For the last three weeks we were blessed to have a team of Relationships For Christ missionaries working with us here at Project Samuel.

Since they where coming to work with us for a whole three weeks, Amanda and I went to our kid’s school to ask if we could assist the school in any way.

To our surprise the head Mistress, Christen, asked us if the school bought the paint if we would paint the whole out side of the school.

We were thrilled to be given the chance to improve the learning environment not just for the children from Project Samuel but for all the children who attend the school in Mashikili.

I think it would be hard for anyone to have as much fun painting as we did!

We only had one sturdy ladder and the rollers we were using were as old as you can imagine.But I wouldn’t have traded the time we spent with all of the kids for better equipment.

The teachers thanked us for giving the kids the opportunity to learn in a better environment.

Love Rebekah Bullen

The Teachers

Living here in Zambia Africa has given me a new perspective into what it must have been like for Jesus to wash His disciples feet. After wearing sandals all day my feet are covered in dirt and I have to scrub my feet for quite some time every night to clean all the dirt off.

One night as I was cleaning my feet, I thought of my Lovely Lord Jesus humbly kneeling at the feet of one disciple after to another washing their feet and I understood for the first time how truly beautiful was Jesus example of sacrificial love and service.

A team of missionaries came to work at project Samuel this past week to work with us and as a part of our out reach we invited all of the children from the near by villages to come to the project for a fun day of activities and a bible study.

We had about a hundred children show up! The men played soccer and netball with the boys and with the girls we we wanted to do something very special.

Most of the girls here have never had their nails painted so we decided to paint their toe nails.

Most of the children here don’t wear shoes except to school and church so before we painted the girls toenails we washed their feet. The girls where so happy!

As I was washing each little girls feet I prayed she would see in me the love of Jesus who was willing to give up every thing for her and become a servant. We prayed for every girl to come to know The Lord Jesus who loved us enough to lay aside His glory to come and wash our feet.

Love Rebekah

Last week at our children’s Bible study I asked if any of the children wanted to get up and sing a song before we closed, to my surprise Judith, Susan and Silvia volunteered. They are usually shy but they stood up in front of all the kids and sang song after song. At one point I was almost in tears as they sang, “I will shout it out from every roof top for your goodness knows no bound.” Because of Judith, Susan and Silvia’s example the older children asked me if they could sing “In Christ Alone” at this weeks Bible study.

To hear praises to your Lord sang with such innocent faith inspirers me to worship my Savior with that same innocent passion. I love worshiping at the church here, even though I don’t understand the language just hearing our children worship their Father God with everything they have, there is nothing like it. I was sitting with our children this Sunday when at the end of the worship service our pastor had a time for everyone to pray together aloud, as I was praying I heard the voice of Isaac praying his little heart out. It reminded me of the verse in Psalm 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries.” I know I am here at Project Samuel to teach the children and show them the love of God but most days I believe they teach me more then I am teaching them. I can see the love of Jesus in the eyes of little Samuels we are raising up and I pray they can see His love in my eyes as well.

On Pastor Timothy’s recent visit he brought a children’s Bible for me to read to and with the children.

I have never see anyone as exited about having a Bible as these children were.

With the limited English they know they couldn’t understand the New Testaments we had given them but they still wanted me to read the Bible to them.

So now having a Bible they can understand and with pictures of the stories is the best gift they could have been given. It is also a great blessing for Patricia and Kennedy who are able to read the Bible for themselves. All of the children here are so enthusiastic about learning anything about Jesus and the Bible. They ask me every day to read the Bible for them and to sing a worship song with them. Even though they can’t always understand the words I am singing they still want me to sing about Jesus with them.

I have taught them the song Here I am to Worship and they know Open the Eyes of My Heart, so anytime they are playing or walking home from school I hear them singing to the top of their voices.

There is nothing like hearing children worship God with innocent and pure faith.

I am reminded of Mark 10:14, Jesus said to them, “permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

I want nothing more then to encourage and strengthen that child like faith in the children here at Project Samuel.

Love, Rebekah Bullen

Well after seven weeks of teaching the children here at project Samuel in Zambia Africa I know without a doubt I am right in the middle of God’s will for my life. I have never known with such certainty that I was making as great of an impact in so many lives before. When I started teaching English lessons Susan and Silvia two of the cutest twins I have ever seen could not recognize any letter in the alphabet except the letter a and now after almost two months of classes they know more then half of their alphabet. Also Dorothy on of the sweetest girls here at project Samuel when I started teaching her how to read she had trouble knowing the letter sounds and now the other day she read me an entire children’s book. I thank God everyday for putting me in the lives of these children because I know without God’s grace and strength I would not be here or be able to give these children a chance at a better life. Please pray for me for guidance and confidence. Amanda and Chris will be going back to the states this week and so I will be teaching both of our woman’s Bible studies for a month by my self. I know with the Holy Spirit I have nothin to worry about but I have to admit I am a little nervous because this will be my first time to lead a bible study. Thank you again for you support and prayers. Every time I feel afraid or I am alone all I have to remember I how many friends I have back home cheering for me.

I am so blessed to have this opportunity to pour God’s love into the children at Project Samuel every day. I love how every minute of every day is filled up with either reading or playing with these amazing children. The last two weeks all of the children have been on vacation from school, so I have been teaching an English class to all of the children every morning and in the afternoons we are starting an art class with them. I am still in awe at the eagerness to learn every child displays. I could spend all the time in the world teaching them and they would still ask to learn something new.

For our first art class Chris, Amanda and I made a hand craft with all of the children for pastor Timothy. The kids had a blast. Especially Patricia and Lizanet, who after the craft was over played patty cake with each other with the paint still on their hands. Every day after my classes are over I will sit on our front porch and read as many of the new books that Pastor Timothy brought for the children as I can before lunch. I couldn’t have imagined how quickly the children here would capture my heart with their love and need for companionship. Please pray for the new Bible study Amanda and I are leading for the teachers at the children’s school in the village.

Here the children are making a puzzle for the first time in their lives.

Saturday was our first outreach with the children. We all had a blast! I couldn’t believe almost forty kids came! Before the Bible study we played some games with the kids. We tried to teach the kids how to play freeze tag but they would play for a few minute and just stop. We also taught them how to play red rover and they really liked it. After the games we sat all the children down and Pastor Tendai taught on Christ’s death and resurrection, the kids where amazing attentive and they answered all of the questions with incredible accuracy. For an activity I gave all of the kids a necklace in which all of the beads represents a different aspect of salvation. Pastor Tendai explained what every bead meant and then the kids were able to bead their own necklace. Right before we dismissed the children we taught them a memory verse that went along with the Bible message. I can’t wait to see how many children come next Saturday.

I have always known God had a special calling on my life and now I can say with great joy that I know I am living it here at Project Samuel in Zambia, Africa.

I love everything about my life here, especially how peaceful and quiet it is!

I started my first English and Math class with the kids this week. Their eagerness to learn is amazing! I teach the boys and girls who are in third and fourth grade in the morning three times a week. I also have an afternoon class with three of the most beautiful little girls you can imagine, who are in first grade. I could not hope for more attentive or energetic students.

We will also be starting back up a weekly outreach for the kids in the near-by villages. I will be responsible for planning all the games and bible study for the out reach.

All of the children here love to sing, so I will also be teaching them a song every week along with a memory verse. Please pray for our first outreach this Saturday! I can’t wait to tell you the out come.

Love, Rebekah Bullen

Wow! I can’t believe I am able to write you from Project Samuel in Zambia, Africa. God is so amazing! I can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support. Project Samuel is an orphanage in the bush of Zambia, Africa. Instead of the kids living in one big house with limited supervision, here the children live in smaller houses with house Moms. Only eight children live in a house with their house Mom. At this time we have eleven children here at Project Samuel. I will be spending six months teaching English to the children here at Project Samuel. I will also be leading a Vacation Bible School on Saturday afternoons with all the kids in the villages around Project Samuel. Today for the March for Missions we walked with all the children to one of the villages. I walked hand in hand with Judith and Dorothy, two of the sweetest girls you could imagine. We sang songs and laughed all the way to the village. After we got back, I sat in on a Bible study the kids have every Saturday with Pastor Tendai. He has been teaching on prayer. I loved hearing the kids recite the Lords Prayer in English. Then we had our traditional Saturday movie with the kids. I know God has called me here and I can’t wait to see what He is going to do through me.

Love Rebekah Bullen

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.

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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

“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 find the hardest part of ministry is keeping the passion you started with. I think the reason the passion in our heart fades is because we ether get worn-out or we get offended at someone or something, so the passion dies out. I have found this in my own life to many times. At the beginning of my time here at the Dream Center every thing I was asked to do was a privilege and so much fun. But as time passed, I stared finding excuses as to why I couldn’t help out any more. With every thing in me I want to keep that passion. I want to wake up every day with joy in my heart to serve. So I started praying for Jesus to renew that passion in me. I also started looking into why I think passion fades. Passion is defined as, intense or overpowering emotion such as love, joy, hatred, or anger. So why would my overpowering emotion of love or joy fade? I started thinking back on why I came to the Dream Center in the first place and what started that passion in my heart. I came to the Dream Center because after I read Pastor Matthew book, I wanted to find a piece of the God he found. I wanted to know Jesus the way he did. You can’t have a heart for people the way Pastor Matthew does with out being closer to Jesus’ heart then your average Christian. I wanted to know Jesus more, I wanted to see His power in a way I never had. My first months here I came to know Jesus more then I ever thought possible. Jesus answered the cry of my heart with a closeness to Him that amazed me. But as time passed I let busyness make me forget the reason I was here. I slowly lost that closeness I had. As a result I lost my passion. Everything became a burden and I lost the love I had for serving. For the last few weeks I have desperately searched for that passion and love I lost. I know I can’t serve like I want and need to with out Jesus’ strength and love in me. I can’t go a day with out Him. I need Him as the air I breathe. The easiest way for my to grow closer to Jesus is through worship. I crave worship. As a way to not make the same mistake, I have set aside time every day to pray and worship. I need it so much. Please pray for my to stay strong in the last to months I have at the Dream Center

Our movement October class Graduated last Sunday. I was so happy for all of my friends and proud of all they accomplished. But I was very sad to see them go home. I think my kid at Nickerson Gardens will miss them the most. As the October Class was saying good bye the kids I realized that in two months it will be me saying good bye. It is very bitter sweet thought leaving. I am ready for what God has for me next but I will miss my kid so much I think it might brake my heart to have to leave them. I love my kids so much, even when they are a handful on the bus or will not be quite during church. I pray that my little time with them will be a turning point in their lives for God.

Last Friday we had a movie night on the parking lot of the Dream Center. We had made little cardboard car for the kids to make it feel like they were at a drive in theater. We bussed in all of our Adopt a Block sites. The kids went craze at the thought of being able to watch a movie out side. We had hotdogs, popcorn and candy for all of the kids. My kids had a blast! I pray that I am a example of God’s love every time I with my kids and an the families at my Adopt a Block site. Pray for me to have the strength to finish strong.

Thinking back on the nine months I have spent at the Dream Center I can’t believe how much I have learned and how much closer of a relationship I now have with Jesus. I can’t wait to start a new chapter of life but I am also sad to close this chapter of preparation. I know I will miss the many hours of quiet reflection and searching for the Father’s heart. I know this time at the Dream Center is a gift and I am determined not to waste my last three months. In September when I go home I want to know I used every moment to grow closer and closer to my beloved Jesus and I used every opportunity to lead others to Him. My desire is to get to the point of no return in my relationship with Jesus. To get to the point in which I know that no matter what happens me, I will never go back to my old self or drift away from God because I now know that nothing in this world can compare with an hour in the presence of my Beloved and true happiness only comes from time spent with Jesus. “In your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures evermore.” Psalm 16:11 Is the cry of my heart. How can you look of joy in earthly thing when you know with your whole heart that there is fullness of joy in His presence? Why would you look to drugs or relationship after relationship when you know that at His right hand are pleasures evermore? The Bible is not a list of rules to please God and keep you from having fun but it is the key to ultimate joy. Jesus is not keeping you from a good time but giving you the satisfaction your heart need so desperately. The worship serves is not just something we do before the pastor preaches but a way to enter the presence of our Lover. In the Bible Jesus is referred to as our Father, Bridegroom, Friend, Savior and Lord. Most of the time we only see Him as our Lord and Savior but as a Father and Best Friend He is so much more personal. Jesus has to be worth giving up everything this world can offer and even worth facing suffering and death or else He is not worth your life. I can say with confidence JESUS IS WORTH IT. I will live the rest of my life showing others that Jesus is worth their life and their all. Jesus is not just fire insurance but a Pearl of great price that is worth everything you have and more. To say the lest this time at the Dream Center has given me a greater passion to live every moment and give everything I have for Jesus because I know with all my heart He is WORTH it.

Well I can’t believe it has been almost three weeks since my last update. It has been a little crazy at my office because Dustin is now working as the director of the Lords gym here on campus and Dave was on vacation for a week. So I had very little down time and on my down time I have been totally absorbed in this book my dad gave me called Reckless Abandon by David Sitton. Wow what a great book! David Sitton tells the story of his life as a missionary to the unreached tribes in Papua New Guinea. The part of the story that touched me the most is how no matter what danger or suffering he faced in the end he was sure of one thing JESUS IS WORTH IT! I want that passion and assurance. To know Jesus is enough for me. To want Jesus more then anything else. Well I have two experiences that I have to tell you about from the last three weeks. The first was on this Wednesday we teamed up with a ministry called Feed The Children to give out forty pounds of food per families to twelve hundred families. I could not believe the amount of food we had! The week before the event my Adopt a Block team and I had given out flier and invited people in all of the neighborhoods around the Dream Center and at many of the schools as well. We canvassed at all of our Adopt a Block sites too. The event was at two Wednesday afternoon and when I went out at nine that morning the line of people already had about two hundred people in it. We had six buses go out to pick up our families at our Adopt a Block sites. I had thirty of my families come from Nickerson Gardens. By Two o’clock we had more then twelve hundred families in line. We more then enough food to give out! The second God story is on Friday I was working with my team to bag up some fruit to give out at Adopt a Block when two ladies came up to me and asked in Spanish if I could give them any food. A lady helping us bag translated for me as one of the ladies told me that they could not make it to the food give away yesterday and hope we had some leftover food because she had no food in the house at all and she has four kids. I went with the ladies to our main office and asked them to call the food bank to ask if they could give them any food. As we waited for the food bank I tried to talk with one of the ladies with the limited Spanish I know. When to food came I was able to give them some toys and dippers for their kids as well. They hugged me and thanked me like hundred time I was almost in tears by the time their left. It is amazing to know that you get to be Jesus to someone.

