When Pam Tebow gave birth to her “miracle baby,” she asked family and friends to pray for him to grow and get stronger.
Little did he know that the kid would become a great quarterback at the University of Florida who would win the Heisman Trophy and two national championships. The baby who came into this world against all odds has achieved several awards, won an NFL playoff game, played minor league baseball for several seasons, and works as an acclaimed sports commentator.
It was Tim Tebow inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on December 4, 2023, but his greatest achievements may have come on the field of play. She has used her near-legendary status to be a voice for the most vulnerable in our society, fighting human trafficking, advocating for the special needs community, and speaking on behalf of pro-life causes.
Pam Tebow recently shared her amazing testimony when she was the keynote speaker at the Choices of the Heart Pregnancy Center’s fundraising dinner at Statesboro (Georgia) First Baptist Church. Choices of the Heart is one of approximately 1,200 pregnancy centers in the Care Net network.
In 1985, Tebow chose life for his unborn baby, against the advice of a physician who advised her to have an abortion due to complications from amoebic dysentery and the lack of advanced medical care in a remote village in the Philippines if where the Tebows serve as missionaries.
His life was in danger, but the family trusted in God’s promises.
Before, her husband, Bob Tebow, prayed and cried for aborted babies back in his homeland, the United States. The couple promised to have a fifth child, and if it was another son, that baby would become a preacher one day.
“We have to trust in the Lord,” he said. “It was a difficult pregnancy.”
Drugs used to treat amoebic dysentery have resulted in severe placental abruption, in which the placenta separates from the uterine wall. That condition can deprive the fetus of oxygen and nutrition.
On August 14, 1987, Timothy Richard Tebow was born in Makati in the Philippines. THer doctor was amazed that the baby had survived under such adverse conditions, and called the birth miraculous.
“God kept that little baby inside of me,” Pam Tebow said, according to the Statesboro Herald.
A 2010 Super Bowl commercial featuring Pam and Tim Tebow invited viewers to the Focus on the Family website to hear the full story about mom’s pregnancy. According to a Barna survey, that commercial resulted in 5.5 million people “having reason to rethink their stance on abortion.”
When she spoke at a pregnancy center banquet a few years later, Pam Tebow met one of those audience members.
“I didn’t abort my baby because you didn’t abort your baby,” the woman said happily.
These types of anecdotes reinforce Pam Tebow’s belief that all lives are precious and important.
“We need to appreciate all the babies that God created,” he said. “God never makes mistakes.”
Although Pam Tebow’s fifth child did not become a preacher in the traditional sense, he impacted millions of people around the world through the work of the gospel and social justice.
As a Florida Gator, Tim Tebow wore eye black for nationally televised games, which first read Philippians 4:13 and later John 3:16. Following the 2009 national championship game, John 3:16 was Googled 94 million times, according to a media report. When he played quarterback for the Denver Broncos and led the team to several come-from-behind victories, Tebowing, or kneeling for God in prayer on the field, became a national obsession.
Today, the Tim Tebow Foundation seeks to “Bring Faith, Hope and Love to those who need a brighter day in their darkest hour of need.” The foundation is active in four main areas: orphan care, medical provision, special needs ministry, and anti-human trafficking.
Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine has become a global movement. Every February, thousands of churches host a prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs, ages 14 and older.
At the 2021 March for Life, Tim Tebow is a keynote speaker. He thanked his mother for allowing her to choose life and urged those in attendance to do the same.
“I am very grateful that my mother gave me a chance in life,” he said. “He could have made a choice to do something different. But because of his pro-life story, I now get to share my story… Every single life matters to God.”
