Although there are several healing team members working together at these churches, the one person referred to most often is Dr. Issam Nemeh.
He told Ted Henry about thousands of people's lives that have been changed by the healing services. Many who meet him believe something is going on, and their word of mouth is attracting others to Cleveland.
Hands-On Healing
Four people make up the healing team that comes together to pray over people at Catholic churches. The priest is Father Welsh, the former president of St. Ignatius High School. The nun is Sister Monica who has conducted healing services in Cleveland for years. And then there’s Nemeh and his wife, Cathy. Together and individually these four people have reportedly healed scores of Clevelanders.
"I could not believe the relief of pain I was in," said stroke victim Vivian Costanzo.
She was in constant pain and paralysis for more than three years following a severe stroke, until a meeting with Nemeh healed her, Henry said.
SLIDESHOW: Faith Healers
SCHEDULE: Healing Services"I am very grateful for my healing," Costanzo said.
Nemeh is a medical doctor who a decade ago decided to refocus his attention from the practice of regular medicine to a different kind of healing.
He practiced thoracic anesthesiology for many years in Cleveland, until he opened a private acupuncture practice in Rocky River.
Nemeh is the man who healed Randy Zinn of excruciating pain from a ruptured disc injury. Nemeh is the man who practices meridian regulatory acupuncture in his west side office and remains in constant prayer with those who see him.
He is also the man Henry first heard about from longtime radio show host Trapper Jack.
"You have in Dr. Nemeh and Cathy two very blessed individuals that God has chosen. There is just no other explanation for it, and as you’re finding out, they’re not going to talk to you, not on camera," Jack said.
The Nemehs refuse to be interviewed on camera for this story. They said they are not healers, God is. They shun publicity, but they acknowledge what's happening has reached a point where others are asking for greater clarity.
"It’s a humility, it’s selfless. They want all the glory to go to God," Jack said.
Six days a week from 9:30 a.m. until 1 a.m. the next day, Nemeh combines acupuncture and prayer with those he sees, and frequently he’ll spend his whole Sundays standing for nine hours without a break at the church healing services.
"And Dr. Nemeh said this to me five years ago: 'I'm not in the healing business. I am in the healing business of saving souls,'" Jack said.
Asked directly, Nemeh said he does this work to bring people closer to God.
Trapper Jack, a radio fixture interviewing many celebrities for the past 18 years, is legally blind. He never thought he would see again, until he met Nemeh.
"I am wide awake and I am in the pitch black room, and I can see everything. The room is illuminated. I see the Blessed Mother statue, I am seeing another lamp over here, I am seeing window treatments," Jack said. "Obviously there is a light on. And I’m looking up and there is a ceiling fan and there is no light. I can’t see a thing in the dark, I can’t see a thing. And suddenly I am seeing everything, probably better than you can. Everything."
Jack believes one day his complete sight will return. He is so impressed with Nemeh and the healing team that he often talks at their healing services.
"I've been watching miracles for five years. I went to Dr. Nemeh’s office and the first person I met, an MS patient for 20 years, healed," Jack said.
And Liz Simmons, a long-time sufferer of multiple sclerosis, said she was able to walk again after Nemeh.
"All of a sudden, he was praying, my legs were going. They were running, sitting here, and they were so amazing. And he told me that I would be healed," Simmons said.
She also claimed a major healing took place in her eyes.
"I went to Sarah Sheck, who is an ophthalmologist who documented the optic neuritis, which is irreversible nerve damage, so to speak. It is totally gone. So it is not in my mind. It is really gone," Simmons said.
Simmons walks, sees and lives a full productive life. And there’s also something else she can now do.
Simmons is a life-long piano accompanist, and now healed, she can play again. In fact, she plays all day at the healing services.
"I have never experienced on this earth people who are so loving and so selfless and so giving and so humble," Simmons said.
According to others, it makes no difference where people see Nemeh, whether it’s in a church or his office.
A lieutenant in the fire department told Henry how two visits to see Nemeh in a church cured him of a painful, chronic and debilitating disease.
Nemeh said people should attend as many church healing services as possible. The energy there is greater, he said, and it’s free. Many claim no healing, but others do.
The next healing service is at St. Peter and Paul in Garfield Heights at noon on March 13. Get the list of healing services, here.
You can share your experiences with Ted by e-mailing him at henry@newsnet5.com.
Previous Stories:
- February 22, 2005: Men, Woman Say They Were Cured by Faith Healings
- February 21, 2005: Hundreds Come To Cleveland For Hands-On Healing
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