All posts by Matt Bullen

Most times in life, things do not turn out the way you expected. Not always a good thing but on the other hand is also not always bad either. I would not be surprised if half the time God is chuckling to Himself and thinking “You have no idea what I am sending your way next”.

Today is exactly two weeks since I stepped foot on Colombian soil and I have to say it has been far from what I expected, what a blessing. Because I could never have dared to expect the beauty I have seen in just 14 days. My first two weekends as you already know were spent ministering to children at the boy/girl retreats. Since then I have been spending most of my days attending different reunions the church holds daily, the attendance ranges from small children to elderly adults, somehow or another the ministry has some sort of ministry for all ages. The subjects of these meetings differ depending on the day or the need. They usually go from children’s Bible studies and music classes to adult prayer meetings and ministry preparation. To give you an idea of my general days I will give you a quick rundown. I have been waking up at 4am every morning for an hour of prayer with my new friend and co-worker Sayira.. We pray every morning from 4am to 5am for everything possible under the sun. Prayers for family, friends, ministry, power, presence you name it. I have not quite been able to stay up after our prayers end and usually pass out for a few more hours of sleep. I usually leave the place where I sleep and go straight to the pastor’s house to spend the morning in more prayer and outdoor activities. After lunch we head to the church together to start work. There are generally 4 or 5 reunions a day, I don’t attend all of them mostly the Bible studies, prayer meetings and ministry planning meetings. I work with Sayi most of the day when I am not in reunions and at about 6-7pm we hit the streets. The ministry is very passionate about bringing the lost sheep back to the flock. One of the branches of this ministry is staying in contact with past and present church attendees. This is where Sayi and I come in, at night we go and visit numerous women and young girls at their house to share the word with them, pray over them and encourage them to pursue their relationship with God, always assuring them that we are near if they should need anything. I love to be a part of these visits, these women and girls are usually going through extremely difficult times financially, emotionally and sometimes physically. My first visit was with a girl named Laura. She is 20 years old and 8 months pregnant with her first child. Her entire family has rejected her and she lives in a tiny room in a strangers apartment. She has no money for medicine or doctors visits, she has absolutely no idea whether her child is a boy or a girl. As she unfolded her story to me it was difficult to hold back the tears. I was able to struggle through my Spanish and try to encourage her in that all things pass good and bad. We prayed over her and have her contact information should she need anything at all that we can help with. I have been a part of several of these visits and I usually leave wishing I could do more, but God softly reminds me that, as my good friend Oscar Useche always says, it is usually in the little things we do that God works mightily. The highlight of my last two weeks was last night, since we did not have any visits on Wednesday night we went instead door to door inviting some teenage girls to a Bible study. I was concerned that none would come at first because judging by the coldness and hate I could feel from their family I wasn’t sure that they would allow the girls to attend. But God is always faithful and low and behold on Thursday night we had a total of 8 people. Not huge but a miracle none the less. The girls were so sweet and despite their obvious distaste of religion gave us their undivided attention. Sayi and I thought it best to share Matthew 14:22. Peter walking on the water. There are so many open doors to share about in this passage but we felt these girls needed to hear about faith and pursuit of Jesus. The girls listened in silence as Sayi shared about how Peter followed the call and stepped out on the water instead of waiting for Jesus to come to him. He stepped out on total faith and of course not perfectly but still made the choice to trust and keep walking forward. It is always a struggle for me to share in these meetings because of the language barrier, but I am determined to always try. God has given me a lot of love for these children and no amount of struggling through word after word is going to stop me from encouraging these beautiful people. I was able to share a bit of my testimony with them and also some words from the story of Peter also. At the end, with their permission, I went from head to head praying for each of them individually. It was a beautiful night and I can hardly wait for next Thursday to see what God is going to do at the next one.

Please continue to pray. Prayer is priceless to me and this ministry. I pray that God would bless all the readers and their families. Don’t ever forget, God has a purpose for your life and you do not want to miss out on the countless blessings He has for you and others through you.

“Que para esta hora he llegado, para este tiempo nací. En sus propósitos eternos yo me vi, Para esta hora he llegado aunque me ha costado creer, entre sus planes para hoy me encontré”

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

If you would like to support Brooke you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

So pre-travel (and by that I mean pre-complete change of life as you know it in my case) anxiety is normal. But bursting into tears from stress three hours before I was to embark on the greatest adventure of my life seemed a bit dramatic to me. Things thus far had not gone exactly as I had planned and on thursday night as I lay on my bed trying to catch a nap, Satan was having his last try at discouraging me. All the reality and fear of the situation began to creep into my mind, “What am I doing??? What if I fail?? Was quitting my job, quitting school, and walking away from everything I know a mistake? Was God really orchestrating all of this or was it all in my head?” All of these thoughts and doubts finally pushed me to melt into a pathetic puddle of tears. But thank God for the best family ever who instead of encouraging my pity party, dragged my sobbing self into the living room for some much-needed prayer and worship time. Jumping forward lets just say everything, and when I say everything I mean every single thing, that could have gone wrong trying to get to Bogota went wrong…. I finally escaped the Bogota airport at about 6:00 am and was able to reconnect with some close friends, It was such a relief to see some familiar faces.

That evening after some rest la pastora (wife of the pastor of the church I am working with) and I started off to, according to what I was told, a girls retreat in the city. Three hours later still driving I began to wonder where exactly they were taking me. If I didn’t know better I would have expected I was being kidnapped seeing as though we were literally out in the jungle of colombia. But I soon learned that the retreat was being held at a little club outside of a tiny pueblo. The place was absolutely breath-taking. A view that could literally bring tears to your eyes. It was definitely one of those places that brings to mind Psalm 19:1. The camp is owned by a Colombian missionary who preaches all over the world in different churches and through a direct calling from The Lord had purchased that little camp and built it into what it is now for the specific purpose of ministering to pastors and spiritual leaders. A place for them to rest and refresh their relationship with God. After a tour and some history about the place, the pastor’s wife and another amazing woman of God sat me down and prayed over me like I have never been prayed for in my life. God was moving strongly already and I had barely been in Colombia one day. We spent the rest of that day decorating los salones for the girls to come and receive the word and pray. Well, I say we decorated but really, since they were unable to communicate with me well their wishes, I was handed a bag of tangled decorations and asked to organize them…. Finally something that didn’t require communication. Fifty or so girls arrived on buses at about 9:30 pm and were immediately ushered to their separate meeting rooms for some Bible time and prayer. One for little girls and another for older girls. When it was finally time to go to bed I don’t even remember laying my head down. I had no idea what God had in store those next two days.

On saturday morning I jerked awake in a panic trying to remember where I was. Judging by the soft chuckles I heard, it must have been quite amusing to the three women who were sitting near my pallet on the living room floor. I hurried to shower and get ready. I was a little behind since the rest of the camp leaders had been up since 5 am but I didn’t feel too bad seeing as though I had gotten next to no sleep the day before. We had a full day of testimonies and presentations. I spent the first day with the older girls and wow, God really moved that day. The messages were about inner beauty vs. outer beauty, God’s calling in on our lives as women, also on abuse and how to find healing and freedom from that. This particular subject is very near to my heart. About five years ago God put a burning in my soul for abused women and children, especially the children of Colombia and on more than one occasion a tear came to my eye during that message… I was not the only one.

At the end they invited the girls to write a trauma from their past on a piece of paper and hold it while we prayed, and if you have never heard Colombians pray then you cannot imagine the power and passion with which they cry out to God. I was invited to join the other Jefes in praying over the girls which I had never done before but was super blessed to be a part. As I was praying over one girl, she began to cry profusely and refused to be comforted just hid her face in my shoulder and wept for a good 15 minutes. She began to cry so hard at one point she almost fell on the floor, thankfully most Colombians are small and I was able to hold her up. I just let her cry and prayed that God would relieve her of the past and give her a hope and a future Jeremiah 29:11. At the end the leaders and I took the little papers from the girls and threw them into a bucket filled with water, I guessed to signify how God’s love washed that pain and hurt away.

Sunday I spent with the little girl group, and after a full day of adventures (hiking, scout drills, almost being drowned in the pool) we finished the day with another time of prayer for these precious little ones, I started from one side and went from tiny head to tiny head praying blessings and protection over them and when the words would not come I would just sing over them in english. Well before I knew it I was handed the microphone and asked to sing for the whole group. I was more than glad to do it, it’s amazing to me that something as small as an english voice could bring so much excitement and joy to those little faces. God is so good, and He is working in Colombia. Please, Please continue to pray for these precious people and the work that we will be doing together with God’s children. Next weekend I am going to be a part of the same camp but this time for boys, please pray that God will move in the hearts of the kids and also the adults working on these camps, we all need so much more of Him.

“I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace for I am Yours, and You are mine”

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

If you would like to support Brooke you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

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I grew up as a PK (Pastor’s Kid) so serving God with your life and everything you have came natural to me in the beginning and just seemed like the normal flow of life. However, the thought of being a missionary in another country was never appealing to me. Obviously there was more than enough work to be done here in the United States and leaving your home, life, and comforts was for the “Hero” Christians, not for little me who was of no great significance to anyone.

All of that changed one day when I heard the story of Bruchko, (Bruce Olsen) a young nineteen-year-old missionary to the Motilone Indians of North East Colombia. I had sat under the dull sound of my father reading dry theology books, in my child like opinion, written by even drier, old preachers and missionaries who were all together much too holy for me and way beyond all reason of regular life. But one night somehow my regular routine of solitaire and puzzles that I used to lessen my boredom was interrupted by the enrapturing story of a young man leaving everything he had to follow a passion and a calling that only God could have put in his heart, against all odds and against all “sound judgment” he set off to an unknown, unreached, savage people to share the gospel. To this day I still have no idea why I connected so closely with this Bruchko, but from that night on a hunger began to burn in my soul. I said that night as I lay in my bed, “God if you want me to go somewhere and do something for you, provide the passion and I will do it.”

