Christine Blatnick is a firm believer that Dr. Isaam Nemeh is responsible for prolonging her life after his prayer led her to a second medical opinion and new medication for her lung cancer.
Now the Newbury Township resident thinks Nemeh has helped her 9-year-old son, Bryan, with his struggles in school.
“He told me my son was having problems with his memory, and he’s going to be fine now,” Blatnick said.
While some are skeptical of faith healers – feeling is believing for the hundreds, if not more than a thousand, who came from all over Northeast Ohio on Sunday to Newbury Township, where Nemeh and his wife, Cathy, prayed over them.
In the gymnasium at St. Helen’s Catholic Church on Kinsman Road, listening to live, soothing music, people stood and sat while awaiting their turn with the doctor.
While many embraced and shed tears for loved ones who were suffering from physical ailments, Nemeh spoke to them, oftentimes holding their necks or waists. Many were confined to a wheelchair.
Gloria Robinson, 65, closed her eyes then immediately fell backward into the arms of an awaiting man.
“You could feel something. I could just feel it,” she said. “It’s not something you can really explain.”
Robinson came from Akron with her son, John Borri, for the service.
“Catholics and Christians believe that healing is a gift,” said one volunteer for the event. “Jesus is the healer, but Dr. Nemeh is willing to be used by God for his bidding.”
Many believe Nemeh, a native of Syria who studied and practices acupuncture, is used as God’s instrument, and his ministry has been steadily growing more popular for five years.
Well-known Cleveland disc jockey Trapper Jack Elliot is at every one of Nemeh’s appearances.
“Ever since I agreed to be his spokesperson I’ve seen a countless number of miracles,” he said.
Elliot said Nemeh will not speak with the media because he deflects all attention.
“That’s because it’s not about him, it’s about what God does through him,” Elliot said.
“He’s not the guy in the $1,000 white suit. He’d be happy if you never spoke his name.”