Thursday, January 24, 2013, was another beautiful day. We started out with breakfast at our regular little authentic Colombian restaurant and just as I walked in the door sweet Ginary jumped out and hugged me. I was so surprised and happy to see her again this week. She also had with her Erica another girl that we have known and ministered to for years. It was so great to have breakfast with them both and the team.

We left them and went up into the mountainside to a beautiful Christian orphanage. We were all huffing and puffing as we toured the facility literally built into the side of the mountain. They have 100 children of which 30 are adoptable. We had a wonderful time getting to know them and we are excited about working with them in the future for the adoption arm of our ministry.

After a leisurely lunch (all I ate was a giant bowl of papaya, my new favorite fruit thanks to Mercy) we went back to Nuevo Planeta and spent the afternoon playing with those sweet little kids. We also brought each of the 11 boys who had professed faith in Christ the day before a new Bible. We gave them many of the gifts that all of you had collected for the trip and wished them blessings.

We then headed out to go to a meeting set up by Esperanza with some pastors at Mision Colombia, a large evangelical church in the city. We had a wonderful visit and they are excited about helping us on future trips. They have literally hundreds of contacts in the city and can help us with everything from lodging and transportation to opportunities for street evangelism, orphan ministry and even tribal outreach. God has opened so many doors for us this week it is incredible. Like the Chris Tomlin song says, “Greater things are still to be done in this city.” I love this ministry.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Today, Wednesday, January 23, 2013, started early but awesome as we were blessed to meet with Pastor Manuel for breakfast at 7:00 am at the Colombian National Bible Society. Pastor Manuel is pastor to Esperanza from Colombia Chiquita and also the president of the society. After a wonderful breakfast we heard about the great work of the society. It was founded in 1825 and they print and distribute Bibles all over South America. Last year alone they distributed 700,000 Bibles. They give free Bibles to the FARC and other guerrillas and they have seen many come to Christ and leave the fighting.

The exciting thing for us is that in my 15 trips to Colombia we have bought Spanish Bibles and paid the $70.00 extra bag charge for sometimes 20 extra bags in order to get Bibles to the orphans that we minister to. Pastor Manuel says that he can supply us with cases of Bibles at $3.00 each printed right here in Bogota! Praise God! They also have a Bible curriculum written for children with beautiful artwork. Pastor Timothy had the great idea of getting the society to put together a package deal for each orphanage of this curriculum and Pastor Manuel said they would also train the workers at the orphanage to use the curriculum. Please pray that someone with a passion for biblical education to step forward and finance this. Also the Bible society is in need of translators and donations to continue their work of getting God’s word into the hands of His people in Colombia.

We thanked them for the wonderful breakfast and headed to Nuevo Planeta. I have to admit that I was apprehensive about this next foundation because I knew that it housed 150 children that have each been raped and/or been exploited in the sex trade and this is why they are in this particular foundation. Also, they send buses out to the worst parts of the city and pick up 100 children who are living on the street and whose parents are addicts, prostitutes, or simply homeless and bring them in for a hot meal and a shower. I prayed with a little more intensity than usual as we headed there asking the Lord to superintend our visit there and override our fear and apprehension and allow the children to see Him in us and feel His love through us. We arrived and met the young woman in her mid thirties who founded this ministry 12 years ago with 12 children. Those who work for her know her as the “angel”.

She explained about the children and their history and how they have purchased land and are now raising the funds to build a new facility that they hope will house 500 children when it is completed because the need is so great. Our first order of business was touring their existing rented facility which consists of 3 houses connected together and busting at the seams. First we went up stairs and into a nursery like room with 25 of the cutest little 2-4 year olds you can imagine. As soon as we walked in the door they crowded around us hugging our legs and smiling and putting up their hands to be picked up. I picked up the little boy closest to me and he gave me a big hug and smile. Brooke sat down on the floor and 4 little ones piled into her lap hungry for love. I looked over and saw big crocodile tears running down her cheeks. We only stayed a moment and then had to move on for our tour and all of us were near tears as we walked on to view the rest of the facility and meet the other ages. After our tour we took a group to the park and played and played. It was so fun.

