Water. It’s such a simple thing, but often those of us who live in developed nations do not think about it. We turn the nozzle at our sinks and out gushes clean, clear water we can drink. It is an everyday blessing. However, in Cambodia water is not so easily accessed. It is often sourced from a well, usually shared by an entire village or set of villages.
In 2013, Destiny Rescue had the privilege of impacting the Kim* family, and their village, with the gift of a well. We rescued Mealea*, one of their teenage daughters, helping her to escape sex trafficking and exploitation. Through her experience in our Restoration Program, Mealea found faith in Christ.
After graduating from Destiny Rescue’s program, this young woman shared her testimony with the rest of her family. The entire Kim family (children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles) then came to a personal faith, and as a result they were ostracized from their village. This not only cut them off from their friends, but also from the local water supply.
Rather than convert back to Buddhism to regain access to the water, the family decided to pray that God would provide a solution. During a routine post-reintegration follow up with the Kim’s daughter, Destiny Rescue learned of the family’s desperate need and put out a request online for donations. The cost to fund a well for the family would be $400.
Meanwhile Beth, one of our Destiny Rescue volunteers, was back visiting the United States and was invited to speak at her father’s Kiwanis Club meeting about the work Destiny Rescue is doing around the world. Nervous about what to say, Beth prayed that God would use her to move the hearts of those she would be privileged to speak to that day. While she spoke, there was total silence in the room. As the meeting ended, one of the Kiwanis Club leaders stood up and encouraged the club to visit Destiny Rescue’s Projects page on the website. The members were further encouraged to pick which project the club would help support.
The Kiwanis Club chose to fund the $400 Well Project for the Kim family in Cambodia.
Within a very short period of time, the money was collected and Destiny Rescue was able to help the family receive their own well. Not only did the family receive the gift of life-giving water, they also have the privilege of having one of the best water-producing sources in the region. Now other villagers line up at the Kim family’s home to use their well!
God not only answered the Kim family’s prayers for a water source, he used a little club in a small community on the other side of the world as the vehicle to make the blessing happen.
Today, the entire village shares in the benefit of the love, compassion, and practical help that Destiny Rescue was able to help facilitate, and which one Kiwanis group provided. The Kim families are now the shining lights in the community, able to share the love of Christ to their entire village.
*To protect the identity of this child and her family, names have been changed. The child pictured (main image) is not the child mentioned in this story.
The Kim Family’s story was made possible because of the generosity of a group of people who funded a project, the volunteers, and many other supporters of Destiny Rescue.