By Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
Late last night, I returned to Houston from Cambodia. This journey requires almost 26 hours of exhausting travel. It is a trip I have now made nine times to the other side of our planet to visit and serve with Brett and Sithorn Medlin.
As you may already know, Brett Medlin was a resident of Youth-Reach when he was 17 years old. After completing the program here, Brett entered the workforce and was successful, but felt empty and unfulfilled. He enlisted in the training program of Youth With A Mission in Los Angeles and then went on a short-term mission trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After several weeks there, he returned to the States, sold all he had, and returned to Southeast Asia. He entered language school and began volunteering at a local orphanage. In time, he established Rock Foundation Cambodia.
They began by building simple homes for displaced people who scratched out a living finding recyclables within the vast city garbage dump. He built homes and toilet systems for the desperately poor, and was then trained and equipped to drill clean water wells. Clean water for drinking, cooking and hygiene is a dire need across the remote provinces of Cambodia. To date, Brett and his team have successfully drilled more than 1000 wells, providing clean water to thousands living in poverty.
The people of Cambodia are 95% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, and 1% animist. Christianity, the good news of Jesus Christ, has not yet impacted even 1% of the population. It is technically illegal to proselytize in Cambodia, but with Brett’s efforts to bring clean water wells into these villages, the door to spreading the gospel swings open. Most often, the wells are drilled in schoolyards, providing the opportunity to share Jesus with hundreds of children. Brett has also drilled wells on the grounds of Buddhist temples and rural health centers.
Many charities and programs claim to do lifesaving work, but I have been an eyewitness to the lifesaving work that Brett is accomplishing in Cambodia. Thousands of children die every year from the effects of drinking water from polluted pits, ditches and shallow, contaminated wells. Each new well drilled transforms an entire village, restoring health and life. These wells also provide an open door for people to meet our Savior.
We often hear about residual effects. For those of you who support Youth-Reach, this is one of those residual effects. Brett was once an angry and broken kid, but your investment in him is now reaping benefits on the other side of the planet. Your giving then is saving lives now.
This morning, as I met with the boys who currently live with us here at Youth-Reach, I could not help but wonder which one of them will be the next lifesaver, the next risk taker and the next to alter eternity. Thank you for investing in the kids of Youth-Reach.
Check out this video of Curt & Brett on the field in Cambodia:
