Cuban Windsurfer
“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” [Matthew 14:25]
In February 1994, a 21-year-old Cuban windsurfer waded ashore in the Florida Keys and asked for asylum. He told the amazed sheriff’s deputies his story. The windsurfer, Eugenio Maderal Roman, had made the 110- mile trip across the open sea, looking for freedom. He had a childhood friend, Lester Moreno Perez, who had windsurfed to Florida in 1990 and worked as a computer programmer in Miami. Eugenio said he thought of following his friend but at the time decided it would be dangerous to attempt. Eugenio said he windsurfed almost daily in Cuba.
On this particular morning Eugenio set out, as he often had, from his girlfriend’s house in Varadero about 1 p.m. and went for a spin around the beach resort. “I went surfing to catch some air and have a little fun.” Then he was going to head over to his aunt’s house. He began surfing that evening and when he caught a favorable northern breeze, on a whim and a prayer, he just kept going with freedom urging him on. “Something was calling me,” he said. “When I saw water all around me, I just kept on going.” He worked as a windsurfing instructor and made a pretty good wage, but said he was tired of Cuba’s hardships.
Eugenio encountered friendly porpoises along the way, but he avoided resting in the dark waters that are also the frequent haunt of large sharks. He said he oriented himself by the sun and then by the North Star after nightfall. The young man made the epic trip from north Cuba to Marathon Key in about nine hours. The Coast Guard was not involved in the case because Mr. Maderal made it all the way to shore unassisted. Eugenio said he had wanted to come to the United States for a long time but didn’t plan for it to happen this way. “If I’d thought about it twice,” he said, “I wouldn’t have done it.”
The Bible teaches that one windy night long ago Jesus made a difficult trip across stormy waters to save his friends. More than that, He crossed an ocean of space to bring freedom to a world enslaved by sin. It was a risky journey, but Christ wanted to release us from the government of Satan and set us free. Jesus thought about it more than once. He didn’t hesitate because of His great love for you.
