Rafael Barbeiro’s story of renewal, trust and gratitude

It was early December last year when the 38-year-old vet from Minas Gerais Rafael Barbeiro, with eyes shining with hope, he was taken to the operating room. After years of struggling with the scale and poor health due to being overweight, he finally decided it was time for a change. The chosen solution was bariatric surgery, which seemed to be his last chance, a new beginning for his life and a much-desired physical appearance.

But what seemed like an opportunity for rebirth turned into a true nightmare. During the post-procedure, unexpected complications arose, and the patient’s body Rafael began to show signs that something was very wrong. After ten days of a surgery that until then seemed quite successful, his body showed monstrous swelling in addition to terrible abdominal pain; all of this due to an inflammatory process that compressed his organs.

His dream of having an aesthetically slim and standardized body turned into a disturbing infectious process, where two and a half liters of pus were drained (a thick, yellowish liquid that forms at the site of a wound or infectious process), and the which ended up leading to twelve days of intubation.

Throughout the health process I went through, the doctors’ pessimism regarding my recovery did not shake me. Thanks to the FAITH I have in Jesus Christ.”

Unshakable Faith

In that moment of almost death, his partner was by his side in the ICU at all times. Rodrigo who in these almost 20 years of relationship remained firm and did not leave the hospital, even in the face of medical pessimism due to the serious situation he will face in relation to the health of Rafael; he fasted and prayed for the recovery of his great love.

And on Christmas Eve, when he left the ICU with a Bogotá bag (an efficient resource for temporarily closing the abdomen), the miracle of his recovery began. After coming out of intubation and induced coma he was able to report that he felt the sensation of a death spirit; a heavy energy that was present. However, on the other hand, he constantly heard a voice that told him not to fear, something that encouraged him that he would come out of it all alive.

Rafael didn’t know how, but he felt that something supernatural had happened due to his faith in Jesus. He was no longer the same. The hospital experience transformed his outlook on life and further strengthened his faith, and the next day, the Christmas miracle would become his story of renewal, confidence and gratitude. He knew, now, that the greatest gift was not the surgery, but the gift of starting over and the palpable experience of the divine.

If it were today, I would never have bariatric surgery.”

Man of faith

A Protestant Christian, he fell in love with the way Presbyterians study the scriptures and the praises sung in church in 2020 when visiting a church close to his home. Today he and his partner, who live in Pouso Alegre, in the interior of Minas Gerais, do devotions together daily and unfortunately do not attend any church due to non-acceptance of their sexuality.

Currently, he continues to testify to the miracle he experienced, sharing reports of six surgeries he underwent throughout 2024, and is now preparing for another chapter in his life: the reconstruction of his abdomen due to the long time he used the Bogotá bag and lost his musculature.

During the fifty minutes on the phone for this interview, it is clear how Rafael He is aware of the miracle he experienced and how his faith is totally rooted and strengthened in the ways of a true Christian.

Artur Vieira is a Christian, gay and journalist who has worked with the LGBT+ public since 2013 on the internet with the profile @devoltaaoreino.