she calls a ‘Power Set’ that will make more comfortable, fun, and inspiring hospital gowns for kids.
Ninja Kitten
When Sophia and her brother, Jonah were setting up their gamer IDs for the Nintendo Wii and Xbox, she chose the name, Ninja Kitten.
“Because I’m fierce like a ninja but cute like a kitten!”
Now, whenever someone takes a video of Sophia, she announces herself saying, “Hello, this is Ninja Kitten.”
And fierce she is. Sophia’s story of courage and faith is an inspiration. When she asked for 10,000 prayers, it wasn’t just for herself. She says it was more about bringing others together in prayer to the God she knows works miracles.
Karyn says, “In a world where things are so bad and ugly, when there is so much loss of faith, people need to hear Sophia’s story so that they could hear a true testament to God’s Grace and His Glory revealed in Sophia’s story.”
Below are ways to spread Sophia’s message of faith:
https://ninjakittensophia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ninjakittensophia
https://twitter.com/ninjakittensoph
