#iam_beloved
Meet John Burke
Near-Death Experience Researcher Encounters Prince of Peace
For thirty-five years, he searched for proof. Not through scripture or sanctuary, but through science — studying more than a thousand near-death experiences, looking for patterns in what people claimed to encounter on the other side.
What he found stopped him cold.
He came to Belóved Gallery as a researcher. He left as a witness.
Standing before Prince of Peace, this agnostic-turned-scholar said something stopped him that he hadn’t expected — not an argument, but a recognition. Across more than a thousand accounts of people who described being in the presence of Jesus, Akiane had captured something he had only heard in words. The love. The compassion. The unmistakable reality of a face both fully human and fully divine.
"I think people can come into this place and be surprised by experiencing an encounter with God."
His story began at a bedside table — his father dying of cancer, a book about near-death experiences left there by a stranger. He read it in one night. That single encounter set the course of three decades of research, and ultimately led him here: to a painting created by an eight-year-old girl, in a gallery in the Texas Hill Country, that looked exactly like what a thousand people said they saw in Heaven.
At Belóved Gallery, we believe the Prince of Peace painting is more than art. It is a doorway. And sometimes, after a lifetime of searching, the most unlikely people find themselves walking through it.
Experience John Burke’s full story in his video interview. Then come see the painting for yourself.
Visit Akiane: The Early Years — the only place in the world where you can stand before these original works. Admission is always free.
Support Our Mission
Your generosity powers Belóved Gallery’s mission to inspire faith through art. Every dollar helps us bring the Prince of Peace painting to over one million in-person viewers, share moving Stories of Faith, and create sacred spaces for reflection. Your support directly advances our core pillars: Experience the Story. Inspire Faith. Share Belovedness.
Volunteer
Want to join the mission? We are currently looking for volunteers to help lead tours of Akiane: The Early Years. Volunteers have a special front row seat to the many exciting things happening at Belóved Gallery and represent Belóved’s mission to the public.