Two months later my Dad asked me to go to Colombia with him for the first time In January 2010. I was excited, what a great vacation! Leaving the country and being able to see all the things that my father and sisters seemed to endlessly and exhaustingly talk about. Perhaps at last I would be a part of the missions “In crowd” made up of my father and two sisters who had already been broken by the Holy Spirit in Colombia the year before. But unlike them I refused to come back a puddle of tears surging with righteousness. I was going to be tough. I was going to show all of them up as the babies I felt that they were being. By the third day of the trip with not a tear shed and still being able to maintain my hard heart I was quite proud of myself. It wasn’t until I met a little boy named Andres (Andrew) in a tiny orphanage called Pronacer that God finally destroyed my walls, but that is for another story. When I got home I was burning for another chance to go back, I began emailing every one I knew telling them about it trying to get enough money to go back. When I was finally able to return I thought that God had broken my heart before, but He completely demolished my former desires, thoughts, and hardness toward His beautiful children. On that trip June 2010 God told me that I was going to be His missionary in Colombia. I didn’t know how or when but I finally had the desire.

After a couple of years and some hard times though, that passion began to fade and the calling was pushed to the back of my personal closet of plans. Until the summer of 2012 out of shear desperation to reconnect with the heart of God I bought a plane ticket, put in a two month leave of absence at my job and flew to Colombia to work in the orphanages there with the needy children teaching English and encouraging them in the Lord. I can honestly say that it was the happiest and hardest time of my life. God was rebuilding my whole outlook on life and Himself altogether, which is a difficult process when you have grown up in American churches and been fed the milk of the prosperity gospel your entire life. He was showing me what I was put on this earth for. I was desperate for God and His power like never before in my life. I wanted to serve Him so badly I would stay up for hours lying on the floor praying for the children of Colombia. When my time was up and I was finally forced to come home rather than be deported I was heartsick, I felt I had left my home and my family behind. To this day I still have an entire shoebox full of the love letters and pictures the children made for me on my last days there. Of course we parted with many tears, hugs and Colombian cheek kisses with all the promises in the world of my quick return.

But God works in mysterious ways and was not done working on me yet; I had not quite learned all the lessons He had for me. Somewhere amidst the new job and endless banter of friends and even extended family to make something of myself and that I needed to think about me and my life for once (prosperity gospel) I found myself working and going to school busting my back to try and prove to everyone, including myself, that I was something. And again, the passion was forgotten and put aside for the things of this world. But praise God that He didn’t leave me there. He would not allow me to be comfortable in my rebellion and my state of trading His beauty for ashes. I had been fighting His still small voice for almost a year, and then one day my mom was listening to David Platt’s message “Follow Me”. He was talking about how God calls all of us to shake off our modern day beliefs, and pick up our cross and follow Him, to go where He went, to go where He is. I sat down on the couch and began to cry, over and over God had showed me that nothing can satisfy the burning in my soul except Him, and He wanted me to go with Him to Colombia.
 

I am finally going full time to Colombia on June 5th 2014. One way ticket with just my clothes and my Bible to work with my friends Pastors Henry and Mable Castillo in Bogota for the summer and then Enith Diaz in the heart of Medellin, Colombia serving God and His people through, mercy, evangelism, street ministry, homes for children and much more. If anything I ask for prayer, I believe deeply in the power of prayer and crave it more than anything else. Please do that for me and for the people I will be serving. God also has a calling in your life as well as mine. Don’t trade it for anything this world promises. As the song “Empty Me” says, “ ’cause everything is a lesser thing compared to You so I surrender all.”

 

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

 

If you would like to support Brooke you can mail a check to:

 

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

 

Give online below.

 

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

 
 

Sermon preached Sunday, May 18, 2014 at The Haven Community Church in The Woodlands, Texas.

Day 17 – This morning we went up to beautiful La Calera to take our precious daughter Heidy home. We spent a wonderful morning with her and the girls that she lives with. We took a long walk through this picturesque mountain village and just enjoyed the day. The girls were so cute and fun. We returned to the house and did some painting and English lessons and a wonderful lunch and then it was time to go. Pastor Urrego picked us up and we drove out to the beautiful little mountain village of Sopo where I was to preach that night. We were early so we ate some goodies and drank coffee and enjoyed learning all about the village. When we arrived at the church, the pastor’s 21 year old daughter (who speaks good English) and I had a wonderful visit. One of my favorite things about this ministry is getting to encourage young people for the Lord. Oscar and I preached that night and once again the Lord was there to touch and change lives. 6 visitors came to receive Christ and many many cried out their soul hunger to God. What a blessing. I’ve been invited back to preach at their 15th anniversary in September. Praise the Lord for what He is doing here.

Day 18 – This morning had the privilege of preaching for my dear friend Pastor Juan Carlos Caro in the barrio of Suba. God has done an amazing work here through Juan Carlos and his wife. They came to this very dangerous part of Bogota 7 years ago and have carved a wonderful church out of the rock. They have 4 packed services every Sunday and about 1/2 of each service is young people. He told us story after story of different people in the praise team how they had been on drugs since the age of 8 or their husband was just shot and killed the previous month and yet I’ve never seen people more excited about Jesus. It is a stunning place. I preached in the 9 am and 11 am services and the Holy Spirit was gracious to make His presence powerfully known in each service. What a blessing to pray with the very aged and the very young alike all weeping and crying out for more of Him in their life. It is such a thrill to follow Jesus on His mission among the nations. Today was the last day of this incredible 3 week journey and I can only pray and dream of what my heavenly Father has in store for me next. Thank you all for the prayers and support. Your account in heaven is compounding with excellent fruit. Praise Jesus!

Day 12 – This morning we went up to beautiful La Calera to pick up our precious daughter Heidy so that she can spend the week with us. I never get used to her little yelp and her running and jumping in my arms the first time she sees us. We met with the leaders of the ministry that she lives with and talked about some future plans and then we went to get her a chocolate milk shake which is her favorite. I’ll never forget the first time I bought her one and she looked at me with tears in her eyes because it was so good and she had never had one before so now it is a tradition.

Day 13 – This morning we were blessed to meet up with Juan David and Hillary (another aged out orphan having a very hard time on the streets) and treat them to a ride up the cable car to Monserrate overlooking Bogota. We had a nice lunch and took lots of photos and then they had to go and we met up with our daughter Ginary and her boyfriend Sebastian and our dear friend and Pastor Hector’s nephew Rafael for dinner. We laughed and teased mercilessly and everyone had a grand time. I love being a Papi, Padrino, and Tio to as many of these precious kids as I can. But so many are so desperate and it hurts me that I can’t do more. I always tell them that I am praying and looking for more people in the U.S. to get a consuming passion that will help me help them…

Day 14 – This morning we visited a deaf school. It is the first one of its kind in the city. It was founded by a girl from Texas and she is still there 31 years later. She gave us the grand tour and shared story after story of what God has done. It was amazing. They are working on translating the entire Bible into Colombian sign language videos too. We were so blessed to spend time with her and hear what God is doing. Later we met up with our dear friends Pastors Lucas and Doraynne and their kids and had a wonderful dinner and fellowship. Brooke lived with them for two months in 2012 and considers them her second family. It was a blessed reunion! Pastor Lucas is a leader in a large pastors council here in Bogota and we made some exciting plans for my next preaching trip.

Today we were very excited to head back to Soacha (which was such a blessing to us in September) and meet up with Pastor AC Jordan and Centro Internacional Cristiano. Wow! We were so amazed at what God has done here since we last saw them. Based on some great advice and mentoring from Pastor Timothy Vowell when we were here last time and when he returned in January, Jordan has been building relationships all over the city and God has been sending him people and resources and this place is growing like crazy. He has built a skate park and an auditorium and video room and much more. We were each asked to share our testimony and I couldn’t have been prouder of Heidy and Brooke. Heidy shared how our family had brought her to Christ slowly but surely and how she gave her heart to Jesus at the end of one of my sermons on the last mission trip. Praise God! She now wants to give her life to working with Mission Critical in Colombia helping girls and boys like her to know Jesus. Brooke and I were also interviewed for their new television station! God has given them everything they need but the right camera, a Canon 7D. We are praying that God will use us to get that camera for them.

After we went and had a marvelous dinner with Pastors Hector and Liliana and there precious daughters Heyley and Karoline and liliana’s sister and her sweet little ones at their apartment. We ate and laughed and sang and cut up something fierce. It was blessed and joyous. Heidy again told her testimony and made Pastor Hector cry. What precious friendships we have in this country. God is so good to let us be a part of His mission here.

Day 16 – This morning we visited a brand new ministry 3 years old that cares for disabled children. It is a very neat place and we will definitely be spending some time there are future trips. The husband and wife team that founded it are sweet Christians and we hope to get to know them better. This evening Heidy and I shared our testimonies with a Christian band called Grako (short for Great Commission). My friend and translator, Oscar Useche, is one of the founders and their drummer. We again had a blessed and wonderful time sharing and hearing about their passion for Christ. We then went and had Colombian pizza on the roof around a nice fire. I couldn’t wait to take a photo and share with our Mission Critical board and supporters/friends because we often meet around a fire at the Arnold’s our dear friends and board members. Tomorrow we take Heidy back to La Calera and start our last preaching run before heading home to Texas. Blessings.

Day 10 – This morning we joined up with some Colombian friends that used to be missionaries to China and are working to return there and jumped on the metro cable car to go spend some time at an ecological park at the top of the mountain outside of Medellin. What an amazing and beautiful ride up as we hung just a few stories above the barrios as we climbed up and up into the clouds. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We enjoyed lunch up there and many pretty sites and then came back to get ready for a church service tonight.

We arrived at the church and could hear the most amazing worship music as we pulled up. The place was packed with smiling faces and as we walked in my spirit swelled that God loves me this much to let me be a part of His work in the nations. We enjoyed stunning worship together and then Oscar and I mounted the platform to preach. Once again, I have rarely enjoyed the power and freedom with which I was blessed to deliver the message and when I invited those to come who felt a fresh hunger in their souls for God the front was flooded with weeping people crying out to God for a fresh breath from heaven on their lives and ministries. What a blessing! After the service we prayed with dozens of families and then dozens more young people and stood for what seemed like a couple of hours in the church and then in the parking lot just fellowshipping and loving on the youth. We were also blessed to meet many national evangelical leaders that we didn’t know were going to be there and they told me to “get prepared” because they foresee God giving us much to do together in the years to come. Wow Jesus! Following you truly is the grandest adventure of all.

