Worship leader claims God miraculously healed him of cancerous leg tumor
A worship leader born in Brazil who lives in the United Kingdom claims God miraculously healed him of a cancerous leg tumor before a scheduled amputation surgery.
Pedro Netto, the child of two Christian ministers whose family moved to Portugal shortly after he was born, was interviewed for a Delafé Testimonies video posted to YouTube on March 30. Delafé Testimonies is a global project with over 300,000 subscribers seeking "to create the world's largest archive of Jesus testimonies."
Netto said that while given a "beautiful and perfect" upbringing in which he traveled with his parents as they pursued ministry, he "always felt quite empty" and "wanted to experience life in a different way."
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As a teenager, Netto prioritized his dream of becoming a famous basketball player over his faith. He befriended many non-Christians when he joined his school's basketball team at age 15, eventually getting into drugs and a partying lifestyle.
"I started to experience some different things," Netto described. "I started to actually go around to parties. I started to actually go around to drugs, drinking quite a lot."
"I always thought that being a Christian was so boring," he added. "With my parents not being able to pay a lot of attention to what I was doing, I just started to actually go deep and deep and deep into sin."
One day, while he was traveling on a train, Netto said he hurt his foot and felt "something very awkward." His parents took him to a doctor.
The doctor informed Netto that he had a cancerous tumor in his leg, and his leg would have to be amputated. He recounted how the news was "a massive shock" to him as a 15-year-old.
"The only thing I could think was like, 'OK, can I still play basketball because I have a cancerous tumor now.' And I didn't really want to pay attention to that because when [you're] 15, you just want to pay attention to your future," Netto said.
"So I was like, 'Oh, if something happened, I actually can just put a fake leg and still play.' I was like, 'Let's do that.' So, I didn't really think, 'really, well, what was a cancerous tumor?' And as the doctor start to talk to me and my parents, I started to understand that things were very, very serious."
Feeling he had nowhere else to turn, Netto went to his family's church and told the pastor about his diagnosis. Netto said the pastor promised that the church would pray for him.
He claims that just before the amputation surgery, the doctors conducted one more test to take a closer look at the tumor.
"I remember that the doctor, he did a very awkward face when I came out. And he looked at me [and said]: 'Pedro, we have to do the exams again,'" Netto said.
"And I went again, and I came out like 20 minutes later, and he was looking at me very confused. And I remember he said, 'I have to call another doctor here.'"
The medical personnel told Netto that the tumor was no longer in his leg. Netto believes this was a miraculous healing from God, with him not truly appreciating it until later that day when he was alone in his room.
"I remember in that moment, I closed my eyes. And there are [these] divine appointments that always happen," said Netto.
He said he picked up the Bible in his room and opened it. The Bible just so happened to open to the words of Isaiah 43:19. The verse says in part, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"
Netto claimed that the verse "started to burn my heart," and he told God, "I really want to know you. I really want to go deep with you. And I promise you, if I'm doing this for you, I will go 100%."
"I remember in that moment, I just felt a big love come into my room," Netto added. "I couldn't stop crying. I really didn't understand why I was crying so much."
After accepting Christ into his life, Netto said he started attending church. He said God called him to become involved as a worship leader, singing and playing instruments.
"God actually gave me the opportunity to lead worship in many different places," he said. "Because I was healed, I had the opportunity to share my testimony with other people. And all these countries that we've been, we have seen so many healings and people uncovering God through that."
Supernatural healing is a controversial subject in contemporary society, with some believing that miraculous cures can occur, while others believe that, at most, God works through modern medicine to heal people.
Last month, Missouri Pastor John Lindell of James River Church garnered headlines for claiming that a woman in his congregation had three amputated toes grow back after a prayer session.
Skeptics were quick to denounce the claim, demanding that Lindell or the woman produce evidence of some kind, such as video of the toes regrowing or photographs.
For his part, Lindell explained in later remarks that he was not interested in responding to the skeptics and was more worried about protecting the woman from possible harm.
"People are saying if it's genuine, then why aren't you doing anything with it to publicize it?" Lindell said. "I am less interested in proving to people what I know God did than I am in protecting sheep who are vulnerable."
"I am going to protect sheep. That is my first concern is for her. If that bothers you, then I am sorry. But if you are in trouble, then my concern is for you too. I think we have to have that heart. We have to discern what is going to be right and what's going to be appropriate."
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected].
