“Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.” – Oswald Chambers

Read the beginning of the series HERE

When our precious Lord dropped that little African girl on our doorstep July 3, 2008 we sensed He was up to something big but never in a million lightyears could we have envisioned all that He has done this far.

Over the years Mercy Kandakai has changed our lives in more ways than we can count. She is a very big-hearted girl and we all have grown to love her more than can be expressed in words.

Stunning spiritual warfare that could fill its own book has surrounded her since she arrived in America but she has fiercely fought through it all and has arisen as a bright and shining light for Jesus.

A few Father’s Days ago she wrote me, “To the Best Dad. I Love you with all my Heart!! Words are inadequate to express my gratitude for you. Every so often I wonder what did I do to have such an amazing man for a Dad? You are such an inspiration to me, through you I’ve come to learn a lot about God’s Love. For that, I’m grateful. Thanks for always having my back. – Mercy”

Like every father of a daughter, I have prayed and prayed for the right man to come along to be a husband to my girl, but even I couldn’t have chosen a man as perfect as Bobby Peabody. Only Jesus… Mercy and Bobby knew each other as children in Liberia, Africa and then met up again a few years ago at college in Arlington, Texas. Bobby came to our big family Christmas gathering in 2016 and Lisa, all the adult children and spouses, and I fell in love with him. As we sat around the Christmas dinner table we all told Mercy, “Well Mercy, either you can have Bobby as a husband or a brother because we are keeping him!” We all laughed and rejoiced that God had answered another miracle prayer regarding our beloved daughter/sister, Mercy Kandakai Bullen.

Over the last 3 years Bobby has become like a son to me in every way. We have enjoyed so much together. Last spring we were blessed to serve together at a men’s three-day Christian retreat in Oklahoma and the Holy Spirit showed up in a mighty way. At one point, the MC announced, “If you have a father in the room and would like to show him a gesture of love, feel free to do that now.” Bobby jumped up and came to me and took my arm. “Come on Dad,” he said, and led me to the front of the room where he proceeded to take off my shoes and socks and he washed my feet. Rarely in my life have I felt so loved. Someday Bobby will have to tell his whole story and especially what God did for him that weekend. It was sweetly supernatural.

To say the least, I was crazy blessed and humbled to walk my beautiful Mercy down the aisle on July 27, 2019 and give her hand to Bobby in marriage. I know heaven rejoiced and did the Bullen family on this blessed day. With Lisa as the mother of the bride, Rebekah as maid of honor, Beverly as bridesmaid, Brooke as Bridesmaid, Misti, grandkids, Joy, Joseph, and Jacob assisting with the reception, Luke, Travis, and Oscar as ushers, our granddaughter Lily as the flower-girl and our grandson Maurice as the ring-bearer, and many many of our dearest friends present and serving selflessly, we could not have scripted a more beautiful or fulfilling wedding day if we tried. Only Jesus…

After a fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii, Mercy and Bobby came home and began preparing and this fall will be working with Rebekah and I doing three-day Christian retreats building servant leaders for the local church.

The Mercy miracles march on…

Emissary: A person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative.

One of the things that delights my soul most is that our family gets to be the emissaries of those who love, support, and pray for us by going around the world on a special mission to bring the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit and see lives transformed and hearts healed before our very eyes. It delights me that we get to be the representatives of those who help us go and to know that the fruit that we see abounds to their accounts in heaven as well. Last weekend was our 15th consecutive weekend of traveling and preaching around Texas and Oklahoma and dozens and dozens came to us with tears in their eyes saying that they will never be the same. It blesses my heart unimaginably that we get to be the emissaries of such love and that those, like you, who support us get to take part in that reward more than you will ever know until you get to heaven. Thank you Jesus for such an honor. Thank you to all of you! Please know that we are humbled and blessed beyond words to be your emissaries.

Love the Bullens

It is amazing to think that I am about to complete two full years as a full time missionary here in Colombia… if someone were to ask me what the experience has been like I would have to say it has been the most amazing and exciting experience of my life but also the most tiring and stressful one as well. But amidst all the stress and difficulties and the constant loneliness for family and the comforts of “home” I can still honestly say after two long years (seems like it has been a lot longer haha) I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Living in Colombia has taught me to be open to change and has forced me to live constantly outside of my comfort zone.

Just the other day I was talking to a fellow United States citizen who has lived for the past two years in Colombia for her husband’s job about how living in different places really gives you a new perspective on life that a lot of people in the U.S can’t even imagine. Basically you don’t know what you don’t know until you experience it. She was telling me about how the things that seemed so important to her when she lived in Texas just seemed not to matter so much anymore when she returned to visit after having lived outside of the United States for several years. I am still quite spoiled unfortunately and I still have to remind myself that things don’t always have to go my way but I am also learning to trust God in all things…. not just in some things… but all things.

For example for anyone who has never tried to get a Visa to live in a another country it may not seem like a very trying task… Let me tell you, I do not know how it is in other countries but let’s just say in Colombia it is no party. I have never had so much stress and trouble with anything in my entire life like trying to have a legal status here in Colombia, but after months of getting the right papers and getting the right signatures on the right dates and having to pay several different fees and what all.

I am now happy to say that I am finally legally married (though we are waiting until our church wedding August 20th to be married in the eyes of God and man and begin married life together) and now I have a steady Visa for the next 3 years. For the first time in two years I can breath and not have to worry that I am going to be taken to jail for not having my Colombian I.D. (the police on the street constantly ask people randomly for their I.D and run it through their system for criminals, if you do not have your I.D on you it normally results in your arrest.) or that I am going to be kicked out of the country again. God has really blessed me this year and even though Oscar and I have had to work really hard He has blessed both of us with many wonderful ministry opportunities and also personal blessings for our future together as husband and wife. This year we have been working on establishing our ministry legally here in Colombia, unfortunately this is a really slow process and must be done absolutely perfectly without error or we could be faced with devastating fines and even possible jail time… yes it is that serious here. But we have finally made huge progress thank God and we should be legally established and have everything in order by the end of this year but just getting this far has required a lot of prayer and faith that if we jump God will catch us.

God has also been teaching me to trust him through Heidy. Heidy was the fist girl that my father and my sister Beverly met and fell in love with many years ago on their first trip ever to Colombia. She has been in our lives and we have supported her for a very long time now. She and two others were actually the young adults who inspired the Shield House dream. Well recently, Heidy (like so many other young girls here in Colombia) went through some really tough times and came out on the other side addicted to drugs and pregnant. God was faithful with her and brought her out of that situation by his mercy and she is now living with me in Rebekah’s old room. We like to say that she is the first of the Shield House girls because the idea for that house is specifically for girls in her situation with nowhere else to go. The baby will be born soon and with her comes a lot more stress and responsibility but I am trying to continue trusting the Lord to provide and take care of us. I have had several opportunities to share my story with her and tell her about God’s love and mercy for those who have wandered away from Him and it was so beautiful to see the fruit of that yesterday when my other Colombian sister Ginary, who has been going through a really rough time and is struggling alone after the loss of her own baby and being abandoned by her boyfriend, came to visit us. Heidy and I listened to her and loved on her and I got to watch Heidy tell her some of the exact same things that I have been praying over Heidy and talking to her about. It is amazing to see how God takes the worst possible pain and turns it into something good. Please help me pray that we will be able to have the finances to provide for this little one and that Heidy will be able to find a safe place to raise her when my apartment contract expires in September but most importantly that God will give me the words to say and that He would work in both of their hearts so that they can come to know Him as their Savior and the love of their lives.

I have also been volunteering at several different Christian foundations here in Bogota that tend to the physical, intellectual and spiritual needs of this city’s precious children. I have enjoyed so much the opportunities that God has given me to share the love of Jesus with these kids through teaching them how to read and write. I remember one day the children asked me why I had not come back for several days during my trip to Guajira and I told them that I was sharing Jesus with the indigenous tribes there. I remember one girl looked at me with wide eyes and asked me “Is THAT why you are here in Colombia? To help people?” I told her yes and I began to explain to her how much God loves the people of Colombia and how he sent me here to show them that love. All the children at my table stopped and listened attentively as I told them about Guajira and what God was doing with the children there. At the end of my story each one told me, “Teacher, I want to be like you when I grow up, I don’t want to be like those people who just chase after money their whole lives, I want to help people like you do.”

