Thousands flock to Mich. church for healing powers

SAGINAW, Mich. (RNS) Eleven-year-old Jason Rodriguez believes in miracles. In 2007, the boy was diagnosed with a disease that prompts kidney failure and high blood pressure. He missed 81 days of third grade and spent two years visiting the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor for a combination of intensive medicine, steroid […]

SAGINAW, Mich. (RNS) Eleven-year-old Jason Rodriguez believes in miracles.

In 2007, the boy was diagnosed with a disease that prompts kidney failure and high blood pressure. He missed 81 days of third grade and spent two years visiting the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor for a combination of intensive medicine, steroid injections, dialysis and checkups.

Then, in April 2009, Rodriguez says, he was healed in the “healing room” at the Saginaw Valley Community Church.


Since the church opened its healing room in November 2006, volunteers have conducted more than 2,900 prayer sessions and claim to have healed more than 1,000 people, said the Rev. Ginny Defoe, the director.

“We’ll pray until the pain is gone, and normally, it goes,” she said. “We are people who pray for people: That’s all we promise. We will pray for you, we will seek God for you, we’ll expect Jesus to touch you.”

The nondenominational Christian healing sessions are conducted by a three-person healing team, Defoe said, who tackle everything from depression to muscle aches to life-threatening illnesses. The pool of 60 volunteers ranges in age from 10 to 80, and includes members of churches from various denominations.

About 90 of the 100 people who visit the healing room each month receive some sort of relief, Defoe said. People have come from across Michigan and other states to seek help, she said.

Dr. David B. Kershaw, division chief of pediatric nephrology at Mott Children’s Hospital, said Rodriguez has IgA nephropathy, a disease that triggers kidney failure, as well as high blood pressure and abnormally high levels of protein.

Kershaw said he is unsure if Rodriguez was completely healed from his visit to the healing room because of the unpredictable nature of the disease.

“For how sick he was early on, he has done extraordinarily well,” the doctor said. “He could have a flare-up tomorrow or live until he’s 90. There’s evidence to support that latter, and hopefully we’ll see the latter.”


Rodriguez’s mother, Ros-Aida Acevedo, said her son was able to cut the number of pills from six to three per day after he was healed, and now takes 1 1/2 pills for his high blood pressure.

Rodriguez’s situation was extraordinary, Defoe said, because of the faith and determination he displayed before he was healed.

“He came in here with a real strong faith,” she said. “He just marched in and said, `God’s healing me.”‘

People who visit the healing rooms are never encouraged to disobey a doctor’s order or discontinue any medications, Defoe said. Guests also must sign a liability form stating they understand the church’s volunteers are not licensed medical professionals. They are told to consult their physicians before altering any medical course of action.

“We want to work with the doctor, we don’t work against in any way,” Defoe said. “I believe (God) uses doctors and medication, but I really believe we need to seek him first.”

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Guests are offered coffee or tea by a greeter and are asked fill out a form detailing why they are seeking prayer. They spend 20 to 30 minutes in a”soaking room,” quietly reflecting and praying while listening to spiritual music.


“It’s preparing the heart and spirit of the person to receive healing from the Lord,” Defoe said.

After a brief interview with healing teams in a second dimly lit healing room, volunteers will quietly pray for the visitor while placing their hands on the guest where pain is felt. Defoe said a healing session lasts 20 minutes to an hour, depending on type of ailment.

Defoe said the healing teams will not take anyone anywhere he or she is unwilling to go spiritually. “It’s wonderful if someone is skeptical,” she said. “They can come and feel the presence of God and never be the same.”

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Every healer has a specialty, Defoe said. Some healers are more attuned to physical healing, while others offer deliverance from demons, and some claim they can hear the word of God, she said.

Brenda Nolish, assistant director of the healing rooms, said as a “prophetic seer” she can see into the supernatural and spiritual realm.

“I don’t know any other way to describe it except that I see in the spirit realm,” she said. “I see the demonic, I see demons, I see angels, I see all kinds of things: the good and the bad.”


Nolish said she knows the power of prayer personally — she claimed she was healed of a bad case of pneumonia at the church.

“It’s a great joy to be a part of this place, and I wouldn’t leave it for anything because it’s a place you can come into and see God’s work,” she said. “People come in and get up and get up and walk out of wheelchairs. It’s just an incredible thing.”

(Eric Joyce writes for The Saginaw News in Saginaw, Mich.)

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