Day 11 – Just when I thought God couldn’t surprise me any more on this trip. He did. I preached in 2 packed out churches this morning and God’s power fell like I have never experienced before. People were saved who had just come out of curiosity, people were delivered, people were restored. Jesus presence was so powerful in each place. There are so many miracle stories that I couldn’t begin to put them down in writing.

Just know that God started something here in Medellin in the three services yesterday and today that I’ve never seen before and many here had never seen before and it was heavenly and wonderful. The pastors thanked us over and over again. They kept praising the Lord and saying that God used us to do something very special here and they believe it is just the beginning. They are already talking about the next time I come. Thank you to all the prayer warriors that are holding us up and the supporters who made it possible for us to be here. Much fruit is being forwarded to your account in heaven. All for His glory and our great joy!

Day 8 – This morning we boarded a plane for Medellin. What a beautiful city tucked in a valley between mountains. We checked into our hotel and then set out walking to a nearby orphanage called Open Arms. We spent the next several hours there enjoying their fellowship, hearing stories, and learning much about ministry to the least of these in Medellin. They also have a church and I was invited to preach there the next time I am in town. Then we headed up the mountainside twisting and turning on very narrow streets through barrio after barrio until we came to the church of my dear friend Pastor Lucas’s brother-in-law Hector Estrada. What an amazing place and what an amazing view of Medellin from up here. What an amazing church! It was packed with people and we enjoyed fantastic worship and then Oscar and I preached and I could see God moving on the faces of the people and when I gave the invitation more than 1/2 the crowd came to be prayed over. One young man in particular, named Anderson, had caught my attention during the message and he came straight to me and with tears told me that God was calling him to ministry and we prayed over him. Then we shared a wonderful dinner with the pastor and his family and heard many miracle stories of how God is transforming this once extremely dangerous area of the city. Praise God for another beautiful day.

Day 9 – This morning we went up into another barrio to visit a hot lunch ministry that ministers to hundreds of children. Later in the day we visited their other site and played with the children there. We also visited two of their churches in the city. All of these ministries plead with me to send missionaries and interns and any kind of help that we can give. They are doing a tremendous work for Christ here in Medellin and I am praying for how I can help. Will you pray with me?

Later in the day we visited a woman that reminded me of George Mueller, Mother Teresa, and Amy Carmichael. She has been ministering to the least of these for over 20 years in Colombia. She has worked with the persecuted church for years and her stories made each of us weep. She has worked with orphans for many years and recently prayed down millions of pesos to build a home for her 40 something children here in the city. She told story after story and we were mesmerized. She is now the national director in Colombia for YWAM as well as many other things. She needs 20 missionaries right now. I have been invited to go with her to the unreached tribes in the mountains of Colombia later this year. I pray that God will make a way. We had a wonderful dinner on top of a mountain and now I am ready to fall into bed and hit it again tomorrow. God bless! My dream maker in my head is spinning fast 🙂 hope I can sleep.

Day 5 – This morning we headed out to Meta with Pastor Hector and our new friend from the conference Bernardo who was very gracious to drive us. But before we left I was blessed to be introduced by Pastor Hector to the national director of Open Doors the ministry founded by Brother Andrew. I was so excited because I had read his biography, God’s Smuggler, the first year I was a Christian and it had a huge impact on my life. I didn’t know until that moment that the home we are visiting is part of their ministry to the persecuted church and that the children there are refugees from all over Colombia due to losing their parents because they are Christians. It was a wonderful meeting and I am looking forward to giving a devotion at their national office when I’m back in Bogota on the 29th. So off we went and traveled through beautiful mountains with waterfalls and high bridges and tunnels. It was breathtaking. Then we arrived at this beautiful orphanage/school in the jungle and got a grand tour. It was wonderful. The staff and children were wonderful. God is at work in this place.

Day 6 – I wrote this… “Waking up to the sound of tropical birds singing in the jungle outside our room… watching Brooke have a conversation in Spanish with a big green and yellow parrot that hangs out in the courtyard (he kept asking her if she wanted chocolate)… hearing the stories of children whose parents were killed in front of them, or beaten, or imprisoned, or are in hiding because of their Christian faith… seeing what God is doing for them through this ministry… how they are learning farming with crops and animals, fish hatchery, baking, sewing, chemistry, physics, art, music (they have a small recording studio and have written and performed their own beautifully worshipful songs)… getting to share my testimony and encourage them that their parents were right and that Jesus is the only thing in life worth pursuing with everything you have… and now listening to a torrential downpour playing a symphony on the many different sized leaves in the jungle… It’s only noon and already it has been a good day… a God day.”

But the best was yet to come. At 4pm we met with the young people (6 of them) who are graduating this year and will go out into the world to make their own way. I shared my heart with them about the advance of Christianity in our world today and that it is no accident that they are here, learning what they are learning, and that God will use them greatly if they stay close to Him. Like Esther, they have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. The rest of the team shared and it was beautiful. Then they poured their hearts out to us about their dreams and calling and it tied directly into what I had just shared. It was stunning. They are all feeling called to missions, or pastorate, or evangelism. It was a beautiful time! We had no idea as we were loving on these young people and drying some tears as they poured out their hearts what some of them had been through. After the meeting the directors showed us this video. The children in this video are now the very teenagers we had just met with and been loving on all day. Wow! Major tears and awe that God would allow us this privilege. Later that night each one came to me with tears and a big hug and thanked me for the impact we have had on their lives and I know the other team members received similar responses. What a difference a day makes when the Holy Spirit is in control of that day. Praise the Lord! These precious six young people each need about $2000 USD for their college in the coming year. The ministry here currently has no budget for helping them beyond high school so I am begging God that we can help them raise that. Would you pray with me for God to provide this for them. They are God’s elite. The children of martyrs and they have no hope of furthering their education without help from God’s people.

Day 7 – We left early this morning to return to Bogota and get some rest before we head out to Medellin tomorrow for 4 more days of preaching and visiting institutions. The drive back was again stunning as we wound our way through beautiful mountains on the 4.5 hour trip back. Our hearts are full. We thoroughly enjoyed our rest but we are hungry and thirsty for more of God’s power to fall in the meetings to come. Please Lord grant it.

Jesus is risen! We started the morning praying over the leaders of the church. I prayed that God would give them a double portion of His spirit like Elisha had. That He would make them the spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers to tens of thousands. And that He would increase their capacity to enjoy Him and that the overflow would touch Bogota, Colombia, South America, and the nations. I have been so blessed and enriched to spend 4 days with these precious saints. We’ve been treated like royalty and have felt very loved. Thank you Jesus for this opportunity.

I was blessed to preach in the 9am and 11am services and I have never had more fun, more response from a crowd and prayed over more people or received more hugs in my life. I’ve never seen people so hungry for God. It is infectious and they drank up every word and every minute of this conference and I can’t wait to see the fruit that comes from it. So many people young and old told me that God had used my messages to confirm in their life things that God was already stirring and they thanked us and thanked us for coming. What a blessing! This afternoon we enjoyed a wonderful time of rest and relaxation. Tomorrow we head to Meta for more ministry. I’m ready!

Today was a day of rest and soaking it in for me since I was not on the schedule to preach today. Pastor Hans preached a wonderful message this morning and then we prayed over the leaders of the church. I was blessed to pray over Pastor Henry’s mother and father and over his sister who is a pastor with her husband in Medellin. After the service I was surprised and super blessed to discover that we would be honorary professors of their seminary and help officiate a graduation of their students. We donned our gowns and sashes and caps, signed the diplomas, and were honored to present the diplomas to each graduate with a gran abrazo. They gave us the sashes as a momento to remember the day. I am so impressed with all that God is doing at Mision Berakah and am blessed to be around these heroes of the faith.

Another humbling and beautiful surprise was to follow the graduation. The church has a large scouting ministry called Ghibbor which means great warrior. The children and young people were all decked out in their uniforms and performed some of their drills for us. Then they explained that we were to be inducted in their troop as honorary members of the highest order. We were presented with a beautiful neckerchief representing green for Jesus our shepherd, purple for Jesus our King, and white for purity. We were also presented with a pin showing that we were of the highest rank. Then the children and young people prayed over us that we would shake the nations for Jesus. Wow! What a blessing. God is raising up powerful leaders for Colombia, South America, and the world.

We had a wonderful dinner at a typical Colombian restaurant in the mountains. It was beautiful. We returned to the coliseum and saw a Christian film and then it was time for Brooke to share. The only word that describes what happened next is supernatural. This girl who has all her life hated being in front of people, stepped up with power and confidence and shared her heart in a very vulnerable and authenticate way. She shared her pain and struggles and how God is redeeming them into a monster passion for Jesus and His cause in the world. She challenged the people to follow Jesus and never give up. Many many young people came to her weeping and thanked her for the push that she gave them to go further into the kingdom of God. It was such a blessing. After we enjoyed dinner with Juan David. He is the first orphan Beverly and I met on our very first day on our very first trip to Colombia 5 years ago. He was the first one that broke our hearts here. We had a wonderful time with him tonight. Something he said tonight rocked my world and reminded me why we do what we do here. He said, “I was so terribly alone before you came that first time and you came and loved me and I have known from that day to this that you guys love me and are there for me and it has made a difference in my life.” Wow. One day of love for one of these love starved children can alter a life forever. Praise Jesus! That is why we keep coming. Well, good night, I preach in 2 services tomorrow. Prayers greatly appreciated!

Today was a marvelous day. We met in the park with Pastor Henry and some of his leaders for an outdoor prayer meeting. I was standing in the circle praying with my eyes closed and face lifted to heaven and suddenly the sun rise broke on my face and I felt its warmth and it was like the heavens had opened to our prayers, amazing feeling. After prayer we enjoyed an amazing breakfast at the home of one of the church leader’s mother and then we were off to the coliseum for another anointed day of worship, prayer, and preaching.