All this to say God has given me some great opportunities this year to share His love and also has blessed Oscar and I tremendously. We recently were able to pay off many things for our wedding out of the little work that I have been able to do down here (translating different things from English into Spanish) and Oscar’s continued hard work for different ministries and his own translations. As I am writing this now our new washing machine just arrived ☺ which we were able to pay for mostly with the spare change that we have been accumulating for the past year (we saved about $150 dollars just in coins). God has been good to us and I can’t wait to see what He will do next, we still have many needs and many new expenses soon (diapers, milk, etc.) But God has always been faithful and He always will be.

I am so blessed to be working with my Father God on His mission and I ask those of you that read this to please continue praying for the spiritually and physically starving people of Colombia and that God will use me and many others to bring His light to this place and wake up the sleeping church of this generation to a new passion and crazy love for Him and His people.

“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf is welcoming Me.”

Matthew 18:5

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Brooke depends entirely on donations for her support and the support of the amazing work she is doing.

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

Mission Critical International

301 Pruitt Rd. #1030

Sbring, TX 77380

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke’s work 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.

The last two weeks God richly blessed me by allowing my mom, Lisa Bullen, to come on a mission trip to see the work I am doing here and to minister with me here at Project Samuel in Zambia, Africa. I loved introducing her to all of our children and showing her how I live my every day life. We painted the inside and outside of one of our children’s houses and we just enjoyed being able to talk about our lives.

One of the highlights of her time here was our weekly children’s out-reach. My mom had a great time teaching the children the story of redemption through a song and through color books. After the bible study we all had fun painting the children’s faces and I let Susan paint my face as well, she loved it!

Another highlight was our ladies bible study. My mom taught a wonderful study on Christian leadership and the ladies really enjoyed meeting my mom, they said we really look alike! I am really thankful she was able to come because now she has a better understanding of my passion for our ministry and my love for our children and the ladies we minister too. God is so good!

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.

Last Saturday was our yearly March for Missions and Brenden and I had a great time participating with the children here at Project Samuel. We must have looked very funny walking down the road with our sixteen children and a few of their friends. As we were walking I remembered that we walked in the March for Missions last year a week after I came to Zambia for the first time and at that time we only had eleven children.

God has been so good to us this last year! He has not only given me a calling I love, He has richly blessed Project Samuel as well!. In the last year God has provided electricity, running water, our first layer chickens and now our first Aquaponics system. He truly is a great and loving Father.

A year ago I would never have thought I would have the privilege of daily caring for and teaching sixteen children about Jesus and now I couldn’t imagine not waking up to the sound of their laughter. I can’t wait to see what He will do this next year!

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.

One of the highlights of my week here at Project Samuel is our weekly women’s Bible study that I lead on Tuesday afternoons.

I have developed a close friendship with every one of the ladies of our Bible study group. For the last month we’ve been studying through the Psalms and we’ve enjoyed every minute of our study.

Last week we where in Psalm 123:3

“Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us, for we are greatly filled with contempt.”

We talked about how no matter what others think of you or say about you, God will always be gracious to you and He is always for us. If God called us, no man can stand in our way. We must always believe what God says about us not what others say about us.

The ladies really opened up to how at times they almost give up because of what their family or friends have said about them and because their families don’t believe in them. I told the ladies, “Only God can give us our worth and if He is on our side we can always accomplish our tasks.”

Please pray our Bible study and pray for victory in the lives of all these ladies.

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.

What is your ultimate goal in life? What is the one thing you want to happen before you die? What one thing do you strive for the most, your Mission Critical? Is it financial security, or a good reputation? Maybe you hope to have as much fun as you can and enjoy yourself as much as possible before you die. The goals you have and set will alter the course of your life and your idea of success. If your goal is financial security then your life will most involve ways to make and keep money and success to you will be based on how much money is in your bank account. My life’s ultimate goal is to delight my Heavenly Father. “His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’ “ Matthew 25:22.
I have no desire to have a fancy house or car. I can live with out my name in lights. But I would be devastated to know I fell short of my life’s mission.
In Matthew 25 Jesus explains the Last Judgment.
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Can you imagine hearing Jesus tell you that at one point in your life you could have fed Him but you let Him stay hungry? Or He was naked and you walked away from Him. I can’t live my life in such a way that it will be possible for Jesus to tell me He was in need and I didn’t do everything in my power to help Him.
Jesus is calling me to help hurting children in Zambia, Africa. He is calling you to help someone somewhere. Will you answer His call with me? Will you fight the good fight of this life in such a way that you will be able to say with Paul. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7
Rebekah Bullen

What fills my life with joy? What causes me to be the happiest? Where or in whom do I find the most pleasure? In my life I have found that these questions can either haunt me or they can set me free. Who or what you receive your joy and happiness from controls the joy and happiness in your life. For example, if I receive most of my joy from my job and then lose my job I have consequently lost my joy as well. When I find myself depressed or consistently unhappy I know I have placed my hope for happiness in the wrong person or thing.

The only place I have found that can give any real hope for continual joy and happiness is the person of Jesus. “In His presence is fullness of Joy and at His right hand are pleasures ever more” Psalms 16:11. I can truly say with Paul “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him” Philippians 3:7-8. All this life can offer me cannot be compared with the joy and pleasure of being in my Beloved Jesus’ presence. I love this quote form Sam Storms “You weren’t created for boredom or burnout or bondage to sexual lust or greed or ambition but for the incomparable pleasure and matchless joy that knowing Jesus alone can bring. Only then, in Him, will you encounter the life-changing, thirst-quenching, soul-satisfying delight that God, for His glory, created you to experience.”

The only way I am able to overcome sin is when I realize that sin is not giving me pleasure or happiness but in reality it is robbing me of the superior joy and pleasure of communion with my beautiful Jesus. Satan’s best trick is to make me and you think we are missing out on some fun or pleasure. That following Jesus it not worth missing out on what life has to offer. But I can say with Solomon “Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content” Ecclesiastes 1:8. The only source of real lasting joy is in Christ Jesus my Lord. “To be in Christ is the source of the Christian’s life; to be like Christ is the sum of His excellence; to be with Christ is the fullness of His joy.” – Charles Hodge

My goal is to know my Savior and the joy of His fellowship to the extent that no matter what my circumstances I will be only content in Him. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard you heart and your minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:4-7.

Rebekah Bullen

In my last blog I was meditating on the image of Christ as my bridegroom. “My lover is mine, and I am His” Song of Solomon 2:16.

Another of my beloved images of Jesus is that He is my Father. Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”

For me to understand what it means to have a father –daughter relationship with my sweet Jesus, I look at my own relationship with my earthly father. I have a beautiful relationship with my earthly father, full of love and trust. I know I can come to him if I have a problem or need advice.  I love laying my head on his chest and crying to my heart’s content when life has not gone my way. One of my greatest desires is for my dad to be proud of me.

Now I know for many of you reading this, you don’t have a great or even good relationship with your earthly father. In fact you have a bad relationship with him or you don’t know whom your dad is. You might say to me, “yeah, it is easy for you to see Jesus as your Father, but what about me?” Well think about who you wanted your father to be. Every one of us has an image, a dream of what you need in a father.

When I started to see and expect from Jesus what I need in my father I found He is so much more than I could ever imagine. I can trust in Him completely, I can come to Him with my deepest and darkest fears with out Him being disappointed in me. I never have to worry about my Heavenly Father being too busy to have time for my problems or cares.

My favorite time with my earthly father is when we are sitting on the couch and I am able to lay my head on His chest. During my prayer and worship times in order to cultivate my Father/Daughter relationship with my heavenly Father, I have started picturing myself sitting by Jesus in heaven, sometimes just sitting enjoying His presence and sometimes pouring my heart out to Him. When my heart is broken I sit on His lap and bury my face in His chest and give Him all my pain. When I need forgiveness I sit at His feet and beg for Him to forgive me. When I am thankful I see myself running around His throne, praising His name.

Last night at church, during our worship service, as I was lifting my hands in worship, an image came to me that portrays this so beautifully. I have always enjoyed lifting my hands in worship but never quite understood why I enjoyed it. Yesterday I spent all day with my nine-month-old nephew who is the happiest when He is being held. If I lay him on the floor and sit on the couch, he will crawl over to the couch and work his way up to a standing position and lift his hands to me, so I will pick him up. As I was standing in the service with my hands lifted, I could see myself just like that, wanting nothing more than to be picked up by my Daddy. Is that not what worship is all about? To sit on our heavenly Father’s lap and be happy just to be with Him.

