NOTE: The video above is not related to this story. It chronicles the journey of a woman who claims miraculous healing after being given 4 days to live.

Divine intervention is something that can't really be explained — but for hundreds of years, humans have sworn by their stories of miraculous healing.

Creole culture points to the traiteur, a person who combines French language, Catholic prayer and the laying on of hands to treat ailments like sprained ankles.

For Native Americans, rituals like the Ghost Dance have long been relied upon to reunite the living with the dead and restore peace and prosperity.

Buddhists, for centuries, have meditated on the Medicine Buddha, depicted as a dark blue figure carrying a bowl of nectars and a medicine plant, to eliminate pain and disease.

And in Opelousas, Louisiana, there's Greg Kerr, a 71-year-old man who says God gave him the power to heal people.

More than 20 years ago, he first discovered this "tangible anointing" and claims to have healed thousands along the way.

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After taking a break from the spotlight, Greg is back in action at a warehouse in Lafayette, where he holds regular healing sessions for the public to attend.

This is something, he says, that one must experience in order to believe.

'It didn't hit me like a train'

“I wasn’t born with it,” Greg says. “It didn’t hit me like a train. I completely surrendered myself to God.”

Greg describes this power as being the same force God used to heal the sick.

“There is a power and energy that comes out of my hands, and I can feel it," he explains. "I refer to it as energy – but it’s the spirit of God.”

August 1996: ‘I was trying to go someplace I didn’t even know existed’

Greg looks back to August 1996, when he claims to have first received this power. He had just returned from a healing service in St. Louis where, according to him, a blueish-grey haze appeared.

“When I came home,” Greg explains, “the cloud was still there. It lasted three days. My wife, Louella, and my daughter could see it, too. It was like a fog … and this incredible peace was there.”

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Greg says that shortly before the cloud dissipated, he was sitting in his living room in the middle of the night, praying, with tears streaming down his face.

“For years, I had been seeking god,” he explains, “and I didn’t get any answers. But this particular night, God was telling me what was going on. My wife asked me what I was doing, and why I was crying. And I told her it was because this glory was about to leave. He (God) allowed it to come back with me from St. Louis, and now he’s telling me there is a price. But I have no idea what he’s talking about. My wife said to me, ‘Greg, whatever it is, just do it, figure it out.’ And I said, ‘I’m gonna do it.’ ”

'Doctors gave me 4 days to live ...'

The next day, Greg says, the cloud was gone. From that point, he began seeking God on a daily and nightly basis, worshipping every two hours.

“I was fasting,” he says, “and I kept worshipping, trying to make a breakthrough in the realm of the spirit – I was trying to go someplace I didn’t even know existed. But I continued on. One of the last things I did … I would get up at midnight, alone, get on my knees, play beautiful music, and worship God from midnight to 3 a.m.”

September 1997: The start of ‘an incredible journey’

Greg continued this practice for more than a year. And on Sept. 9, 1997, he claims to have had a breakthrough.

“I was on my knees in the living room,” he explains, “and a patch of intense heat hit me in the center of my face, with a smoky incense smell. It stayed about a minute and dissipated. From that moment, I worshipped constantly, for eight days. Then it (the power and energy that comes out of my hands) came back - and never left.”

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Ever since that night, Greg says he’s had the ability to heal people’s pain – but he’s quick to stress that God is the one responsible; he’s just a conduit.

“I come from way out in left field,” he explains. “But I’m on an incredible journey. The anointing is the greatest gift and greatest treasure that an individual can have here on Earth.”

In 2002, several news outlets featured Greg’s story, resulting in a curiosity boom. People from all walks of life wanted to know if this man really had the ability to heal.

Diane McHugh: ‘I would do anything to see my husband get better’

Diane McHugh, 60, of Lafayette, Louisiana, is among the many who sought him out.

Diane is a nurse who was employed at Our Lady of Lourdes for 23 years before moving to a private practice. Around the time Greg’s articles were published, her husband, Kevin, was suffering from hepatitis C.

Someone suggested she bring him to Greg.

“I was desperate,” Diane says. “I would do anything to see my husband get better. He had to stop working, he was jaundiced, very fatigued. When I went to Greg, he asked where Kevin’s pain was. I told him it was right around his liver, in his right side. I saw Greg put one of his hands around that area, in front of and behind him, and all of a sudden, Kevin said he felt like a needle went through him.”

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According to Diane, she and her husband then got in the car to go home.

The ride was quiet.

“He went inside the house,” she says, “and he said he was going back to work. He said he was better, that he was healed.”

Diane says that her husband, who works offshore for an oil company, no longer has medical issues and credits Greg with restoring his health.

“But don’t get me wrong,” Greg stresses. “I am not the healer – God is. It’s almost like a wall socket. The only reason it gets any glory is because it’s plugged into (local electric company) Slemco. I am plugged into God. This is to let people know that there’s hope. It’s not just about healing.”

Charisse Comeaux: ‘I believe my son was healed’

Charisse Comeaux, 62, of Opelousas, Louisiana, worked for 35 years as a nurse at Opelousas General. She claims that Greg saved her 23-year-old son’s life after being found unresponsive.

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“It was Oct. 19, 2000,” she says. “And my son didn’t show up for work. His roommate went to wake him and he was blue, in a pool of vomit. The ambulance brought him to University Medical Center (now University Health Clinic) and he had to be intubated, put on a ventilator. He had a large blood clot in his left ventricle.”

She told a friend to call Greg.

“Greg came, saw him,” Charisse explains. “He put his hands around my son’s chest, and all of the equipment started alarming. The team rushed in, and my son was awakened.”

According to Charisse, a follow-up echocardiogram revealed that her son’s blood clot was gone.

“The doctor said that, in order for something like this to happen,” Charisse continues, “one has to believe in divine intervention. I believe my son was healed that day.”

Greg says regardless of the person’s ailment, his methodology is the same.

“I always use the anointing between two hands,” he explains. “These are the mechanics. I run the anointing through the problem area. With Charisse’s son, I commanded him to go home … those are the words God gave me to give to him; in other words, let’s get you out of (the hospital). My job is then over, and I leave.”

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Greg says he’s touched thousands of people with the anointing over the years – even drug addicts.

“The only thing I ask, in that case,” he explains, “is, ‘have you had enough?’ God’s not going to bail you out if you don’t want to be bailed out.”

‘It’s not about money’

Greg now holds healing services at 6 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. on weekends in a warehouse on the corner of Amadee and Ambassador Caffery in Lafayette.

All are invited; he asks that guests bring their own chairs.

There is no cost to attend Greg’s healing services.

“It’s not about money,” he explains. “I spend no time speaking about why you need to pay me so God will bless you. This is a movement of God, and I’m just giving glory to God.”

For more information, call 337-849-1993.

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