Wow what a great two weeks! I was so blessed to have my dad visit me all last week. I had so much fun taking him out on all of the different outreach here at the Dream Center. We went out with the food truck on Tuesday to Nickerson Gardens my Adopt A Block site. The Food truck takes out food everyday to different projects and neighborhoods around L.A. I had a great time introducing my dad to all for my friends and families at Nickerson. On Wednesday we went out with Under The Bridge to give out a hot meal to the homeless on Skid Row. We gave out about two hundred hot plates. What amazes me the most is that Under The Bridge go out everyday and gives out that many if not more food. It is easy as you work in your own ministry to miss the impact that Dream Center is making. I am so glad I had this opportunity to see almost all of the ways the Dream Center is making a change in this city. On Thursday afternoon we went out with Project Prevention. Project Prevention was started by Carolina Barnet to help families from losing their kids because they lack basic necessities like food or diapers. Last year Project Prevention help keep two hundred families from losing their kids. It was awesome to hear some of the stories from the mothers that only were able to keep their kids because of the passion and love of the Dream Center. It really inspired me to know that all those mothers we are able to help because one woman followed God’s call on her life. On Friday we went out with my track on are usual retirement home. It cool to see how many of the residents are starting to expect us to come back and see them. I love hanging out with one lady named Dorothy. I usual color her a picture for her book.

On Saturday I had so much fun introducing my dad to all my families at Nickerson Gardens. Jenny daughter was having her birthday party. So we spent most of the day just hanging out and when we had to leave Jenny gave us all a huge plate of food and wanted to give us a plate of cake as well but we told her that the food was more then we could eat. Sunday after church Dad and I had a great time just hanging out and enjoying time with each other. Monday as I was dropping of my dad at the airport I was sad but I am also exited about the future. Tuesday we went out with our Adopt A Block track to pickup trash in the neighborhoods around the Dream Center. Travis one of our track members brought his guitar with him and as we were walking we ran into a homeless man who asked if he could play Travis’ guitar. I was shocked with how well he could play and sing. He told us he use to be in a band but was kicked out.
We bought him a McDonalds burger and invited him to come to the Dream Center sometime. On Wednesday we were able to take a TV to a lady that Diana one of my good friends knew from her old Adopt A Block sites. It was cool to see how even though Diana had not see this lady in for sometime because of the relationship Diana built with her, they were still like old friends. Friday we went to the park with our track. We played on the playset and laid in the grass to tan. For our after school program we had a killer water balloon fight with the kids. It started with just balloon but ended up with everyone getting a bucket of water dumped over their heads.  Saturdays Adopt A Block was awesome I was able to visit all my families and talk with most of my kids. After Adopt A Block I went hiking with some of my friends to Monrovia Falls. The hike was not very long but was one of the most beautiful hikes I have been on. The waterfall was so beautiful! We are planning on going back next Sunday.

Saturday was another thrilling day. We met in the Dream Center gym for the weekly Adopt-A-Block rally before heading out to the streets to minister to the blocks. I was amazed at how many people were there and how excited and blessed they were to be allowed to go and love on the people of L.A. What a testament to the presence of the Holy Spirit in this ministry. Jonathan, Rebekah’s boss, led the rally. It started out with 30 min. of corporate prayer. They turn down the lights in the gym and people are encouraged to pray however they feel led. Some paced, others faced the wall with their hands raised, others knelt, and others formed circles holding hands and praying in succession. Jonathan told us that the prayer time is us going to God on behalf of the people we are about to serve and then Adopt-A-Block is us going to the people on behalf of God.

After standing and praying for awhile, Rebekah came and got me and asked me to circle up and pray with her team which was going to Nickerson Gardens. I was so charged up. I acknowledged first in my prayer that transformation only comes from the Holy Spirit. We plant and water but He gives the increase. I asked God boldly to transform through us today. Transform the hearts of children and moms and dads and grandparents as we talk with them touch them and smile at them. Transform families, blocks, neighborhoods, cities, nations and the world! Let these young people praying with me be catalysts to ignite a spiritual awakening in this nations. Make our clay jars safe receptacles for Your glory so that we can carry it to the world.