My message this morning was on Faithfulness: The Price of Ministry. I was rested and could feel the Lord lightening my steps as I walked to the podium. I poured my heart out with a passion, freedom, and power that I have rarely experienced before sharing stories from my 31 years of ministry and how God has shown up in power to deliver over and over again. The response from the crowd was overwhelming. I knew that the Holy Spirit had met them and I was overjoyed. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and many many were touched. The Austrian evangelist that is also preaching at the conference with Pastor Henry and myself told me afterward that it was one of the best messages he had ever heard. That made me weep. Thank you Jesus for doing your work. He then asked me if I had a television ministry to which I replied, “no sir”. He said, “You will brother Matthew. You will have a worldwide ministry very soon I foresee.” Inside, I am a 16 year old boy living out a dream that God birthed in me in the mountains of New Mexico 31 years ago. Praise His name. I’m so grateful for my translator, Oscar, whom God has anointed in his own right.

As we worshipped the Lord in the meeting tonight I was standing on the stage with my eyes closed and my face lifted to heaven and suddenly the sunset broke through a nearby window and lit up my face and I smiled wide and my heart was warmed once again. Hans, the Austrian evangelist preached tonight and it was wonderful. His message was Faithfulness: The Gift of Jesus. He is a precious man and I loved hearing some of his testimony as we shared lunch today. I was blessed to walk through the crowd that came forward at the end to receive a blessing of holy fire from the Lord and to lay hands and pray over dozens of them. They are so hungry for God it is tremendously exciting.

Our hosts, Pastor Henry and his wife Mable and their group of leaders are beyond wonderful and we have been treated like royalty and many of the side conversations and prayer times have been life changing. Brooke and I have laughed, cried, and eaten more than a person should be allowed and it is only the second day. Thank you God for this opportunity. Bendiciones!

Today was the first day of a 4 day conference with our dear friends at Mision Berakah in Bogota. This church has been fasting and praying for God’s power to fall on this conference and He showed up in a mighty way today. I knew it was going to be an amazing day because I didn’t sleep at all last night which is very rare for me. The Holy Spirit kept bringing things to mind that I should pray for and songs kept running through my head so I prayed and listened to worship music until it was time to get up this morning. I am very tired now but sustained!

We have already enjoyed some amazing fellowship. Pastor Henry preached in the morning service and we were able to pray with many who came to re-commit to faithfulness in their walk with Jesus. Brooke has already informed me that she is staying and I’m going home alone 🙂 I was blessed to preach in the evening on The Passion For Jesus. Many were weeping as we prayed over and loved on them after. God is moving mightily and lives will be transformed as a result of this conference. I couldn’t be more excited or blessed to be here. I preach again in the morning so goodnight and God bless you!

Back in 2011 I wrote a blog entitled Power Through Weakness where I explored Paul’s motif in 2 Corinthians 12 regarding His thorn in the flesh. I later wrote Power Through Weakness II in 2012 where I explored Jesus’s weakness that translated into the greatest victory of all time. In my own experience, I have been sick with Systemic Lupus for over 14 years. The easiest way to explain what that is like is that it is like having the flu everyday for 14 years. Some days it is a light case and some days it is a heavy case but it is always the flu.

And yet I have seen God do more of the miraculous and powerful in my life and ministry since falling to this incurable disease than my whole life before. But sometimes I forget and begin to get discouraged about my condition. This year I have spent as many days in bed as out of bed and I have “missed” work and ministry opportunities as a result and this plagues my mind at times. Currently I have been down for 10 weeks with a flare up and was beginning to wonder what God is up to. I have amazing global opportunities before me this year and I so want to be strong.

This last weekend my wife and I traveled to Dallas/Ft. Worth and I was blessed to speak at a ministry function. We then went to our dear friend’s house and I was so sick I thought I was going to die. I made it through the night and we went to church with them the next morning. I was never so surprised when the pastor stood up to speak and he said, “Well folks as most of you know we have been preaching through the book of 2 Corinthians and today finds us at 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 –

Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The pastor then proceeded to preach a beautiful, powerful, passionate message entitled “Lessons From Thorns”. I sat there as the tears dripped off my beard and thanked God for the providential message straight to me. After the message, our friends commented that it was the best and most passionate message they had ever heard him preach in the 3 years they have attended there. I was so encouraged.

But my surprise was not yet complete. Many in my family have been reading a daily devotional together and the topic that particular day was Strength Through Weakness from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10… WOW! Ok, Lord!… but my surprise was not complete yet… Later that night my wife was reading a different devotional for women that she and my daughter are going through together and the topic… you guessed it! Strength Made Perfect in Weakness from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10… Very humbly now, I looked to heaven with arms thrown wide and quietly said, “Yes Lord, I want your power more than my comfort. I want your strength more than my strength. I lovingly submit to your sovereignty and I excitedly anticipate the mighty things that You are planning and will perform while I remain weak in Your arms.

Matt Bullen

Luke, Oscar Useche, and I awoke Sunday morning with the knowledge that the night before had only been the beginning of what God was going to do this weekend. We all three woke before the alarm and were rearing to go. Pastor Jaun Carlos had been my friend for about 3 years. Every trip he invites me to preach in his church but it has never worked out so he and I were both very excited when he arrived at 8:00 am to pick us up so I could preach in his 9 am & 11 am service (they have 4 services every Sunday). Pastor Juan Carlos started out by apologizing for how ugly the slum was going to be where his church is. I told him that he didn’t know this but I grew up in street evangelism and I love the barrio. When my wife and I always lived in the war zone and took in hungry, abused, and abandoned teens (over 15 in our first 5 years of marriage) and so I was honored to preach in his church.

The hair was standing up on my arms as we drove through the littered streets of the Suba Barrio and my heart leaped as we climbed the stairs to the second floor church which seats about 150 people. It was packed for both services with about 3/4 teenagers and 20 somethings that have been saved in the last 7 years out of drugs and gangs and everything imaginable. What an amazing and anointed work God is doing here through Pastor Juan and Pastora Claudia and how blessed and honored I was to be there.

My translator Oscar and I preached our hearts out and praise God the Holy Spirit who showed up mightily in both services and once again the altars were filled both times with weeping people desperate for Jesus. In the second service I was so happy to see my dear pastor friends Lucas and Doryanne and their daughter Sara and her boyfriend Jurger. These ar some of the dearest people in the world to me and we could hug each other enough. God is so good to have such a huge and diverse family of sweet people as these. We had a delightful time with the pastor and his wife at lunch and then cafe con leche for desert.

Soon it was time to head to another barrio to preach for our new friend Henry. I had just met Pastor Henry on Friday when we had the “God Detour” at his Christian School. His church started with 4 people in a garage and then they moved into a building that seats 150 and then they moved to a park nearby and set up tents and now they have multiple services and 700 people show up in the park for Sunday morning under the large tents. The church workers start setting up in the park every Sunday morning at 6:00am and they don’t finish taking everything down until 4:00 pm Sunday afternoon just in time to get to the Sunday night 6:00pm service in the building that seats 150. I was preaching at the evening Sunday service. The service was video recorded and live streamed over the internet. Once again, in an amazing way the Holy Spirit got ahold of that service and many many were on their knees at the altar and up the aisles seeking the Lord with tears.

After the service Luke and I met with some of the pastors and we were blessed beyond words as they blessed us with much encouragement and prayed over us. The Holy Spirit was so present. I’ve rarely if ever been so ministered to as I was by the men and women of this church. We had a thrilling discussion about future ministry together in Colombia and the U.S. God is moving in a big way. Thank you all who have prayed given and gone. It was an outstanding week and only eternity will tell all that God did and is doing through this trip.

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Today was bittersweet. Pastor Timothy and our team left for Texas, and Luke and I had to take Heidy back to her place in La Calera, another beautiful little mountain city. It was such a blessing spending the week with all this sweet young people of God. Some wonderful news for Heidy is that we were able because of a donation on her behalf to get her paperwork started to come to the U.S.

We are very excited that after 4 1/2 years of working to get her home we are one step closer. It always rips my heart out to leave her and this time it was compounded by seeing Luke’s and Heidy’s tears as they hugged goodbye. What a treasure these children are. How our Father’s heart must long for us to be His arms and “abrazo” them. I’m so grateful to God for Mission Critical International and Pastor Timothy and Relationships for Christ making this Mission Possible trip a reality.

Upon returning from La Calera we had a lunch meeting with a pastor and his wife and did some vision casting for future work together in many parts of Colombia. It was very exciting.

Then it was time to get ready for Pastor Urrego, a friend of our translator Oscar Useche and pastor of the church in which I was to preach tonight, to pick us up. We had a lovely hour and a half drive through the mountains north of Bogota to another beautiful little town called Sopo. The pastor is bi-vocational and works at Alpina, the largest dairy processing company in Colombia. His factory receives over 250,000 gallons of milk per day to be processed into yogurt, cheesecake, cheese of all kinds, and every kind of dairy product you can dream. Just before arriving at the church the pastor stopped at the Alpina factory outlet store. I call it the Disneyland of dairy stores. He took us inside and said, “Pick what you want to take back with you.” We asked, “What is your favorite Pastor?” He grabbed a shopping cart and started filling it up with two of everything in the store. We were like, “Oh yeah, a suitcase full of OMA coffee and Alpina cheeses will be just perfect.” After the service we shared some of the deserts that he bought. It was the most delicious love offering ever.

We headed over to the church, which is beautiful, and worship had already started. I was so humbled to realize that they don’t typically have a Saturday night service. They scheduled this one so I could be there and minister with them. Other churches from other small mountain villages as far as an hour and a half away had come to take part. What a blessing these Colombian brothers and sisters are. Praise the Lord for pouring down on us as we shared the word of God. There were tears on many faces and the altar was filled with people desperate for Jesus. We have been invited back next year to preach in their Sunday services and share with the pastors in the area. What a precious time we had with the pastor and his family after the service. They are precious people of God. Praise God for another wonderful day of pursuing Jesus on His mission in the world!

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This morning, once again, in His providence, God sent us on a detour. The plan was to sleep late, go sightseeing, and rest today before the team heads out to the airport early tomorrow morning but the Lord blessed us with another plan. We got a last minute invitation to go to one more place and when I asked the team they readily agreed we had to go. The church that I will be preaching in Sunday night has a school for vulnerable children here in the city and they asked us to come. We arrived at this small 3 story house and were ushered inside by Pastor Henry to find 79 little faces anxiously awaiting us. Words can’t express how impressed I was with this place. Story after story confirmed that they are taking in the least of the least of these and discipling them into warriors for Christ.

They put on the cutest presentation of each of the regions of Colombia and then a little couples dressed in the traditional dress of each region danced a traditional dance for us. It was so cute and you could tell they were so proud. After all of the presentations they asked me to share and so I gave my testimony of how I came to Christ as a 16 year old rebel and of some of the adventures that Jesus has led me on over the last 31 years. It was almost time to go and so the children split up into all the little tiny rooms of the house to have school. They asked me to pray over each class and so we squeezed into each room and prayed over the children and teachers. I prayed that the mantle of Elijah would fall upon Elisha and that the children would receive a double portion of the Spirit of their teachers and pastors and go forth to do mighty deeds in the kingdom of God. What a blessed detour that none of us would have missed for the world.

Next the team plundered the local souvenir market and then we headed up the tram to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset over the city. It has been raining most of the day so we were all praying that it would clear so we could see the view from the mountain and just in time it cleared up enough to see much of the city with a large thunderhead above which made the sunset quite spectacular. After the sun was gone we ended up gathered around Heyli and Deidra and the guitar and we sang and sang and sang. It was beautiful. Several people from Bogota and other places like the Netherlands stopped and listened and we enjoyed meeting them. What a perfect ending to a perfect week. Thank you Lord for being so kind to us. Praise be to your Name.

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Today was a beautiful day on many levels. First, because we were heading to an orphanage 2 hours outside of Bogota and we had to go through some amazing scenery to get there. We left the city and very quickly the landscape turned into desert. I was amazed as I had never been out this far west of Bogota and didn’t realize there was desert this close to this verdant mountain city. As we traveled farther west I kept telling everyone, “this looks like Arizona or southern New Mexico. There were cactus in bloom everywhere, deep red ravines (or arroyos where I come from), and strange monoliths of rock.

Then we began to climb and climb and climb. It wasn’t long before we had left the desert floor below and were winding through mountain peaks covered in clouds and mist. It was stunning. We wound our way down into the jungle and then up again into the mountains until we came to the sleepy little mountain Pueblo of La Mesa. We toured the orphanage and met all of the workers as we were waiting for the children to come home from school. This would be a beautiful place to come for a few days and they even have facilities to house us in the future. We had many talks of ideas and plans and are excited about future work with these folks.

Soon the children arrived and we had lunch and then spent some time helping them with their homework and then it was off to play soccer, frisbee, dodgeball, and all manner of games. It was a wonderful time of building friendships and sharing love. The old guys sat in the shade and dreamed up new visions and ministries together. As we were resting a little boy named Miguel came up to talk to us. He was a very precocious three year old who surprised us with how bright he was and as cute as a button. His mother abandoned him to live in a drugged stupor on the streets of “The Bronx” Bogota’s worst section. My heart broke for her and for him.

Everyone played and played and then we gathered up for devotions. We sang some songs and Luke shared his heart with the children and then Oscar Perez shared. It began to rain so while Pastor Timothy and I met with the director the team and children moved into the chapel and had a wonderful time with the Lord. At the end the children prayed for our team. It was very powerful. We said our long goodbyes and then headed into the village for a wonderful dinner in among the 200 year old colonial buildings of the square. On the long winding ride back through mountains, jungle, and desert we sang, shared, dreamed, and some of us snored. We arrived back and the hotel and our two beautiful Colombian daughters were waiting for us with the wonderful news that Heidy had been accepted into the prestigious music school for which she interviewed today. Praise God. Blessings all around.

 
 
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Today was simply WOW as they all have been. We headed back to Soacha to minister to 200 orphans, street children, and otherwise vulnerable children at a Christian hot lunch room down in the city of Soacha with our friends from God in the Streets, a Christian hip hop and street evangelism ministry in which our dear brother Orlando and our new friend Pastor Jordan partner together. We are very excited about partnering together with them in the future to make an impact for Christ on the city of Soacha. The neighborhood we visited today is so bad that we had to have a police escort to get in there. It is controlled by drug gangs and poverty is rampant.

First, we visited some of the families that are served by the hot lunch room. As we walked into Johanna’s very small house where she, her husband, and four small children live she began to cry as she told us how difficult their life is there. I asked her if we could pray for her and she quickly stepped toward us and said, “yes please.” The team gathered around her holding hands and I prayed for God to protect them, give them wisdom and guidance, but most of all to be near them and give them His presence. I asked Him to minister to their needs but primarily the need of their souls. They thanked us and thanked us. After I prayed her 6 year old little boy Miguel asked if he could pray. We said, “PLEASE.” Miguel folded his little hands and thanked God for the day, for us, for our visit, for his family, and asked for God’s blessings. It was the cutest, sweetest prayer I think I ever heard. Then his 11 year old big sister, Luisa, asked if she could pray and she too pray a sweet prayer of gratitude to God and asked Him to bless us for visiting her.

We visited some other families and then headed back to the lunch room to greet and minister to the 200 children that come there every day for what is for many their only hot meal of the day. I was blessed to get the chance to visit with Marleny, the founder of this amazing ministry. She told me all about her dreams and goals and the history of her work there. She was so proud to tell me that when she started there the malnutrition of children under age five was 80% in that neighborhood and now after a few years it is down to 10%. But the excitement among her donors has waned and her funding is continually shrinking. It costs $1.50 per day to feed a child and she is only receiving enough support to feed 120 children but over 200 come every day so she finds ways to fee two children for $1.50.

Soon the children began to pour in and the girls on the team broke out the crayons, chalk, paper, and coloring books and it was on. Luke and Deidra took frisbees and soccer balls out to the field in front of the lunch room and the fun ensued there as well. After everyone had eaten, the God in the Streets band started up and sang and shared the gospel with the children and adults from the neighborhood who had filled the place up completely. After several songs, Pastor Timothy got up and shared his testimony. It was very powerful. It was a beautiful day all around with a ton of fun and hope in Jesus shared with all.

 

 

 

 

 
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Today was another glorious day in which I am humbled and blessed to be working with some of God’s choice warriors. The 10 “twenty somethings” we are leading on this trip give me hope for the future of God’s work. I am so honored to be laboring with them in the vineyard.

I don’t have any photos to share today because in the 2 places that we went today the children are in protection as either victims of crimes or in a sort of witness protection because guerrilla hit squads are after them and so for their security we only took photos with some of the children this afternoon.

We headed out this morning to a to a house for teenage mothers ages 12-17. Many of them were raped and so are under the protection of the government. Some of them were trafficked, were street children, were abused by the boy friends of their mothers, and other reasons. All the young mothers and their babies were assembled and we each introduced ourselves and then one by one we shared a testimony. As each of us shared how we came to Jesus and what He means to us the Spirit began to move mightily in that place. Heyli would play the guitar and she and Heidy would sing some beautiful song in Spanish and then someone else would share. As they sang and shared tears ran down the face of some of the girls. I knew God was moving in their hearts. When my friend Hayley Marie shared it was so powerful that she broke down and had to leave. Others shared and then Deidra played the guitar and Amy, Luke, and I sang a worship song. Then it was time for me to share and I told how Jesus had grabbed ahold of my heart as a 16 year old boy and how I had been passionately pursuing Him ever since. I gave a very clear presentation of the gospel and asked the girls to bow their heads and I prayed for them to understand and to open their hearts to Jesus. When I finished praying, I was bombarded with girl after girl asking how she could receive Jesus and what was faith and what did they have to do to follow Jesus. It was amazing. Soon Heidy and Heyli were singing again and I stepped out of the room to make room for others. When I stepped out I said to Pastor Timothy, “That’s a room full of hungry eyes if I ever saw it.” Some of the girls followed me out of the room and Pastor Timothy, our awesome translator Oscar Useche, and I shared more with them and prayed with them. Some made decisions for Christ but not before grilling us with some very serious questions about sin, and the fear of God, and grace, and love. It was stunning. I saw before my eyes today God rescue some girls from shame, fear, and despair and usher them into His loving arms. Praise Him for being that kind of good God.

After sharing some gifts that we had brought for them we headed out to lunch. At lunch we met up with our friend Jair Montiel of the band Viraje and he spent the afternoon with us.

We headed over to Hogar De Paz (house of peace) where our friend Rafael Afanador takes in street children and clothes, feeds, and disciples them in the Lord. These children have seen and experienced horrible atrocities and they are getting the love and the message of Jesus here every day. While the team sang songs, played games, puzzles, drew, and colored with the children, Pastor Timothy and I and Oscar Useche spent a few hours with the director of the house brainstorming about future ministry ideas and opportunities. It was a blessed meeting.

We enjoyed hanging out at the hotel and then went to a nice dinner. When we came back we gathered around the breakfast table and began to share as a team what God was doing in our lives this week. It was a sweet and holy time with the Lord. As we went around the table we came to Heidy, our Colombian daughter, who has thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend this time with her Daddy and Big Brother, Luke. I hadn’t looked her way as the testimonies were being shared around the table until it came to her and then I realized that she was softly crying. As she started to share it wasn’t long before Luke and I were crying too. Heidy shared that she had been one of those orphans that we saw yesterday living in the shack on the side of the hill when she was 10 years old and even though she was living in those dire conditions she was always hoping and always dreaming. And then she said she came to the orphanage and there she met me and eventually our whole family and she learned what love is and she was so loved that she now has extra love to give to others and she told how she was able to share about the love of God with several children the last two days and that she loves this ministry and wants to always work in it with us. Words can’t express how beautiful it was what she said and her sweet little face all wet with tears. Oscar was crying just trying to translate.

Then we had a sweet time of prayer together and are now heading off to bed. God has been so good and we are just getting started. Thank you all for your prayers and support. God is doing a mighty work here.

For months before every mission trip I wrestle with God asking Him to superintend our trip. I always know in my heart that if His presence, power, and His Divine direction is not with us that all that we do will be in vain. There is always spiritual warfare of all kinds that precedes a trip like this and I have come to pray specifically that the Lord will be our vanguard and go before us removing every obstacle and paving our way before us. And in my humanness I always continue to be amazed when He comes through and shows Himself mighty on our behalf. Today was another example of this taking place.
 
We had planned for weeks to go to a certain orphanage this morning that I have been to many times and is one of my favorites and at the last minute this weekend there was a snag and we had to adjust our plans. Though I was tempted to be disappointed and concerned, I knew that many of God’s richest blessings on our ministry here in Colombia have come through what we would have considered a detour and so I waited for the Spirit to show us His plan. I was not disappointed to say the least.