I recently wrote about how the disciples couldn’t have know all that they would see and experience by obeying the simple command of Jesus to “Follow Me.” In a subsequent post I wrote about how Hudson and Maria Taylor couldn’t have known what God would do when they obeyed the simple command of Jesus to “Go.” And I would like to share another of my favorite stories about a man named Edward Kimball and what he couldn’t have known when he obeyed the simple command of Jesus to be a “fisher of men.”

Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher in Chicago, Illinois. He went one day to the shoe store where one of his pupils worked because he felt impelled by the Holy Spirit to share Christ with this young man. He almost backed out because of fear but went ahead and that young man came to faith in Jesus as a result. That young shoe salesman’s name was D.L. Moody.

Shortly after Moody’s conversion he heard a man named Henry Varney say, “The world has yet to see what God will do with one man who is wholly consecrated to Him.” Moody left that meeting saying, “I will be that man.” Moody went on to be a world famous evangelist of whom it was said that he gathered two continents in his hands (North America and Europe) and brought them both closer to God. He preached to an estimated 100 million people, established colleges and schools, and left his imprint on 19th-century Evangelicalism. His was a remarkable life. Untold numbers came to Christ through Moody’s ministry. There is no way that Edward Kimball could have known that day at the shoe store what God was going to do through him and his simple obedience by faith. There is no way Henry Varney could have known what his anointed words would do.

But there is more… much more… for you see at one of Moody’s meetings one day he spoke to a young man about his assurance of salvation and greatly encouraged that young man whose name was J. Wilbur Chapman. D.L. Moody couldn’t have known that day that Chapman would go on to become a great evangelist in his own right and lead thousands to Christ or that Chapman would mentor an ex-drunkard professional baseball player named Billy Sunday who would go on to become a great evangelist and lead hundreds of thousands to Christ.

Billy Sunday inspired a group of Charlotte, NC businessmen to hold a revival in 1932 and invite evangelist Mordecai Hamm. A lanky 16 year old would be saved in that revival. His name is Billy Graham. Edward Kimball couldn’t have known. D.L. Moody couldn’t have known. J. Wilbur Chapman couldn’t have known. Billy Sunday couldn’t have known. The Charlotte Christian Businessman’s Association couldn’t have known. Mordecai Hamm couldn’t have known. Good thing they trusted God and obeyed their calling.

But there is more… much more… for you see at another of Moody’s meetings one day he cried out to the crowd, “Faith Can Do Anything!” A young man present believed him and went on to become a great evangelist and D.L. Moody’s closest friend and associate. That young man was R.A. Torrey. Torrey preached to millions, brought tens of thousands to Christ, founded schools and churches and wrote over 40 books. Kimball and Moody couldn’t have known. One day a young man heard Torrey preach and gave his life to Christ.

His name was Oswald J. Smith. Oswald went on to build one of the greatest churches in the world in Toronto, Canada, The People’s Church. In later life he became a missions mobilizer and statesman and preached all over the world bringing thousands to Christ. Kimball, Moody, and Torrey couldn’t have known what their simple obedience would do and how God would use them. There are many many other stories that trace back to Edward Kimball’s winning Moody and the people that he subsequently influenced like F.B. Meyer and many others but the story of Moody and especially the link to Henry Varney and Oswald J. Smith bless me personally in three ways.

First, the night I was saved, July 21, 1982, the twenty-two year old evangelist, Jerry Johnston, (who would go on to win tens of thousands to Christ) told the story of D.L. Moody and the quote from Varney, “The world has yet to see what God will do with one man who is wholly consecrated to Him.” And then Jerry looked right at me in the crowd (or so it seemed) and said, “Will you be that man?” When the invitation was given I beat it to the altar, or as close as I could get for there were dozens of other teens already there before me, and I knelt down in the aisle and said, “God if you want me, I want you.” I left that night on fire for God and have been pursuing him for just over 30 years now.

Second, Two years later in September of 1984 I was at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO. My 18 year old soul was hungry for God. I had a little money that someone had sent from home and so I went to the college bookstore looking for some soul sustenance. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me what I needed and I stumbled on a book called “The Passion For Souls” by Oswald J. Smith. I had never heard of him but the title set my heart to burning so I bought it and went back to my dorm and read it through stinging tears in one sitting. It was a life altering read. It put a hunger in my soul for the power of God in my life and ministry that has never waned. The next year I became a youth evangelist and God blessed me to see hundreds of teens come to Christ many of whom are in ministry around the country today and then family discipleship and pastoring and now missions and the impact of his book is still working in my life. I haven’t shaken continents for God… at least not yet :-). Oswald J. Smith couldn’t have known how he would impact this one life. I’m holding that same book I bought so long ago in my hands right now and it is tattered and worn. I have read it so many times and used so many colors of highlighter on it that some pages look like a rainbow. I flipped through it just now and read a few lines and my heart began to burn and tears filled my eyes. My daughter Brooke came in from work just now and said, “Dad! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I held up the book. She smiled gave me a hug and went on.

Third, at the height of Oswald J. Smith’s People’s Church in Toronto, Canada a young man named Dan Schiel was a follower of Smith’s who came to Conroe, Texas and started a church in Conroe, Texas called The People’s Church. He began to preach and souls were saved and the church grew and today, decades later, it is known as Christ Church of Conroe and Dan Schiel still pastors there. The personal connection for me is that Dan Schiel has a granddaughter named Misti who grew up in his church and learned to love Jesus and serve Him with all her heart. Misti is married to my oldest son Luke and they work with us at Mission Critical International. She is a wonderful wife to my son and a wonderful mother to my two sweet grandbabies, Joy and Joseph. It may be a stretch to say that Edward Kimball’s obedience to share Christ with D.L. Moody in that shoe store that day has a direct connection to my life, family, and ministry today… but I’m not so sure. All I know is that they couldn’t have known what God would do with them and for them and neither can we. So we must keep pressing on in His kingdom work and only eternity will tell all of the stories of how God used our mustard seeds of faith and obedience to change the world.

Matt Bullen

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I have been meditating on the Revelation 19:7, Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. In many places in the Bible we as the Church are called the Bride of Christ. That means every one of us who believe in Christ and are part of His church is His bride. Now when I look brides on their wedding day I can see their love for their bridegrooms just radiating off of them. I want that kind of love for my Bridegroom! A vibrant and passionate love. A kind of love that when I not in His presents my heart burns for the next time I can spend with Him. The cry of my heart is, Psalm 27:8, “My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” I want to have an intimate enough relationship with my Love to say, Psalm 42:1, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.” So times when I am worshiping at church I get such a longing for my Love I say in my heart “please Beloved just let me come up to you, I can wait any longer for You.” I know He has so much for me to do on this earth that I can go yet but my heart can wait for the day I finally see my Love face to face. I can truly say with David Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” I will stay with my Love for only in Him do I find true joy. My goal is to every day fall harder and more passionately in love with my Savior and Bridegroom.

I have been home a week and a half from the Dream Center in Los Angeles where I interned for a year and I can still see the faces of my friends and the neighborhood children in Watts that I grew to love as my own. It was very hard to say goodbye but I knew that God has clearly called me to come back to Houston and work with my family at Mission Critical International. I have known since I was six years old that I was called to be a missionary to the nations. It has always been my desire to minister in South America and Africa.

Amazingly God has given the opportunity over the last three years to work in Colombia and next spring I will be serving in Zambia, Africa as well. As hard as it was to leave the relationships of the last year in Los Angeles, I know that God has many crazy things for me to do this next year and I can’t wait to see what He does. I feel like my story has just begun.

My last Adopt-A-Block meeting in Watts as we were praying out one of my little children I was serving there asked if he could pray. As he was praying he thanked God for his friendship with me and thanked God that I was able to bring him to church every Thursday and Sunday and because of that prayer I realized what an incredible influence God had allowed me to have in the lives of these kids over the last year and I only hope that I will be able to expand my influence with the children of Colombia and Zambia this year.

It is obvious that God has placed in my heart a deep and unstoppable love for the overlooked, vulnerable, and abandoned children of the world. I intend to spend the rest of my life pursuing every opportunity to bring hope and God’s love to as many children as I possibly can. Pray for me as I begin fundraising for Zambia and as I jump into the work with my dad here at Mission Critical. God is good!!!

Love Rebekah

Relationships part 2.

