This week I was blessed with a missionary retreat hosted by Christian Hospitality Network in Zimbabwe. Christian Hospitality Network is an amazing ministry! They truly represent Jesus’ hands and feet on this earth. CHN gives missionaries from all over the world a much-needed three-day Getaway.

A Team of Doctors, Counselors, and Chiropractors paid their own way to come all the way to Africa and volunteer their time to bless us.

Words can’t express how encouraging this week was to me! To know Christians care about the work we are doing and are willing to show us how much they love us. Worshipping in English in a room full of other missionaries was a little piece of heaven! Worshipping God in a room full of people who have given up so much because they love their Lord and the people they minister to so much is incredible.

I loved meeting missionaries from all over Africa. I had a long conversation with a couple that has worked in Livingstone, Zambia for fifteen years. I appreciated all the wisdom and advice they gave me. There is nothing like being able to ask someone who has been where you want to go, the best way to get there. I can’t thank CHN enough for the wonderful week of rest and renewal.

I know Our Heavenly Father will richly bless them. Matthew 10:42, “The one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

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. She will be returning to the U.S. December 12, 2013 to extend her visa and raise the plane fare to return to Zambia indefinitely. She needs our help to continue the work she is doing there.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

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

Rebekah & Mode

When I was planning for my internship here at Project Samuel in Zambia Africa, there where certain things I knew I needed to prepare myself for; for example the time difference, and the hot summers. I had been on many mission trips before and I thought I knew what being in a third world country would be like. But I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was!

I wasn’t prepared for how desperate the children are for basic education and the great need there is for teachers. I wasn’t prepared for how AIDS and other illnesses have devastated so many families. I know so many children who have lost a mother, father, or sibling to treatable illnesses. I wasn’t prepared for so many families going with out what I called basic necessities. I wasn’t prepared but I was willing for God to use me and after almost seven months I can say, “He has been so faithful!”

Zavier is one of the children I tutor, six months ago he couldn’t read or write basic three-letter words but today in my class he wrote a whole paragraph and was able to identify all the nouns, verbs, and adjectives in his paragraph.

Mode is a boy who lives in a village by the Project, knows he can come to me anytime he is hurt or needs books for school and I will do every thing I can to help him.

It is amazing to me how giving a child basic things like books for school can give them a chance for a better life. Mode has also started coming to church with me and comes to all of our weekly Bible studies. I know God has great plans not only for Project Samuel but also for all the people we influence by the work we do here.

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. She will be returning to the U.S. December 12, 2013 to extend her visa and raise the plane fare to return to Zambia indefinitely. She needs our help to continue the work she is doing there.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

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

For the last six months it has been my privilege to teach at Project Samuel in Zambia Africa. It’s a great joy everyday to wakeup to our children singing as they are preparing for school.

Dorothy is one of the many children I tutor at Project Samuel. She is ten years old and is in the third grade. When I met Dorothy she couldn’t read or concentrate on a subject for more than twenty minutes. Her teacher at the village school once told me that she wasn’t sure Dorothy would ever do well in school.

I started reading with Dorothy everyday to help strengthen her ability to concentrate. When we started, we read basic three-letter words together; that is when I noticed if she wasn’t able to read a word right away she would give up and expect me to give up as well. Instead, I encouraged her to keep trying until she succeeded.

Today I am proud to say Dorothy can read an entire children’s book almost by herself! However, more importantly she has a desire to learn and truly believes she can. Yesterday Dorothy received her grades from the village school. She is in the top ten in her class and received an 80 on her English exam. I am so proud of her.

I know God has a great plan for Dorothy, and I am grateful to be able to help her find that plan for her life.

I believe God has called me to Project Samuel for children just like Dorothy. He has called me to help change their lives by sharing His love and being a voice of encouragement in their lives.

Love,

Rebekah Bullen

 
[quote]Educate a boy and you educate an individual. Educate a girl and you educate a nation. – African Proverb[/quote]
 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I always love coming to this place and these people.

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

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

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

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

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

It will always amaze me how quickly a little bit of love and care changes a child.

When our new children arrived at the project this week, they were reserved and sad. But after only a week they are laughing and playing with our other children.

Today as I was walking all of the kids to the church for praise practice, Oliver, our new eight year old, was walking beside me and he held my hand the whole way to the church.

Only the love of Christ can give a child life and I pray that we are giving these children the love they are desperate for.

Love Rebekah Bullen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Bullen

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Bullen

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

I am excited about something awesome that I am doing soon. I will be participating in the 2013 March for Missions Fun Walk/Run in Zambia Africa with the Children I will be serving on my Mission Trip at Project Samuel.

March for Missions raises awareness and much needed funds for various foreign missions projects all over the world. This year’s event will benefit Project Samuel, a project for children in Zambia, Africa. I need your help to reach my fund raising goal and help the children of this impoverished African nation. Please go to the link below and sponsor me today!

http://marchformissions.com/sponsor-walker

I am willing to give my time to walk or run in this event, but I need you to help make it a success. I can’t do it without you!

Rebekah Bullen

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

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

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

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

Omar Garcia in his blog Go Beyond says the following…

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

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

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

Gladys Alward

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

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

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

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

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

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

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

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

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen