Brett Medlin (center) and John Yeatts (blue shirt) meet with provincial leaders next to a fetid pond intended for drinking water in Chhuk-Takaen, Cambodia.
By Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
Brett Medlin is a full-time missionary and humanitarian with a passion for investing his life in the people of Cambodia. Brett was a very troubled young man when he entered Youth-Reach in 1999 at age 17. Coming from a broken home and having embraced the subsequent anger, his heart was hard. With time he began to soften, and he became attentive to the Lord’s voice. Brett clearly heard the Father’s direction, but after completing the Youth-Reach program, he was not obedient to what he knew was the will of God. In time, he found himself again mired in anger and addiction.
Brett & Sithorn Medlin
The Lord’s correction is always kind, but it is not always comfortable. It was through a painful trial that Brett fully surrendered and soon thereafter left Houston for missions training in Los Angeles. He then went on a short-term mission trip to Cambodia, and after returning to the States he sold all he owned and returned to Phnom Penh. He first began by volunteering at an orphanage. Later he received training to begin the challenging task of drilling clean water wells in the desperately poor outer provinces of Cambodia. In a country that is less than 1% Christian, and is known for corruption and a history of genocide and war, the complications were many, yet the Lord had tapped a stubborn and determined man for this destiny.
I just returned from my seventh trip to Cambodia where I spent all my time with Brett and his wife Sithorn. Brett has now been in Cambodia for 17 years and he has been married for 15. He and his team at Rock Foundation Cambodia have drilled more than 1,000 wells under some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. While I was there we were joined by John Yeatts, the Director of Global Missions at Life Outreach International. This global ministry is heavily involved in clean water initiatives on several continents, and it was a joy to spend two days with John. We visited a school where Rock Foundation was drilling a new well, and where students heard the news of Jesus through song and voice. The next day we met with provincial leaders regarding a future well in a very hard-to-reach rural area that has suffered greatly with no source of clean water.
Please pray for Brett and Sithorn as they minister in a spiritually dark country where the gospel has not yet gained a foothold. Pray that our Father would continue to provide the funding, guidance and safety they need as they share Jesus in Cambodia.
