Our last
day of ministry just ended yesterday. Wow. Can’t believe 11 months has just
gone by like that. No it did not just go by in the blink of an eye, but it went
by way faster than I expected. As Christi-An puts it, “It’s not the end of
ministry, it’s just the beginning of another ministry. Everyday is a
ministry.” Definitely a good reminder that I needed to hear.
This past
month we were in the countryside in Toch Village in Kampot province about 2
hours outside of Phnom Penh. We worked at an English school that was started 2
years ago by a 26 year-old who at that time didn’t speak English but whom God
had given a big vision to. Vuthy’s story in itself is amazing.
Vuthy
left his home in Toch Village when he was 8-years old to get away from the
violence that was happening in his family. His father would hit his mother and
it was so bad that it even caused 2 miscarriages. He ran to Phnom Penh to live
with his aunt. Living in the city, he got involved in gangs and drinking and
got suspended from school. When he was 23, he returned to his home but his bad
habits continued on. His parents were not happy to see his return. After that,
he went back to Phnom Penh and worked as a tuk-tuk driver. Many times he would
drive people from YWAM around the city and he was always curious why these
people have so much joy. Why would foreigners come to Cambodia and love the
children and the people here when Cambodians wouldn’t even do that for their
own people? So one day he asked them “Why do you have so much joy and love the
people?” “Because of Jesus” “Who’s Jesus?” He didn’t know who Jesus was and so
he went to a Khmer church to find out. After 3 months of searching, he accepted
Christ.
Vuthy had
always dreamt to go to university. One day he attended his friend’s graduation
and his friend passed him a flyer and said that he should go to the university.
He looked at it. On the flyer was written “University of Nations”. Oh wow cool.
But he didn’t apply right away. Little did he know that the University of
Nations was under YWAM. After studying there for some time, he wondered why all
they did was study about God and Jesus. This was not what he signed up for. But
he continued on anyways for 6 months until completion.
A few
months later, he received a vision from God. In the vision, he saw a school
with many kids and he was teaching them. He didn’t know where the place was and
he didn’t think more about it. Not long after, someone he didn’t know came up
to him and told him the exact same vision but she also said “It is in Kampot”.
“Kampot? But that’s my hometown. That’s can’t be right.” So again, he ignored
it. Confirmation came again, this time with the vision of a small bridge. In
the vision he didn’t want to walk on the bridge because it was so small that he
would break it. But God said, “Would you trust me?” So he went back to his home
and asked his parents if he could start a school there. His parents were not
happy and thought that he had gone mad. For the first month or two, he went
around telling people that he was offering free English classes, and little by
little, what was initially only a handful of students turned into about 260
students today. When he first started off, he didn’t really know English but just had an English book with ABCs and started teaching. Through teaching English, he has been able to reach the students with
the gospel.
When we
first arrived at the English school and introduced ourselves in the classes,
after the initial “What is your name?” and “How old are
you?” questions, it was “How long have you known Jesus?” and
“How did you know Jesus?”. If you ask them how they came to know
Christ, they will say “Because of Teacher Vuthy.” People are hungry
to know about Christ in this country.
One day
as I was taking a walk with him around the village, I noticed that he seems to
know everyone, so I asked him about it. He said, “I don’t know everyone, but
everyone knows me, because for 2 years, I walked from house to house telling
people about Jesus.” It was not easy for him when he first came back as
everyone in town had always known him to be a drunkard and gangster, and now
suddenly he has changed and telling everyone about Jesus. He was called
“Crazy! Crazy!” everywhere by everyone but he continued on with his
God-given vision.
Because
of this one man, today there are about 30 youths and a whole bunch of kids that
come regularly to church.
During
our last 3 days of ministry, we had the privilege of organizing a youth camp
for about 90 youths. Many of them don’t know Christ. On the last night we saw
12 youths gave their lives to Christ! I can’t think of a better way to end the
World Race than this.
Vuthy’s
vision is to start an orphanage called Mercy Home for 12 girls and 12 boys
which he and his father will begin building January of next year right behind
the school, and a youth center. He is already sending out youths to
Discipleship Training School (DTS) under YWAM and he hopes that in a few years
time, this place would become a DTS training ground for youths especially
during their school holiday, after which when school restarts, their
“outreach practice” would be to their school friends. Imagine how
explosive that would be!
Being
here in Kampot, I saw first hand how one man’s reckless obedience to God
brought about a change in the whole community. How God blesses the work of your
hands when you chase after His dreams and visions.
Psalm 119: 33-35
Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands,
For that is where my happiness is found.
