All posts by Matt Bullen

Where can God move? When can God touch someones life? Can God meet someone in every day life? Does He only work in planned places or planned times or can God radically change a person on a busy street corner? I know for a fact that He breaks through any boundary and interrupts our lives to let us know how much He loves us.

Brooke and I have enjoyed the most amazing opportunity this last week to team up with a group of missionaries from I Am Second to evangelize on the streets with local churches here in Bogota. This was the first time I had ever done this kind of street evangelism and to be perfectly honest I was a little skeptical of their plan. I didn’t doubt God could move but I didn’t think He would. But I am over joyed to say I was as wrong as I could be!

Our plan was to help new church plants by evangelizing in neighborhoods near the new church. We went out in groups of three or four with one or two missionaries from the States with a translator and a member of the church into some of the hardest neighborhoods here in Bogota. We took evange-cubes with us and just stopped people on the streets or in stores to ask them if we could tell them a story about our lives. I know what you’re thinking… “did anyone listen?” well, to my surprise, most people said “yes!” It’s wonderful how you can’t do or say anything wrong when God is on your side and He has prepared the ground for you!

I would like to share about just two of the many people I was able to see God reveal Himself to this week.

Steven and his son Pablo were sitting at a bus stop waiting for the bus to take Pablo to school. Tom my team member and I were just talking about how we didn’t like talking to people at the bus stops because you usually weren’t able finish the story before they had to leave but our Colombian partners wanted to talk to Steven and his son so like good American missionaries we went along. As Tom was sharing his testimony I could see that Steven was really into the story and he even started to tear up. Then when we asked if they wanted to accept Christ as their Savior Steven was almost jumping up and down with excitement. Just how God works, Pablo’s bus came right after we finished praying! But even after Pablo left Steven wanted to talk with us more about God and His people, the church. God taught me through Steven that I am still putting Him in a box even after all I know and have seen Him do. But praise Him! He’s not content to let me stay there! I want to know Jesus more and more! To see Him do things I never believed possible.

Ok I know I am rambling but I also want to tell you about Marco. As Tom and I were walking down an ally one of the days we were out, we said, “Hola” to a young man who then to our surprise replied in English “Hi, are you for the United States?” This started an hour conversation with Marco, a young man who learned almost perfect English from playing english video games. Crazy right?! Marco told us he believed in God because he had prayed as a little boy for God to get him out of a bad situation and place he was in and then how God had answered him by allowing him to go to college. Marco still is not sure about Christianity but he said he believed God had sent us to talk to him and he wants to learn more about God. I am going to try to stay in contact with Marco.

So I learned this last week to stay open to God leading even when I don’t see how He is working because I never know who the next Steven or Marco will be. God works in ways beyond our imaginations and all He asks is for us to follow His lead!

Love, Rebekah Bullen

At Large Missionary

Mission Critical International

Photos of Rebekah’s Ministry

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

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.

Why do you want to give up your comfortable American lifestyle to minister to the poor and hurting overseas? Why did you give up a chance to go to college and a have a good career and instead only own what can be put into two suitcases? Why go to places where you can get sick or contract an incurable disease or be kidnapped or killed? Why do you do it?

Every time I am asked these questions I think back to my first mission trip. I was twenty-years-old when my father and younger sister Beverly visited Colombia for the first time in 2009. Our family was in a dark place and I was dead inside. My father was a pastor and we had started two churches in our living room so to the outside world we looked like the prefect family. We worshipped God every Sunday and served our church members throughout the week but when everyone left it was like a cloud of past pain and hatred of those who hurt us settled into our house. I will never forget the fact that we could no longer talk or have fun as a family because we were haunted by our pain. So I wanted out anyway I could find. I needed something to live for.

So when they came back from that mission trip full of passion and a renewed love for God, I knew I had to go and see what they had found. For three months I asked my dad when I could go with him to Colombia and the day he called me into his office to let me know we were going, I remember running and jumping into his arms because I knew I HAD to go… I couldn’t stay who I was…

God always answers our heart’s desires! Most of the time we don’t even know what we are looking for or what we need but the most amazing thing is God gives us exactly what we need even when we don’t know what to ask for.

I knew I needed something but I didn’t know what was missing. But when I walked into the orphanage that my dad had visited three months earlier, I found it. I didn’t know I was missing the heart of God… but I was… I had grown up in the church and worked in the ministry most of my life but I had somehow missed the heart of God and it left a gaping hole in my heart. I could never understand why I wasn’t passionate for God or why Christianity seemed like a chore to me. But when I looked into the eyes of those love-starved children, looking for someone, anyone to show them the love of their Daddy God, I finally understood that I had missed a relationship with Jesus. I needed to know Christ and I didn’t. I had head knowledge but I didn’t know Jesus because I hadn’t experienced His presence and I didn’t know His heart or what He was passionate about.

My fist trip changed my life because it set me on a mission to know the heart of God and through knowing Christ I was finally healed from my past. He loved away all of my pain and that’s why now, nothing this world could offer would tempt me to not give God my all, because He gave me His all. Why do what I do? Because I can’t not. I love Jesus too much to not give all I have! His love makes it worth it! I follow the heart of God no matter where it takes me. Because as my dad says, “I have a holy addiction to His love!” And a big part of God’s heart is for the poor and fatherless! Psalms 68:5, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation.”

Love, Rebekah Bullen

At Large Missionary

Mission Critical International

Photos of Rebekah’s Ministry

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

In John 4 the disciples return from a food run. They had left their Master hungry and exhausted sitting next to a well but now they return to find Him speaking with a Samaritan woman, which was totally taboo, but they don’t have the nerve to ask Him, “What are you doing Jesus?” and then when she leaves strangely He doesn’t even seem anxious to eat the food they have brought Him. They urge Him to eat and His timeless reply is

John 4:32 “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”

Jesus had just shared a tender moment with a lost daughter of Eve and her life would never be the same again and the joy of that encounter and of fulfilling His Father’s mission was better than earthly food.

John 4:34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

I think about this passage all the time. When I look at my own life and ministry I can honestly say that the fuel for pressing harder and harder into the harvest comes from the joy of those tender moments where Jesus shows up, touches someone through me, and changes their life. Having a taste of that “kind of food” becomes a holy addiction that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world. I woke this morning thinking of and praising God for the almost countless “Jacob’s well” experiences that He has blessed me with in just the last few months and for the immense joy and motivation they bring to my life.

I think of the discouraged pastor in his 50’s who hugged me weeping after I preached at a pastor’s conference in Bogota, Colombia and said, “I love you. I came today under a heavy burden and the Holy Spirit has refreshed me through you.” Wow! Praise you Jesus!

I think of the young woman and her baby that I prayed for at the altar after preaching in a church in Medellin, Colombia who when I laid my hands on her and her baby she collapsed to the floor as I caught the baby and she gave her heart to Jesus. I later learned that she had never been in a church service before and had never heard the gospel before. She had gone to borrow some clothes from a neighbor and they had asked her to come with them to church and hear the American preacher… Only God…

I think of the woman that I “randomly” sat next to at a ministry meeting whom I had never met before who weeping promptly began to share with me her whole story of horrible abuse and neglect as she kept saying, “I don’t know why I am telling you all of this.” I knew. Jesus wanted to hear her story and give her living water because that’s what He does…

I think of the 16 year old boy accompanying me on a mission trip who broke down and fell into my arms weeping as he watched the Holy Spirit sweep across a church service in Colombia. That young man will never be the same.

I think of the discouraged pastor in his 30’s who wept out his hunger for God as I laid hands on him and prayed over him as he knelt on the board floor of a little church on stilts in a slum in Belize.

I think of the father of a missionary girl in Colombia who wet the front of my suit with his tears as he hugged me and wouldn’t let me go after a sermon I preached in Bogota, Colombia on missions.

I think of the drunk man with the big black eye who wet the front of my shirt with his tears as I held him and shared Jesus with him on the side of a road in Belize.

I think of the young man who hugged me and wouldn’t let me go at the end of a sermon I preached in one of the most violent prisons in the world in Medellin, Colombia. The tears on his glowing face evidence that he had tasted living water.