In my last blog I shared a lesson that I have learned on how relationships affect and touch people’s hearts, I want to share similar stories about a couple other girls in my next posts, from now on in my blogs I would rather keep their names anonymous for their protection.

Almost three years ago on my first trip to Colombia, I connected with one girl because both of us share a common characteristic, we both love to play rough and a little on the side of a tomboy. Well we talked a little and shared a couple of conversations, but never really connected on a deep level. I thought a couple smiles and a hug was enough. Now don’t get me wrong. God can use whatever we can give, but for me, I knew I had more than I was giving, I knew I was holding back to protect my heart from pain. I held this “arms length” attitude with most of the children up until my last two months in Colombia. God broke down my walls. He showed me that every child is important. He is concerned for every child.

So last month I started holding daily English classes with this particular girl that I met three years ago. She is so eager to learn and very intelligent. Other than my African sister, Mercy, I have never seen anyone learn so fast.

I was at a loss how to reach deeper with her, to really get past her “friend” to being her true friend, letting her know how much God loved her and I truly cared, so I prayed for God to show me a way and finally He answered. One day during one of our many classes, I noticed that she had scars on her upper arms, I had never noticed before because she always wore long sleeves. I told her that I had the same type of scars on my arms. She was very surprised and asked me if I was embarrassed by them. I explained that before I was, but that God has showed me that He made me just the way I am. After a long two hour conversation God helped me to explain to her that she is perfect, and that God loves her just the way she is. God softened a very locked heart that day, in the end she said she felt closer to me like a sister, and “Hermana” was her name for me the rest of my time there. God is still working on my friend, but I know that He has plans for her. She is a born leader, and very open to God. I used to be so insecure about how to help people, how to change people, but God has shown me, we only plant the seeds, the Holy Spirit is in charge of what happens after that, it is His work not ours, but He graciously invites us along for the ride, as my dad likes to call it, “Going to work with Daddy” He gets the glory and we get the joy.

Love Brooke

“Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Very time I have wanted to give up these last few weeks, God has given me this verses. I have struggled almost everyday with wanting to give up and just go through the motion. I don’t know if it is because I am tried or if Satan is trying to get me down. But every time I am at the point of giving up Jesus reminds me of all the people pulling for me. I know I can’t give up when I look to that great cloud of witnesses. Every thing in me wants to finish strong here at theDreamCenter. I image I am running a race here at theDreamCenterand my finish line is the airport. God is teaching me every day to run with patience and not get so distracted with my next season around the corner that I lose focuses on the souls right here in front of me. I want to run my race full of joy and love every day I have left. God has opened so many doors for me when I go home. I can’t believe how good He is to me. I can’t wait to see what the next few months will hold.

I feel I learned a valuable lesson from the children of colombia. As I have witnessed time and again, people respond to relationship. They respond to time and effort on getting to really know them. I learned that if you want to affect a persons life, take the time to convince them you mean business, you are here to stay, that you truly love them and care about them.

About 20 times in the new testament it says that Jesus reached out and touched people, He did not throw out some religious words at them and keep moving. He did not casually wave His hand and heal people as He passed carelessly by. He took the time to care about people. He touched them. He listened to them. He took the time and energy to show that He cared. This is not as easy as some would think. To give all you are and open your heart to the danger of being trampled, or rejected, is a very difficult undertaking. Sometimes it can be the most painful experience, especially when dealing with the people that need it the most.

For example Andrea, a beautiful girl that I met at Santa Maria. She was a newer girl so she lived in the “house of the stars.” I had been watching her for a couple weeks. She struck me because she always wore very thick eye liner and was always in the principles office at school. One day my ”Colombian mom” came home and told me that one of the girls had tried to commit suicide and was in the emergency room. I prayed for that girl that night, unknowing that it was this same girl I had been watching. Twice during my time there she went to the emergency room for this reason.

Finally one day my friend Oscar invited me to come and have a sit down with this girl. She was a little shy of me at first, because prior to this I had not met her face to face. I had just waved hi a couple times and we exchanged a couple smiles. But as we talked and I just sat there and listened she eased up and began to just speak from her heart. She was so afraid of being judged, but once she realized I was not perfect and just wanted to listen to her, she was able to confide in us and tell us the reasons for her actions. This girl had not only twice tried to take her own life, but 12 times. She had scars all up her wrists and bandages from her many attempts. She fully expected me to jump on her and tell her how wrong and sinful it was to try and play God, to take her life into her own hands, but… I prayed silently to God, “what can I possibly say to this girl, if she is so low, to try to even take her own life, how can I help her? What words can make anything better,” But I felt that God was telling me, this girl did not need a sermon, this girl needed to see Jesus, to feel his arms around her. God did not preach to the harlot. He showed her love, and said, “sin no more.” I took her hands in mine, and said, “you are beautiful, just the way you are. God made you just how He wanted, and He loves you and has a purpose and a plan for your life.” From that day on she called me her big sister, and always said hi to me with a smile. I had many other opportunities to show her the love of Jesus.

The lesson I learned was, people don’t only need to hear about Jesus, but we have to establish the relationship first, no one is going to listen and truly hear someone that has not first gained their trust, respect, and shown that they truly care. Anyone can throw words at a person, not everyone can give their time, effort and heart into helping a person.

To be continued…

Love Brooke

In my recent two month internship in Colombia I spent most of my time in an institution called Santa Maria, this is the same institution where my God-sister lives.

On one occasion I was invited by my friend to a prayer meeting that is held one night a month at every institution. This night I went to the one held at San Miguelito. When we arrived all the little boys and babies were patiently waiting for us in the group room. One by one the pregnant mothers entered the room and sat down I was able to see Louisa again and her best friend. I can’t remember her name but we were able to catch up and share some time together. Afterward we sang a few songs and a few of the kids got up and read prayers out loud for the group. It was amazing to see these kids ministering to each other at such a young age. Then it came time for all of us to pray together. I felt God hard on my heart that night to pray for these precious kids. As I stood there praying I felt eyes on me. I looked up and saw a young mother, watching me pray. I just flashed her a quick smile and continued. After we had finished, a little girl came up to me and asked my name and why I was in Colombia. I introduced myself and told her that I felt God calling me to come and serve the children of Colombia. She smiled and shook her head. We talked for a little and then she had to go to bed. She said she hoped to see me again soon and thanked me for coming.

Shortly after my friend ushered me upstairs to the pregnant mothers room. Many of these girls are barely into their teens. They are victims of rape, abuse, trafficking, and sin. As we approached a bed my friend explained that one of the girls was having pain in her stomach and had been bleeding for two days, but she was only five months along. I kneeled by her bed and put my hand on her stomach. My friend spoke softly to her, asking if she knew who Jesus was and what He meant to her. She said through tears that she did and that she had trusted Him as her Lord and Savior but she was very concerned for her baby. We asked if we could pray for her, she was more than happy to accept.

After we had prayed and were about to leave a young mother ran up to me and grabbed my hand, I recognized her from down stairs, she was the one who had been staring at me during prayer. It was hard to make out what she was trying to say at first, she seemed very distressed. I got the idea that she was seven months pregnant and was very scared. She was not ready to be a mother, she was concerned about how to raise a child, and what the future held for her. She asked me to pray for her so I gave her a hug and prayed. I felt so lost as to what to say to this girl. I could not say that everything was going to be fine. I did not know what to do. But after we prayed together, I saw a bit of peace come over her face. I knew God was at work in this girl, I told her that He has a plan for her life, and for the life growing inside her, and that if she trusted Him, she would not have to worry.

When I reached home that night, I knelt by my bed and just sighed a prayer for both of those girls, and I thank God that the one is now fine and her baby is fine too. God is good. Please keep all the young mothers of San Miguelito in your prayers that God would give them strength and peace.

These last two months have honestly been the best experience of my entire 19 years, I cannot thank God enough for the two months He allowed me to share with His precious angels.

On my second day in Colombia, I visited a little institution named San Miguelito, (little saint michael), I had visited this institution on prior mission trips and knew a couple of the children there but of course felt a bit uneasy and awkward at first, but my fears subsided quickly as I was led into a room full of the most adorable 2-5 year olds you can imagine. I spent about an hour playing with them. They love to sit on my lap and show me their elephant pictures made out of glue and macaroni pieces. I had been in that room for about an hour when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I looked up and peeking through the door was my friend Louisa, who I had met about a year ago and had not seen or heard of since. I cannot explain the joy that flooded my heart as I saw her smiling face. She took me upstairs and introduced me to all her friends and also to her baby boy Andres (Andrew). She is still seven months pregnant with him but she put my hand on her stomach and said, “this is my angel.”