We split up, Jonathan had some announcements and then we went to load up the donations and food and head out to the blocks. Rebekah’s bus had about 60 people on it headed for Nickerson Gardens (one of 15 sites being visited today), the largest projects west of the Mississippi. It was awesome! We arrived, unloaded the food, spit into groups of 3 to 4 and began to mingle with the people. We stopped at one house where a little boy who regularly comes to church with Bekah wanted us to hear him play a drum solo on buckets and pie plates. It was awesome. He has some rhythm for sure.

Next we went to a house where they were having a birthday party. They were so excited that we came. They have been inviting Rebekah for weeks and they were so “honored” that she brought her dad from Houston! Their hospitality was amazing. They served us Puerto Rican chicken and Mexican beans and pupusas. They tried to feed us cake and coke and jello too but we couldn’t eat another thing. We had fun playing with all of the neighborhood kids who just magically appeared when the candy came out. Jenny, the grandmother, asked me to pray for her daughter who is involved in the occult and drugs. The daughter asked me, “why do you people come here to the projects every week? I wouldn’t use my Saturday for that.” I told her that Jesus has put so much love in our hearts that we have to share it. She just looked at me for a long time.

Others in our team had similar experiences with other families. With us today was one group of boys from Calgary, Canada. They are a skateboard club that were on their way home from a mission trip building houses in Mexico and stopped off to participate in Adopt-A-Block here in L.A. before continuing their journey back home to Canada. They ended up spring cleaning one ladies whole house. What a blessing. On the way back to the Dream Center I “just happened” to sit by Josh, the leading chaperone of the skaters. He and his wife have 5 children 7 years old and under and they are trying to raise them up to serve the Lord. I smiled and told him that my wife and I have 5 kids 7 and under once upon a time who, by the grace of God, have grown up to make me very proud and that is why I am here at the Dream Center is to visit one of my daughters. I pointed her out and he said, “Oh, she’s the leader of this site, right?” “You must be very happy to see your daughter serving in a ministry like this.” I assured him I was and that if he and his wife just stayed faithful to pursuing Christ and discipling their children in the things of God that I could assure him that there was a marvelous God-adventure ahead for them. He was so encouraged and thanked me for sharing with him and thanked God for sitting me next to him on the bus. It was sweet.

After we got back Rebekah walked me all over Hollywood and we enjoyed a fun evening. Following her up and down the hills of this town on foot all week has sure put me back into shape. I hope I keep it up when I get back home.

Today, Friday, was a little slower pace and I enjoyed the time that Rebekah and I had to just catch up. In the morning we separated all of the things that have been donated this week for Adopt-A-Block tomorrow. It was raining most of the day so when we had a chance we quickly got the work done.

Before lunch we went to a presentation by The Movement students in the chapel. The Movement is a Bible college on steroids here at the Dream Center. The presentation was very moving. It was a smattering of drama, testimony, and a powerful message at the end from Caroline Barnett, Pastor Matthew’s wife. It reminded me of Life Action Ministries from when I was a kid. Everything about this place reminds me of the dreams and goals I had as a young Christian. My kids at Teens Unlimited, my youth ministry when I was a 22 year old youth pastor, and I used to talk about having  a big building where we could house homeless teens, gang members, and runaways. At the time they were living at my house, on my couch, and sleeping on my porch. Matthew Barnett has stayed young and not allowed the world to douse those childlike dreams of what God can do and it has refreshed and restored my soul. In the message at the end Pastor Caroline challenged us with the idea that there are more than enough Christians in the world to solve the world’s problems if we were just willing. God is not limited. Wow! So true. After the presentation I was able to speak with the director of Project Hope here at the Dream Center. Project Hope is the human trafficking outreach here. They literally rescue women and girls out of the sex trade and hide them, counsel them, and take care of them until it is safe to help them back into society. Since Colombia is the second leading sex trafficking country in the western hemisphere behind the Dominican Republic, I wanted to know all about what they are doing here. In a short period of time Project Hope has become the largest rescue operation in America.

After lunch we went with Rebekah’s Adopt-A-Block tract to a nearby retirement home and spent some time with the lovely residents there. I sat next to a sweet lady named Dora and a sweet lady named Alicia. Alicia was from Sau Paulo, Brazil and spoke only spanish so I enjoyed being able to talk to her and learn about her life. We colored with crayons but Dora insisted on watercolors so the nurse gave her some watercolors and she painted beautifully. I commented to the nurse how awesome Dora’s painting was and she handed me a notebook full of beautiful paintings that Dora had done. Dora told me that she used to sew and embroidery a lot as well but now she can only paint. It was obvious that these dear people look forward to the Dream Center kids coming every other Friday. It was so funny when one of the old gentlemen pointed to me and said, “I thought this was the Dream Center group, why is that old guy with them?” When they explained that I was Rebekah’s dad he said, “Ok, I was wondering because usually the Dream Center people are young.” Too funny.

We were supposed to go to skid row tonight but we were rained out. Rebekah also sometimes goes and witnesses to the prostitutes on sunset strip until 3 a.m. on Fridays but that was rained out as well so we sat in the Dream Center coffee shop and talked and dreamed and planned until bed time. What a lovely day.

Today, Thursday, was another life changing day for me. We started out at Rebekah’s office where she spent the morning answering calls and doing paperwork for Adopt-a-Block. After lunch we went out with an outreach called Project Prevention which works with family services here in L.A. to help families who are about to lose their children to foster care. Many families in L.A. lose their kids simply because they can’t afford to meet the legal requirements of the state such as owning a refrigerator, or having a real bed for their child to sleep in or owning a crib for their baby. If they don’t have these things or enough food their children are taken away and put into foster care and sometimes they never see them again.

Two years ago Pastor Matthew Barnett’s wife Caroline discovered what was going on and started Project Prevention. Social services will call the Dream Center when there is a family that is in danger of losing their children because of poverty. Project Prevention will then go visit the family and begin to help them with the things they need to keep their kids. Sometimes the family is homeless and so the Dream Center has built out an entire floor of their main building to house these families until they can get back on their feet so that they don’t lose their kids. Often Project Prevention with cooperate with Adopt-a-block as well if those families are in a 5 mile radius of one of their blocks. Rebekah usually delivers furniture and things to these families one day a week.

Rebekah and I had the privilege to tag along with this outreach today and we took food to four families and it was an amazing blessing. Two of the families had already had their children taken away before Project Prevention got involved and so the Dream Center people went to court with the family and helped them get their kids back and then worked with them to keep them. They help them to get jobs and whatever they need to begin living a productive life. And, of course, the spiritual renewal that takes place as these families interact with the Dream Center and Angelus Temple is dramatic. Many of them end up being lasting members of the church. One of the ladies that we visited has 7 children living in a one bedroom apartment and her husband recently left her for another woman. Without the Dream Center her children would have been scattered to the wind. Another lady gave us her amazing testimony. She has four daughters. One of her girls was being molested and the mom and girls had no where else to go so they ended up on skid row with two blankets. Project Prevention got them off the street and into an old house. The mom and daughters started cleaning up around the house and painted it inside and out. The landlord was so happy that he came in and fixed several things that weren’t working. A family at the church bought them a new stove and a refrigerator. The lady wept as she told us the story and praised God. She has family worship every day with her girls and reminds them of what God has done. The City of Los Angeles recently sent Project Prevention a letter thanking them for the amazing work that they are doing and shared that the city had estimated that Project Prevention is saving the taxpayers of Los Angeles $500,000.00 a year in court costs, foster care payments, etc. By the way, the Dream Center receives no support of any kind from public funds. It is solely supported by the private donations of God’s people.

Angelus Temple

After we returned from Project Prevention it was time to ride the bus out to Rebekah’s site at Nickerson Gardens in Watts and pick up her families for Thursday night church at Angelus Temple (the Dream Center church). I was so excited to visit this amazing church and I was not disappointed. The place was packed. We sat in the first balcony with Rebekah’s families. The worship was over the top awesome. My heart leaped as I looked across the crowd and saw dozens of men in black T-shirts (the men who are in recovery) and in another section dozens of women in black T-shirts (the women who are in recovery) all praising God.  I gazed around the cavernous auditorium and saw people from dozens of nations and ethnic backgrounds praising God. I stood with tears streaming down my face and my hands raised enraptured by the blessing of joining in the praise that was surging up from that place.

Then came the message. Lisa Bevere, wife of John Bevere spoke and I have rarely been so deeply touched by a message. It was so anointed and so uplifting and so encouraging and so Christ honoring. The tears that had started during worship never stopped flowing. When Pastor Matthew invited people to come to the stage and ask God for more, I jumped to the aisle and made my way down with the hundreds and hundreds of others. He paced back and forth across the stage praying and begging God to meet our needs. It was electrifying. I left with a new vision and passion to believe God for big things. To say the least my dream was radically expanded. That’s why they call it the Dream Center.

I have been so blessed as well to see the amazing change in my daughter after six months of serving here. She has a boldness and a confidence mixed with awe and humility that is awesome. I’m so thankful that God brought her to the Dream Center.

Some amazing DC stats: 600 housed daily, 3,700 clothed monthly, 36,000 hot meals served each month, 40,000 receive groceries each month, 1 million pounds of food distributed each month. 7000 volunteers provide staffing support annually. Monthly budget of $600,000.00.

The most refreshing thing so far though about the Dream Center is that they do all of these things as support to the preaching of the gospel and never in place of it. Every activity is designed to share Christ. The fruit is amazing as well. Nearly every leader of each of the over 200 outreaches here was originally won to Christ through the ministry. The testimonies I’ve already heard in two days just blow my mind. God is mightily at work here.

After I wrote my blog last night Rebekah and I went to a youth service in the beautiful old chapel in the main building (formerly City of Angels Hospital). The worship was outstanding! All the kids come up around the stage and lift their hands to the Lord and sing with all of their hearts. It was beautiful. The lead singer, Chloe, was unbelievable. After the service she came up and told Rebekah that she has her signed up to sing with her starting next week. Rebekah was terrified but excited. The youth pastor gave a wonderful message and many came forward for prayer. I had to laugh to myself as I looked around the ornate old chapel realizing God knew, as it was being built, that someday a throng of teens would be shouting His praise in this place. Amazing.

Under The Bridge

We went out this morning with a ministry called Under The Bridge which takes hot meals to the homeless on skid row and living under freeway overpasses. We spent the morning on skid row praying for, witnessing to, and inviting people to lunch later in the day. It was heartbreaking to see so many people living under tarps and in boxes and things. Many were there because of addiction especially along “heroin alley.” But many others were just there because things had gone wrong in their life and they had no where else to go. We were blessed to pray with, hug, and share Jesus with people who afterward thanked us with tears in their eyes and said things like, “God bless you and your family.” Under the Bridge comes here everyday and tries to get people to come to the Dream Center and get off the street. Many do but most are not ready to give up their addictions. Some came with us today and I pray that they stay and get discipled like so many from these mean streets that I’ve met here who are now radiant followers of Jesus.

We came back at 1:30 p.m. with the hot lunches. Some of us donned hairnets, aprons, and gloves in order to hand out food and the rest sang, prayed, and witnessed to the folks that came. We prepared and handed out about 200 plates. God continued His habit of surprising me with providential encounters. As we were serving food and praying for people the lady next to me who I knew was here from Sweden began to pray for a Mexican man in perfect Spanish. I was surprised. After she prayed she told the man that she used to be a missionary in Bogota, Colombia. I couldn’t believe it. Obviously, she and I spent several minutes talking about Bogota and she thanked me and thanked me for what we are doing there. She said that her heart still lives there even though God has her back in Sweden. Oh, how I know that feeling. I’ve posted some photos here.

Tonight Rebekah and I are attending an intern’s prayer meeting called focus. It is an hour of devotions and an hour of prayer. It is Rebekah’s favorite event each week. Cain’t wait.

Last year our family read the book, The Cause Within You by Matthew Barnett, founder and pastor of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. We were so taken with the book and with the work that they are doing that our oldest daughter Rebekah decided to intern for a year at this amazing ministry. This week I have the awesome privilege to be her shadow and follow her around the Dream Center and see all of the amazing ministries that are taking place here. We will take part in a different ministry each day and I will share about it here.

First, a little bit about the Dream Center. Pastor Matthew started this work in inner-city L.A. at the ripe old age of 19 nearly 19 years ago. The ministry now has over 250 outreaches striving to be the hands and feet of Christ. It has grown from one young man and his dream to a monster for God ministering to an average of 40,000 people per month. From gang members, drug addicts, unwed mothers and children without parents, motorcycle groups, taggers, AIDS victims, and various subculture, ethnic and nationality groups, drug rehabilitation to prostitute ministry to homeless to vulnerable children to you name it they apply the gospel to it here and lives are consistently and dramatically changed. It feeds the homeless and others in need and runs a halfway house for released prisoners. Close to 600 people are housed at the center and receive rehabilitation. Their Motto is: “Find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it.”

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 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.”

Today Rebekah and I went out with the “Food Truck” ministry to two different sites. They deliver an astounding one million pounds of food per month to needy families. The first site was Nickerson Gardens in Watts where Rebekah is the Dream Center’s site leader. She goes there about 4 times per week ministering to the 1100 families there. Nickerson is the largest “projects” west of the Mississippi. We arrived with the food and unloaded crate after crate of produce donated to the Dream Center by local grocery retailers. We then packaged the food evenly in grocery sacks for distribution. Then came the time to hand it to the crowd of waiting people and hear them say, “thank you, God bless you and your families.” It was very sweet. Many stopped so that we could pray for them. Some asked for specific prayer for things they are going through. It was amazing. See my photos here.

Rebekah and I are headed to a youth worship service tonight and then tomorrow we go out with the “Under the Bridge” ministry to literally go under freeway bridges and minister to the homeless who live there. Can’t wait!

