He came from Southern California specially for the Singapore audience. 

For two nights, American evangelist, healing minister and author David Diga Hernandez spoke and ministered to some 8,400 people at HEAL Singapore.

Over two days, David spoke at HEAL Singapore and prayed for scores of people.

The national evangelistic healing rally was spearheaded by Lighthouse Evangelism in partnership with five other churches in Singapore.

By the end of the weekend in October, many had been miraculously healed of chronic ailments.

A woman with an itchy skin condition for the last 20 years no longer itched. A man with blurred vision because of a stroke could see better. Another woman with backaches for four years felt no more pain and could stand up straight.

“I have an assignment to, first of all, win the lost. Secondly, to introduce believers to the Person of the Holy Spirit. Of course, with that comes healing, miracles and deliverance,” David told Salt&Light.

“So I just kind of walk in faith. You take that first step and then the Lord shows you Step Two.”

The step to Singapore

Coming to Singapore was a step in faith for David as well.

His is a full calendar. When not traversing the globe sharing the Gospel and ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit, he hosts a Christian television programme, helms his YouTube channel that reaches out to youths, runs David Diga Hernandez Ministries and writes books. 

He wrote his first book at age 12. Now 34, he has authored 12 books.

Yet he makes time for God’s surprise projects.

“We usually plan the calendar a year, or even two years, in advance. Then we always laugh because we know that the Lord is going to fill some of those empty spaces.

“You take assignments as the Lord leads. We feel strongly that the Lord is sending us here to Singapore. And so, as a ministry, we wanted to sow into this nation spiritually so that we can see God move.”

Not only did David accept the invitation to minister at HEAL Singapore, he also chose to bear his and his team’s travelling costs.

David began his healing ministry when he was 13 when he held secret Miracle Services in his school.

“The church did offer to cover the expenses. They were insistent. But we just felt led of the Lord to come and just bless the nation, the region, the people. And Jesus said, ‘Freely give.’

“Definitely there are times when we do take the offer to help cover some expenses. In this particular instance, I just felt led by the Spirit to pay everything. So we did.”

In the grip of darkness  

David’s commitment to bringing the work of the Holy Spirit to nations stems from his own personal encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit.

He is a fourth-generation Christian and grew up in a godly home where there was constant awareness of God and His Word. His grandparents were preachers as well.

But despite a strong Christian upbringing, he suffered from anxiety that “followed me everywhere” from as young as seven.

On one of the episodes of Encounter TV, a television programme he hosts, David shared: “I believe the anxiety that came against me was purely demonic.

“In fact, generations ago my family had a very high position in the world of the occult and so there was a spiritual demonic influence that tried to re-enter at every generation.”

He would see demons in his room and hear their whispers.

“I’ll never forget a vision I had of hell. I must have been around six or seven years old and I remember lying down on my bed and I looked over at the floor and the floor opened up and I could see this pit and it was a cave-like structure along the walls.

“There were all of these people. I knew they were lost souls that were embedded into the walls reaching out at me. I was terrified by this. So I rolled over and I tried to ignore it and I remember when I turned my back I could feel the heat coming from that pit.”

As a result, his anxiety manifested as a terrifying fear of hell.

Whispering His love    

David’s sensitivity to the spiritual realm meant that he could “hear audibly the voice of God” as well.

He believes this has to do with prayers his parents prayed over him. They prayed over his siblings as well.

“For my older sister Raquel, they prayed that she would be a worshipper. To this day, she is a worshipper. She pastors the church with her husband in California.

“They prayed for my younger brother Michael for a spirit of boldness and believe me he’s very, very bold.

“What they prayed for me was that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.”

At that tender age, David did not yet have a personal relationship with God.

“My spirit was dead,” he wrote in a blog on online Christian media network XPMedia.

But as he grew, his desire to be set free from his fear and anxiety increased.

“One day, I just picked up this book. It was a thick book that my father had, like a biblical commentary and I said, ‘Lord, You have to speak to me about my fear of hell. I am tired of battling with this.’”

When David flipped the book open, the first thing he saw was this – “We don’t serve God simply because we’re afraid of hell but because He loves us.”

Said David on Encounter TV: “I believe that was one of the first ways God tried to get through to me about His love. He wasn’t calling me with His wrath, He was calling me with His love.

“The scripture says, ‘It’s the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4).’”

The beginning of freedom

It would be some years before David found freedom in Christ.

He was 11 and had gone with his family to a Bible conference away from home. Instead of attending the service, he defiantly chose to remain in the hotel room. 

As he lay in bed staring at the ceiling and feeling so afraid of hell that he broke out in cold sweat, his father entered the room.

David told his father: “I want to give my heart to Jesus. I want to be sure that I’m right with Him.”

Father and son prayed together.

Recounted David in his testimony on Encounter TV: “As we were praying, I could sense Jesus walk into the room. I sensed this loving caring presence. It was such a contrast to what was tormenting my mind.

“I felt all the anxiety, all of the torment, all of the shame, all of the guilt completely lift from me. I was sobbing so uncontrollably as I was praying that I couldn’t even get the words out.”

A hunger for God  

The transformation in David’s relationship with God was immediate. His desire for God’s Word and for prayer became insatiable.

Over the next two years, he would spend up to eight hours immersed in the Bible, reading as many as 50 chapters a day.

David also read Cristian books, listened to Christian CDs and watched Christian television to learn as much as he could. He became “increasingly fascinated by the Person of Christ”. 

Wrote David on his ministry website: “My soul longed for one thing, and that one thing was encapsulated in these simple words: Jesus, I want to know You more.”

Recounted David on Encounter TV: “It was during that time that I was also introduced to the Holy Spirit. My prayer life began to grow and I remember praying this prayer right at about the peak of what I would call a personal revival.

“I prayed, ‘Lord let my hands be Your hands. Heal through them. Let my eyes be Your eyes. Allow me to see things and people in situations the way You see them. Let my ears be Your ears. I want to hear Your voice. Let my mouth be Your mouth. I want to speak Your Word. Let my feet be Your feet. Take me wherever it is You want me to go. Let my heart be one with Yours. Let my being be Your being. Crucify my will and in its place resurrect Your own will.’”

The fight continues

While that prayer with his father so many years ago lifted the heavy cloud of fear, depression is still something with which David deals.

He wrote in XPMedia: “To this day, I still battle depression. I’m a spirit-filled believer.

“But just like any aspects of the flesh, depression must be dealt with consistently. I may have depression, but depression doesn’t have me.” 

He explained this to Salt&Light: “There is the spiritual aspect. That would be the demonic power speaking those lies to you.

“There’s the mental and emotional aspect, also known as the flesh, which can partner with those deceptions. By embracing those lies, we kind of absorb those lies, we make them a part of who we are.

“Then there’s the aspect of the physical body. I find that there are certain physical things that can trigger things with the mental and emotional side of it.

“So as believers, we have to be aware of all of them.

“In terms of the demonic aspect, I am completely free, I don’t have any issues there. But there are times when I get tired, and if I get tired, my anxiety can be agitated. There are times when I can still feel that heaviness and still feel that fear.

“You have got to fight the flesh. You overcome it to the point where you can say something like, ‘I may have an issue with occasional depression and anxiety, but depression and anxiety do not have me.’”

RELATED STORIES:

“Our God is still doing extraordinary works in our midst”: 5 churches partner for HEAL Singapore rally

4,400 people attend Day 1 of inaugural HEAL Singapore rally with evangelist David Diga Hernandez

The God of second chances: When healing comes later in life

Mum was healed of Stage 4 cancer. Two decades on, would daughter be too?