I am so grateful to God that I was able to reunite with my friend and know that she is safe, we spent the whole day together just catching up and sharing dreams for the future, this was a major highlight for my time in Colombia, please keep Louisa in your prayers, and all the beautiful children of Colombia.

Where to begin, it is dificult for me to decide. It all started for me about three years ago, well I will go even further back than that, it really started for me way back when I was a little girl. I grew up the youngest of five kids, the baby of the family, and as awesome as being spoiled and babied was, I always secretly longed for a younger sister, I even used to pretend to teach her how to ride a bike or to make a bed. I never shared this desire with my parents but it stuck with me until about six years ago, when a friend of the family adopted a beautiful little girl from I think it was China, this really started me thinking, and eventually praying, one night as I laid in my bed, I said a silent prayer…… God please give me a baby sister, and if she can not come to me, please send me to her some day, here am I Lord send me that was my prayer every night for the next two weeks, little did I know that three short years later my prayer would be answered, I met my sister Mercy the first time when I was about 15, she came to visit me at my house, I would never at the time had guessed that God intended this to be the answer to my prayer, but she was, over time she ended up part of our family.

Then in June 2009, my Dad and my sister told us that they were going on a mission trip to Bogota Colombia, I was not very interested, to me that missionary stuff is good for some people but not for me, I was good right where I was. It was even worse when my Dad and my sister came back broken, and totally sold out for God and the wonderful children of Colombia, especially two little angels Heidy and Ginary, Story after story, tear after tear, photo after photo they retold the story of their ´´heavenly heart break´´ as my sister in law Jana puts it. I have to admit I was jealous, the obvious love and adoration my Dad had for these kids tugged at my selfish side, and because of this I refused in my heart to care or to participate in the excitment my family shared over this door God had opened for us, But as always God had a different plan for me, and I eventually found myself on an airplane to Colombia with my dad and my two sisters, my plan was to just enjoy myself and have a vacation and not get ´´heart broken´´ over a bunch of kids, well I for the entire week I did just that, I enjoyed hanging out with the kids, but I refused to get close to anyone, and I definatly did not cry. On the last day, we visited the institution where my sister heidy lived at the time, we went through the normal rutine, playing games, holding precious broken conversations with our little gangs, and just enjoying eachothers company. Finally it came time to say goodbye, and to my surprise, my heart hurt, I had tried to hard not to be touched, not to be pulled into the emotion of it all, but as I hugged my baby sisters goodbye, I felt the knot roll in my throat and had to step away to keep my composure.

Back home in Houston, my family made the desicion to adopt these two beautiful girls, I had to admit I was really excited, I felt as though God had given me again what I wanted, another answer to my prayer, unfortunately prayers are not always answered the way we want them to be, our plans are not God´s plans, and we were unable to adopt the girls, the day I heard the news, I remember running to my favorite place to sit and think, I ran and plopped myself down in the soft grass, I sat in silence for a while and then wispered to myself, why God, why?……. why??? why put us through this? why could we have just never met them? why get my hopes up and then dash them? is this what I asked for? I did not understand why that had to happen, why God would let that happen not just to us but to them, but somehow we made it though.

That next June, my dad and my sister in law Jana where planning to go on another trip to Bogota, I desperatly wanted to go, and somehow felt that I really needed to, that I was supposed to, and as God would have it, the plans with my sister in law fell through and I was able to go with my mom and my dad, I have to say, I was not prepared for what God had for me, I was not ready for this one week in my life to be my turning point. God touched my heart that week in a way that I cannot explain, and cannot replicate, I always look back to that week being the happiest of my life, for the first time in my life, I felt like I had built my house directly under the waterfall of grace, I felt like my heart was one with Jesus, and every child I saw I wanted to hug and give a huge kiss, and that is just what I did. I met a little boy on that trip named Andres, I dont know what it was, but he made me love life, he sat with me as I made bracelets out of string and just talked and talked, I did not understand of course, but I did not care, this little boy wanted to tell me his life and I was more than ready to just sit and listen, when I got on the bus to leave, I could not stop the tears from flowing, my lips were salty from kissing his sweaty cheek, now any other time in my life I would have cringed at the thought, but this time, I felt privileged to be able to kiss this little boy, to love him, he inspired me to write my poem “Kissing the face of Jesus”.

How many times have I longed
To see my Lord, to sing Him songs

To stand before Him, to give Him love?
To live with Him in His home above?

How many times have I cried
He said He was here, I felt He lied

“Lord I want to see you, to touch you”
And then I learned what I never knew

I found Him right were He said
In his tiny home, in his tiny bed

A little child, across the world
He warmed my heart, which once was cold

I found what I sought in the least of these
Now to my heart he holds the keys

Jesus’ true face, without pride or care
A find like this though humble is rare

This is why I write this rhyme
I will never cringe at the dirt or grime

When I kiss the cheek of mi amigas
I am kissing the face of Jesus

When I arrived home at the end of this trip, I grabbed my dad and said, “I do not want to go back to normal life, I can´t, there is an emptiness in my soul that can only be filled when I am serving God´s children and showing them His love I am ready to go back home.” And since then I have been trying to get back every chance I get. My heart is in Bogota Colombia, my family is here, my baby sisters live here, this is my home, I just live in Texas right now, When I told the people I work with I was taking two months to live in Bogota Colombia and spend my days with orphan kids, they all said….. “why?” I wish I could say it is out of some sense of spiritual maturity, but really it is because this is where I am happy, I am more blessed then I can bless. I am out served at every turn. And I feel like I am doing what I was put on this earth for. I have purpose. I am more than a wandering soul with no plan. God had this in motion before I was born and I would not wish it any other way. And this my friends is why I am in Bogota right now.

Love Brooke

I met Constance Carter the first month of working as a manicurist at Radiance advanced skin and body care in the Woodlands. She was my client. It didn’t take long for me to realize God had set me up. About 5 min into the appointment she abruptly waylaid me with the question, “So do you believe in God? Do you know who Jesus is?” I laughed to myself “Lady you have no idea who you are talking to.” I politely responded to her “Yes, I was actually raised in a Christian home and we all love God.”  From that point on for the remainder of our time together we talked about God, people, our experiences with church and ministry and mainly our love for Jesus and the gospel. She quickly detected that I was a bit jaded toward church and she probed me with questions about it. I made it evident to her that I loved God with all my heart and my desire was toward ministry and loving God and others but experience had put a bad taste in my mouth toward “church people”. She encouraged me to follow my passion and to not let the fire God had put in me to burn out but to get active with it and allow it to heal my heart. I definitely felt a special presence of God with us in that room as we visited and I knew God was up to something.

Constance shared with me about her calling namely prison ministry and near the end of our time together she invited me to come with her on her next visit to the women’s prison in Texas City. I knew when presented with such an opportunity to love God by loving others I could not say no. We exchanged numbers and I told her to count me in. When she left I prayed, “God, I don’t know what you’re doing but I can’t deny this is you. If you have something for me with this lady and prison ministry make it plain and give me the courage to follow through.”

The day before the appointed date for us to go she texted me to profusely apologize that the chaplain at the prison had made a mistake and did not put my name on the list for visitors the following day. I wasn’t going to be able to come this time. I told her it was all right and to just count me in the next time. I sighed and thought to myself, “it just wasn’t meant to be.” The next morning Constance calls me and says, “I don’t know what happened but I called the prison and when they read the list of visitors to me you are actually on it!” She was excited and so was I. We both agreed it was spiritual warfare and we were back on track. On the drive over to the prison we had great fellowship getting to know each other and singing worship to God. Upon arrival we all checked ourselves for contraband and prepared ourselves mentally and spiritually for what God would have for us this trip. I had never been to a prison so it was all mind blowing from going through the gate and security about three or four times to passing the “pill line” and arriving at the chapel. Constance amazed me. Every person we talked to she would greet with a big smile and an enthusiastic “how are you?” and when the exchange was over she would joyfully tell them “Jesus loves you!” As we walked through the prison heading toward the chapel every inmate we passed, Constance would greet them with her usual pleasantry and then invite them to “church”. Once we were in the chapel and ready to go the six of us in the group wandered around greeting and hugging the ladies that showed up to church. There were about 30 or 40 altogether. We began the service by singing, singing, and singing worship to God. The ladies love Constance and joyously joined in the praise. After we had sang 2 or 3 songs their choir came forward and sang Days of Elijah. When it got to the bridge they sang their hearts out to there’s no God like Jehovah, there’s no God like Jehovah, there’s no God like Jehovah! During the song they had three women with a beautiful sash in each hand dancing down the isles with the sashes streaming around them and above them as they skipped up and down the isles. It was breath taking. One of Constance’s dear friends there at this point had a song she had worked on for Constance and she wanted to come and perform it for her and more importantly for her Savior.  She was a dancer and had developed choreography to the song. The song was about being in the presence of God and the freedom, love, peace and joy of being in His arms. It was simply beautiful what the girl had done with the song and the entire time she had a big gorgeous smile on. Later I learned she is struggling with Lupus, 50% of her lungs work and she has a pacemaker. But you would never have known for the joy she displayed while dancing for Jesus. After more singing Constance introduced me as a new visitor and explained how we met and left me to share with them what God had on my heart for them For 5 min. I told them that I had not prepared anything because I knew if I was meant to share something God would give it to me when the time came. I explained to them that I was very nervous and felt very humbled to speak to them because coming from a family that loved me and cared for me and raised me in the path of Christ I did not feel I could not even begin to understand all that the women there had gone through and how could I begin to know what to speak into their life or have the audacity to feel the right to do so. I gave them a bit of my testimony and experiences. My focus was if you are not gravitating toward Christ you are gravitating away from Christ. God is the hound of heaven. He is love, joy and peace. He wants each of us but we have to stop running from Him. I told them whatever their experience in life is to not mistake that as God. That is what we so often do. I told them to let God woo them. Then I felt led to sing “Orphan’s of God” to them by Avalon. Many of them began to weep. The other women came up and shared. Our time was up so we took a moment to pray over the pregnant ladies and to speak with and pray with anyone else who wanted to. It was at this point Nancy came up to me. She was one of the inmates. She told me that even though I didn’t feel like I had anything to give these women what I had shared touches these women and reaches them deeper than I realized. She told me to take my experience and all that I had learned from my family and follow my calling. She looked hard at me and said this is your calling. You could save so many women by your obedience to Christ. She then gave me her testimony. She said there was hardly anything out there she hadn’t done and she is now serving her 13 year sentence for it but God had pursued her and she surrendered to Him one stormy night and she will never be the same. She says she knows what it is when the scripture says once I was lost and now I’m found. When it speaks about having an old man. She says she will not and can never go back to her old self. She is a new woman. She began to tear up at this point and we hugged like we were sisters and we’d known each other our whole lives. After we prayed together it was time to go.

Our group decided to stop at Denny’s for something to eat on our way back so we could share our experiences during our visit. We laughed, we cried and thanked God for blessing our trip. During our time there our waitress overheard what we had been doing at the prison and after pouring some coffee she said, “I just want ya’ll to know I think what you’re doing at the prison is awesome and keep it up don’t get discouraged because some of us actually are listening and what you’re doing isn’t in vain. I’ve been out for 6 months and I’m not messing up again.” We all just looked at each other in amazement and said you know I think we’ve just entered the twilight zone. And for all of you reading this anytime God presents an opportunity for you to love Him by loving others, when you chose to follow him into the entire world preaching the gospel it is like entering the twilight zone. You will be on the ride of your life and you will never experience His love so deep or be so fulfilled because you did what you were made to do.

Love Beverly Bullen

The one prayer that I find myself praying more than any other is, “Lord, make me hungry for You.” The one prayer I pray for my family and especially over my children more than any other is, “Lord, give my children such a hunger for You that nothing in this world will be able to fill it.” “Lord, let them and let me not be satisfied with anything short of all that you have for us in You. I have discipled them, I have taught them Your word, but unless you create a hunger in them so great that it overshadows all the things this world throws at them they will not be all that they can be for You.”

Ministry, marriage, family, career, etc. must always be gushing out of the overflow of our personal passion for and relationship with Jesus or it will soon bury us and cease to transform lives, ours or theirs. David’s prayer in Psalm 63 never gets old for me. I could pray it 10 times a day and still choke up when he says things like, “my soul thirsts for You and my soul pursues hard after You.” Soul hunger is the ignition of mission and the resulting passion and enjoyment of God when He answers is the fuel. And so I pray for hunger!

Our daughter Brooke left on Friday for a two month internship teaching English and Bible in an orphanage in Bogota, Colombia and we are so proud of her and so excited for her. She sent me a message last night with only three words, “unspeakably awesome day!” God is so good to allow us to do ministry together.

In the last two months all of our children, ages 17-25, have come to me at different times and reaffirmed to me their desire to, at different levels, work together with us in ministry to the nations. I could not have heard words more precious to my father’s ears. Of course, they are their own people now and have their own relationship with God and He may send us to opposite corners of the globe in the years to come but right now we are headed in the same direction and it is incredibly BLESSED.

My sweet girl, Rebekah, came home for Christmas yesterday. She has been serving a one-year internship at the Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. We are so happy to have Rebekah home for the next two weeks. She has been so busy there and I have been so busy with Orphan Hope that we haven’t had much time to talk while she has been gone so I made her sit down last night and catch me up on all of the details.

The Dream Center (www.dreamcenter.org) is an inner-city ministry in downtown Los Angeles that ministers to  more than 35,000 people each week in the Center’s 40 services and 273 ministries and outreaches. The Dream Center is an amazing example of how the church should be impacting the world. In the first four years of the Dream Center’s establishment, prostitution and gang violence dropped 73%, the homicide rate dropped 28% and rape dropped 53%. The Mayor of Los Angeles and the City Council have publicly acknowledged the dramatic impact of the Dream Center and praised its efforts. In 2000, President Bush, then Governor of Texas, visited the Dream Center and deemed it “a model for faith-based organizations.”

I was so amazed and blessed to hear about what God is doing for and through our little girl in L.A. I really enjoyed her regaling us with her weekly schedule. On Mondays Rebekah helps count the offering from the church and then does an after school program with elementary, middle, and high school kids from the Echo Park area around the Dream Center. On Tuesdays she and her team deliver furniture and other things to needy families and then she helps in youth church on Tuesday nights. On Wednesdays she does office work for the Adopt A Block program and deliveries to needy families in the afternoon and then her after school program. On Thursdays she works in the office and then takes the bus out to her Adopt A Block site to pick up people for church. On Friday mornings they separate all of the donations that have come in during the week and bag them up for their site visits the next day. She does her after school program again and then on Friday nights they go to Skid Row and minister to the homeless there. She sometimes go with the prostitute ministry on Friday nights after Skid Row and witnesses to and prays for the working girls in South Central.

Saturday is a big day for Rebekah. Her main job at the Dream Center is in the Adopt A Block ministry. As I said above, the Dream Center has over 200 outreach programs and Adopt A Block is their signature program. There are 15 neighborhoods (sites) where they go on Saturdays and minister to the people there. Rebekah is the site leader for Nickerson Gardens in Watts. Nickerson Gardens is a 1,050 unit apartment project and is the largest public housing project west of the Mississippi River. It was the birthplace of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang and one of the sites of the famous Watts riots in the 60’s. I was pretty amazed that my little girl is the leader of the team for this housing project. Every Saturday she and her team of 30 deliver donations to needy families, go door to door and pray with people, meet needs of various kinds and share the love of Christ. They have been known to help children with homework, take out trash, wash dishes, and all kinds of things to build relationships and thereby share Christ.

On Sundays Rebekah and her team take a 60 passenger bus out to Nickerson Gardens and pick up people for church. The church, pastored by Matthew Barnett, founder of the Dream Center, is Angelus Temple and is a few blocks from the 8 story Dream Center building. Rebekah and her 50-60 people that she brings from her “site” join with thousands of others at the church on Sundays to worship the Lord. Sunday afternoons she usually joins up with a group that loves to hike in the nearby mountains around Los Angeles. Monday her schedule starts all over again. She loves every minute of it and is blessed to be there and we are so proud and grateful for this opportunity that God has graciously given her.

Yesterday I saw my 22 year old daughter, Rebekah, off at the airport with much happiness. She is serving a one year internship at the Dream Center in inner-city Los Angeles. Her long-term dream at this point is to take what she learns there and apply it to our future center in Bogota, Colombia. I couldn’t be more proud of her. I know that I am Daddy-biased but I also know that she is an exceptional girl for whom God has great plans.

I am a man who is blessed beyond explanation (apart from amazing grace) with several wonderful children and as I think especially of Rebekah today, away on her new adventure for Christ, my heart swells with a few of the things that I love about her the most.

Rebekah is the personification of the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother. From the time she was a little bitty girl she has been a servant. Whether it was mothering her four siblings, sometimes to their chagrin, or going to work with Daddy and the boys every Saturday for years doing moonlight remodeling jobs (I thought it was solely because she loved being with Daddy but she confessed to me later that it was also because I would stop and get yummy breakfast burritos on the way to work), or helping Mommy in the kitchen, or taking care of lots of children, or helping plant churches, or speaking with Dad and Mom at home school conferences, or loving orphans in South America, or loving and serving the many people who have come through our home over the years, or working at a job, Rebekah has exemplified loving servanthood. I’ve called her Beka the horse since she was a little girl, not only because she could outrun every boy within 50 miles, but because she could outwork any two people I’ve ever known.

But Rebekah was not just a Martha growing up. She also had a Mary relationship with Jesus that challenged and humbled me. Her prayer life and her fervent love for Jesus keeps me thirsty to know Him more. She regularly out-reads me, which is no small feat, putting away two to three books a month for years and years. There is a pile of books next to my chair that Beka has read and is waiting on me to read so that we can share in the joy. She regularly lights up and says, “Oh Daddy, I can’t wait until you read ________ so we can talk about it.” We are a family of voracious readers but nobody knows our multi-thousand volume library better than Rebekah. One of the greatest joys in life is the love we share for missionary biographies… and a good cup of coffee. We spout names, dates, and miracles from christian history to each other like sports fans quoting the stats of their favorite players. She led me to love Amy Carmichael, William Carey, Gladys Aylward and so many more. Another thing I love about Rebekah is her depth of understanding in theology. She is somewhat shy compared to the rest of the boisterous Bullens but I love the way our mouths would drop open in amazement when a theological discussion would come up and Beka would weigh in with her very strong and well thought out opinions, quoting from Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and others.

I could go on and on about her big heart for people, and especially for Daddy 🙂 but I’ll stop here.

I’m going to miss her terribly but that emotion doesn’t even approach the feeling of joy in my heart that Rebekah is in a great place, learning from great people, doing what she loves most (serving “the least”), on mission with a great God!

You can follow her exploits at www.QuestToKnowHim.blogspot.com

I recently wrote about the joyous reunion we had with our African daughter Mercy after a year of trials and lessons. On July 4th we had another tremendous blessing to get to spend the day together. She has grown up so much and the Lord has given her a beautiful and radiant spirit since we first met her. I can honestly say that she is the single greatest miracle I have ever personally witnessed and I am humbled that God would allow me to be her daddy. We had a wonderful day playing cards (she was my partner and was so patient with me because I am terrible at it). We told stories and remembered old times. It was a generally awesome day. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

There were many sweet things that she said during the day that tremendously warmed my heart. Each time we would complement her on something she would say, “You guys made me everything that I am.” We know that it was God through us but it sure was nice to hear it. She told about how all of the scripture that mommy had taught her to memorize came back to her when she was without her Bible for awhile and so she got a notebook and wrote down all the scriptures she had memorized and carried that for her Bible. Her friends were shocked at how much Bible she knew by heart. We shared many, many “I love you’s” and many “I missed you.” She always knew that we loved her and we always knew that she loved us but we all realized on this day that God had taken us all to a new level of love for each other. I think maybe for the first time she felt like our little girl for real and it was incredibly sweet.

Later in the day we got to go hang out with some of our dearest friends and she got to meet Tanya for the first time and reunite with the Davis family. It was so sweet sitting on their couch with Mercy tucked under my arm with her head on my chest just like old times.

As Brooke and I took her home that night she delighted me with this question, “Daddy, do you remember how you used to tell me that I should write a book about my story someday, about how I survived being an orphan, running from the rebels, survived malaria, survived a cobra, survived being kidnapped and tortured, survived drinking lye, came to America nearly dead, had surgery and ended up in the Bullen family?” “Yes Mercy, I remember.” Then she said, “Daddy, do you know what a ghost writer is?” “Sure I do.” “Daddy, will you be my ghost writer and help me write my story and get it published like we used to talk about?” “Sure I will Mercy, I would be honored and delighted.” She said, “I’m ready to tell it all now. I’m ready to tell about how God had a plan for everything and how I would do it all again to get to America and be in your family and have you for a dad and mom for a mom and my brothers and sisters.” “And daddy, as soon as I turn 18 I want to go to Colombia and love on the kids with you.” “And daddy, don’t ever think that what you are doing doesn’t matter because it is bigger to those kids and to me than you can imagine” “And daddy, someday can we go and minister to the orphans in my orphanage in Liberia and love on them because I remember how lonely it was and how desperate we were for a kind word or a touch?” “And daddy, I’ll be the translator!” “Yes, baby.” I said through tears, “God will allow us to do all of that and much more, I am sure.”

Yep. Greatest personal miracle of my life. I love you Mercy Kandakai Bullen. You are a gift from God. You are a kiss on the head from my Father.

Every year for the last 12 years I have written a New Year’s letter to friends and family and every year I have started the letter with “this year was our busiest, most exciting, or most stretching year yet.” Well 2010 so exceeded any previous year in every category that I will not even try to compare it to any other year to date. It was a year of miracles, battles, loss, great advances, and most of all, it was a year of drawing ever closer to our sweet Savior and drinking deeply of His sufficiency in everything. The year started off with a bang in January as we reached out to a devastated young woman named Jana who was in a courtship with our son Levi who was in Chicago in the Navy. We took Jana in on January 15 and the next day Rebekah, Beverly, Brooke, and I left for Bogota, Colombia for a week. We had a marvelous time of blessings and ministry in Colombia but all during that week the story of what Jana had been through was unfolding and by the time we returned home we were in an all out battle with her adopted parents, the church I was pastoring, and the hordes of hell.

Over the next three months we learned what it means to fast and pray and sing and speak His name as we wrestled many days and nights with principalities and powers. In February I was laid off for the 3rd time in 2 years, had a car accident, had some major Lupus flare ups, was in court several times battling evil, and spoke at both the men’s and women’s Tres Dias weekends. God was so near to me and His power was so evident that I felt like I was in a dream. Rebekah was able to attend the women’s Tres Dias and God used that weekend to take her up about 3 notches on the radical for Jesus scale. I was so blessed to be there and to speak on the waterfall of Grace. One young woman who was there named Tanya really related with my messages on our Heavenly Father’s delight in us through Christ and how earthly fathers are supposed to reflect that with their children. She later asked me if I could be her “stand in” Daddy because she had never experienced that kind of love before :-). She is now a part of the family and like a big sister to the girls, especially Rebekah.

Through all of this Beverly was leading the charge to complete the adoption paperwork to bring our beloved Colombian girls home. In April Lisa and I traveled to Bogota to spend 5 lovely days with our girls there. It was Lisa’s first time in the country and first time to meet the girls. We had a dream week together. It was beautiful. We came home very excited and completed the last leg of the adoption paperwork. Unfortunately there were more battles to fight. The pressure of the prospect of having two Colombian girls to share us with proved to be too great for our 15 year old African daughter, Mercy. In the week after we returned home from Bogota she ran away 3 times and eventually CPS kept her and determined that we were not qualified to give her the psychological help that she needed and eventually terminated our parental rights. We were broken hearted to lose Mercy and equally devastated to learn that this incident had also disqualified us from adopting our Colombian girls as well. Once again though, God was nearer and more real than ever before.

In May, due to me standing up against serious sin in the church and holding the people involved accountable, defending Jana against her abusers, and our troubles with Mercy, our little church that I was pastoring dwindled to nothing and we closed our doors saddened but constantly assured in multiple and sometimes miraculous ways that we were on the right path and that God was preparing us for a greater vision. Even in all of this, Lisa and I still were able to counsel and encourage 2 to 4 couples a week throughout the spring.

Also during the spring a wonderful blessing from God was taking shape. Jana, who is a gifted musician and songwriter, began to write song after amazing song and Rebekah, Beverly, and Brooke began to help her to develop different harmonies Some of us got inspired by Jana’s writing and wrote a few songs ourselves to which Jana composed and added the music. Before long the girls had several songs with absolutely beautiful harmonies that they were singing around our piano every day. The anointing was so heavy that over the summer God brought scores of people through our home to hear them sing and there was never a dry eye in the house. It was like a kiss on the head from our Heavenly Father. The girls began to call themselves Purchased and started blogging about their songwriting at http://1cor619-20purchased.blogspot.com/. They are in the process now of recording their first CD.

