Hard Places, Faithful Servants

In this episode of For the Kingdom, we share the story of Sun Art who is serving in one of the most difficult and remote corners of the 10/40 Window. His story is a great reminder that no assignment is too small, and no contribution too ordinary. If you've ever wondered whether your part in this story matters, this one's for you.

New episodes drop every two weeks. To learn more about how you can partner with neverthirst, visit neverthirstwater.org.

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Connect with Spencer and the neverthirst team: neverthirstwater.org

Host: Spencer Sutton

To Learn More About neverthirst: neverthirstwater.org

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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of neverthirst 2025.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Alright, everybody, welcome back to another episode of For the Kingdom, a Niver Thirst Podcast. My name is Spencer Sutton, and it's good to be back here with you this week. I just returned last week. I traveled with my colleague and good friend Jason Berry, who, if you've listened to the podcast before, you've probably heard of him on here. You cannot miss his Australian accent. So he and I were in Southeast Asia together. He was there a week previously with a group from a church that has generously been a supporter of Number Thirst over the past five or six years. And then I came in on the tail end as they as they went back to the States. I flew in to this country, and we headed out into the most remote parts of this country in Southeast Asia. And I'll just tell you, I'm I'm excited to bring this story to you. And I want to I want to do it because I think it's worthy of sharing. And it's not, this story's not about neverthirst. This story's not about anything we're doing. It's what God is doing through people who are what I would consider, I'm going to say this this man who Jason and I met, and Jason's known him since 2012. I'm going to venture to say he's a hero of the faith. And I don't say that lightly because I think, you know, I I love reading biographies from people of the past. I love reading biographies of missionaries in the past. I've mentioned some of these before on the podcast, people like David Brainerd and T Stud and Jim Elliott and Corey Tin Boom, all of these incredible, incredible servants of the Lord. I want to say that this brother, man, he he won my heart. And I want to tell you why. So let me tell you this story. This is a story of a guy, and he's uh an older gentleman. His name is Soon Art. So just I said that it would really be pronounced son, or not pronounced son, it would be spelled son, S-U-N-A-R-T. So Soon Art. And his story is not something that would like capture big headlines. It's not gonna, you know, be like, oh my goodness, this is incredible. We're seeing thousands and hundreds of thousands come to faith. So it's not some massive, big, sensational story with huge numbers and this massive global impact that all of a sudden he's on you know the front page of whatever your favorite Christian publication is or website. But I have to say that this brother is faithfully serving on the front lines. And he was an incredible encouragement to Jason and me last week when we sat down with him. So, first off, we were eight or nine hours outside of the capital city of this country in Southeast Asia where where you all are supporting us. And then beyond that, we each day we would travel out two hours out further from where we were. So we were staying about eight or nine hours outside the Capitol. But then each morning we'd have to get up and travel another two hours out to these even further remote parts of the of the country. And I'll just tell you, there's not there's nothing easy about getting out there. It's there are massive bumpy roads. There's it's just no easy way. You have to just kind of sit. And the good news is Jason and I enjoy traveling together, so it was great to catch up and talk. And so that was that was fun. But we pull into this community, and you know, each little home is just a wooden home, usually raised off the ground a little bit because in the rainy season it it you know it gets pretty pretty bad in this area. But just a humble, humble community. Just imagine coming in, there's some cashew plantations, there's you just pull in and not a lot of fanfare. We just pulled into this little community and we pulled up next to this tiny church building facility. So this is where this church meets, this this group of believers meet. And here comes this brother, Soon Art, out to greet us. Now, let me describe him. He is a man of short stature, so he's not very tall. He walks with a limp, he has a bit of a hunchback on his, I think his right shoulder, maybe his left shoulder, I can't remember. And so he's he's walking with a little bit of difficulty out to meet us, but but but but he has this incredible smile, like this big gleaming smile. And he loves Jason. Like I can tell that he loves Jason, he knows Jason. And so Jason was so thoughtful because Jason, when he was in the Capitol City, had a picture of the two of them, and he went and got it framed. And he's like, I can't wait to come and give this to Soon Art. And just as a token of hey, of friendship, really. That's that's what really what he wanted to do. And so so I just want to describe what what it was like pulling into the community, and they invited us into their little church facility. Probably there were about 20 to 30 believers sitting there. And so he and Jason just began to talk, and Jason was giving me background on this. So he first met Soon Art in 2012 when he was out there in this community. And Soon Art had felt the call of God, and he he's indigenous to the country, so but he felt the call of God to minister in this particular area, in this particular region. And at that point, there were no known believers, not any. But he knew that the Lord had called him to serve there. And so what they began to describe to me, what Soon Art was describing to Jason, and and we were seeing with our own eyes, was over the course from 2012 to 2026, so what, 14 years, what God has done. He, by God's grace and by the generosity of people like you who are listening to this, he has been a part of 60 water projects over the over the course of 14 years. He's been a part of 60 water projects as a an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ in very practical and real ways in these communities that are desperate for access to clean water. So I I walked, uh, Jason and I walked several times with people to to where they got water, and this would happen. They'd carry a couple of buckets on on you know a wooden pole across their shoulder, and they would do this four or five times a day. They would take 30 minutes out of their day. So we're talking about a couple of hours every single day of just going and fetching dirty water from a polluted stream. And so these were the types of communities that he was involved in, sharing, showing the love of Christ to these communities. And he was telling us since that time, over the past 14 years from 2012, not only has been a part of 60 water projects, but he's had the, by God's grace, he's had the ability to plant nine home churches, nine church groups. These are small group of body of believers, and through those nine groups, they've seen around 240 people who are regularly coming and meeting and learning more about Christ and worshiping Christ. And so I tell you this, and that's not the end of the story, but I want to I want to tell you like this is to me again, not big flashy numbers. You know, I I've I've read so many different reports from different places where they're like, hey, you know, thousands of churches planted, and dah dah, dah. I I I have a difficult time believing some of these things, and and maybe it's just me, but I I struggle with that just because I know the reality on the field. It is extremely difficult. Extreme. As a matter of fact, I was speaking with a missionary there last week when when I was sitting in this country and I was speaking with a missionary, and she had been serving for 24 years in a in a different region. I asked her, what is the most difficult thing about being a missionary here and seeing people come to faith in Christ? And she thought about it and she goes, Well, it's I'll tell you, it's one of the most difficult things is I have to repeat around a hundred times the simple, basic truths of the gospel. And I said, Well, now tell me why this is. And she goes, Well, part of it is 80% of the people that I'm speaking with are illiterate. So they can't go home and read the Bible. They can't go home and memorize the word, they can't go home and meditate on it, they have to hear it over and over and over again. So she she says it's a very slow, very difficult work. But she she was telling it's worth it. So this is what I'm imagining soon art is working in for the past 14 years, is what he been has been doing, to see 240 believers come to faith and worship Christ in an area where there were none. But that's not the end of the story. The great thing. Well what we love to see is he he then introduced us to Ingnart. Ingnart was his disciple. He led Ingnart to Christ. Ingnart then led his family to Christ. And then from there, he's now actually the the church building where is is where Ingnart's small group meets. And there's like 28 believers who meet in this area. And so we were able to visit with those people, able to encourage them, able to hear their story. And you know, to top it all off, Jason, again, so very thoughtful, brought that picture, and and Sunart's face just lit up when he saw the picture of the two of them. He just he absolutely loved it. And so I tell you all that. I want to say first, I want to say thank you. Thank you so much for making this possible. 60 water projects, 60 opportunities to show to have sanitation and hygiene training, to help, you know, build relationships within the community who don't know Christ in this area, a lot of a different traditional beliefs passed on from their ancestors, but now they're seeing people come to faith in Christ. And so, what I want to do is I want to connect this with a passage of scripture. I just happened to be in this this past week. I'm I'm reading the book of John with a buddy of mine, and we're just taking it chapter by chapter. And so I was in John chapter two just this past week, and it just really highlighted something I want to share with you, just real quick, quick, as an encouragement. So I'm just gonna read John part of John chapter two. Here we go. You all probably have heard this story, so this is it. Verse 1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour is not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six jars, there were six stone water jars there for Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water, now became become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now. This was the first of his signs. Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. So I want to connect these two, the story of soon art with this story here. Just as as I was reading this this week, it kind of reminded me of that. So number one, I do want to say this is the essence of intercession, right? So I read somewhere recently, praying is t when we pray, we're telling God what we need, but intercession is telling God what other people need. So notice what Mary says. She goes, They have no wine. This is intercession. This is the heart of intercession. So I want to say for anyone out there who's listening to this, if you pray for these pastors in remote areas, I want to say thank you. That's intercession. Praying for people like soon art, God, give them the ability, the perseverance, the resources to go out and take the gospel into these unreached areas. Lord, bless their work. That's intercession. This is Mary saying they have no wine to drink. So, number two, look at this. The attention is on Jesus and the servants. And so Mary turns to the servants and says, Do whatever he tells you. So here is we see a call to obedience, but not just any obedience. This is universal obedience. Whatever, whatever he tells you. Not, hey, do some of the things that he tells you, do whatever he tells you. So I can't help but think of soon art. And he heard this call to be obedient in his life, to go and serve in this remote region where there's no believers, there's zero comforts, there's no hotel, there's no convenience