I think of the precious 20 year old pastor’s daughter in Sibate’, Colombia who after a miraculous night of ministry when her father asked her to join him in praying over me and my ministry broke down weeping and held onto me as she choked out her prayer between great sobs asking God to continue anointing me so that souls continue to be healed through my ministry as she had seen that night. How do you compare anything this world offers with that?

To His praise and glory alone and by His grace alone I could literally tell of dozens more of these tender moments in the presence of Jesus as He transforms, heals, loves, encourages, and restores lives that I have experienced and enjoyed just in the last few months… no drug, no sin, no bank account, no toy, no vacation, no fame, no fortune, nothing can compete with that. It’s a “kind of food” that the world doesn’t know about and the greatest prayer of my life is “Oh God give me more! Live your life through me! Quench their thirst!” This is what keeps me desperate for God. It’s a holy addiction I can’t live without… and neither could Jesus…

Matt Bullen

Executive Director

Mission Critical International

Mission Critical International is passionately pursuing Jesus on His mission among the nations and mobilizing others to join us in this holy adventure.

If you would like to help us you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

Mission Critical staff receive no income from the ministry but rather work and pray down their personal needs and travel expenses so 100% of your gift will go directly to support our missionary work around the world.

Sermon preached by Matt Bullen on June 11, 2015 in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

My eyes strained to adjust to the dim light; I could hear the laughter of little children, and I thought to myself “how could they find joy here?” I was standing in the most hellish place imaginable. It was a rat infested “hotel”, that smelled of urine and filth. It would be unimaginable for anyone to live in this place but what broke my heart was the knowledge that over forty children lived in these conditions. They slept in a pile of blankets because there was no beds and they ran around naked or with just underwear because they had nothing else.

To say we were taken aback by “Hotel Hell” as my dad called it would be an understatement but as we walked in we were greeted by the joy of the children that live there. I could see four sets of little eyes looking at us from under their filthy blankets lying on the floor and all we had to say was “Hola” and these beautiful children came running to meet us. They jumped into our arms and they wouldn’t let us put them down for the rest of the night.

Even while sharing a devotion about Jesus with the kids and passing out sandwiches and hot chocolate to all the residents, we held as many of the kids in our arms as we could at once. Nic Arnold, one of our team, danced with the little girls until he could barely stand. By the end of the night our arms felt like they were going to fall off but all I could think was how grateful I was that for one night I could be Christ’s arms to those sweet little children. He was able to hold His babies through us and I would not trade that for anything in this world. I also realized you can find God anywhere! Even in unbelievably horrible situations, He is there!

I am reading the story of a missionary to children who has experienced the horrors of war in Africa, and her story so reminded me of the presence of God even in pain. I want to close with a quote from her book “The Color of Grace” that illustrates what we saw in these children.

[quote]“I remember two little girls I spotted in Congo. They were holding hands when our team drove past them. They were covered in dirt and wore tattered dresses, and their feet were bare. Behind them stood a massive volcano that had erupted six years earlier and destroyed 40 percent of their city of Goma. Less than twenty kilometers to their left, warring rebel groups were fighting and people were dying in the crossfire. And what were these little girls doing? They were dancing. They were laughing and singing and radiating joy. Why? Because they had no idea they weren’t supposed to dance. They did not know they were supposed to be sad or unhappy. God was living inside them, amid all the destruction, and He was beaming from the inside out.”[/quote]

Love, Rebekah Bullen

At Large Missionary

Mission Critical International

Photos of Rebekah’s Ministry

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

I have never been to a prison in my life… let alone a prison known to be one of the most violent prisons in the world (inmates once played soccer there with a severed human head). Here we were just a little group of five Mission Critical International missionaries against this Goliath of 7,000 inmates. To say we were a bit nervous is a gross understatement but we marched in unsure of what we would find but confident that God was already there, waiting for us.

As we walked through I saw dozens and dozens of men… some were sitting, some playing basketball and various games, and some just stood in groups and stared at us. My dad Matt Bullen (Executive Director of Mission Critical) had been invited to preach and minister to the men in their weekly, inner prison church service. I was expecting to see a group of 20-30 men quiet, grave and uninterested in what we had to say. I expected them to solely be attending to get early release and for the service to be rough and spiritually dry. Being completely wrong has never given me more joy.

As we walked up the stairs to the chapel we could hear a great crowd praising God. I could hardly believe my eyes when I walked into a room filled with more than one hundred men worshiping in a way that I cannot even try to explain in words. These men were so full of love for God, it was written all over their faces. Some raised their hands, some were on their knees, and others were even jumping up and down filled with joy. I have never before experienced a worship service like this one. The Holy Spirit was heavy in the room as each man listened intently to Matt Bullen preach about Grace, Salvation and God’s heart for each of us. They clapped, shouted, cried, and praised God.

When the service ended each man came and shook our hands and some hugged us and thanked us earnestly for coming to visit them. Honestly I felt more at home in that little chapel in an infamous Colombian prison than in most Christian Churches I have attended in my life. The love they had for their Savior inspired me and even shamed me a bit. Most of these men came to Christ inside the prison but I have known Jesus for years and yet at times do not crave His presence like they do. I think we thought we were there to minister but in the end it turned out that we were the ones being ministered to.

Later we were informed that what we saw in the chapel was only 10 percent of the Christian community inside the prison that in total there were about 1,000 men that profess faith and participate in the weekly services throughout the prison’s 16 sections. I will never forget when one of the church leaders who himself is an inmate and former police officer told us “I used to be in the police force, but now I am a soldier in God’s army”. God touched all of our hearts that day and we left with smiles on our faces. It reminded me of the story in Luke 7 where the woman comes and washes Jesus’ feet in Simon’s house. As I saw the love of these wonderful sons of God and their joyful hearts I could not get out of my mind what Jesus said in verse 47… “I tell you, her sins–and they are many–have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

I hope to return soon and see more of what God is doing there, also to visit the women’s prison here and see what Jesus is up to there.

“Who here among us has not been broken? Who here among us is without guilt or pain? So oft abandoned by our transgressions. If such a thing as grace exists then grace was made for lives like this. There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God” -Orphans of God by Avalon

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.

I was honestly scared to death as I stepped out of the crowded taxi and immediately smelled the stench of drugs, urine, trash and a lot of people who have not bathed in only God knows how long. Rosita (the head honcho of the street ministry and a very sweet friend), Alex , Omar, Karen, Carolina (all young adults who are part of the 50 kids we care for day in and day out) and I were back once again on the streets of Medellin hunting souls and meeting needs. But as always it is not a fairy tale setting, nor is it filled with beautiful people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and need saving. No, as we began unloading the boxes of sandwiches, hot chocolate, personal hygiene items and rice I couldn’t help but feel very nervous being literally surrounded by men, women and young teenagers who had obviously been living in the street for a very long time and who simply stared at us. Some eyes reflected curiosity, others contemplating the possibility of valuables to steal and still others held pure distain for the “do gooders” who were back again.

Our mission tonight was not exactly the streets but a “hotel”, if you can call it that, actually it was more like a cramped, wet, smoke filled, roach infested community drug house where over 150+ men, women and children live their lives day in and day out spending a very little amount to live there 24/7 and sometimes just pay for their children to live there alone and uncared for. Try to imagine the worst motel you have ever been in and then times that by 4.

The fear continued to grip my heart as I made my way to the staircase but soon vanished as I was met by three tiny brown faces smiling and yelling “Chocolate! Chocolate!” One little boy wrapped his arms around my neck and used me as a ride up the stairs. I am glad he knew how to hang on because I had a 20 gallon jug of hot chocolate in one hand and a 15 pound bag of rice in the other plus this little boy around my neck and walking upstairs, lets just say my physical strength was really being tested. As soon as we entered the door a flood of little 1-4 year old kids jumping up and down and asking to be held met us. Let me tell you a bit about these beautiful little kids. None of them were completely dressed. The majority only had some old dirty sweats on and no shoes, socks or shirts and the others were completely naked from head to toe. Every one was dirty and in serious need of a tissue. They were malnourished and had their faces, legs, and arms painted with Indian cultural markings and bleached hair. I will never forget the moment when Nancy (a little 2 year old girl) stood on her toes and stretched her arms up to me wanting me to hold her. I picked her up and was immediately sickened by the fact that her little sweats were completely soaked by her own urine. But at the same I was so happy and touched to see her little face smiling at me. She followed me around the rest of the night and I never was able to find out to whom she belonged.