In June we took 27 people to Bogota, Colombia to minster to about 400 orphans. God opened many doors and blessed in many ways. When we returned home, we determined that God was leading us to form a non-profit ministry to work on behalf of orphans everywhere. We named the ministry Orphan Hope International. It was a very exciting time. We began immediately to lay out a mission and vision for the ministry. Our mission statement reads “Transforming the lives of orphans and those ministering to them through Christ centered Mercy Missions, Padrino Programs, Adoption Awareness, and Haven Homes.” Our initial focus is on Colombia, then Latin America, and then the world. The ministry has literally exploded and we are running full blast just to try and keep up with all of the opportunities God is bringing us. God has put together a wonderful team of people who are like family to me. I am so honored to stand shield to shield with them and defend the fatherless. Our web address is www.OrphanHopeIntl.org. I have also blogged about the journey at www.mattbullen.blogspot.com

August was another miracle laden month for the Bullen family. God is so good! On Sunday, August 1st the parents of our precious daughter in law, Misti, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, on Monday, August 2nd our beautiful daughter Brooke turned 17, on Tuesday, August 3rd Lisa and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, on Wednesday, August 4 Luke and Misti gave birth to our first grandchild, a beautiful little girl named Joy, on Thursday, August 5th our son Levi came home from the Navy to join in the week of celebrations!

The rest of the summer was packed with orphan ministry endeavors. In September our board of directors made a trip to Bogota to meet with the Colombian government and establish official relations regarding our work there. The trip was successful beyond our wildest dreams and when we returned we began planning for a Christmas vacation program where we could bring our Goddaughters home to the U.S. for Christmas and our first annual fundraising dinner entitled Share The Hope.

October and November were grueling as we worked through mountains of paperwork and planning to be able to pull off these two events and spoke at two Tres Dias weekends. God walked right with us though and held our hand through every part of it. It was exhilarating to see Him knock down road block after road block to make this all come together. God sent another little miracle to us in November when Jana brought home a mentally ill homeless girl named Jessica that she found hungry and freezing outside of the Walmart where Jana worked. I’ll never forget the way the text started that Jana sent me to ask if it was ok, “Papi, please don’t say no right away…” Jana went on to remind me that this girl was Jesus in Matthew 25 and that she needed to be clothed and fed and so could she please stay with us. Of course I was overjoyed that God was raising up my girls to have this kind of heart and compassion and I assured her that she could indeed bring Jessica home with her. She stayed with us for a month and reminded us that people like Jessica are truly Jesus in a distressing disguise.

God blessed mightily, our work paid off, and on December 10 eight precious orphan girls stepped off of the plane to spend 3 wonderful weeks with us. It was a joyous and magical time and we were able to share all of the Christmas season with them. The Share The Hope fundraiser was wildly successful with over 300 people attending. My girls sang and I and other board members spoke. The orphan girls shared beautifully and tearfully about their hopes and dreams and asked for our help. It was an anointed evening to say the least. Levi and Jana were engaged in November and began planning a wedding for April of this year but the Navy changed their plans on them and so when we found out that Levi was going to be able to come home for Christmas we quickly scrambled and got the paperwork together and they were married on December 18. They still hope to have a reception with all of their Texas friends sometime this coming spring. God brought our whole family together and a few more for Christmas. I still shake my head and chuckle at my Heavenly Daddy when I think that 3 continents were represented at my dinner table on Christmas day. I have blogged in more detail about all of these events so I hope that you will check them out at www.mattbullen.blogspot.com.

Finally, this month we took 30 people to Colombia for a week and God rained down on us with blessings and opened doors. All of my girls went with me and sang and ministered in the orphanages. The ministry is poised to help tens of thousands of children in the years to come and I am so humbled and honored to be a part. We gave up our house this week and moved into an apartment as we try to prepare ourselves to be ready to minister in whatever part of the world that God needs us in that particular month. (We have many pleas for help from around the world). I can’t even imagine anymore not living daily in His hand, depending totally on Him for everything. I believe I can speak for my family when I say that we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. He is all we need. He is sufficient! We can lay back completely in His arms knowing that He will carry us through.

Our little family has grown up. Luke, Misti, and little Joy live in Willis, TX. They are planning on going with me to Bogota in June to minister to the orphans. Levi finishes his training command in Virginia this spring and he and Jana will find out then where they will be stationed long term. Rebekah will start classes at the All Nations School Of Missions in Houston this spring. She plans to be a missionary somewhere in Latin America. Beverly will attend Beauty College this spring. She plans to get her degree and then possibly teach cosmetology to the girls in the orphanages since there is a great demand for that trade in Colombia. Brooke plans to finish high school this spring and then move to Colombia to teach English in the orphanages there. All of our children love God and love others extravagantly and they are a continual blessing and inspiration to Lisa and me. Two other girls who have become like daughters to me are also headed to work with orphans. Rachel Humphrey who played the violin for the Bullen girls band Purchased is leaving this week to go to Mexico for a year and Hannah Loomis whom I pastored for years and whom I love dearly is leaving this week for a year in Uganda, living in the orphanage there and ministering to the children. I stand in awe of what God has done and how He has blessed me to be around some of His choice saints this year. All I can say is He is sufficient. He is all I need. We love you all and pray for the nearness of Christ to you and your families in 2011.

The Bullen Family

Christmas Day 2010 was a day of miracles for the Bullen family. First of all, everyone of the original 7 Bullens were there (an increasing miracle as the years go by). Luke with his precious wife Misti and their beautiful baby Joy, Levi home from the Navy, Rebekah, Beverly, Brooke and of course Lisa and I. However, added to the mix were some very special people. Jana, Levi’s fiancee and a precious addition to our family, Tanya, a blessing that we have claimed as our own, Heidy and Ginary, our delightful Goddaughters from an orphanage in Colombia, Adrianna, an official of the Colombian government staying with us for the month of December, and Anoop, an Indian man with whom I have the privilege of working! 15 total! What a day it was. 3 continents were represented at our humble Christmas dinner. Amazing! Thank you Lord for making our home place where you dwell and where you draw your “other sheep” to yourself. Each one had a Christmas stocking with their name on it (thanks Brooke) filled with goodies and gifts. I would say it was magical but I think supernatural would be more appropriate. To God be the glory.

On December 10, 2010 one of the biggest miracles of my life transpired. I was standing in the international arrivals terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport with my wife and four girls when out walked my two Goddaughters from Colombia who had come to visit us for 3 weeks over Christmas. The story of how this moment came to be is strewn throughout this blog and some of it is hidden deep in my heart never to be shared this side of heaven. It would be impossible to list the number of prayers, tears, hours, phone calls, emails, meetings, pieces of paper, plane flights and heart-stopping setbacks that preceded this moment but suffice it to say it was significant. There were many times that we were told it was not going to happen and yet we continued to believe that “the setting for a miracle is difficulty and the setting for a great miracle is impossibility.” As I am writing now the girls are back in the orphanage in Bogota and our vacation with them is over but the list of little Christmas miracles that we have experienced over the last 3 weeks are still shining in our minds and in our hearts. Here are a few of them… Hearing Heidy in the morning say from the top of the stairs in English, “Good morning Daddy, I love you.” then she would run down the stairs and jump into my arms… Taking the girls shopping and Ginary walking up with two blouses and asking me which one I like the best and then smiling and putting the one I chose in the basket… Seeing them enjoy horseback riding, ice skating in the Galleria, making cookies and peanut brittle and fudge, picking out a Christmas tree, wrapping gifts, singing Christmas carols, shopping in Old Town Spring especially the old fashioned candy store and toy store, riding the rides at the Family Fun Center, playing video games with the girls and laughing their heads off, watching Spanish cartoons on Mom’s computer all night long (oops) and many many more. Christmas day was amazing. Seeing them enjoy our new grand baby Joy on her first Christmas. Watching them open their gifts was incredible. My favorite part however was Christmas Eve as we gathered around the fire with our hot chocolate and egg nog and listened as Heidy read to us the Christmas story out loud from the Spanish New Testament and then read Max Lucado’s John 3:16 gospel tract out loud in Spanish as we remembered why Jesus came. What a miracle moment it was.