store, and yet he faithfully obeyed when there was no guarantee of success. And so what do we see? We see the servants here waiting on a word from Jesus. They're ready to do whatever he commands. And see, and then point number three here is notice how Jesus chooses the work to work through these servants. Now, this is what really struck me is that he could have called the master of the feast, or he could have called the bridegroom and said, Hey, watch this. I want to show you what I'm about to do. I want to make a big deal about this, I want to show you this incredible thing. I'm gonna I'm gonna turn water to wine, but he didn't do that. He chose to use humble servants to do his work in a quiet and simple way. Verse 8 says, So they took it. Because Jesus turned to them and said, Now draw some out and take it to the master feast. So they took it. Jesus blesses his friends and his family there at the wedding in the simplest ways, without fanfare or a parade, no press conference, no gathering of crowds, no cameras flashing, nothing. And isn't this isn't this just like the character of Christ? He's humble, he was born in Nazareth, he was born in a manger. Here's the creator of the universe, and he humbled himself, became obedient. And so the result we see here, the very last sentence of verse 11 in John chapter 2, and his disciples believed in him. The result was faith. I know that the result of this humble servant named Soon Art, he's a servant of God working in obscurity, is the same. The result is faith in Christ. It's this is his disciples believing in Jesus. And so I feel very, very fortunate to be able to bring you this story. Praise God that I had the opportunity to sit down and to hear this story, and I've I was able to film he and Jason having conversations. And Jason, you know, I got him to talk into the camera, just tell me through the camera, because I want him to tell you, and we're gonna we're we're getting this video together because I want you all to see just how encouraging it is. But it was just uh it's just an honor for me to endure what most all of us would consider pretty brutal travel. Took days to get out there to meet someone who I consider a hero of the faith. These are true heroes, and I just want to say if you, if you're a supporter, you are making this possible. So through your generosity, you have enabled pastors like Soon Art to love their neighbors through clean waters. Like I have not ever met a church partner, pastor that that we've been working with that has been a part of 60 water projects. I think it's incredible. I praise God for your generosity. I praise God for for Soon Art. So this is the body of Christ coming together. This is really the essence of Psalm 67, 1 and 2, right? May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. There's the purpose. God's blessed you, he's blessed me for the purpose of coming alongside other people. It's it's better for this brother in Christ who's indigenous to the area, indigenous to the country. It's better for him to reach his people, but it's still an incredible partnership we get to be a part of. I praise God for that. So I want to close. I just want to pray, I want to give thanks to God, and I just want to, I hope this has encouraged you, encouraged you, that God is working all over the world. He can work here in your life and in my life, and he can work there in soon art's life and in his disciples' lives. He can work wherever. And he's still calling people to repent, he's still calling people to believe in Christ, and he's using, he's using the most humble, humble servants in incredible ways. And so, again, these numbers may not be like, hey, we're gonna like get him here on TV and interview him or anything like that, but to me, it's incredible. And I hope it is to you, and I hope you're encouraged. So let's pray. Lord God, we praise you. I praise you for the gift of being able to meet soon art last week. I praise you for the gift of being able to partner with brothers and sisters who are serving in the most remote, unreached areas of the world. There's nothing easy about where they live, there's nothing easy about where they minister, there's nothing easy about the gospel going forth and penetrating darkness with light. But God, you're doing a work. Lord, I pray that we as your servants would do whatever you tell us to do, that we wouldn't hesitate, we wouldn't think, well, that's not, that's kind of beneath us. We we need a bigger assignment. God, let us be content with wherever you have us, Father. I pray, God, would you pour out love into our lives so that we can give it away to others, Lord? You tell us in your word, in 1 Corinthians, there's like if we have all kinds of great things going on in life, if we're able to do all these miraculous signs, but yet we have not love. It is nothing. We are nothing. So, God, I pray that you would fill us with the love of Christ, to love brothers and sisters here in the States and brothers and sisters who we haven't met yet, God. Show us where we can partner, show us where we can come together. So I praise you for men and women like Sunar who we're serving. I praise you, I praise you for supporters of our ministry and other ministries, Lord. And I know that we're not the only ministry that is seeking to be a part of the gospel, advancing in the 1040 window where people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. But Lord, I praise you for the partners that we do have who are coming alongside Never Thirsted, giving of their resources, generously giving of the resources to make this work happen. Father, may you raise up more of these people, God. Again, just so thankful for the grace through Jesus Christ, thankful for the way he came and he lived. Praise you for his willingness to go to the cross. He only listened to you, Father. He said, Not my will, but your will be done. He went to the cross, he died, and yet you raised him in three days. And now he lives to intercede for us. God, I praise you for Jesus Christ, praise you for his life, God. Lord, it's in his name that we pray all of these things. Amen. All right, thank y'all for being here for another episode of For the Kingdom. And I hope y'all have a fantastic week. And we'll be back in two weeks with a new episode.