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Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” This verse has been my pray the last two week. Every minute of every day I want to hid in His shelter because there is the only place I find peace and the strength to live every day. I love how the verse starts out stating what God is and then as if the writer could not hold back his praise the last part of the verse is the writer tells what God is to him. It is incredible how much peace and joy comes with knowing what Jesus is to you, not what others say He is but you know in yourself what you found Him to be in your life. Well this week we had a beautiful Purity night for the young ladies at our Adopt a Block sites but for you to get the full picture of what this night meant to the girls and the leaders I need to explain the whole story. Kaycie is our site leader for Ramona Gardens and she has built a remarkable relationship with the girls at her site. They literally spend almost as much time at the Dream Center as they do at home. Kaycie has a heart for girls to understand their worth and what real love looks like. As a way for the girls to understand that real love only comes through the love of Jesus, Kaycie started planning purity night. The girls went through a six week class in preparation for the purity night. For the last class we went to the beach with all our girls. We had so much fun playing volleyball and jumping waves in the ocean. When the sun went down we roasted hotdogs over a fire. Saturday after Adopt a Block we brought the girls back to the Dream Center and dressed them up. They had already picked out a dress they wanted to wear, so we did our nails and hair. After we were all dressed up we went and got our pictures taken. Then the girls were escorted to dinner in the chapel. During dinner we had a drama and one of the young men from the teen discipleship program rapped for the girls. After dinner we had a worship time and then Kaycie gave her testimony along with four other people the girls know well. Pastor Carolina gave a message about relationships and then we gave all the girls a bible and their purity rings. On the way home one of my girls told me that was one of the best night she has ever had and it was like being on a date with Jesus. I am so thankful God given me this time with my girls.

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This week I thought it would be cool to give a lay out of what my week usually looks like. So I will go day by day and tell you what my schedule looks like week to week.
Sunday, I ride the bus to pick up my kid from Nickerson to take them to church. I am responsible for the kids until they get back on the bus to go home, so if there is a problem at kids church I am called in to get my kids. I also make sure everyone gets back on the bus after church is over. We don’t ride back on the bus with the kids but we are trying to change that right now because the kids fight a lot on the way home. Sunday afternoon I have a life group at the church I go hiking with. We have so much fun and I get some great picture as well.
Monday, Every other week I count the offering at the church with my about a block team. Monday is our day off so when it is not our week to count the offering we have the whole day off. I spend most of the day checking up on sleep and reading.  Monday night I go to a Bible Study with a friend. I really enjoy having time to get away and just focus on worshiping my Savoir.
Tuesday, I work in the office with the church treasurer Dan Scot. I mostly work on filing paper work and just odd jobs he gives me to do. At three we have a after school program for the kids in the youth discipleship program and the kid that go to the dream center academy. We have a dream class, guitar class, arts class and a volleyball class. I work with the volleyball class right now but I jump for class to class. The churches youth group meets on Tuesday night in one of the chapels here at the Dream Center. I usually go to the youth group because I love the worship and because my girls come sometimes.
Wednesday, I work in the Adopt a Block office in the morning mostly printing out the files we will need for the next week and printing out the bible study we do for the kids on Saturday. In the afternoon we have our Movement track to help us, so we do different things like deliver furniture to a needy family,  we will pick up trash from around the neighborhood, or we will canvas for different events the Dream Center is having. We have the after school program again as well. Wednesday night I go to a inter prayer group. I love have a full hour to just pray and knowing I will not be interrupted. I think this is my favorite time of the week.
Thursday, I spend all day in the office working on finishing putting the packets for our different Adopt a Block sites together. I also check the messages on our answering machine and I return the calls that I can for Jonathan. At four I jump on the bus again to go and get my kids for our Thursday night church service. Because of the traffic the bus leaves the Dream Center at four and we don’t get to the church until right before seven.  It is hard to keep the kids calm when they are in the bus that long.
Friday, in the morning we go over to Gik our ministry that works with all the donations that are given to the Dream Center and we bag up all the hygiene items for Adopt a Block on Saturday. Then we put all the bag in our shed, so that on Saturday morning I can give all the site leaders their bag of hygiene items to give out. Friday afternoon we go with our track to visit a retirement home. It is so much fun coloring and playing games with the residents. We spend about an hour at the retirement home and then we come back to the Dream Center for our after school program. Friday night we go out to Skid Row with snacks to give out. Our goal is to use the snacks as a way to start a conversation with people. We have anywhere from fifteen to a hundred people go out with us every week.
Saturday, Is our big Adopt a Block day. I start with getting the food ready to go out and then we have an hour of prayer before our rally starts. The rally is for tell every one what AAB is and what we do. After the rally we all go and get all of our food and bags of hygiene items. We then jump on the bus and go to our sites.  We give out all of the food and hygiene items to all the families that line up every week and then we walk around asking if anyone would like prayer or if we can serve in any way. After Adopt a Block I have the rest of the day to relax and read.
So that is my whole week 🙂