Convicted by Miracles

David Roldán is sold-out for God as he pastors a small, but vibrant flock of 25-30 Deaf believers at the hearing Iglesia Evangelica (Evangelical Church) in Sabadell, 20 km northwest of Barcelona, Spain.

But it took two life-changing miracles before the gentle, young Deaf man, completely committed himself to serve the Lord.

The first came when he was in his 20s. At an evangelistic-healing crusade, David went forward to repent and see if God would take away his deafness. The preacher put his hands on one of David's ears and then the other.

"All of a sudden, it was like someone turned on the volume, and little by little. . . I could hear sounds!" recalls David. "I could hear voices . . . but my mind had never heard actual words before, so I couldn't understand the words."

Sobbing and broken, David promised God that he would be His voice to the Deaf.

Two days later, David's hearing started to fade and finally disappeared. Confused, he pleaded with God to know why the miracle was reversed and received an astonishing answer.

"He said, 'I've called you to the Deaf, and if you can hear, then you may be tempted to go into the hearing world. . . . So that's why I'm taking this hearing away from you—so that you can reach the Deaf.' "

David began sharing his faith with Deaf friends in Deaf clubs and people came to Christ.

Ocean Rescue
But after some time, David began waffling again, spiritually.

One Sunday, against his wife Estrella's wishes, David decided to skip church and go scuba diving with some friends instead on the coast north of Barcelona. As David left the house, Estrella said she would pray that he'd be careful.

When the group arrived at the ocean north of Barcelona, its stormy, wind-whipped surface was choppy. They dived anyway, reckoning that the water below would be calm.

It was, but as David, a certified diver, swam up and down in the ocean, pressure changes unexpectedly gave him a nosebleed. A nearby friend recognized the danger and urged him to get to the surface.

"The blood had started going up inside my mask. I was starting to get really dizzy. I started to black out, so I started to swim up."

What greeted him was a three-metre rocky cliff, which David decided he would need to climb to get out of the water. However, waves began throwing him against the rock, then sucking him back again. Again and again, his face, arms and back were battered against the cliff, and he feared for his life.

"I said, 'Lord, if this is it, if you want me to die . . . I just want you to know I repent of all the things I've done.' "

Suddenly, as he was blacking out again, the water rose so high that he was deposited face first on top of the cliff. Passersby came to his rescue, asking the bloodied diver where the rope was that he used to climb up onto the cliff.

"I knew that God had done a miracle," he says. "Thanks be to God. I was dead, but it was God who saved me."

Bandaged and fitted with ice packs to reduce swelling, David returned home, where Estrella had been asking God to protect him. Traumatized and bewildered, he prayed fervently to God, asking why he was spared.

David felt God telling him to "wake up": "In the towns around here there are lots of Deaf people that need to know Jesus. And I need for you to be the one to explain it to them. Give all your heart to me; not just part of it, not serving me halfway."

This second life-changing event prompted David to double his efforts to evangelize the Deaf, preaching and leading Bible studies in different towns.

"Jesus is God's Son and He chose me to do these kinds of things," says David, now 32.

"I'm just God's servant. Whatever he asks me to do, that's what I'm here to do."