We headed out this morning to a new part of Bogota to which I had never been called Soacha. It is a suburb of over 1 million people and for the most part it is very poor. We soon discovered that the place we were going was up in one of the mountains that ring the city of Bogota and after a somewhat harrowing ride up a very primitive “road” we arrived at a very poor neighborhood carved into the side of the mountain.

Many of the people here have been displaced by the forty-year war in Colombia and have cobbled together “houses” on this hillside with whatever materials they could find. An elderly woman, affectionately known throughout the town as Abuelita (Granny), runs a hot lunch kitchen there for the children of the neighborhood many of whom only get the one meal a day that she provides. We were to be her guests today and spend time with the orphans and impoverished children of this refugee city.

Before the children arrived we hiked through the neighborhood and visited several homes of the families whose children we were going to spend time with. It is impossible to explain the primitive way that these people live. They have no running water except for one hour per week and they have to collect all the water that they will need for the whole week in that one hour.

They live in shacks pieced together from bricks, tin, lumber, anything that they can put together. There are no sewers, or drainage other than the streets. When it rains hard many times their houses are washed away and they have to begin again. Our contact here is a young pastor named Jordan that we met through Pastors Hector & Liliana. He and his family minister in this place and they are very passionate about their work here.

The children arrived and had their lunch and then the fun began. Deidra has collected three large suitcases full of toys, balls, puzzles, frisbees, crayons and coloring books and such. It wasn’t very long before everyone was gathered around the team playing and drawing and this went on for over 2 hours.

Two different singing groups were with us as well and they sang the gospel and then shared the gospel with the children and prayed with them.

It was amazing to see how quickly the children responded to the love and how quickly the team responded to the love that the children showed so freely. Luke and I stepped outside with a couple of frisbees and it wasn’t long before several teenage and adult men had gathered around and Luke was teaching them to throw and catch. I told him it looked like he had the makings of a Frisbee ministry here in Colombia. He flashed his signature smile and kept playing.

As the afternoon passed I noticed that Pastor Timothy was spending a lot of time with Pastor Jordan asking many questions about their dream and vision for this place. It wasn’t long before Pastor Jordan shared his dream of buying some land right there on that street and building a larger place where Granny could feed many more children and the gospel could be shared with the community. Pastor Timothy, in his irresistible “Git er done” fashion said, “Well let’s go find some land.” So up we went and started hiking through the neighborhood looking at different available chunks of land on this hillside.

It wasn’t long before they had decided upon a piece of property and began negotiations… but that is a story for Pastor Timothy to share so stay tuned but let me say this, only eternity will tell how many souls will be affected by our little “detour” to Soacha today. Soon it was time to go and the precious little kids gathered around and told us goodbye, begging us to come and see them again soon. We had a wonderful dinner at one of our favorite places here and returned to the hotel full of joy and totally exhausted and excited about what the rest of the week will bring. Once again Lord, You have shown yourself all wise and guided our trip marvelously and we praise You.

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I am so grateful to God to once again be writing from Bogota, Colombia.
 
God has put this city in my heart and I am excited to be here on my 16th trip with this wonderful team of friends, my goddaughters Heidy and Ginary and my oldest son Luke on his first mission trip. Praise the Lord! We began our mission trip this week in Colombia with a very blessed church service with our dear friends at Iglesia Libertad in the heart of Bogota.

I always love coming to this place and these people.

The Holy Spirit’s presence is so tangible here. We started the service with amazing worship from Pastor Hector & Liliana’s daughters, Heyli and Caroline, and our friends Javier and Orlando. It was absolutely heavenly. I love worshipping with our Colombian family.

Then it was time for the word of God to be spoken and I was so blessed to share the pulpit with my friend Oscar Andres Useche as translator.

God helped us mightily and many souls were encouraged in the Lord. There were many tears and the altar was filled with those desperate for Jesus.

Then we were surprised with a beautiful song and dance by the children of the church calling on the Lord to make His name famous among the nations. It was very moving.

After the service we shared a wonderful Colombian meal with the Pastor’s family and then back to the hotel for a restful afternoon and evening. A glorious start to our week.

I love one on one discipleship. The Lord has sent many people across my path in my life to disciple and to be discipled by and it is a great joy.
 

One dear friend, Jeff, and I have been meeting almost every week for over two years. Jeff and his family have had some major heartache in their life and our interactions for the first 2 years were mostly me trying to encourage them and inspire them to pursue God and His joy in their life. We have spent endless hours talking about grace and missions and all things Jesus. I have to admit that there were times I despaired that God would break through and restore these people’s passion for Him.

How overjoyed and humbly amazed I was when on March 15th of this year I get this text from Jeff (all used with permission)
 
“Had a revelation tonight that just might be life changing and caused all of the pieces to click firmly together. As I was chastising Daniel for his cockiness, attitude toward siblings, and a bout of disrespect toward his mom with sobbing tears streaming down his face he said, “I know I’m horrible but I don’t know how to change.”. Then as we were driving home listening to a Chris Tomlin song the words “the joy of the Lord is my strength” were playing… So combining those two concepts with what you said the other night about spiritual discipline vs brokenness before the Lord I arrive at the following… Our constant source of joy is our weakness… Because when we admit our complete inability to please Him and strive for His acceptance we free ourselves from that never-ending performance treadmill… The joy is found in the fact that not only can I never do anything to please God- but more so in the fact that I don’t HAVE to! This is the crux of the Gospel – I cannot ever please God. Ever. Never. But Christ does- past present and future… So I am free from even having to try! And every time a situation arises when my flesh, or the enemy, or another person tells me I have to step it up and discipline myself to please God or man, rather than worrying, stressing, and discouraging myself I can smile and say “nope I can’t do that! But Jesus can!”. And then hand it Him… So our weakness is our constant source of joy! So in 2 Cor 12:9-10 when Paul says I rejoice in my weakness I finally understand his joy. He is joyful because he has been freed from trying to earn it all, and his weakness is his constant consoling companion reminding him he never had to, because Christ has done and will do it all! The Gospel as clearly as I’ve ever seen it! All of the riches of heaven traded for our weakness.The greatest bargain ever! Can you write a sermon on this?!?!”

Wow! What a blessing and what a God moment for Him in His kindness to break through to Jeff. I love to watch Him at work.

So now Jeff is a totally transformed man. All he can talk about is the gospel. (what else is there after all?) He talks to people at work, neighbors, his children. Everyone around him now knows that “I can’t but Jesus can.” It is amazing. Our weekly visits are now more like fanfests where we each share the latest thing we have discovered about how good God is and what good news the gospel is. Here is a smattering of recent texts he has sent me that reveal just how God is at work in this man.

“Fear is a response of the flesh to situations you are not confident you can handle. When living out the Gospel (I can’t God can) fear is short-lived because faith has overcome it. Again, experiences that produce a fear response are simply another occasion for joy – because your fear simply confirms in you the Truth of the Gospel, namely the fact that your fear is based in truth – you can’t handle the fearful situation but Jesus can!… A dead man can’t help himself. Crucified with Christ. This is what it means – counting the flesh dead and bringing nothing to the altar but the stench of dead flesh. He must resurrect it with His Spirit and fill it with His life, His purpose, His desires, and His motivation. Everything we bring – our strength our weakness, our brilliance our stupidity, our talents our uselessness – must be crucified. This is dying daily. Everything must die, especially our best efforts! That is the mystery – that the things that need to die the most are the things we feel bring the most value! But it is NOT our sins that stand in the way of grace. No, it is the things we think we are good at that stand in the way, for these are the things that make us prideful and self reliant and lead us to believe we don’t need Him in those areas!! The enemy and your flesh has you focused on sin while congratulating you on your areas of strength. The Holy Spirit focuses you on the fact that you are broken and weak and congratulates you on the fact that you can do all things through Christ!… As a thought, fascinating to watch Elijah transition from living out the Gospel in extreme faith when calling down fire from heaven and executing the priests of Baal – to living out the Law of the flesh in extreme fear when running from Jezebel. Somehow, in a scriptural blink of an eye, he forgot the Gospel message entirely (I can’t God can) and was consumed by fear to the point of begging for death. Interesting and concerning. Peter walking on water is another. Transitioned from believing the Gospel to believing natural law in the blink of an eye. All of Scripture paints this simple picture. The Bible in four easy words. I can’t God can! This is the mystery that Stephen was explaining to the Ethiopian and that Jesus shared with the disciples on the way to Emmaus – all religions attempt to show you what you must do to be acceptable to God. But the Gospel teaches you that you can never be acceptable to God only Jesus can! So you had better be in Christ! Unfortunately for Moses he wouldn’t revel in his inability to speak well, so Aaron got the nod. Of course he couldn’t speak well on front of two million people, but God could! Our weakness should not limit us, it should enable us to accomplish things through Christ we had never dreamed possible and things we would absolutely NEVER accomplish in our areas of strength! Aaron wasn’t acting in faith. He was better at casting calves made of gold, perhaps! An area of strength for him? Just to reiterate and get your agreement – what should be your daily reminder of the hope and joy you have in Christ? Not a picture of heaven, not an inspirational verse, not your baptism record, not you daily devotional – none of those things. Your weakness, the one thing that is with you always, in your face and seeking to condemn you. This is, ironically, your constant and abiding reminder of your victory through Christ. See it for what it truly is!mTo me this is a life changing thought! Still trying to wrap my brain around it! All we bring to the foot of the Cross is a stinking, rotting body of death. It is He that provides Life and everything you associate with life – skill, talent, energy, compassion, love, initiative, strength. It is He who saves us from this body of death – while we continue to die daily. Any “potential” you see in yourself or someone else is simply a vestige of pre-fall humanity – an image of God marred by generations of rebellion and sin. Instead of being encouraged to “mature”, this innate set of abilities or talents must be crucified along with all of the other more obvious portions of our rotting nature. Be warned, these parts of our flesh, the “healthy”, “beneficial” ones are particularly resistant to crucifixion – they see no need in dying for they have so much to offer. And yet it is so crucial that they be crucified for it is not a partial renewal we require, but a resurrection, and any of these areas left untouched by the Truth of the Gospel (I can’t God can) remain as strongholds from which the enemy and the flesh will launch counterattacks to sabotage victorious Christian living. The Tres Dias ceremony of nailing sins, betrayals, obstacles, etc on the Cross is a good visual of what should happen every day. Bring your flesh, your sin, your weakness, your strength, your abilities, your intelligence – bring it all and crucify it for what it is – a rebellious scoundrel who has rejected his birthright. And then and only then truly live by faith in the Son of God who loves you and gave Himself up for you. This is great fun, letting the mind meander through the myriad of implications of the Gospel message!”

