MIAMI – The pastor at a mega church in southwest Miami-Dade County claims to perform supernatural miracles.
Pastor Guillermo Maldonado of King Jesus Ministry said he is able to heal the sick and raise people from the dead because the power of God works through him.
Maldonado said he taught members of his church to perform miracles, too.
"She was in the morgue, and she prayed for an hour," Maldonado said on a religious talk show. "And, an hour later, her daughter came back to life. This happens a lot for people."
There are dozens of video clips online showing healing services. In one, Maldonado called a woman with multiple sclerosis to the stage, then watched her stand and walk.
"I feel no pain," the woman said. "I feel good. I feel really blessed. Jesus is here."
King Jesus Ministry put Local 10 in touch with Ivis Vilato, whose 2-year-old daughter Fatima was diagnosed with Turner syndrome while she was still in the womb.
"I felt the world had closed in on me and I had no other choice," Vilato said. "But, after he prayed for me and I surrender my faith to Jesus Christ, the crying disappeared."
The medical results showed the baby was diagnosed with Turner syndrome, but after she was born, the condition was gone.
"I had blinding faith in God, and I put myself, like the pastor says, under the umbrella," Vilato said. "And, under the umbrella we are trying to be my entire family. God covers you and God cures all."
Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado, a religious studies professor at the University of Miami, said claims of bringing people back to life shouldn't be dismissed.
"I think part of it is becoming educated on this spiritual world and looking at these religious traditions not from a point of ignorance but from a point of knowledge," she said. "There's certainly no shortage of believers in South Florida."
While some believe in the miracles, there's been no scientific proof.
For Vilato, her proof is her daughter.
"Look at it here. She's a big girl, very active, good, calm," Vilato said. "In other words, she's healthy."