SID: Hello, Sid Roth here investigative reporter here with Jim and Carla Barbarossa. And Jim, before we get to this supernatural instrument, I want to find out more about you. You had a tragedy happen in your life. You were terminated from your employment because you had an early form of leukemia. Did they literally send you home to die?
JIM: Yes, they did after nineteen years of service,I was released and sent home. The doctors at Mayo Clinic where the diagnosis was made basically said you’ll never work again. And believe me, they do not pension you out of the factories and send you home to live for fifty years. They didn’t think I would last for very long.
SID: Carla, how did you take that?
CARLA: It was devastating. You know I didn’t know what to think you know we have four children and I was just…I had my faith in God but yet here’s this report and what do you do with this report?
SID: Okay, you had your faith in God, but Jim you didn’t have much of a faith in God.
JIM: None at all.
SID: How come?
JIM: You know, I was raised with religion, but I rebelled against God at about sixteen years old. I didn’t want nothing to do with church.
SID: Why?
JIM: You know I really don’t know the fullness of it. I think a lot of it is I was just getting caught up in the life and the world.
SID: I think that was probably most of it.
JIM: The only God I knew though I pictured with a baseball bat; somebody who would keep you in line.
SID: Catholic background?
JIM: Yes.
SID: Mines Jewish – I understand! (laughs) We’re from the same mold! Okay, but one day you got a disturbing call late at night – tell me about it.
JIM: It was about three o’ clock in the morning and Carla was asked to go babysit for a family of some friends. Their father had a heart attack and in the wee hours of the morning they were going to have to open him up and go back in again and she left. And as she went to babysit, I’m laying there and I hadn’t been to church in years or prayed in years; and I just said “God if you save this man, I will be in church on Sunday.”
SID: Why, why did you say this?
JIM: You know looking back on it; it had to be the Holy Spirit coming upon me.
SID: So did you honor your word?
JIM: Yes, absolutely and I went to Carla I said, on a Friday, and I said don’t make any plans for Sunday because we have something we have to do. I didn’t tell her what and I knew she thought it was some get rich money making scheme or something and I know I shocked her when we ended up going to church.
SID: Okay you’re in the church, what happens?
JIM: We’re sitting in the back pew close to the door in case the roof comes down. And as were sitting there the service is ending, and I saw something on people that I had never seen before. There was a genuine concern for me. There was a love that I had never seen. It was like these people accepted me, but they didn’t want anything from me. And I thought wow and I really didn’t want to go home, but we did and I said were going back. And the next Sunday we went back again. So here we are the second Sunday night and there was an invitation given to receive Jesus as Savior. And as I sat there I wanted to get up and it was like the bottom of my shorts, my pants were glued to the chair, the pew; I couldn’t move.
SID: Literally?
JIM: That’s how I felt. I tried to move I wanted to, but I couldn’t move. And I said “God if you want me, you are going to send somebody to get me.” And the lady in front of me turned around and said “Can I pray for you?” And the next thing I know I went up to the altar, I said “God I can’t live without you anymore” and repented of my sins and received Jesus as my Savior.
SID: But then you heard a near audible voice from God about your leukemia.
JIM: Well some months had passed and I was kneeling at a communion service, and as I knelt there, it wasn’t out loud but it was so vibrant and so clear. And the words were, “My son this night as you confess your sins before me, I wash them away with the blood that was shed for you on the cross, and with that same blood I’m now cleansing your diseased blood. Go back to the doctor – I have healed you. Went back to the doctor 6 weeks later; my son was just having his sports physical, and I said doc rerun the tests. “You’re wasting your time Jim.” “Doc, God said he’s healing me.” He said “I’m going to humor you.” He reran the tests, sent them to Mayo clinic. When he called me the diagnosis had come back. My blood was cleansed by the blood of Jesus. There was no disease, no sickness. Totally healed! 100%!
SID: I understand in addition to that you had a bonus – something else was healed. You had a tumor.
JIM: Well, I had lumps. As part of the blood disorder there were lumps and things all over the body. But you know I did have a major lump 6 months prior to that I was looking in the mirror. Looking at it and the scripture came to me. “It is finished. By his stripes you are healed.” And that evening people prayed for me and when I looked I opened my shirt the lump was gone; just totally disappeared.
SID: You know I believe that when someone receives a healing they have faith for others to be healed. They have extraordinary faith. How did you take that healing by the way, of your husband?
CARLA: I was just you know – bowled over.
SID: Did you know that God healed today like that?
CARLA: Not – no, I didn’t see it a lot so that was kind of like an awe; you know, an awesome stirring up of my faith more. I want to see more of that.
SID: But then – Carla had a dream! God told her that they were supposed to do something. Don’t go away we’ll be right back.