“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
This is Vuthy. He is a man of faith. CRAZY FAITH. He believes God for the impossible. But we’ll get to that later.
I had the opportunity to meet Vuthy nearly two years ago while on my World Race in 2011. After starting in Thailand, we headed to Cambodia for our second month of ministry. Two of our teams were working with a church ministry located in the capital city of Phnom Penh. While staying with a local ministry host, we were able to meet many young Cambodians with a heart for Christ and their country. Every day while heading to ministry we hopped into a tuk-tuk (see below) and zipped through traffic on our way to the church. Most days, our driver was a man named Vuthy, who most of us thought was simply your average tuk tuk driver. We couldn’t have been more wrong. After several days, and a couple conversations, we discovered that Vuthy had an incredible story…and his own ministry! It turns out that several years earlier, Vuthy had come to know Christ. He had been so passionate that he went back to his own village and shared the gospel and started an English teaching ministry for the children of Kampot. Quite the surprise!
As the month went on, I had the opportunity to get to know Vuthy during our rides to ministry and through conversations. I got to hear about his dreams for the ministry and his passion for the people of Cambodia. During one particular conversation, he told me about his desire to build a “mercy house” for children in the village. The cost of the house would be $20,000, and unimaginable amount when you consider the fact that in Cambodia the average income is about $1 a day. Still, Vuthy looked me in the eyes and firmly told me that “God will provide.” Vuthy is a man of FAITH.
Fast forward to December 2012. As you’ve read from some of my previous blogs, going out into the nations as a Squad Leader was filled with lots of Déjà vu moments. Sure enough, I was blessed with the opportunity to come back to Cambodia for a month of ministry. While staying in Phnom Penh (in the same building as before) I had the opportunity to see Vuthy again. During the month, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Kampot and work with his ministry. As we pulled up to the property, this was the first thing that we saw:
The mercy house! The same mercy house that years earlier Vuthy had assured me God would provide! Although I only had the chance to stay for a week, it was amazing to see the impact that God has allowed Vuthy to have in his village. Nearly every day, children come to learn English and on Sunday church services are held. Some of Vuthy’s “graduates” have gone into ministry and university. Vuthy tells me that he hopes to one day build a Bible school that offers vocational training, and you know what? I have no doubt that God will provide!