We took some time to go room to room inviting everyone to come to the main patio (where they all individually cook over a “hole in the concrete” stove with wood and fire) to receive the gospel and food. We started with the kids by sharing “The shepherd who left the 99 to look for the one” Bible story and giving them chips, sandwiches, candy and hot chocolate. I had to hand feed the sandwich to a little one-year-old who weighed no more than 10 pounds tops (I am not exaggerating). She was tiny and was not able to feed herself. Afterwards we shared the gospel with the adults who behaved a lot worse than the children. The adults were fighting, arguing, yelling and cursing us but we were able to feed them as well.

All in all it was a very eye opening experience and I can’t wait to go back. It is not easy, especially seeing people live that way, and what is worse seeing children live that life. But instead of letting that damage my faith and cause me to complain to God about why He would allow those things to happen, it fuels my faith even more and my passion to pursue the broken and realize that God in His great love and mercy is using me to help these people and to help bring them to Himself. Of course we don’t always see the fruit of our labor right away or maybe never in this life, but I know God used us that night to plant a seed in their hearts and He is in charge of growing that seed, all we have to do is go where He leads us and love whomever He puts in front of us.

“Where You go I go, What You say I say, What You pray I pray, What You pray I pray. Jesus only did what He saw You do, He would only say what he heard You speak, He would only move when He felt You lead following Your heart, following Your spirit. How could I expect to walk without You when every move that Jesus made was in surrender I will not begin to live without You, for You only are worthy, You are always good. You are always good. Though the world sees and soon forgets, we will not forget who you are and what you’ve done for us, what you’ve done for us.” “Where you go I go”- Jesus Culture

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.

My heart soared as my feet touched Colombian soil again after five years. Five years was way too long! As we stood in what seemed like an endless line at immigration, I couldn’t wait to wrap my arms around my beloved brother Juan David and my sister Heidy. Juan David was waiting for us outside of the airport but it wasn’t until the next evening that I finally held Heidy in my arms. In that moment my heart erupted into praise to my heavenly Father for giving me a brother and sister. Even though I didn’t meet them until Heidy was thirteen and Juan David was ten, God always planned for us to be family. We are family!

I had so much fun just playing and watching movies together. Doing all the things families do together and I thought about how beautiful it will be when we reach heaven, when we will finally have a big family reunion. When there will be no goodbyes and nothing will ever separate us again. When I will finally see my heavenly Father face to face and I can stay in His presence forever with everyone I love with me. That is something to look forward to! And until then, my mission is to grow our family as much as I can! My desire for heaven is for it to overflow with the praises of my huge family!

I ask you to think of your family. Whom do you want to join you in heaven. Pray for them and enlarge your circle so as to bring even more to the thrown of God. Jesus loves your family more than you can imagine! He will do what you cannot.

Love, Rebekah Bullen

At Large Missionary

Mission Critical International

Photos of Rebekah’s Ministry

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

I have not been able to write for quite a while but today I just wanted to shout out to all who read this and say thank you again for your support. It has more effect than you could ever imagine and I just wanted to say that God is working like crazy here in Medellin Colombia. Currently we are working on several different projects including starting a fish farm in the coast so that the ministry (Jucum-YWAM) can be self-sustaining as far as feeding our 48 kids. The land for the fish farm is super expensive but God is providing and we are hoping that we will be able to get it up and running in a couple of months so that we no longer have the problems we have had in the past of running out of food, God in His awesomeness provided every time and always does but this is one way that we can work to insure that the kids have a constant food supply. We are still currently praying for support and consistent provision for the STAFF meals, there are about 25 people that eat their meals here at the house everyday and sometimes there is no food for us either, for example today there was no lunch or dinner but one thing I LOVE about this ministry is that whenever something is lacking the first place we all go is to our knees. God is our #1 provider and He is always looking out for us and as always He provided lunch for all of us today. The director of the ministry is leaving today for the coast were they are building a school for over 30 children who have never gotten any kind of education before now, she hopes to finalize the work there so that the children can begin attending school and learning. After they finish working there in Ure (the town where the school is) they will be going to different parts of the coast to encourage pastors who have been persecuted for their faith. I truly wanted to be a part of this trip but unfortunately it is very unsafe for Colombians let alone a U.S citizen to go there. But I know that no danger can stop the power of prayer and I really ask that all my readers would join me in praying for our two directors Enith and Silia who will be spending the next week with these pastors in the coast.

Another Praise is that God is really opening the doors for me to be a part of other mission trips and ministry going on not only in Colombia but also possibly in Cuba.
This year I am praying for the funds to be a part of the next Mission Critical Mission trips in April and May in different parts of Colombia, I am not only praying for the funds but also because I will be gone almost the entire month of May. Jucum in Medellin is struggling with the lack of personnel to do all the daily work required here. I am hoping to find at least a replacement for me so that I will not leave them hanging without any help. One of the biggest needs here are willing hands and feet. If there are any young people who are interested in serving in ministry for a month, two months or even a year with children much more please feel free to message Mission Critical through our contact page and I will be glad to send them more information about all that we do here.

Also another possible Mission opportunity that I am currently praying about is a mission trip to Cuba in December, I am praying because when I heard about it I felt compelled to pray and seek god about the possibility of being a part of the team that will be going to Cuba to encourage and support Persecuted churches, pastors and Christians that are currently suffering greatly. I am going to look deeper into this and pray more about it to see what God has for me, Also I have more information about it if anyone else is interested.

And last but not least I am praising God for all the amazing work He is currently doing in Mission Critical, this year we have the opportunity to travel and minister in several different parts of the world and carrying Jesus’ love to the lost and also encourage the needy. On my part specifically we are praying that when I end my time here in Medellin at the end of July I will be heading back to Bogota Colombia and begin the first building blocks of the dream that has been in the heart of Mission Critical for the past 5 years, starting our own house for young adults who are ineligible to live in government institutions and are in need of a safe place to live, work, study but most importantly live and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ and fulfill His plans for their lives …. Their personal Mission Critical.

Thank you all again and as always PRAYER is worth more than gold, Mission Critical is a ministry completely sustained by prayer and that is what we crave the most. 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.

“Aunty Rebekah! I want to go to school!” “Papi Mateo! Please send me to school!”

When was the last time you heard a child beg to go to school. In America we find it hard to believe a child would want to go to school, let alone beg to go. Yet I know so many children just waiting and praying for an opportunity to go to school but they can’t go. I met a man in Africa that would run for three hours every morning to get to school as a boy. He would leave his home at 4:00 am every day. Can you image having to just walk that long, not even run! With this great of a desire for something worth wanting, it breaks my heart to know so many children that can’t reach their dream of just going to school because of finances. I know I can’t help every child but I do want to share a couple of stories with you of children God has allowed me to send to school.

Meet my sisters and brother,

God has given us the great privilege of adopting Ginary & Heidy & Juan David into our family. Ginary grew up in the orphanages and on the streets of Bogota, Colombia. She came to our family at age 14 and we could not be more blessed than to have her in our family. Ginary is a nail technician and is going to college in Colombia.

Heidy, grew up in the orphanages and on the streets of Bogota, Colombia as well. She came to our family at age 13. Heidy is a joy and delight to everyone who knows her. She is an accomplished artist and has a beautiful singing voice. Heidy is in school in Colombia and wants to work in the ministry with her family someday.

Juan David, grew up in the orphanages and on the streets of Bogota, Colombia as well. He came to our family at age 10. Juan David is the first orphan we met on their first day of our first trip to Colombia. Juan David is going to high school in Bogota Colombia.

Meet Esteban,

My dad and sister met Esteban on a preaching tour in Colombia in April, 2014. He and his brother were abandoned by their father at a young age and their mother was struggling to keep a roof over their head and couldn’t keep him in school. With your help we were able to fully pay his school for 2014 and 2015. Below is the link to a video he sent us recently. If you play it to the end you can see his sweet thank you message.

Meet Anderson,

My dad met Anderson while preaching in Medellin, Colombia. Anderson is a young seminary student preparing for the ministry who was sitting out a semester because of a lack of funds. We were able to pay for his semester so that someday he can stand and preach the word of God to the people of Colombia! Please pray for Anderson as we have not been able to help him again this semester and so he is currently sitting out this semester again.

Meet Pastor Ndagijimana Jean de Dieu’s son,

My dad and I met pastor Jean for the first time in Rwanda, Africa in January. I immediately felt the love of God in His whole family and when he told us He hadn’t been able to send his son to high school because he didn’t have the $200.00 USD, I knew we had to help. Pastor Jean’s son plays all the music for their church and has one of the most sweetest smiles I have ever seen. I am so blessed to have been able to help this amazing family.

Meet Morris,

I never had the chance to meet Morris but I learned about him from Mrs. Liboma, a very good friend of mine in Zambia, Africa. Morris is a next door neighbor of Mrs. Liboma, whose father has abandoned him and his invalid mother. What touched me most about Morris’s story was that Mrs. Liboma cared so much for him because he has the condition of Dwarfism as does Mrs. Liboma’s granddaughter. Through Mrs. Liboma we were able to send Morris to high school. Praise God.

Your continued support for this ministry and the work that God continues to send my father make it possible for these young people to get an education. They are the future of the kingdom’s expansion throughout the world! Please pray for us as every day we meet more young people like these with no expectations, working hard, but just not able to get the education they need and deserve.

Thank you,

Rebekah Bullen

Missionary to the world with Mission Critical International!

To the praise of my Beloved Savior

Photos of Rebekah’s work in Africa

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

Everyone tells you, “When God closes a door, He always open a window” or “God’s timing is best”, and in your heart you want to believe them, but deep down in places you don’t even want to admit to yourself, you are afraid God isn’t going to come through for you. You’ve seen God be faithful in the lives of your family and friends but you’re not sure He cares for you enough to be bothered to show up in your life. You just know you’ve messed up your life enough times that God’s closed His ears to your prayers and you will have to figure this out for yourself.

I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore as I had to tell one more of my beloved friends, no, beloved family, why I had to leave the place I had called home for two years to start over somewhere else. I told them “God has a plan and He is calling me somewhere else”, and I knew in my heart I was telling the truth but in my heart of hearts I wondered what I had done wrong. You tell yourself “God doesn’t ask you to do something that hurts so bad or causes others such pain, so this is not of God.” “You’re just mistaken.” “You messed up and what you feel now are the consequences.” But Praise God! This is not the end of my story!

As my eyes looked over the rolling landscape of the country of Rwanda, I realized I was making all of this about ME. I was mad at God because my life wasn’t going the way I wanted it to go. I was angry because my plan of what I thought a missionary’s life was supposed to look like was not coming to pass. I wanted to get married and raise my children in Zambia, Africa. I wanted a safe life! Most people reading this will laugh at me but for me that was a safe life. I wanted the life I had already figured out. The life with no surprises or possibilities of mistakes. But God! I love that phrase! But God! had other plans for my life. His plan for me is much bigger than I was willing to believe and I am just starting to see a glimpse of that plan. Spending five days in Rwanda and seeing God show up for us in ways I had only dreamed about until now was just part of what I now know God wants to do in my life.

For now I know God wants me to assist in starting Mission Critical’s first headquarters in Bogota, Colombia and a house in Rwanda for orphans called Mercy’s House after my beloved adopted sister Mercy. But I know He has so much more in store for me and I am ready for the adventure!

After reading my story I hope you believe that God’s unending faithfulness and grace is for you! God is never deaf to the prayers of His beloved servants! And God always opens a door when He closes a window in your life!

Rebekah Bullen

Missionary to the world with Mission Critical International!

To the praise of my Beloved Savior

Photos of Rebekah’s work in Africa

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to support Rebekah’s missionary work around the world.

2014 was an amazing year. One of the best in my personal life. A year of redemption, new passion and dreams for the future. This year God brought me back and gave me a chance to start doing what it is He put me on this earth to do. After running away as hard as I could for two years God intervened and would not allow me to run anymore. I could no longer run from the knowledge that God was calling me to a higher purpose. As Christians we are called to what the modern church calls “The Great Commission” Matthew 28:19 and for years Christians heroes have been going through the whole world sharing the gospel with boldness no matter what the cost even if that cost is their lives. Unfortunately Christianity has turned into a comfortable religion instead of a way of life. “Most churches and ministries are working in the Commission but not the Great commission” – Enith Diaz. Having grown up my whole life in church I can say with authority that the modern idea of what it is to be a Christian is down right tragic.

Something I read recently struck my heart, it said “Some Christians haven’t even thought about whether they would die for Christ because they haven’t really been living for Him” Jesus Freaks, DC Talk. I will tell you that really made me rethink my life, my roll as a Christ follower and my idea of what it is to be a part of the Great commission. Thanks to God he opened my eyes just a tiny bit more this year. When God finally broke my pride and brought me back to Colombia in April I had no idea I was gonna spend the rest of my life here, but you know, there is absolutely no place I would rather be and nothing I would rather be doing than giving everything I have for the one who gave His everything for me. I am now living the life I was called to. And I would encourage everyone reading this DO NOT run from whatever it is He has put in your heart to do. WE ARE ALL called as followers of Christ, as His kids, as part of His family to go and spread that love and spirit to everybody we possibly can. THAT is what it means to live. We are of another world, this is only our temporary home and nobody is promised tomorrow. Choose to obey now.

My personal dream and my hope for all of you is that we can come to our end the same way Paul did and be able to say “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

So blessed to be here, so blessed to be doing what I was born to do… Who is it that God is using you to speak to? who is it that God put in your life that needs Him? What is it that God put in your heart to do with your life? Just something to think about. As always, A HUGE thank you to all you who support us in prayer and financially. It means so much more than you can ever imagine. I could not do this without all of you.

“Don’t let your light go down, don’t let your fire burn out cause somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe, why don’t you rise up now? Don’t be afraid to stand out… Thats how the lost get found” Britt Nicole-Lost get found

To see what God did in 2014 and where He is taking Mission Critical in 2015 please watch the video below.

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.

Little hands stretched as high up in the air as they could go. Her little voice crying softy but as strong as she could, “Mommy, Mommy”. My little niece desires to be held any time I can hold her but especially when she thinks I am going somewhere. Anytime I head in the direction of the door, she will start waddling after me calling “mommy” instead of auntie because she doesn’t want me to leave her. Aerowyn trusts and loves me completely. She trusts me to hold her, feed her, care for her and protect her. She wants to spend every minute possible with me. Aerowyn doesn’t wait for me to come find her, she follows me every where I go.

Every time I spend time with my niece who is one year old, I think of Jesus and what He said about children. “Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”Matthew 19:13-14. As well as, “Matthew 18:2-5, He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” As I read these passages I ask myself, “Do I trust God as Aerowyn trusts me”? “Do I follow Jesus where ever He goes”? “Do I look to see where He is at and do I run after Him? “Do I stretch out my arms to be held by my Beloved Father”?

I am committed to trust my Beloved Jesus and Father with the faith of a child. I am devoted to working at having childlike faith every day. What about you? Will you have faith and trust in Jesus like a child? He is worth trusting. He is able to keep you and care for you like no one else can.
“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.” ’ Numbers 6:24-26

I am personally trusting in God right now for a supernatural mission trip with my dad to Zambia and Rwanda Africa. Please pray with me for support and Holy Spirit power on these trips.

Love,

Rebekah Bullen

Photos of Rebekah’s work in Zambia

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to Rebekah in Zambia.

I grew up in church… a good PK and as such I had one simple job to do.. be perfect, sweet, and make sure to set a flawless example for all the church to see. My main goal was to grow up leading Bible studies with all the young “maidens in waiting” of the church body because “youth group” was out of the question and one day marry a perfect young man who would become a pastor when he was 16 years old and spend the majority of his time locked away in his library studiously pouring over theology books while I made baked goods in the kitchen of our town house with the whitewashed picket fence and watched our ten children play with their Atlas and puzzles. Lets just say I was the ultimate teenage bigot. But sadly when you live under a mountain of self-inflicted expectation and constant failure to accomplish it eventually causes you to hate yourself and anyone else who does not live up to the impossible standards that you yourself are drowning in. I remember growing up hearing about grace and about how “nothing you could ever do would make God love you any less”.. now I am not here to preach theology to anyone.. trust me I know how much I still need to learn but lets just say grace was for weak christians who couldn’t “keep it together” in my opinion and I refused to be one of “those people”.

Anyway to save on paper and to not put my readers to sleep I will skip ahead a couple of years. At 19 the once perfect saint was now a tattooed, pierced, smoker who wouldn’t dare step foot onto a church’s front lawn let alone attend. A girl who once believed being a christian meant being better than everyone else now spent her days working, smoking, and crying herself to sleep every night. I won’t go into all the details of those horrible days but I can write this with a smile on my face because God did not let that little girl stay there. Through many hard lessons she was finally able to learn and understand what Jesus was saying in Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor–sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” and it was my greatest joy last Friday night to share that with over 100 or so young men and women in a city park with some paper and colors.

Six of us went out to what is, in my opinion, one of the scariest parks in Boston Medellin. Lets just say its where all the gangs, addicts and hustlers like to hang out day and night. And I could feel the nervousness of every one of my companions as we sat down to play some music and sing right in the middle of it all. We brought with us pens, paper, paint, and all kinds of markers and our strategy was to break the ice by inviting anyone who wanted to “express themselves” by drawing or writing whatever they wanted. To my amazement it worked! I don’t know if it was the influence of the alcohol or weed but these kids LOVED the idea and in less than 30 minutes we had a huge group drawing, singing, playing instruments and listening to us share the gospel with them. One girl in particular I remember was Viviana, she was a beautiful 22 year old girl who was so touched by what we were doing that she asked me and another friend if we would sit down with her. I could feel her pain as she cried on my shoulder and poured her heart out to us. She wanted to know Jesus, she wanted to change and I know that God did something in her heart that night the same way He did it in mine. He is so amazing and we were able to share His story and His love with so many young people that night. I saved the papers with all the drawings and notes they wrote so that I will never forget that night, that experience and never again forget why and for WHOM Jesus came and died.

So blessed to be here, so blessed to be doing what I was born to do… Who is it that God is using you to speak to? who is it that God put in your life that needs Him? What is it that God put in your heart to do with your life? Just something to think about. As always, A HUGE thank you to all you who support us in prayer and financially. It means so much more than you can ever imagine. I could not do this without all of you.

“Wash my heart and make it clean, open up my eyes to things unseen, show me how to love like You have loved me” Hosanna, Hillsong

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.

“At least Auntie Rebekah is coming back and we will see her again” said Patricia with a tear in her eye. I was sitting on the porch the night before my flight back to the States with my arms wrapped around Patricia trying not to cry as all the children and our house mothers begged me not to go.

I hate good byes of any kind but saying good bye to these kids here at Project Samuel is especially hard because they see so many people come into their lives only to leave and never return and so they have a hard time believing you will be different. I knew with all my heart I had to take some time off because of my health but the longer I am away from these kids the more that God confirms my calling and that these children need me to show them His love.

“Auntie Rebekah read to me please, Auntie Rebekah help me with my home work, Auntie Rebekah play with me”. This is what I miss so much when I must leave our beloved children at Project Samuel. Every second I am away from them I pray God keeps them until I can hold them in my arms again.

Feeling like I do makes Luke 11:13 so hard to believe and yet so beautiful. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give good gifts to you who ask.” If I love these children so much and I am willing to give so much to them, how much more does God love me and these children and what will He not do for us?

Pray for me as I start raising support for next year as well as my plane ticket back. I know God will provide for all my needs and I will soon have my arms around our sweet children!

Love,

Rebekah Bullen

Photos of Rebekah’s work in Zambia

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to Rebekah in Zambia.

The lump in my throat was growing bigger as I fought to keep the tears from pouring down my face. Hearing the story of this beautiful 20 year old girl’s life of prostitution and seeing how she scarfed down the little food that we had to give was almost too hard to bear. God completely opened my eyes to see and feel His heart for the countless beautiful women young and old who spend their lives on the streets selling themselves to feed themselves and their children. But let me start from the beginning…

When I first met Enith, coordinator of Jucum Medellin, I fell in love with her and the amazing ministry that she founded here helping support and care for the children of desperately poor families who have no way of supporting themselves let alone their kids. But then I later learned that caring for the children is only one branch of the unbelievable ministry that they do here. Another branch is the “chocolate y pan” street program which ministers physically and spiritually to the homeless that eat, sleep and live their lives on the street corners of Medellin Colombia. I had been eagerly waiting for my chance to serve and be a part of what God was doing in the lives of these people through a simple cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich and finally the day came. I received a call from Rosita (coordinator of the street ministry) last Wednesday telling me that they were going out that night and I was invited. I was ecstatic, but of course, as it always goes, suddenly a whole laundry list of things I still had to do came flooding into my mind, “Laundry needs to be taken off the drying line and put away and the rest washed and hung up, Wednesday is my day to make dinner for the staff house, gotta make the dinner, serve it and then clean the kitchen all before 7:30…” A bit of a panic set in as I rushed to finish all my responsibilities before heading out. But still I was excited to finally be a part of something I had heard about all my life and finally here was my chance. But of course with all dreams comes the fear factor… I was definitely feeling it as I was rushing to prepare dinner for everyone. I was stressing and hurrying to make the sandwiches that were already late because of some complications with the purchase of the food. I was thinking about how long it would take to get it on the table and to clean the kitchen with people constantly coming in and out. While all this was passing through my mind another little demon decided to try and rob me of my joy and excitement. “What am I gonna say to these people? It’s super dangerous… what if something bad happens? your Spanish is still growing… what if you can’t speak what God wants you to say? How can you possibly help other people when your own heart isn’t feeling up to par? It’s a waste of time… nobody is going to be truly touched by this.. better to just stay home and get some extra sleep” I have to admit as I was drying the last of the losa (dishes) and putting them in their place a bit of discouragement was trying desperately to creep into my soul. I put my rag down on the counter and looked at the ceiling… now we all know that God does not live in the ceiling but still I felt I was looking at Him, I simply prayed softly for God to give me the right heart, to take away the fear and to not send me if He was not coming with me. (Exodus 33:15)

Well, as He always does God came through in a miraculous way, we gave away over 150 ham sandwiches and 60+ gallons of hot chocolate to the 13-50 year old women who stand outside the casinos and motels trying to earn money by selling their bodies to put food on the table. As we walked down the streets offering food, a listening ear, prayer and the gospel to anyone who would listen I couldn’t help but think of my two Colombian sisters Heidy and Ginary. I was so grateful that they were safe and protected from a life like this, that God had brought them into our lives and provided the funds to support them and put them through school. But as I was thinking these things I felt God softly say to me, “All of these people are somebodies sister, mother, brother, son or daughter and above all they are Mine.” God broke my heart that night as we stood in little prayer circles and interceded on behalf of these beautiful people. God has put a new passion in my heart for exploited women and children.

Matthew 5:3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs”.

“I will proclaim good news to the lost, protect at any cost the weak, abused and storm tossed for I have been called to spread His name abroad, stripping down the chipped facade give my life for the cross.. so help me God” Jana Bullen – Purchased.

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.

“Auntie Rebekah, Auntie Rebekah!” I heard Lovemore call from the door as he was knocking. “I am asking for a school book because I want to go to school today!”, was his request. I couldn’t hold back a smile when I saw that he had dressed himself in a pretend school uniform. I felt like I was crushing his little dream when I told him he had to wait until January to go to school because he is only five.

Lovemore has been infatuated with the idea of going to school all year but his desire was enhanced on Sunday when we held a party for our older children to celebrate their grades in school.

After church last Sunday we were invited to come to the Destiny Training Center for a party the children had organized. They had asked me to bake a cake for them but every thing else they had planned themselves. We were seated, and with a queue from Lizzy, Daniel, the designated DJ, started the first song and all the kids came in the door paired with a partner dancing what looked very similar to a line dance.

After three sets of dances and a presentation all organized by Lizzy, all the children introduced themselves and told us their grade and position in class. We had a short time of praise and worship, then enjoyed a delicious meal and chocolate cake. All our children had a role to play at the event and I was so excited to see Alick take up the job of being our photographer.

I am very proud of all our children’s diligence in all areas of their life. As in Lovemore’s case, it is encouraging to see that our older children’s dedication in school and serving each other has inspired him.

