By Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
I was at an east Texas summer camp, speaking twice a day to students from a church just outside Baton Rouge, when I noticed a young man in the back row. His body language made it clear that he would rather be anywhere in the world than a church camp.
Two days into the camp I approached him. We spoke for a few minutes, and I gave him my card. I told him, “If ever I can help, give me a call.” Honestly, I never thought he would do so, but a few months later he called. He needed help. His home life had become unbearable. His life was going nowhere. Anger and the pull of addictions were threatening his life.
Brett Medlin came into Youth-Reach and placed his life into the hands of our staff, and the donors who supported our work back in 1998 invested in his future. He surrendered his life to Christ, but it was not like the enemy surrendered in the battle to defeat his potential. While in our program, Brett knew that the Father’s will was for him to further his training at the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base in Los Angeles, but when he completed our program, he was disobedient and followed his own path. Several years later, the Lord got his attention and Brett followed God’s direction, packed a few belongings and headed to Los Angeles.
When a student completes the training phase at YWAM, they are given the option of a mission phase, and Brett chose to go to Cambodia. There he served at the YWAM base in Phnom Penh for several weeks, and upon returning to the States, he sold his car and guitars and gave away most everything else. He went back to Cambodia with a calling, a passion and a duffel bag of clothes.
Brett served at an orphanage, a soup kitchen and other points of mission, but more critically to his long-term effectiveness, he went to language school and began to learn the complex Khmer language. This has proven vital in the fruitfulness and efficiency of his ministry there, but more importantly, it has endeared him to many of the Khmer people and even impressed government and military officials.
Today, as Director of Rock Foundation Cambodia, Brett has been awarded full Cambodian citizenship. He and his wife Sithorn lead a ministry that is literally saving lives every single day by drilling water wells and providing safe, clean water in poverty-stricken provinces across Cambodia. To date, Rock Foundation has drilled 870 wells, imported over 11 million dollars worth of medical supplies from the United States to Cambodia, distributed 200,000 pounds of rice, canned fish, and other life-giving foods to some of the poorest of the poor, and brought the gospel into the darkest nation I have ever visited.
It is estimated that Cambodia is 94% Buddhist, 5% Muslim and 1% Animist, with Christianity not yet gaining 1% of the population. Brett and Sithorn have been led by the Father to insert not only the hope of clean water, food and medical supplies, but also the Eternal Hope of Jesus.
When you support Youth-Reach Houston, you are investing in the future of our boys. We never know which one will be the next Brett. For more information, visit rockfoundationcambodia.org.
