Jul 27, 2008 10:58 pm US/Eastern
Teen Healer: I Work God's Miracles
HOLLYWOOD (CBS4) ―
It's a claim you have to take on faith, but that's exactly what many people are doing about a teen from Central America who says God speaks through her and helps her heal the sick. Her claims are starting to draw crowds to the Hollywood church where she performs what some are calling Miracles.
16-year-old Gabriella Monterroso can be found preaching at "Jesus La Luz Del Mundo", or Jesus, the light of the world, a small Hollywood church which is getting a lot of attention because of her claims, and the testimony of those who say they have been healed by her.
She believes the power of God is working through her.
"I just feel overjoyed in my body. That's telling me that I'm okay," she told CBS4 reporter Shomari Stone.
Monterroso has been preaching since the age of 6, when she moved to South Florida with her father from their home in Central America. That was 10 years ago, but most of the attention she is getting is recent, because of the claims she can work miracles.
" I believe that I am not the one who does the miracles," she said. "God does the miracles and I am just used by him."
At the church in Hollywood, Alvaro Martelli said he had trouble walking because of a metal plate in his leg. Sunday, he used a walker to get around, until Monterroso prayed with him on her hands and knees.
Moments later, he stood and walked without the walker, and claimed it was a miracle.
"After Gabriella prayed for me, I felt better," he said in Spanish. "Much better than I used to feel. Now I am going to walk without the walker."
But for everyone who believes she has the power to work God's miracles, there is someone who is ready to call her actions a hoax and a source of false hope for the truly ill.
The teen preacher has heard the criticism, and understands it. She just believes she is different than others who have claimed to do God's healing.
"I know a lot of people had lied about this," she said. "But I know that God has called me sell the truth, that God can do miracles without saying this is all false."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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