We had lunch together in the foundation and then took a class of 8-10 year olds taught by one of the orphans we used to minister to in another orphanage years ago that now works at this foundation to the park. Our dear friend Jair Montiel of the Christian band Viraje and Christ for the City came over for the day and as we sat down on the grass with the boys he took out his guitar and we sang several worship songs. I had told Jair that if we got the chance I wanted Pastor Timothy to share his testimony because I knew that these boys could really relate with Timothy’s painful childhood and so as we finished singing Jair called Timothy up and he spent the next several minutes sharing his story and how at age 13 after hearing the gospel at his grandmother’s church he knelt by his bed alone and felt Jesus telling him that He would be the dad he never had and he was saved and his life was changed. Every little boy sat there spellbound listening intently and when Timothy asked if they would like to believe on Jesus and ask Him to be there Papa and share his love with them nearly every hand went up and how sweetly they prayed asking Jesus to be their savior and their dad and to hold their future in His hands. When we finished praying a shout went up from the boys and they clapped. Praise the Lord! He is faithful and will continue the work in their hearts that was started today.

Then it was time to play. The big ones played soccer while the same little ones we had met that morning wore us out with piggyback rides and tag and swinging and jumping on us from the monkey bars. We had a blast. When we got tired we sat in the grass and they climbed all over us. Michelle had a sack of candy and she nearly got trampled as they all clamored to get a sucker or a sixlet. They were so cute. She also made little cross necklaces for each one with different colored ribbon. The crosses had engraved on them Dios Te Ama (God loves you). Each of us decided we could take 3 or 4 of them home if they would let us. One little girl 2 ½ or 3 named Sophia decided that I was her best buddy and hung on me all afternoon. All of my apprehension was for naught because those 150 children turned out to be just sweet little children starved for love and attention. Something all of us were thrilled to provide.

Another friend named Paul came and spent the last hour with us. Paul found our ministry through the internet a couple years ago and we have become dear friends. He and his wife just adopted a little boy two months ago. Praise God. We left exhausted but very happy, ready to go get some rest and come back again tomorrow and spend time with them again. All day I had daydreams about Jesus taking the little children into his lap and blessing them and reminding His disciples that the kingdom of God is for such as these. I love this ministry.

Thank you for your prayers and I want to thank Relationships for Christ and Pastor Timothy again for making this trip Mission Possible and thank you Oscar Perez for all of your hard work. Usted eres una gran bendicion a mi vida.

Matt Bullen

Again today, Tuesday January 22, 2013, God blessed us with a wonderful day. We spent the day with Maranatha International Foundation. They have a very interesting ministry. They focus on three different projects. The first is a Habitat for Humanity type ministry where they build houses for the poor in Bogota. Their goal is to build 100 houses. The second project is evangelistic events where they bring in evangelistic speakers like Nick Viujicic and hold giant evangelistic meetings. They have had approximately 95,000 conversions recorded in the last 6 years. The third project is Hogar De Paz (Home of Peace) where they take in children from the street each day and feed them, educate them, and win them to Christ and disciple them. This is the project that we came to see today. We were immediately impressed with the appearance and spirit of the place when we walked in. It really is a home of peace.

We had breakfast with them and then we spent the morning learning all about their foundation and about the children they serve. It was very refreshing to see a ministry serving vulnerable children whose main focus is the gospel and discipleship. They do many of the same social programs to help the children as others but their main focus is the heart because they know that true transformation of a child’s life is a supernatural happening brought about by the Holy Spirit. And all of the other needs in their life are secondary to breaking the cycle of sin, hopelessness, and abuse prevalent in their families because the life that Jesus gives is absent.
In the afternoon the children arrived and we played at the park for awhile and then came in to play board games and puzzles. It was so much fun playing with these sweet and happy children who once were withdrawn and angry and had witnessed horrible atrocities on the street and in war but now through the work of Hogar De Paz and the glorious gospel they are new little people. I had the most fun playing a memory game with a bunch of kids where we had these giant cards with pictures of all different faces of dinosaurs on them. We had the whole table covered in these cards face up and then we would give each child two seconds to look at the cards and then we turned them all over and they had to guess from memory where the duplicate cards were located. I was stunned at how smart these little 5 and 6 year olds were as they would just walk up and pick out the pair over and over again. It was so wild because they would scream and dance and jump around when they got it right. It was too cute.

An hour before it was time to go we gathered up for devotion. Some of the parents of the children who are now working during the day while the children are at school and then Hogar De Paz began to drift in while we were singing worship songs and then the children sang several songs and then it was time for the devotion. Each of the team members got up and gave their testimony and it was amazing how some of the team members childhood testimonies resembled what these children have seen and how good it was for them to hear the difference that Christ has made in each of our lives. David Attaway gave the entire gospel message from Romans and all of those parents were sitting there listening intently.

