Call me simple-minded, but I am one of those who believe that when you get a life-threatening disease, it’s either one of two things: It could be time for curtain call or you are hand-picked by God to be miraculously cured because it’s part of your mission to be a living testimonial of His divine healing.
As I look out to a horizon of coconut trees, blue skies, and verdant mountains here in Sorsogon, I am inspired to reflect on God’s greatness. This is my first time to attend the graduation ceremony of the Divine Healer Academy of Sorsogon in Cabid-an. Last night, I feared I feasted so much on the delicious buffet lovingly prepared by the nuns for the silver wedding anniversary of Michelle and Benny Soliven (both passionate benefactors of the school foundation) that I may not fit into my rash guard tomorrow.
Healing priest
Fr. Gerard Deveza, who I first knew as a healing priest, is the prime mover of the foundation that provides free education to hundreds of deserving scholars. In an effort to heal poverty through education, he passionately campaigned for believers in his dream to free families from the burden of destitution in their own humble ways. With donation starting from a mere P50, what started as free elementary education extended to high school. Fr. Deveza wants to extend the scholarship further to college education. Everything in this school is free, from the education to bags, shoes, books, uniforms, and supplies.
Through the years, Fr. Deveza has been used as a divine instrument to cure the impossible. Tumors vanish before surgery, blockages go away before a bypass, those who have been sightless for a long time are able to see again, the list goes on. Fr. Deveza quickly clarifies that the faith of the sick and God’s love make the miracle possible.
Rising from his deathbed
Which leads me to the remarkable healing story of Jordan Rubin. Athletic, healthy, and robust, Jordan stood six feet and one inch, and weighed 180 pounds when he entered Florida State University at 17. Then he got very sick and went back home weighing only 135 pounds with a 105-degree fever.
Not wanting to get his parents worried, he kept his illness a secret though he had chronic diarrhea, very high fever, and rapid weight loss. His ailments include chronic candidiasis (yeast overgrowth the highest possible), entamoeba histolytica, cryptosporidiosis, incipient diabetes (with extremely poor circulation, his lower leg was purple), jaundice, insomnia, hair loss, endocarditis, eye inflammation, prostate and bladder infection, extreme anemia, chronic electrolyte imbalance due to dehydration, anemia, chronic fatigue, arthritis, leukocytosis. All made worse by malabsorption syndrome (his body was unable to absorb nutrients from food). This young man with admirable fighting spirit finally sought family support and went home.
After consulting a lot of doctors, he was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a chronic digestive illness that affects the immune system. One look at the wheelchair-bound 104-pound Jordan made a specialist declare it to be “the worst case of Crohn’s” he had ever seen. He did not expect Jordan to live. After conventional medicine and numerous hospitalizations failed, his family tried more than 70 alternative nutritional therapies worldwide. His quest ended with a visit to a California nutritionist who simply concluded that he was ill because he was not following God’s plan.
Healing diet
Jordan started studying hundreds of biblical references on healthy lifestyle. His new healing diet included whole foods consumed in biblical times. These are raw, organically grown whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and fermented dairy, grass-fed beef, and poultry. To these he added probiotics. The new regimen allowed him to gain 29 pounds in 40 days. When Jordan reached 21, he was more than 180 pounds and free of the digestive problems that made him miserable for years.
Jordan was so inspired by his miraculous healing and firmly believes that he was spared for a reason and a mission to share the wisdom he gained from his experience. In 1999, together with his wife Nikki, he organized Garden of Life into a leading whole foods nutrition company. He also authored several books such as Patient Heal Thyself, Restoring Your Digestive Health, and The Maker’s Diet: the 40-day health experience that will change your life forever.” The Maker’s Diet spent a total of 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
He asserts, “Faith is a place that I can go in my heart and in my soul, I believe. Faith is the rock on which I stand when I cannot see Your hand, I still believe.”
In the book’s introduction, Jordan says, “Nearly 10 years ago, I found myself suffering from an incurable illness. Its effective treatment escaped nearly 70 doctors. Yes, I felt hopeless. Yes, I was afraid. And yes, I felt deserted ... but I wasn’t alone. From the depths of my despair I heard a still, small voice say to me, ‘Everything is going to be OK.’
“After visiting what seemed like every doctor on the planet and trying every miracle drug, miracle diet, miracle supplement, I found myself tearing through the pages of the world’s oldest, most sacred and best-selling book. What I was looking for in the Bible was not purely spiritual. I was looking for answers to my many debilitating health problems. What I found was man’s first health plan — and the only health program I will need for the rest of my life.”
As we enter Holy Week, may we be emboldened by faith that our God is bigger than any illness or problem. Faith, indeed, conquers all.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.