Category Brooke In Colombia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 18:5

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

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

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

Mission Critical International

301 Pruitt Rd. #1030

Sbring, TX 77380

Give online below.

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

I was suddenly jerked awake by the rudeness of the dirt road that seemed to stretch on forever. I rubbed my eyes and looked out the window and to my surprise I saw my home state of New Mexico… Or at least what looked like New Mexico. Somewhere along our 20+ hour bus ride we had gone from beautiful green mountains and breathtaking water falls to cactus, cactus and more dusty cactus. It was so hot that you could see the blur above the ground that is caused by the scorching heat waves, but luckily I was safely tucked in an air-conditioned bus… for the moment. This dry and thirsty desert with nothing but cactus and sand was nothing like the Colombia I was used to so I knew we had to be in Guajira. I was correct we were near a little town called Uribia where half of our team would be staying to work in a Rancheria (a small village literally in the middle of nowhere where little Wayuu communities live).

I looked to my right to see Paola sleeping like a rock in the seat next to me. I felt from the moment that I met Paola that God wanted to show her His love on this trip. Every time she talked about God, she seemed unsure and a bit tired of hearing the same Jesus story. When I “happened” to sit next to her on the bus I thought “What a great opportunity to share the Lord with probably the only unbeliever on the team” but God had other plans. As crazy as it sounds the moment I started talking to Paola I felt the Holy Spirit telling me not to try to “evangelize her” but to show her love through action and not words. So during the rest of the trip I decided I would just love on her and show her through action that everything she has been told a hundred or more times was real. I will come back to her in a bit because the story doesn’t end there ☺. We still had a bit to go before getting to Manaure, which is where I would be serving in another Rancheria called Arroyo de Limon, so I decided to pull out my new book, A love Worth gGiving by Max Lucado. I totally recommend this book to everyone haha. I started to read the first chapter and it talked about how love is patient. Basically in less eloquent words it is about how God is so patient with you that by accepting and remembering that, you can love others by being patient with them. It was exactly what I needed for this long week because if anything else I was going to need a lot of patience.

As we finally pulled into our destination I thought that perhaps we were going to crash into the ditch on the side of the road because all you could see for miles was dirt road with walls of 8-foot tall cactus and brush and we seemed to be heading right for those walls but apparently there was a tiny little trail off to the side of the road that lead to the Rancheria hidden in the desert cactus forest. The moment I stepped out of the bus I was blasted by the 115 degree heat and sand carried by strong gusts of wind that never seem to stop. The first thing I noticed about Arroyo Limon were the houses… the “houses” is what a spoiled girl from the United States would call them (I’m talking about me lol) Their houses are made from sticks and mud plastered together with a tin roof, well sometimes it is tin and others it is just more sticks and mud. Those are the nicer houses; the others are four to six small trees holding up a stick roof and that’s it, no walls or anything just a hammock to sleep in and a little fireplace. We spent the first day, Sunday afternoon, building a shelter and setting up our hammocks. The pastor of the Wayuu church, who is Wayuu himself, came with his family and the other leaders to greet us. Something I find very interesting and awesome about the Wayuu is that they are big on greeting every single person and shaking everyone’s hand individually and it is important for them to make eye contact. We spent the rest of the evening talking to some of the families that lived near by, which was a challenge because only 10% of the children speak Spanish and about half of the adults but as we always say on mission trips “Love is not bound by language or race.”

Monday morning was interesting to say the least. We woke up at 5am and after 20+ hours in a bus and a night sleeping outside all the girls were eager to shower. Being as it is desert, water in Guajira is, as the Wayuu pastor put it, gold. There is no electricity in these Rancherias let alone running water. We were supplied with two giant water tanks that were supposed to last us the rest of the week and in order to “shower” one had to take a bucket, fill it with water, carry it to the outdoor tarp shelter that was our bathroom and hire someone to watch over the door while you dumped little cups of water on your head. The first few times are fun but it requires a lot of patience by the third try. After showers, devotions and breakfast we started our activities with the kiddos. Kids from all over the community (even ones that had to walk quite a bit to get there) came to hear about Jesus through playing games, craft making and theater shows. I spent the first day helping take care of the babies who were too little to participate. The Wayuu are very serious and rarely show emotion so it was a bit difficult in the beginning to connect with the mothers and get them comfortable enough to let us hold the little ones but we finally found a translator and began talking to them about their lives and about Mochilas (handmade purses that they make and sell to earn money, they are beautiful and usually rather expensive in Bogota and other big cities). One of those little cuties passed out in my arms and I held him for a few hours, the Wayuu say that when a baby falls asleep on you they have adopted you as their mom so they were all telling me “Oh you have a new son” haha. When we had finished all the activities we had lunch and rested for a bit before the teenagers arrived. Every morning we spent with the little kids and every evening after lunch we played sports and shared with the teenagers. Playing sports in 115 degree weather can be quite challenging especially if you are used to living in Bogota climate, which is usually chilly and rainy, but we made it through and had a great time jumping rope, playing Chicle (a classic Colombian jump string game) and playing volleyball.