God is doing a great work through Maranatha and we were very blessed to spend the day with them. God has given us a very blessed, calm, and intimate trip and we are grateful and blessed. One of the team members this morning, Jay from Chicago, said that he originally was supposed to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua but it didn’t work out and so he sort of felt at the time like he was settling for the Colombia trip but WOW has God blown his mind and he knows that this is where he was supposed to be. Praise God. Thank you for your prayers.

Matt Bullen

Another wonderful day today, Monday January 21, 2013, started early as we picked up Pastor Timothy Vowell at the airport at 5:30 am. I am so happy to be cooperating together on this trip.

I had a wonderful surprise when my precious goddaughter, Ginary, showed up to have breakfast with us. She has grown into such a sweet young woman. Brooke and I were so blessed to get to spend some time with her yesterday and then again today. She aged out of the orphanage last month and we are working on a long-term plan to help her in life. Please pray with us that God will send the resources and opportunities as she moves into adulthood. We will see her again on Sunday.

We headed over to see our new friends at Colombia Chiquita again today. I had noticed yesterday that they had a little church next door called Iglesia Misionera Santa Sion but I didn’t realize it was their own church and not actually next door but was a part of their house.

As soon as we walked in the door Esperanza said, “You are sharing the word in the church today.” I looked at Oscar and said, “You ready to preach?” They opened up the church which has a garage door which opens onto the sidewalk and they set up chairs all the way out to the curb. Pretty soon people came from everywhere including the children and filled up the little church out onto the sidewalk. We sang and sang and prayed and prayed and then Oscar and I preached. It was awesome. I shared that John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God, though a small verse tells the story of the reason for the existence of the universe, relationship. The blessed Trinity was in a beautiful, loving, harmonious, joyful, loving relationship before the world began and they created the world and us so they could share that beautiful relationship with us. God came and walked in the garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. We were created for relationship with God and nothing in this world can satisfy that need but Him. We try to substitute drugs and sex and alcohol and money and position and accomplishment and many other things in place of the real thing we need, the only true ultimate satisfaction, which is found in a genuine relationship with Christ. God blessed us with His presence and it was a delight to see the smiles and the nods and the Amens from many in the crowd. One teen girl in particular who came to the foundation in a lot of trouble a year ago and is now a sold out Jesus girl was very touched.

After the message headed out to the park to play soccer and the little kids played on the playground. I sat in the shade and enjoyed a steady stream of young people who came by to talk to share with me about their life and I was able to encourage and minister to each one. The other team members made friends and ministered too. Brooke had a long and deep conversation with one of the young workers there and I know they were both blessed.

We came back to the house and ate lunch and then we sat around the table and talked kingdom strategy for most of the afternoon. We had arepas, an amazing Colombian delicacy made with corn meal, white cheese, and butter. And of course we had lots of Colombian coffee. Esperanza and Colombia Chiquita have a big vision for a ministry center someday and we even pulled out the blueprints and prayed over them. As we talked and prayed Esperanza said, “I have to introduce you to my pastor! He is the president of a national pastor’s association here in Colombia.” She picked up her phone and called him and set up a breakfast meeting with him for Wednesday. It will be exciting to get to meet with him and some of the other leaders of their association. She also invited us to speak at a national pastor’s congress in November. I am excited about the ministry that we will do together, God willing.

Their most desperate need is for child sponsors to help them feed, clothe, and house these precious children who otherwise would be on the street but who are now being discipled into men and women of God. Esperanza told me that she needs 30 sponsors right now at $45.00 a month.

I made so many little friends and my heart was stolen once again for the children of Colombia as they lined up to hug my neck as we were leaving. What a delightful mission and people. Thank you Lord. Help us to help them.

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

[lightbox full=”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/paul_s_missionary_journeys-e1358033832355.jpg” thumb=”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/paul_s_missionary_journeys-e1358033832355.jpg” title=”Paul’s Missionary Journeys” /]

Missions Ambition

 
Romans 15:20 I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation,

Often times we think of raw, unchecked ambition in a negative connotation but Paul was not shy in stating that he had a holy ambition… a missions ambition… and we should have it too.

If God has saved us and made us His own, be assured, it was not just so we could sit back and relax. He saved us and has called every single one of us to join Him in His mission to save the rest of the world. Missions isn’t just the job of a few hyperactive Christians in the church. Missions is each of our calling.

I love how Matthew Barnett says it,

[quote]
“When you were born, God instilled many things within you. One of them was a great CAUSE that He wants you to embrace. In His unique grandeur, He created a universe in which the cumulative effect of all people faithfully pursuing the cause within them would result in a transformed world – one in which everyone’s needs would be met and every servant’s heart would be filled with the joy of blessing others. Unfortunately, we live in a traumatized world – in part because so many people fail to identify and pursue the cause He has given them. Even though it would provide the happiness and fulfillment they have been seeking, they have failed to build their lives around that cause.” – Matthew Barnett
[/quote]

God has more for us to do and to be a part of than we have dared to dream. We need to get a holy ambition to impact the world.

[quote]
“If your vision doesn’t scare you, then both your vision and your God are too small.” – Brother Andrew
[/quote]

So why does the great majority of church going, faith professing, Christians live lives that don’t reflect this kind of raging ambition? Somehow we have been lulled into the thought that impacting the world for Christ is a calling reserved for a radical few. We have traded God’s plan for the Christian life for one of our own making.
[quote]
“We tend to drift away from God’s bold vision, replacing it with a safer, tamer vision of our own.” – Richard Stearns
[/quote]

Many of us at some point in our lives get an inkling that something isn’t right. We read the book of Acts and wonder… “Why doesn’t God work the same way today?” For a moment we wonder if we aren’t supposed to be doing more for God and experiencing more of His power and seeing more transformation in the world. We wonder if we shouldn’t break from the norms of our culture and give ourselves to the work of God completely. Then fear strikes. “We can’t just give up everything. I mean we can’t all be gospel agents can we? Somebody has to be average American Christians.” We look around and notice that no one else seems disturbed with the disparity between the Bible and our lives and so we shrug, assuming that we have just experienced a brief lapse in reality. After all, “we must submit to the demands of our society. How can we provide for ourselves and our family if we don’t stay in the rat race? Radical ministry must be for someone with less responsibilities and encumbrances than me. Some of us are made for big dreams but not me.” I’m tempted to believe it but then I read quotes like…
[quote]
“We need to dream big dreams because it keeps us on our knees in raw dependence. Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. “ – Mark Batterson
[/quote]
or like…
[quote]
“God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible.” -William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
[/quote]
And I know that I can’t quit. It’s why I love to keep quotes like these around me. Because the enemy is always trying to lull me back to sleep but the future generations of the Bullen family can’t afford for me to get distracted. The hundreds of orphans our ministry serves can’t afford for me to get distracted. The young ministers and missionaries whom I have the joy of mentoring and encouraging can’t afford for me to get distracted. The seasoned saints who have invested in me over the decades can’t afford for me to get distracted and squander their spiritual investment. The lives that I will touch with my simple obedience can’t afford for me to get distracted. My own soul and my joy and my happiness can’t afford for me to get distracted. I am addicted to the mission of God and I can’t live without it. My mind and soul having been stretched to know this amazing life can never retract back to their original smallness. I must press on. I have a mission ambition to push out the boundaries of His kingdom until all know Him and worship Him. I’ve read and believed quotes like the ones below and they have stretched my heart beyond the point of no return. I’m hopelessly consumed with an ambition… a mission ambition…
[quote]
“One of the reasons that we are often not as happy as we should be and could be is that our vision of what our life is about is too small. We try to find happiness in our work, our family, and our friends. He wants the whole world to be embraced by His saving glory in Jesus Christ and He wants you and me to be involved in this. Our hearts can expand with joy in God as we watch Him triumph in the world. One of the reasons that missions is so advancing to our happiness is because you are engaged in something that not only is God very excited about but that cannot fail… we are linking our lives to something global, something absolutely indomitable, and something absolutely eternal and when you are linked to big things, strong things, sure things like that your joy is deeper, stronger, and bigger.” – John Piper
[/quote]

[quote]”‘Not called!’ did you say?
‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say.”
— William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
[/quote]

[quote]
“I pray that the Lord might give you a dare-devil spirit, consuming you with a passion that is called by the cultured citizen of Christendom ‘fanaticism’, but known to God as that saint-ly madness that led His Son through bloody sweat and hot tears to agony on a rude Cross—and Glory!” – Jim Elliot
[/quote]

So, will you take up the challenge? What Holy Ambition is God stirring in your heart even now?