Love,

Rebekah Bullen

Photos of Rebekah’s work in Zambia

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

If you would like to help Rebekah you can mail a check to:

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

or give online below.

100% of your gift will go to Rebekah in Zambia.

Sitting across the breakfast table from me she looked as if she could not figure me out. Sipping her coffee, she seemed to be studying me pretty intently. I must admit I felt a bit uncomfortable, ha ha. I had only been living in Medellin for about a week and was still getting used to the new group of people I was going to work with and live with. A group of us all live together in a sort of college dorm theme. We all eat together and have our different duties to help with the house up keep and cooking. Anyway, Vivianna, after a long staring contest, finally asked me if I was going to go with them to the “Brigade”… I was like… what is that? She laughed a bit and then told me “The health brigade, we go to little villages and share the gospel and help people” I was like…. YOU BETTER KNOW that I am FOR SURE going!

After a ton of planning and packing and waiting and working and praying and… you get the idea, we were finally on the road to Santa Rosita, a tiny little village out in the middle of nowhere where the closest store, let alone hospital, is an hour drive by car away. The people who live there are both physically and spiritually starving. Clean water is non-existent and food is difficult to come by, especially when every family has at least 4 children per household. We were in the bus for 10 hours before we finally pulled up on this tiny village full of excited, beautiful faces and so started the next four days of serving and sharing God’s love and story with His precious creations.

Below is a video I made from the trip. Our team of professionals were able to provide every type of medical exam and medication including psychological health. Our evangelistic group went from house to house telling families about Jesus and sharing the word with them, many were lead to Christ through these visits, one man after accepting Christ came to me and another lady and sang us a beautiful song about Jesus, he had an amazing voice and I was completely blown away, after singing for us he continued praising God as he walked through the little village.

As you can see from the pictures I was the favorite entertainment for over 100 kids and spent the entire 3 days playing, singing, doing puppet shows, dancing and playing goalie for the soccer team… my poor ribs LOL. It was an AMAZING time, check out the video to get a glimpse of what God was up to recently in Colombia. Blessings AS ALWAYS PLEASE PRAY!!!! and to all those who have given financially, thank you so much for making all this possible.

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.

After we finally got all the bags and endless cases of water to the hotel and up the stairs Oscar and I finally had a moment to sit down and have something to eat. We had both experienced a pretty rough two weeks beforehand and were just hours away from heading to the airport to pick up the rest of the Mission Critical team. Poor Oscar had run so hard he was super sick that day so we decided to just sit and be lazy for once until finally it was time.

We met some pastor friends and my Colombian brother Juan David and sister Heidy and were able to reconnect and talk while waiting for everybody else. After luggage and pictures and a crazy bus ride to the hotel we all finally found ourselves sitting around enjoying some Colombian dinner.

I was super happy to see everyone, it had been almost three months since seeing them and to a family that is so close three months seems like an eternity. So after sharing some stories and meeting some new friends (Stephanie, a wonderful woman of God and missionary to Peru) we hit our beds for some rest before a long two weeks ahead.

The first foundation we visited was a little soup kitchen for hungry children in a rough part of Bogota. The foundation was started by a little husband and wife and they feed lunch to the neighboring children every week day. The kids call them Abuelita and Abuelito (granny and grandpa), It was amazing to spend time with them and witness the selfless, endless work of this little old lady and her few helpers feeding God’s little children. We spent time with the kids coloring and playing with the soccer balls and Frisbees we brought with us. It was a blessing and also incredibly humbling to be a part even if for only one day.

The next place we visited was a house called Colombia Chiquita. I had been here before in the past and was excited to be able to come back after almost 3 years. Colombia Chiquita is a foundation that houses and protects several children from all age groups. I dont have space to write about all of it but the founder of the ministry is a sweet lady with a huge heart for children.

After being hit by a bus years ago, losing her leg and being in a coma for quite a while she was forced to walk on crutches the rest of her life. One day when she was walking down the street a little boy stole her crutches and began to run away, when she asked the boy why he would steal a crippled woman’s crutches his response broke her heart. He was stealing them to sell because he was starving, and that day she decided that she would do everything to make sure him and kids like him would never go hungry again. We were able to encourage them and love on the kids the entire day playing, coloring and just spending time. Please be in prayer for them, we were able to help with what we had but they are struggling financially to continue living in their current home and continue caring for these precious kids.

The third place we visited was a house for young, pregnant mothers or young mothers with their babies called Asociación Cristiana Nuevo Nacimiento. This by far was one of my favorite places and I was overjoyed to be able to reconnect with a girl that I have known for years and visited and prayed for when she was in a different institution and still pregnant. I was finally able to meet her son and spend some time talking and praying for her. The house was full with other young mothers and the sweetest little babies in the world. We were able to spend some time with each group of girls and share stories and the gospel with them. It was an amazing day.

I know if I continue to write more people won’t read it cause of the length lol but these are only three of the seven institutions alone that we visited not even mentioning the churches. There is a great need here and God has not let me or my family rest since He brought it to our attention five years ago.

The day after the trip ended I moved to Medellin to work with Jucum, (Youth with a mission) in their branch in Medellin. I work 4 days a week 12 hours a day with the children who are being raised here. There are 43 of them and they are precious. Each one comes from the poorest of the poor places and are either orphans or their families live in such desperate conditions that the children are unable to live with them. And when I am not with the children I am working helping prepare for the brigade we are leaving for tomorrow. We are going to a place called Santa Rosita a tiny little place that is barely on the map. It is not a town, or a city, it is a bunch of houses with over 1,000 people in the middle of nowhere. These 1,000 people live in what is considered extreme poverty, physically and spiritually and we are going for four days to do what we can about that and bring God’s love to them. We need so much prayer, I cannot stress the importance of prayer enough. Please everyone who reads this make a commitment to pray for me and for Jucum every day, especially for the next 4 days. God bless you all.

 
[quote] “I’ll follow You into the homes of the broken, I’ll follow You into the world… to meet the needs of the poor and the needy, God… I’ll follow You into the world” – Leeland[/quote]
 

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 much has been happening the last few weeks, I believe in my last blog I was about to go work on yet another Berakah retreat. As always the retreat was beautiful and I was super blessed to see some of the girls from our Thursday night Bible studies being ministered to and receiving the love of God there. I was not part of the ministering team this time because more hands were needed in the kitchen cooking, cleaning and taking care of the physical needs of all 115 women there. I love working in the kitchen, it is absolutely exhausting and the work seems endless but I love it, the joy that giving all you have to help others brings is inexplicable in words. Even though I was not spending as much hands on time with the women I was still able to minister and encourage several young girls that attended. God used me to speak to one girl in particular several times. Caroline was very unsure about wanting to attend the weekend and had decided not to go but thanks to His grace God used me to convince her to sign up at the last minute and was able to share the gospel with this struggling girl the entire three days. Caroline is a functioning lesbian and addict but no sin compares with the love of Jesus Christ He surpasses all other desires, sins, passions and addictions. Asking for continuous prayer for these precious girls.

Not long after the retreat I finished my time at Berakah and the time came to say goodbye. It was a bitter/sweet parting, bitter because I immensely enjoyed working with the kids in Berakah, teaching english and gaining more brothers and sisters, needless to say it was hard to say goodbye. But it was also sweet because not long after my family (Dad, Mother, Sister) came with another mission team to work with even more children and reconnect with old relationships while building new ones. In the last week and a half we have visited 6 institutions and two churches and still have not finished yet. It has been beautiful, I have loved it. Along with Oscar Useche (our General Colombian Director/future family member) my family and I came Stephanie (an American missionary to Peru) and Nick (Mission Critical board member’s son). The trip has been amazing, and I will give everyone a full update soon. Prayers as always are craved and seriously petitioned. Thank you to everyone who continues to support Mission Critical financially and spiritually. You are all a part of what we do here. As always God has something He wants to do with your life, your existence on this earth is not an accident or a road that ends safely at death, God is calling you. Go.

 
[quote] “I don’t want to go through the motions, I don’t want to go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me, I don’t want to spend my whole life asking… what if I had given everything??” The Motions Matthew West.[/quote]
 

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.

