Last Thursday I had the rare opportunity to leave Phnom Penh for a day and head west to the Kampong Speu province. There, we spent some time in Viel Thom village at a New Life Fellowship church plant. It was my job to interview the pastor of the church, obtain some information on the area, and get some testamonies from the church members. I want to share with you about one of the men I talked with.
His name is Vuth Art. He’s 51 years old and married, with 4 children – 2 boys and 2
girls. One of the girls is not his own, he took her in because she had nowhere else to go.
Before He was a believer in Christ, Vuth was a soldier for the Khmer (Cambodian) army near the Thai border. One day while patrolling the area, he stepped on one of the many land mines that are scattered in the area. The mine went off and Vuth instantly lost his arm and lost one eye while damaging the other. The rehabilitation process was long and left him wondering why this had happened to him.
After he had recovered, Vuth discovered a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) organization that taught him how to draw artwork with his remaining hand, a way to bring money into the family. The people at YWAM told Vuth about God and he found himself praying with them in the mornings, although he wasn’t sure what the prayers meant. With his remaining eye still giving him trouble, he prayed to the Lord for healing, but also burned incense to an idol. God healed his eye, but Vuth was not sure at the time which diety did it. He told his wife to prepare some food for the temple. Overnight, out of nowhere a large rainstorm came in and flooded the town. There was no way his wife could take anything to the temple! Vuth realized that this was God’s doing.
Shortly after, Vuth stole a Bible and used the paper to make and smoke cigarettes! This, however, caused him excruciating pain and he often coughed up blood. He also noticed that as he smoked the cigarettes, there were some Scriptures that simply would not burn. When these events happened, he started to believe in God and went to church. He did not yet give himself completely to Christ.
Some time later, Vuth found himself drawing and selling pictures of Buddhist temples and idols. He remembered from the Scriptures that didn’t burn in his cigarettes that God didn’t like idols and turned his drawing to other things. He then found New Life Fellowship in Viel Thom village and gave his heart completely to the Lord, where he is now. Vuth realized that God is full of mercy and grace, and that God still loved him despite all his mistakes.
Vuth is very thankful that his whole family believes in God, and he is very thankful that God has answered many of the large prayers in his life. Vuth quickly realized that when he obeys, God blesses him. Just recently, Vuth chose to sell his only cow and main source of income so that his daughter could marry the man she wanted. Vuth wasn’t sure how they would continue to make money, but he knew the Lord would provide – and less than a week later God blessed him with 6 more cows!
This goes to show you that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, God is there for you. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, God wants to meet you there. The Lord simply doesn’t want to lose a single one of His sheep because He wants to see each and every one of us in Heaven. You may have a different story than Vuth, but the Lord knows it – and He doesn’t care how bad it may be. He forgave you when Jesus died on the cross. All you have to do is forgive yourself and put your faith in Jesus.
