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Working hard
to become rich, Antonios Tanos (who had emigrated from Greece to
Germany) smoked and drank a lot, even after he had developed asthmatic
bronchitis and doctors urged him to quit smoking and drinking. His
life was looking bleak indeed when his mother gave him a book about
St Rafael. Although Antonios was convinced there was no God, in
his despair he finally picked up the book. At that moment, with
the doors and windows of his apartment closed, a man appeared in
his room, surrounded by a light that was brighter than the lamps.
The man, who had short brown hair, brown eyes and a slim face, came
closer and closer.
Overwhelmed with joy Antonios said: "You must be St Rafael." The
man replied: "Antonios, I am not St Rafael. I am Jesus. All will
be well."
In the second of a new series the Dutch evangelical Omega programme
profiled various people who, like Antonios, had experienced physical
and psychological healing after a personal encounter with Jesus.
The most impressive story was told by Debbie Ferget from the US:
thrown from her car in a serious crash, she was taken to hospital
in a body bag. Examining her body before sending it to the morgue,
the doctors noticed some physical movement. She was not expected
to live through the night as her injuries were so appalling. Debbie's
family was called in to identify her.
Despite the severity of her injuries Debbie came out of her three-month-long
coma. She could not see but was able to hear the voices of three
doctors around her bed. They explained what had happened, that she
would probably never see again, and that she would be paralysed
due to her spinal injuries. "When they had finished and left the
room," explains Debbie, "a big bright burst of light filled my room
and there stood Jesus. He told me I was His child and I was going
to be OK. It was like a peace that came over me from my head to
my toes, a peace like I had never known before." As time went on,
she was released to go home but the doctors were not very encouraging
about her walking again. One night she was in bed with her little
daughter beside her, chatting, "when this big burst of light filled
the room and at the foot of my bed stood Jesus again, looking exactly
the same as before." Again He held out his arms and told her He
loved her. "Then I could see two little hands with wings lifting
my leg in the air and He looked at me and said: 'Only if you believe
in Me.' My leg went back down, I couldn't wiggle my toes because
I was still paralysed. But I knew without a shadow of a doubt that
I would walk again. Within a year I went from a walker to two crutches
to one crutch to a cane."
Three years later she became very ill and suffered a stroke. In
the hospital she was found to have a brain aneurysm. She was taken
to one of the best hospitals in the country to find out if anything
could be done. That Friday morning, at sunrise, a huge burst of
light filled her room again. And there stood Jesus again at the
foot of her bed. Still visibly moved by the experience, Debbie continued:
"He reached down and touched my head. I knew he had healed me, all
the pain had left." When the doctors came, to see her, they didn't
believe her when she told them Jesus had healed her. She was taken
to another hospital where they took 52 x-rays before they were convinced
that there was not a trace left of her brain haemorrhage. "I am
not special at all, I feel I'm just the same as everyone else. Only
Jesus knows how He appeared to me. I will always remember what He
looks like. I can always see Him."
(Source: Omega, Evangelical Broadcasting Organization, the Netherlands)
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