This my friends is what I live for! To see God at work in transforming lives, there is no better enjoyment.

Dear reader, I can’t help but ask. Are you fascinated with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you love it? Is it good news to you?

In the following blogs I will continue to share some of my conversations with Jeff and also chronicle other ways that God is at work around me and through me for His praise and glory alone. Stay tuned.

Matt Bullen

I haven’t written in a while because the Lord has me so busy feeding His sheep in multiple ways and multiple arenas and I am thrilled about that. When I stop and think about all the ministry that is taking place around me and through me I am deeply humbled and grateful to God for this mission that I am pursuing Him on.

I was thinking recently about motives, why we do the things we do. I was thinking about why I run as hard as I do. What is my overriding motive. If I were to be completely vulnerable and honest, what is it that really drives me to live the way I do. So I boiled it all down and if I am completely transparent I would have to say that I am addicted to the joy of seeing God at work in the lives of people. If I’m totally honest, I have been on a 30 year quest, a 30 year investigation to find God’s fingerprints and to catch Him in the act of transforming lives, families, and nations. That is me at my rawest level. I want to be there when God does something. I don’t want to miss out. I want to see Him at work. That is the driving motivation of my life. That is my great joy.

One of the first passages of scripture that I memorized as a young teenager was Psalm 63 and it remains my favorite chapter in the Bible to this day. It starts out, “Oh God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee. My soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see thy power and thy glory as I have seen thee in the sanctuary…”

I memorized that passage way back then because that was and is today the cry of my heart, to see His power and His glory. It is a hunger that though often filled as I have seen Him do amazing things for over the last 30 years will never be satisfied (at least in this life) and grows stronger with the indulging. It is a heavenly addiction that I never want to break. I am addicted to the joy of seeing God be Who He is and do what He, and only He, can do… transform.

In the following blogs I will be chronicling some of the ways that God is at work around me and through me for His praise and glory alone. Stay tuned.

Matt Bullen

Matt. 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Matt. 14:28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

There is something I admire in Peter and desire for myself. Peter had a growing heart hunger to be with Jesus, no matter the risk, wherever Jesus wanted Him to be. He didn’t do it perfectly, not even close but if anything amazing was happening Peter was there. Even after denying Jesus he is close enough for Jesus to turn and look at him when the cock crowed. Peter’s daring to be with and like Jesus eventually changed the world and got Him killed too. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart! If we are going to follow Jesus we must be daring!

“The majority of the time when God calls, He calls into empty space.” – Jerry Rankin from the book Spiritual Warfare and Missions

Omar Garcia in his blog Go Beyond says the following…

“In each of our lives there is a line that marks the farthest we’ve ever been or the most we’ve ever done for God and His purposes. Everything on our side of that line is familiar, convenient, manageable, and comfortable. No big surprises, no daunting challenges, no uncharted territory. Crossing that line requires a commitment to venture to places we’ve never been and the willingness to engage people we’ve never met. Only those with the courage to overcome their fears and who have the determination to persevere will dare to cross that line. All others will keep a safe distance away from it.

We must go beyond — stepping boldly across the line in order to advance the interests of God’s kingdom in our world. I have heard people remark about how they long to be a part of something exciting for the kingdom, only to watch them aggressively avoid the context in which these things happen. We must be willing to place ourselves in a context where we will see God work in and through us in new and exciting ways, in ways we never imagined. We must be willing to spend ourselves for God and His purposes — to work toward the day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. Step across the line and Go Beyond. Adventure awaits!”

One of my heroes from history who best exemplifies this was…

Gladys Alward

At 26 she failed the school of the China Inland Mission but she was not dissuaded. In 1930 took train across Russia to China to help aging missionary Agnes Lawson found an inn. The story of all that happened to her on the way is hair raising. 1932 Mandarin appointed her ‘foot -inspector’, a job she used to evangelize villagers all over his province. Prison riot valor in 1933 cemented her reputation as holy person and miracle worker. Became known as ‘Ai-weh-deh’, Chinese for ‘Virtuous One’. 1936 became Chinese citizen. 1940 wounded by Japanese soldiers, only months before she shepherded 100 orphans across mountains to safety. Nearly dead she ‘recovered’ to evangelize until Communists evicted her in late 1940’s. The Small Woman won her fame in 1957, increased by inaccurate but popular movie version ‘Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ starring Ingrid Bergman. Founded orphanage in 1958 in Taiwan, where she died January 3, 1970.

Gladys returned from China to England in the late 1940’s an unknown missionary. Alan Burgess, who was producing a series on war heroes for the BBC radio, visited her in the hope a missionary could tell him about heroes she had heard about in China. Well, no, she said in her rusty English. She didn’t actually know any heroes.
“What about yourself?” he asked the little woman half-heartedly. “Did you have a scrape or two?”
“I doubt people who listen to BBC would think I’ve done anything interesting.”
“Didn’t you even come into contact with the Japanese invaders?” he pressed.
“Yes,” she answered cryptically. It wouldn’t be very forgiving if she told Alan Burgess the Japanese had shot her down in a field outside Tsechow. Bombed her too. In Yangcheng. Strafed her near Lingchuang too. Smashed her on the noggin once with a rifle butt too. Finally put a price on her head: dead or alive. “Some Japanese are very nice, you know,” she volunteered.
“Apparently your life in China was rather sheltered,” he grunted dryly.
Gladys had to offer the poor man something. “I did take some children to an orphanage near Sian.”
“You don’t say?” he grumbled, not hiding disappointment. “Kids? To an orphanage?”
“Yes, we had to cross some mountains.”
Burgess perked up. “Real mountains?”
“Yes, I believe you would call them real mountains. The journey was made more difficult because we couldn’t walk on the main trails. Oh, and then we had to get across the Yellow River too.”
“Isn’t that the notorious river that drowns so many it’s called ‘China’s Sorrow’?”
Burgess was more and more aghast as Gladys detailed her trek. His voice choked. “You ran out of food? You had no money? Just you and 100 kids – many of whom were toddlers – trekked for one month across mountains, across the Yellow River, ducking Japanese patrols and dive bombers? And at Sian you were diagnosed with typhus and pneumonia and malnutrition? Yes, Miss Aylward, I think people who listen to BBC would think you’ve done something interesting…”

Over and over in the scriptures we see Jesus being daring and audacious in His mission, overcoming cultural and religious biases and literally turning the world upside down. He was so daring that it eventually got Him killed and it only took 3 1/2 years. Many of His followers have been so valiant in their mission that they too were killed. The Moravians called surrender to missionary service, “The Great Dying.” Amy Carmichael called the decision to work with her “A Chance To Die.” So many stories could be told throughout history. How many thousands are on the field today as a result of the Ecuador 5? Jesus was daring in His mission and we, His followers, if we are to accurately imitate Him will also be daring. His Name and the mission are worth it.

Sunday, January 27, 2013 was a beautiful Lord’s day. We had breakfast with pastors Lucas and Doraynne and their sweet family and then walked the few blocks to the church Iglesia Libertad. I was so blessed to see my sweet friends, pastors Hector and Liliana and their awesome children and many other friends in the church there.

I met my translator for today and his name is Oscar too. He works for Compassion International and has translated for I AM SECOND and many other ministries and has already become a dear friend.

I couldn’t wait for the worship to start because the pastors 3 teenage children lead it and it is anointed. My new friend Orlando who has a music street ministry also leads. It is so powerful. We praised and praised and prayed and prayed and then the Holy Spirit helped me to bring the message The Triumph of the Gospel from Matthew 13:33. The church was packed and God really got ahold of all of us. It was very blessed. I finished preaching and many, many came to cry out to God with me for a fresh anointing a fresh passion for the coming of His kingdom in the world. After, Pastor Hector hugged me and hugged me. I love these people, I love this country, I love this ministry!

Some of the girls from the safehouse who were with us on Friday were there and one of them, Angelica, got up and gave a tearful and heavenly testimony of how The Lord has been her Papa and her Mama and though she is an orphan she never has felt alone. It was the purest, sweetest, adoring witness to the goodness of her savior that you can imagine. These children are the heartbeat of Jesus and getting near His heart is always life changing for me.

After the service we had a wonderful typical Colombian lunch with the pastor and his family and we spent the afternoon visiting and enjoying the moment.

Ginary was able to spend the evening with us. She turned 18 on New Year’s Eve and was put out of the orphanage and is now living with a friend but they have very little so we took them to the store and bought them a basket full of groceries. They hugged me so hard it hurt. There is so much to do here. I think it is going to take the rest of my life 😉

Our last blessing of a super abundantly blessed trip was getting to have dinner with our dear friends Nelda, and Scott and Anita Gilbert, who are here to adopt a precious girl named Sofia. What a blessing this was for me! I remember praying over Scott with several other men the night he surrendered his life to Christ. I remember how Scott later ministered to my sons. I remember the day I invited their son, Chris Poole to come with me to Colombia, and then Chris came home, sold everything, and became a missionary to the orphans of Colombia and is now going to Project Samuel in Zambia, Africa with Relationships for Christ. And now a sweet Colombian girl is going to have a family. I love you Lord. I love this ministry!

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Saturday, January 26, 2013 was indeed a blessed day. Most of the team had to go home but as Pastor Timothy says, “The Mission Possible trip still continues” and so after dropping them at the airport we caught a bus to La Calera, a beautiful little town in the mountains just outside of Bogota. Brooke said it looked like a town out of the movies. There is a unique orphanage up there that consists of 6 separate houses with 10-15 young people in each and a married couple in each. It has more of a family structure this way and the teens we met there are very happy. One of those precious teens is our own Goddaughter, Heidy. She was waiting at the gate of the house and when she saw us come through the gate she screamed and ran and jumped into my arms with a gran abrazo. The last seven months are the longest I have gone without seeing her in 4 years. She was so happy and looked so good. The mountains and the house and the friends she has made have done very well by her.