This morning we were blessed to preach at a wonderful church in the city. Juan David was able to come and Pastor Miguelito is one of the sweetest men I have ever met. It was such a joy and privilege to be with this precious church. We will be having lunch with Pastor Miguelito on Thursday to talk about future ministry ideas together. Praise the Lord!

Three of the members of Oscar’s band lead the worship there and it was one of the most moving and powerful worship experiences I have ever had in Colombia. The music and the passion were amazing! I was so filled and blessed. Near the end of the song service they started playing the first few chords of the song Miracle Maker which is one of my favorite songs and I was thinking, “Oh no you are not playing that right now!” My sermon this morning was Recipe for a Miracle… Ha ha. I had never heard the song in Spanish and it was marvelous.

Oscar and I preached our hearts out and God blessed it with many responding to the Spirit. There are too many stories to tell them all but one especially blesses me. There was a man sitting in front of our daughter Heidy who when I gave the invitation for prayer fell to his knees at his seat and was crying out to the Lord. Heidy felt compassion for him and went and knelt and prayed with him. He was so moved and so thankful that after he couldn’t quit smiling. She brought him to me so I could meet him and his face was radiant. I know the Lord touched him and touched Heidy too.

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon hanging out with our Colombian kids and the team. We have had the most wonderful trip so far and there is still much to come. Praise God! We love you all.

This morning we had the amazing privilege of participating the the first baptism service for a new church. Two new converts, Nihima and Anita, came to be baptized. We had a worship service and Pastor Hector brought a stirring message about the meaning of baptism and then it was time. How wonderful to see the joy and excitement in the faces of these precious daughters of God as they came in obedience to the command of their Lord to publicly announce that they have chosen to follow Jesus into death and into new life. After the baptism service we had a wonderful lunch and a long nap. Then we shared dinner and rested and enjoyed our free time. Another new experience in this beautiful country that has gripped our hearts so strongly.

This morning we visited our dear friends at Mision Berakah and their school, Fundacion Emaus. We enjoyed an amazing presentation about the history of Colombia by the children of Emaus. Cute doesn’t quite get there when describing these precious children and amazing doesn’t quite describe the amount of work the staff and volunteers went to put this on. It was spectacular.

After the presentation we enjoyed a meal and some quality time with our friend Pastor Henry Castillo. They have been going through some tough persecution and we were able to encourage him and be encouraged by him. Their church building holds about 150 people but they have 1000 people on Sunday mornings so they meet in the park and put up fiesta tents and preach in the park. Their enemies have been bringing the police down on them week after week even though they went through all the proper channels and had the proper permits. Every Sunday for 2 months Pastor Henry has been preaching in the park under the pressure of possible arrest. Another exciting thing is that Pastor Henry recently returned from an incredible ministry trip to Cuba and has invited me to go with him on the next trip!

After lunch we visited the fledgling foundation of a friend of Oscar’s called Fundacion Busqueda y Rescate (Search & Rescue Foundation). Oscar’s friend also named Oscar, his wife and his mother started this ministry to help street children 4 years ago and it grew to 100 children. They were meeting in a church building but then the church sold the building and they were left with no place to meet so they had to find a place they could afford. They all work regular jobs and do the ministry in between. They rented a little shack in an alley and started papering the board walls and painting and they just started back with being able to have children there. From the outside it was unimaginable that 25 children could really be inside learning about Jesus but there certainly were and I was so moved to see their sweet faces and realize that these were precious souls. Oscar and his mom continued explaining and apologizing for the little shack and it was obvious that they have been literally working night and day to get it ready. I told Oscar that I was so impressed and inspired and that they had nothing to apologize for. I told him they were carving souls out of the rock and it was awesome. He broke down weeping and I held him in my arms and prayed over him until he recovered. What a precious little family and ministry. He briefly told me a tiny bit of his story of how he had been a Satanist, drug thug, and part of a vampire cult in Bogota for 10 years before God miraculously saved him and that is why he has such a passion to reach these children for Jesus before they get old enough to follow that life. We had an amazing and blessed time with them. We sang and colored and gave them gifts. It was so blessed and powerful. We will be locking arms with this precious ministry.

After our devotion and prayer time this morning we set out for a Christian home for pregnant or nursing teen girls, some as young as 12. Most are orphans. Most were raped or victims of incest. We didn’t take photos because many of the girls are under witness protection or are being sought by their abusers. In their words there are 163 “lives” in this home counting mothers, unborn babies, and babies and toddlers. If it wasn’t for this ministry these girls would be on the street.

Almost immediately upon entering we saw two girls that we have tried to help over the years and are very dear to our family, Luisa & Hasbleidy. Huge smiles broke across their faces and we hugged and laughed so happy to see each other again. Luisa has a 2 year old boy and Hasbleidy has a 2 year old boy and a baby girl.

I have been to this place before and had heard stories of the founder but was thrilled to finally meet her in person. She told us her story. She was a pastor’s daughter who rebelled against the faith and she and her husband lived in the drug scene. Over and over they would try to break free but would always fall back into that lifestyle. Finally one day they agreed they had to get out and so they went to her father’s church. Of course he had been praying and aching for years for them to come to Christ and when they walked through the front door of the church he broke down and wept and wept. She wept telling us about it all these years later. They threw themselves into the church the same with the same passion they had gone after evil. Soon her husband was in seminary and they were reaching out to the drug world they had come from. They started with 2 people sleeping in their living room and then 10 then 30 then 80 and they kept moving to larger places as God provided. Today they minister to thousands and this home is one of their many programs. Her husband died 11 years ago and she has continued and drastically expanded the work. God’s work in her life is so inspiring.

We spent several hours there sharing, singing, witnessing one on one, watching presentations, and just enjoying the girls and their babies and the staff. It was a very blessed time. Many deep conversations about Jesus and his love and forgiveness took place. Hasbleidy, who has been very close to our daughter Rebekah for years asked me to tell Rebekah how much she loves her and she thanked me that we keep coming and keep working to help all the children.

At one point the girls performed an amazing drama for us about forgiveness. It was stunning and there wasn’t a dry eye. They put this drama on once a year and we “happened” to be here today. Our friend Luisa, who has been to our home in Texas some years ago when we were trying to find a family to adopt her, was the main actor in the play and at the end when the cast came to take their bow, Luisa was smiling brightly and looking right at me in the crowd. With tears running down my cheeks I chuckled out loud in the direction of heaven. Yes Lord, you can bring friends from another continent on just the right day to see a little orphan girl’s annual performance and cheer her on. Yes you can. That’s Who You are.

We were very touched and blessed to be here today. We saw and heard things that will mark our souls for life and strengthen our resolve to give our lives to helping the least of these.

Our precious sister Stephanie from Trinity Angels in Peru brought our devotion today and it was stunning. I had asked her to share her story of how she came to be in Peru doing the miraculous work that she is doing there. She did indeed share her story and there wasn’t a dry eye among us. Thank you Stephanie for your heart. What a blessing to have her with us on this trip.

Today was a rest day for the team. We hung out, played games, made friendship bracelets, teased, laughed, and ate, ate, ate 🙂

Tomorrow we visit a home for pregnant or nursing teen girls, some as young as 12. Most are orphans. Most were raped or victims of incest. God loves these girls with a furious love and we will feel His Spirit very powerfully there tomorrow as well as the darkness that attempts to invade the place. Please be in prayer for our team as we love on and share the hope that is in Jesus with these precious girls. There will be no photos taken or shared at this place tomorrow because many of the girls are under witness protection or are being sought by their abusers.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support that allows us to be here and do what we do.

Today we visited our old friends at Colombia Chiquita. It was great to renew friendships and see and hear what God has done and is doing. We heard a few of the heartbreaking stories of the children that are being ministered to and discipled here. It made me glad that they have a place like this to go. One girl was badly burned by the rebels and when she, her brother, and her mother tried to escape on the river the rebels shot the bottom out of their boat. This girl and her brother survived but their mother drowned. When she first came to the orphanage 4 years ago she didn’t speak or eat for 4 months. Today she is grown up and works with the children herself. It was wonderful to hug her neck and see the joy in her face and know that Jesus has transformed her heart and life.

