Colombia Mission Trip 1-2013 Day 1
Today, Sunday January 20, 2013 was a beautiful day. I am so excited to start my fifteenth trip to Colombia in 4 years. God has abundantly blessed me with this calling and the joy I feel when my feet touch Colombian soil is hard to put into words. We arrived last night late and today we had the wonderful pleasure and priviledge of preaching for our dear friends Pastor Lucas and Pastora Doraynne at their new church in south Bogota, Rios De Vida (Rivers of Life). Their’s is the family that Brooke stayed with for two months this summer. It was so sweet to see Brooke reunited with her Colombian Papa and Mama and her sister Sara and the little ones. It was so great to see Javier and Cindy and the worship team. They are awesome.
Our dear friend Oscar translated for me and God showered us with His presence. I preached from Matthew 13:33 on the triumph of the gospel. The kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman hid in three measures of flour until it permeated the entire lump. Every day we are hiding the yeast of the gospel in the dough of the world and it will not fail to spread to the whole world. I was so blessed to see the shining faces and bright smiles as the people soaked up the word of God. What a blessed work God is doing in this very poor section of Bogota. God bless Rios De Vida!
After church we were so blessed to visit Colombia Chiquita, a Christian foundation ministering to deperate children and families displaced by the guerrilla fighting in Colombia. The founder, Esperanza, is an amazing woman of God. She was in a terrible accident several years ago and was in a coma and lost a leg. The Lord raised her up and shortly after she was walking on the street with crutches and a little boy came and stole her crutches. She asked him why he was doing this and he replied that he was starving and needed them to sell. God broke her heart right there for the children of Colombia and she has been taking them in off the streets and raising them to be men and women of God ever since. What a joyous afternoon we spent with her and her workers and thirty of her children that she has in the house in Bogota. She also has other houses other places and many children around the country. We played and told stories and sang and ate and prayed. Oh! did we pray.
At one point Esperanza and her daughter Sara prayed over me for a long time. I understood every word and I must tell you I have never been prayed for like that before. They prayed some huge blessings and huge vision down upon my head, my hands, and my lips that will remain in my heart forever. My faith was so elevated as these two precious saints lifted me and my family and my ministry up to the throne of God. No wonder they live totally by faith. Praying down their monthly and even daily needs and have been doing so for years. It was a delightful time and we switched between crying and laughing or both. What kindred spirits. I am so grateful that God brought them across our path through our friend and colleauge in orphan ministry Pete Johnson. God bless you Pete! We get to go back and spend the whole day with Esperanza and Colombia Chiquita tomorrow. Thank you for the prayers and the support. Thank you Pastor Timothy and Relationships for Christ for making this trip happen. Thank you to our board member, David Attaway and his sister Michelle for their huge hearts. And to Oscar, I love you man!
Looking forward to an amazing week in the fields of the fatherless for Jesus, with Jesus and to Jesus we go.
Matt Bullen