Members of Spiritual Center “Vozrozhdeniye” (Revival) claim that during the services people can recover from various diseases, even if it is epilepsy and cancer. Yet, the doctors consider that cancer can never be cured with non-traditional methods.

Before the service the believers were given envelopes

“Before worshipping our Lord, we must worship him not only with our heart, but with our money as well” – tells the senior pastor of the spiritual center “Vozrozhdeniye”, Vladimir Muntyanu off the stage. “Your sacrifice should shock both me and everyone around me”.

The hall in “Shinnik” Palace of Culture was overcrowded. There weren’t enough seats, so some people had to stand in the aisles. Most of audience was in its forties, but there were some young people, and people with little children.

This was the place of the regular “Vozrozhdeniye”’s service and the reporter of “Sobitiye” visited it. Before the beginning of the service the workers of the center stood at the entrance and gave audience envelopes. This was the day when Tommy Tinny, an American pastor and the founder of “Lord Seekers” mission, visited our city.

Worshipping Jesus started with singing religious songs. The audience read the lyrics on the screen and joined the choir in singing. They were repeating “Hallilujah!” and raised their hands in the air.

Pastor Muntyanu told the audience a story of a woman, whose child was ill. She gave all her money tocure him.

“Her child was blind and had neither arms, nor legs” – the head of “Vozrozhdeniye” told. “Pastor took him in his arms and started praying for him” In half an hour the child started seeing things and his arms and legs appeared. She gave everything she had and thus the Lord was impressed”.

Plastic buckets of various colors are put near the aisles. The audience is putting money in the envelopes, they got at the entrance and put the envelopes into the bucket. That evening they gathered money twice. The second time was after Tommy Tinny’s speech. They told that the additional donation was necessary to pay the American’s travel expenses.

A bit after, the senior pastor appealed the Lord

“For the sake of Jesus, for the sake of Jesus”,- repeated V. Muntyanu again and again. I feel the Lord’s anointing come to this place!”

People repeated after him. The pastor asked the audience to raise their hands and to repeat “I accept the Lord’s anointing”.

“There is a woman to the left of me, an old lady. The Lord has just healed her heart” – V. Muntyanu points to the hall.

The senior pastor tells that several years ago he became able to see the illnesses and to see the way Lord heals them. Muntyanu claims that people recovered even from epilepsy and cancer.

“As a pastor, I do pray for the people and the Lord heals them” – V. Muntyanu tells “Sobitiye”. “Sometimes people recover immediately, but sometimes a person recovers only after a long period of time”.

 No cancer patients found

Natalia Soynikova, pastor’s assistant in “Vozrozhdeniye”, promised our reporter to organize a meeting with five people, who have recovered form cancer. As a result, she invited just two of them. However, even those two people failed to come. N. Soynikova told that they had some unplanned, yet urgent things to do and suggested us giving up the idea of the article.

After it the pastor’s assistant called one of her colleagues, who were present at “Vozrozhdeniye” office.

41-year-old Svetlana Bogdanovich asserts that she recovered from mastopathy (it is a non-malignant mammary gland disease) in this Spiritual center.

“I didn’t consult a doctor at first. Women often have such a feeling, when they are on a period, you know, some pains in breasts. – Svetlana tells. – Besides, I was a drug addict then, so I didn’t feel the pain”.

The woman tells that as soon as the Lord excused me from drug addiction, the pain became intolerable. After she had consulted a doctor in polyclinic №15, the doctor diagnosed a neglected case of mastopathy.

“We were alone with my ten-year-old daughter, and I had no money to pay for operation. – Svetlana tells. – That was the time I met with the religious people. I attended the services and saw the way, the Lord heals people. I believed that he is able to heal me too”.

The woman claims that the Lord healed her in half a year after she started attending the church.

“I woke up the day after the prayer for the healing and felt neither dizziness nor pain. And my breastsbecame soft”, - asserts S. Bogdanovich.

After it she got married for the second time and gave birth to two children. She tells that when she fed them with her breasts, she was afraid for the disease to worsen. Yet, there was no worsening and now she feels well.

The Lord heals with the help of the doctors

Natalia Soynikova gave the reporter a video record, showing the evidences of the people, who have recovered from cancer.

On this record Natalya Sotnikova, 56 years old, claims that she consulted the doctors, but they were unable to help her. Visiting “Vozrozhdeniye” helped her to recover from rectum cancer.

Olga Yurkovskaya, 40 years old, who had suffered from cervix of the uterus cancer and who used to have three tumors in her liver, is telling just the same things.

Olga Balashova, the Chief physician of Dnepropetrovsk region cancer care department, considers that it is impossible to cure cancer with the help of non-conventional methods.

“The Lord may heal the person who has cancer only with the help of the doctors’ hands, skill and knowledge” – the doctor tells.

If the person doesn’t visit the doctor in time, the disease may reach such a stage, when it is mostly impossible to help him.

“There are cases when the disease appears and vanishes itself. – Olga Balashova tells. – But these cases are extremely rare”.

The head of Dnepropetrovsk center for the help to the victims of destructive cults “Dialogue” agrees with the Chief physician’s opinion.

“If people could really recover from cancer in that center, “Vozrozhdeniye” would have obviously received the “Nobel prize”. – Yan Shchekaturov considers. – If it is so, why don’t the scientists show interest to them? There are lots and lots of people, who suffer from cancer, and they do need help as well”.

 Some of people, who became victims of this center came to the “Dialogue” and they were given the help of the psychologist.

The expert’s opinion

Irina Spirina, psychiatrist, the academic of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences:

“There is no scientific ground for healing the diseases, mentioned by Muntyanu (such as cancer, schizophrenia, epilepsy, diabetes mellitus, stroke, etc), and, even more, there cannot be any.

The techniques, used by religious organization “Vozrozhdeniye” are the destructive manipulative methods of psychological impact both on person and on group. This kind of performances is based on the tactics of mass hypnosis and mass psychotherapeutic impact. Using these methods may lead to mental health disorders in the participants of this action. These methods are especially harmful for the people who are psychologically and emotionally instable, for cancer or cardiovascular collapse patients as they may refuse to receive the medical help, while oversaturation of the emotional and perceptive spheres during the performance may cause a psychical disorder or other pathologies”

Anna Kozak

PHOTO:

People, present on the service, are rising their hands and repeating after the senior pastor “I receive the Lord’s anointing”.