As predicted, it was precious to see the children’s faces light up when Lisa pulled two brand new soccer balls out of the bag. They squealed and ran to her trying to grab them out of her hands. There is a park across the street from the orphanage with a soccer field and so while lunch was cooking we took the kids there and played soccer and frisbee for several hours. This was a very special for these children. Heidy, Lisa, Stephanie, Liliana and I took turns watching the oh so sweet babies. It was a glorious morning. Another exciting development here is that my friend Esperanza who founded and runs this orphanage has invited me in the spring to come and preach in Baranquilla in 5 churches and on the radio and television for her pastor friends there. More opportunities to encourage the work of God in Colombia. Praise the Lord.

After a wonderful lunch we broke out the coloring books and crayons and candy and balloons and played and played. It’s hard to believe these beautiful children are abandoned and that tragedy has struck their lives. They are so loving and friendly and excited for the little bit of love that we can give them. I have been pretty sick on the trip so far and today was the worst but as I lay back on the couch one after another these precious children came over and showed me their drawing or told me a funny story or climbed in my lap and laid their head on my chest. Just a little love and a few very inexpensive gifts has made their week. I never tire of this and never will. Tomorrow we have a rest day and then on to more adventures. Thank you so much for the prayers. Lives are being changed and more than just the children’s and we know that you are holding the ropes for us.

We had a wonderful devotion and prayer time this morning after breakfast and then headed out to Soacha. We stopped and saw the wonderful progress that is happening at the Christian International Center in Soacha. They are building board by board and brick by brick a church, TV station, skate park, and school in the heart of the slum totally on faith. It is breathtakingly inspiring each time we come to see what God has done with Pastor Jordan and his team in this barrio.

We climbed and climbed up the mountain (at one point the van couldn’t make it with all of us so we got out and walked) and finally reach Altus de Cazuca. This neighborhood started from squatters fleeing the civil war. It is a collection of ramshackle buildings, huts, etc. They only have running water for one hour per week and so must collect all the water they will need for that week in that hour. 10 years ago a lady and her husband started a hot lunch kitchen to try and help the street children of Cazuca. Today she is known all over the mountain as Granny (Abuelita) and she feeds a hot lunch to 70 children a day. For most of these children this is the only hot meal they get each day. We arrived just before lunch and soon the place was swarming with activity. After letting them eat we broke out the coloring books, crayons, frisbees, and a couple of soccer balls and the fun was on. It never ceases to amaze me how love tears down all barriers. Despite the language and cultural barriers soon everyone was laughing and talking and hugging and snapping “muchas fotos”

We played and talked and loved for hours with these precious kids. They were so excited about us being there and asked us hundreds of questions. One little girl named Valentina probably 5 years old stole my heart immediately. She is the daughter of a teenage mom and it was obvious to me that she has no dad. She was climbing up the rocks and jumping off and I complimented her on her bravery. She smiled and giggled and ran down the rocks and jumped into my arms. I swung her around with a whoop and it was on! We played that game again and again until I couldn’t stand up anymore and we sat down and got her interested in coloring. Nic was the star of the frisbee time in the trail that passes for a street. It was so cute to hear all the little boys yelling Nicolas! Nicolas! And when the frisbee went on the roof the Bullen girls came through with circus style acrobatics to get it down! Later the ladies broke out the string and Brooke taught everyone how to make manillas (friendship bracelets) and the weaving, twisting, tying, and cutting was on. How precious these little lambs are. The places where they live we wouldn’t store our firewood in but God knows each of them and loves them with a furious love. There were tears and hugs and kisses when we had to say goodbye but we will be back and we will love on them again. Over dinner we shared what God is doing in us and our vision for the future. God is AWESOME!

Last night and today were times of blessed introductions and blessed reunions, introductions as Lisa and Beverly met Brooke’s beau Oscar and Ginary’s beau Sebastian for the first time and we really enjoyed our new friend Stephanie from Peru. What a kindred spirit she is. We told stories and laughed and cried and prayed and teased all day. And a day of blessed reunions in that Lisa, Beverly, Brooke, Heidy, Ginary, and Juan David were together for the first time in four years! Also we returned to the first church I ever preached at in Colombia and saw many old friends whom we love.

We had a marvelous time of celebration in the presence of the Holy Spirit and it was obvious that God was moving all day long. What a tremendous blessing to get to follow Jesus on His mission among the nations. I love our life. Oscar and I preached on The Price of Impact Ministry and listed 3 things that it requires, 1. Courage 2. Endurance 3. Vision. God really used it to touch hearts for which we are very grateful! Our friend Nic Arnold blessed me with his summation of his first day of his first ever mission trip and also shocked me with his photography skills. You’re hired Nic! 😉

We then had a wonderful lunch with our hosts and then a restful “family” afternoon at the hotel. I a totally blessed at how sweet and near the Lord was all day. This is going to be another anointed and amazing trip! Praise Jesus! Tomorrow we head up to Altus De Cazuca, one of the poorest places in Bogota to love on and minister to some street kids. Thank you for your prayers and support! Fruit is being advanced to your account in heaven.

It has been a while since my last update so I will try and run through what has been going on these last few weeks. First of all I am overjoyed to say that one of the girls that I first wrote about was able to discover that she is having a beautiful baby girl and she has started attending church again thank God for this answer to prayer. We have continued to work with the girls every week between group Bible studies every Thursday night (lots of prayer for this group is really appreciated) and individual visits with the girls to share and be able to listen to them and pray over them. The spiritual and most times physical condition of these girls is desperate and most times very dark. But thanks to God some of them have opened their hearts to us and allowed us to try and help in the ways that we can. When I first met Luna I saw any normal 17 year old girl with hopes and dreams for the future… So I thought, but upon getting to know her instead I saw a broken girl with no hope for her personal future or the future of her two precious little girls. Abuse and hopelessness is extremely common in the lives of these girls and their families. When God said go out and make disciples of all the nations He never said it would be easy or that these disciples would be living perfect lives in perfect conditions and be totally open to the gospel. No of course not, He simply said go… It is not easy to see some of the things that I have witnessed since being here, I must confess on several occasions I was unable to hold back the tears, but thanks to God most of these girls are desperate for more of God and ready to change. Please continue to pray for them and that God would soften hearts and open minds.

This weekend I had the amazing blessing to be able to be apart of another Mision Berakah weekend retreat but this time for women. It was amazing to say the least. Two and a half days of straight prayer and sharing of the word with about 100 beautiful spiritually thirsty women. I had really enjoyed serving on the kids retreats in June but was unsure of how it would be to work with grown adult women. I must admit I was a bit nervous as we made the hour drive to La Vega, a little town outside of Bogota, where the retreat was going to be held. I had never before served on a retreat for adults let alone been one of the Guias, or Guides. My job was to minister to these women in any way that I could, from praying over them to holding their precious babies so mommy could rest. On Saturday I was asked to stand up and say a few words about September 11 and the tragedies that the United States suffered on that day. I was able to recall the day exactly and what I felt and how the actions of others had destroyed and damaged so many lives in just a couple of minutes. I spoke about anger and hurt and how God calls each of us to not only forgive our enemies but to love them and pray for them. There was not a dry eye in the room as we prayed fervently over these hurting women. God really showed up, many lives were changed and hearts were healed that day. I was approached by three beautiful, sweet young ladies on Sunday and they asked if they could sit down and talk to me. As we sat and had lunch together they shared their stories with me and I learned that they were all three living at a rehab institution for drug addicts. My heart melted and I cried out to God to give me the words to say to these young women… God in His total awesomeness loosed my tongue and I was able to talk to these three girls without any help from a translator. I am so humbled to have been chosen to share and encourage these precious daughters of God and to be able to share and visit tomorrow with them at their home with the all the other girls. Thank you Lord! We all went home hungry… Tired and extremely blessed with smiles on our faces.

I am going to be serving on the same retreat but with a different group of women this upcoming weekend… calling for PRAYERS and INTERCESSION for these women. As always thank you all so much for the support and prayers. Even when you feel you have nothing to give God has a life that He wants to use YOU to touch… Be bold because He is doing the work… you are the vessel.

Love Brooke

 
[quote]That’s how the lost get found by Britt Nicole

“Don’t let your lights go down, don’t let your fire burn out cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe, why don’t you rise up now? Don’t be afraid to stand out…. Thats how the lost get found….. Don’t let the lights go down”[/quote]
 

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.