Her 17th birthday is in ten days so we took a walk down to the little town square and had a birthday lunch and presented her with our birthday presents we had brought. She was so happy. Then we went to the little store off the plaza and bought some things for all the girls in her house and some necessary items that Heidy needed. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. The sun was shining and the air was fresh and we were spending time with our girl. What a blessing. As many of you know we tried desperately for two years to adopt Heidy and our other Goddaughter Ginary but could never get all the legal entanglements worked out. But God has watched over them and taken good care of them and I know someday we will be together. I told Heidy that when I am old I am moving to La Calera and I’m going to sit in a rocker on the porch and drink my Colombian coffee and eat papaya and she is going to have to take care of me. She laughed and hugged me and said, “I will Papi.” She told me all about the Christian Bible study that she attends on Wednesday nights and the church she attends on Saturdays. I’ve never seen her so happy and so healthy. Praise God.

Then it was time to go and we hugged and kissed goodbye and we headed down the mountain in the little bus to visit with our pastor friends and spend the night. On the way we stopped and bought a bunch of groceries to surprise them with because planting a new church this year in a rough part of Bogota has been hard on them but God is bringing souls into the kingdom down there.

We had a wonderful dinner with Pastors Lucas and Doraynne and laughed and talked about the kingdom and all that God is doing and then turned in. Thank you to Relationships for Christ and their Mission Possible program and Mission Critical International for this blessed week. Praying for God’s power on my sermon tomorrow at Iglesia Libertad and our precious pastor friends Hector and Liliana and their family and our last day in Colombia for this trip.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Friday January 25, 2013 was another wonderful and heart wrenching day. We started the morning visiting a Christian home for pregnant and nursing mom age 11-18. All the girls (maybe 30) gathered in a meeting room with us and we made introductions and shared about our lives. I asked the girls to tell us about their dreams. Several spoke and without fail they said their dream was to give their baby the life they never had. Some of them said be a good example for their baby and others talked about finishing their education and having a career. The whole team shared about Jesus and Timothy encouraged them greatly that they can reach any dream with God as their Father. David shared how he had had a child at 16 and how hard it was and that Jesus is the only way to true happiness. Then Oscar gave each girl a salvation bracelet kit and as they made the bracelets he explained the gospel to them. Right as he started a little 5 year old girl named Carmella came over to me and she talked my ear off very quietly so as not to distract from Oscar. She was very cute and sweet. She wanted to check me all out. She touched my beard and pulled my mustache and hair and touched my glasses and zipped up my jacket and buttoned the collar snap. She hugged me and asked if I was Papa Noel (Santa Clause) all the time chattering away. Then she took my hands and put them together as if to pray and folded her tiny hands around mine and said, “pray?” And so she prayed and I prayed. Then we worked on her necklace and she said, “one for my mother?” So we made one for her mother. I could have sat there for hours talking to that sweet little child. I love this ministry. She and her mom are why Mission Critical exists. I know there are many out there just like her digging through trash to survive, washing headlights at the traffic light for money because they are too little to reach the windshield. God help us to help them.

The rest of the day we were blessed to see some sights downtown and have lunch with some precious orphan girls that David and Michelle have a relationship with from previous trips. It was wonderful. Then we went up to Monserrate mountain to see the sunset over the city and pray and sing “God of this city” as we always do. Paul and his friend Sal were able to join us as we’ll as our sweet driver for the week, Daisy. Pastor Timothy had the great idea of having communion on the mountain as well and had brought the elements. It was very special. We finished the night with a great meal and fellowship. Another amazing day pushing out the borders of His kingdom.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Thursday, January 24, 2013, was another beautiful day. We started out with breakfast at our regular little authentic Colombian restaurant and just as I walked in the door sweet Ginary jumped out and hugged me. I was so surprised and happy to see her again this week. She also had with her Erica another girl that we have known and ministered to for years. It was so great to have breakfast with them both and the team.

We left them and went up into the mountainside to a beautiful Christian orphanage. We were all huffing and puffing as we toured the facility literally built into the side of the mountain. They have 100 children of which 30 are adoptable. We had a wonderful time getting to know them and we are excited about working with them in the future for the adoption arm of our ministry.

After a leisurely lunch (all I ate was a giant bowl of papaya, my new favorite fruit thanks to Mercy) we went back to Nuevo Planeta and spent the afternoon playing with those sweet little kids. We also brought each of the 11 boys who had professed faith in Christ the day before a new Bible. We gave them many of the gifts that all of you had collected for the trip and wished them blessings.

We then headed out to go to a meeting set up by Esperanza with some pastors at Mision Colombia, a large evangelical church in the city. We had a wonderful visit and they are excited about helping us on future trips. They have literally hundreds of contacts in the city and can help us with everything from lodging and transportation to opportunities for street evangelism, orphan ministry and even tribal outreach. God has opened so many doors for us this week it is incredible. Like the Chris Tomlin song says, “Greater things are still to be done in this city.” I love this ministry.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Today, Wednesday, January 23, 2013, started early but awesome as we were blessed to meet with Pastor Manuel for breakfast at 7:00 am at the Colombian National Bible Society. Pastor Manuel is pastor to Esperanza from Colombia Chiquita and also the president of the society. After a wonderful breakfast we heard about the great work of the society. It was founded in 1825 and they print and distribute Bibles all over South America. Last year alone they distributed 700,000 Bibles. They give free Bibles to the FARC and other guerrillas and they have seen many come to Christ and leave the fighting.

The exciting thing for us is that in my 15 trips to Colombia we have bought Spanish Bibles and paid the $70.00 extra bag charge for sometimes 20 extra bags in order to get Bibles to the orphans that we minister to. Pastor Manuel says that he can supply us with cases of Bibles at $3.00 each printed right here in Bogota! Praise God! They also have a Bible curriculum written for children with beautiful artwork. Pastor Timothy had the great idea of getting the society to put together a package deal for each orphanage of this curriculum and Pastor Manuel said they would also train the workers at the orphanage to use the curriculum. Please pray that someone with a passion for biblical education to step forward and finance this. Also the Bible society is in need of translators and donations to continue their work of getting God’s word into the hands of His people in Colombia.

We thanked them for the wonderful breakfast and headed to Nuevo Planeta. I have to admit that I was apprehensive about this next foundation because I knew that it housed 150 children that have each been raped and/or been exploited in the sex trade and this is why they are in this particular foundation. Also, they send buses out to the worst parts of the city and pick up 100 children who are living on the street and whose parents are addicts, prostitutes, or simply homeless and bring them in for a hot meal and a shower. I prayed with a little more intensity than usual as we headed there asking the Lord to superintend our visit there and override our fear and apprehension and allow the children to see Him in us and feel His love through us. We arrived and met the young woman in her mid thirties who founded this ministry 12 years ago with 12 children. Those who work for her know her as the “angel”.

She explained about the children and their history and how they have purchased land and are now raising the funds to build a new facility that they hope will house 500 children when it is completed because the need is so great. Our first order of business was touring their existing rented facility which consists of 3 houses connected together and busting at the seams. First we went up stairs and into a nursery like room with 25 of the cutest little 2-4 year olds you can imagine. As soon as we walked in the door they crowded around us hugging our legs and smiling and putting up their hands to be picked up. I picked up the little boy closest to me and he gave me a big hug and smile. Brooke sat down on the floor and 4 little ones piled into her lap hungry for love. I looked over and saw big crocodile tears running down her cheeks. We only stayed a moment and then had to move on for our tour and all of us were near tears as we walked on to view the rest of the facility and meet the other ages. After our tour we took a group to the park and played and played. It was so fun.

We had lunch together in the foundation and then took a class of 8-10 year olds taught by one of the orphans we used to minister to in another orphanage years ago that now works at this foundation to the park. Our dear friend Jair Montiel of the Christian band Viraje and Christ for the City came over for the day and as we sat down on the grass with the boys he took out his guitar and we sang several worship songs. I had told Jair that if we got the chance I wanted Pastor Timothy to share his testimony because I knew that these boys could really relate with Timothy’s painful childhood and so as we finished singing Jair called Timothy up and he spent the next several minutes sharing his story and how at age 13 after hearing the gospel at his grandmother’s church he knelt by his bed alone and felt Jesus telling him that He would be the dad he never had and he was saved and his life was changed. Every little boy sat there spellbound listening intently and when Timothy asked if they would like to believe on Jesus and ask Him to be there Papa and share his love with them nearly every hand went up and how sweetly they prayed asking Jesus to be their savior and their dad and to hold their future in His hands. When we finished praying a shout went up from the boys and they clapped. Praise the Lord! He is faithful and will continue the work in their hearts that was started today.

Then it was time to play. The big ones played soccer while the same little ones we had met that morning wore us out with piggyback rides and tag and swinging and jumping on us from the monkey bars. We had a blast. When we got tired we sat in the grass and they climbed all over us. Michelle had a sack of candy and she nearly got trampled as they all clamored to get a sucker or a sixlet. They were so cute. She also made little cross necklaces for each one with different colored ribbon. The crosses had engraved on them Dios Te Ama (God loves you). Each of us decided we could take 3 or 4 of them home if they would let us. One little girl 2 ½ or 3 named Sophia decided that I was her best buddy and hung on me all afternoon. All of my apprehension was for naught because those 150 children turned out to be just sweet little children starved for love and attention. Something all of us were thrilled to provide.

Another friend named Paul came and spent the last hour with us. Paul found our ministry through the internet a couple years ago and we have become dear friends. He and his wife just adopted a little boy two months ago. Praise God. We left exhausted but very happy, ready to go get some rest and come back again tomorrow and spend time with them again. All day I had daydreams about Jesus taking the little children into his lap and blessing them and reminding His disciples that the kingdom of God is for such as these. I love this ministry.

Thank you for your prayers and I want to thank Relationships for Christ and Pastor Timothy again for making this trip Mission Possible and thank you Oscar Perez for all of your hard work. Usted eres una gran bendicion a mi vida.

Matt Bullen