A missionary who claimed to cure serious illnesses – including terminal cancer – through prayer secretly faced his own health battle for years before his death.
John Mellor, who included Down syndrome, mental illness and blindness among the conditions he ‘cured’, died in March aged 67.
At the time, his wife Julie told his followers that Mellor, the top evangelist at John Mellor Ministries, had died of a ‘sudden illness’.
However, a source close to the Mellor family told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Mellor, 67, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in late 2019 or early 2020.
The source revealed that Mellor had for some time claimed to cure the sick while undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
“In January 2020, John was diagnosed with bowel cancer for sure… and he definitely underwent chemotherapy in late December 2021,” the source said.
The source claimed that Mellor’s cancer diagnosis was hidden from the public so his followers would remain steadfast in their belief in his ability to heal through prayer.
John Mellor (left), an internationally renowned healing preacher who claimed to heal suffering through prayer, battled bowel cancer for years before his death
According to his wife Julie (right), John died of a ‘sudden illness’ on March 17. Mr Mellor claimed he could cure serious diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s and Down’s syndrome.
Who is John Mellor?
John Mellor died on March 17 after 47 years dedicated to Christianity.
He became fascinated with healing while working as a missionary in indigenous communities.
Mellor gained fame after performing a ‘flood of miracles’ while working as a missionary in Scotland.
He then traveled the world healing serious illnesses and ailments through prayer.
His death was announced on social media by wife Julie, who told fans he died after a ‘sudden illness’.
Despite regularly posting testimonials and prayers on her social media accounts, Mellor never revealed to her followers that she was battling cancer.
However, there were some mentions of bowel cancer.
Mellor posted a video on social media in April 2022 pointing to colon cancer cells in people who seem to be dying miraculously.
According to sources, Mellor was ‘obviously’ undergoing chemotherapy when the video was posted.
Mellor Ministries’ video caption notes that requests to pray for Mellor to heal bowel cancer have become ‘a common request lately’.
In the video, Mellor instructs viewers to place their hand on the part of their body where the tumor is growing and virtually reach out to him.
‘It’s like I’m in your living room, in your car, wherever you are, I’m going to believe that the power of God will flow into your body,’ he told the audience.
Touching his own stomach, Mellor said: ‘In the name of Jesus, I break bowel cancer right now, I command every tumor to shrink and disappear, I command every cancer cell to die.
‘And whether bowel cancer has spread to the liver or lungs or anywhere I command those cancerous tumors to disappear and shrink, go in the name of Jesus.’
He then prayed for chemotherapy pain and hair-loss to ‘go away in Jesus name’.
Other videos on Mellor’s social media account show him healing a child with symptoms of Down syndrome and paraplegic followers walking again.
‘Maybe John had something [healing] efficiency,’ the source said.
‘But why can’t you make a public statement that you yourself have bowel cancer and be very open and transparent about what you’ve done?’
A source close to Mellors told Daily Mail Australia that the Covid-19 lockdowns were used to hide his diagnosis so his followers would still believe he was a healer and would not affect revenue.
Mr. Mellor is seen here providing spiritual healing to an elderly member of his congregation
Outside of Australia, John was hired as a guest preacher in packed-out churches around the world because of his supposed healing powers.
Announcing her husband’s death, Julie Mellor said the evangelist was ‘called to heaven too soon’ and would ‘spend the time of his life with Jesus’.
‘I am devastated and still in shock and disbelief, as I know many of you will be,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘It is an honor and a joy to be his wife and to serve God with him. He was my best friend and greatest companion. I am very upset.
‘John was the sweetest, kindest, most pure-hearted and fun-loving man and husband that ever lived.
‘Although John was a public figure, he and I were very private people. In the interest of John’s dignity and privacy, I choose not to share any details of John’s death, so please don’t ask.’
Mrs Mellor then reflected on her husband’s life as a minister, saying: ‘He will also meet thousands of people in heaven thanks to his 47 years of tireless evangelism and ministry, since his release at the age of 20.’
The source claimed that the ministry was able to keep Mellor’s cancer diagnosis a secret because the Covid-19 lockdowns at the time had already prevented him from preaching.
‘They [the ministry] Was worried it was going to leak and it would affect their income,’ the source said.
Outside of Australia, John was hired as a guest preacher at packed-out churches around the world because of his supposed healing powers.
Julie took over as head of John Mellor Ministries, claiming to cure followers of post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s symptoms at a recent event in Port Macquarie.
John Mellor, who was ill, claimed to have recovered
Physical ailments such as rheumatism, polio, back pain and ‘weak shoulders’
Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression
ADHD, Autism and Down’s Syndrome
Claims to cure 9/11 victims of chronic neuropathic pain
Stage four cancer that has metastasized
Visual conditions such as blindness or floaters
Numerous cancers such as bowel, pancreas and breast
Mellor became interested in healing while working as a missionary in a remote Aboriginal community and coming into contact with a ‘witch doctor’.
According to his ministry’s website, ‘John prayed and fasted 10 days a month for five months and cried out to God to reveal himself in power to these people’.
Through his apparent healing of the community, Mellor earned the nickname ‘healing missionary man’.
Mellor began to attract attention after a ‘flood of miracles’ occurred while he was in Wishaw, a small town outside Glasgow, Scotland.
Since then, Mellor has campaigned internationally and famously felt ‘a warm tingling sensation’ up his spine after Nick Poe, a current affairs journalist, prayed for the healing of the journalist’s neck injury for 16 years.
After John’s death, Julie took over as the leader of the church.
Julie wrote, ‘As John has ministered to him for 15 years as his wife, I will continue the ministry.’
At a recent event at St Thomas Anglican Church in Port Macquarie, Julie claimed to have cured a woman of arthritis, pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.
During the event, which closely resembled John’s sermon, Julie also claimed to have cured a man of symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Julie will follow in John’s footsteps as an internationally sought-after guest preacher, conducting healing sermons in England and Switzerland in September and the US in October.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the John Mellor Ministry and Julie Mellor for comment.
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