At night all the kids from the neighboring houses show up to play and see what little snacks or things that they could get. This is another time when “Love is patient” was always in my mind. After a long day I was ready to relax when all of a sudden three little heads popped up in the dark beside my hammock. One little girl, who was an artist at getting her way through being cute, kept touching every single thing I had with me and telling me in broken Spanish “This is so nice… give it to me” haha. These cute little kids asked for everything from hats and blankets to even our shoes. But the one thing that they crave above all else is water. I was told by the Wayuu pastor’s niece Monica that their only water supply was a river but that it had dried up three years ago and since then the communities in Manaure had been suffering greatly because of the lack of fresh water. This really broke my heart because normally little kids want toys and candy and soda where as these little kids were literally begging for just a swallow of one of life’s basic necessities, clean water. At all times there were at least 5-10 kids hanging out near the ice cooler that held our only drinking water supply in hopes that whenever someone came for a drink they would be able to beg a swallow or two. It is even harder that most times we had to say no to the crowds and secretly give water to a few because there was just not enough to go around. But thankfully I do believe that each one at some point got a little bit and they received all the extra food and juice packs that we could spare.

The days that followed we continued with our activities and sports with the help of a few Wayuu translators. One in particular was a 14-year-old girl named Lina. She was very serious and seemed to be at least 17-18 but she loved volunteering and was an amazing help during the Jesus skits and the worship time. We began to build relationships with the people and exchange items from our different cultures and I have to say despite the cold windy nights, the bucket showers and the constant wind covering everybody in hot sand, I really felt the love of the Lord in that place and I could see Him in the faces of these hardened people who live in these harsh conditions everyday. I could see Him when the children would clap for Maneiwa (the Wayuu word for God) during worship. I could see Him in the kitchen where the women worked tirelessly to cook for us and prepare our meals without complaint of the suffocating heat from the wood fire and were always ready to greet us and serve us with a smile. I could see Him during the Wayuu church service that was held outside every night as the people would raise their hands and sing to Maneiwa with tears in their eyes and a song in their hearts. I could see Him during one of our morning devotions when Paola (from the beginning of the story) told us that she had never felt the love of the Lord like she was feeling from us and that she saw such a wonderful example of him shining through each of the people there and that it strengthened her faith in Him.

I could see Him in Lina as she and I played together on our “day off” by the beach and ran and laughed together. She told me the next day before we left that she had never had so much fun in her life and was going to miss me very much as she cried on my shoulder and I on hers. I could also see Jesus the night before we left when all the people came up to us and cried tears of sorrow and joy… They never cry… but they cried for us and told us that God had brought their communities together for the first time through us and thanked us a hundred times for sharing Jesus with them and their children. I saw Jesus as they gathered together with us to dance and worship Maneiwa with the whole group until 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I saw Jesus in the faces of the most needy and poverty stricken indigenous community in Colombia who opened their doors and their hearts to us and I will never in my life forget what that looks like. We always think that we are going to serve and to love and to receive. But it never ceases to amaze me that no matter how many mission trips I go on or how many hotel hells that I visit or how many orphanages I serve in, it is always me who gets served and loved and receives more that I could ever give.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this trip and during my time here in Colombia. It has been such a blessing to see Christ in the nations and to be able to receive his love in even the driest and most desolate places in the world. Please, please pray for Guajira and all the precious people who are starving for food and water but most importantly the love of Jesus. I am planning to go back to Guajira as often as I can and see what else God has for me there. There are so many other things I could tell that cannot fit in a blog but I hope to be able to share this blessing with others who may also come with me to see for themselves someday.

“A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

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

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

Mission Critical International

301 Pruitt Rd. #1030

Sbring, TX 77380

Give online below.

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

Life has been very active for Oscar and me since I arrived back in Bogota on February 1, after spending a month with my family in the U.S., and I must say I love it. I reconnected with a friend of mine, a missionary from Canada, whom Rebekah and I were working with last year supporting passion for changing the lives of children on a long-term scale through education. Basically they have started their own “homeschool” program where kids come to the foundation after and before school to get help with homework, discipleship and basic learning. I love working with Anita and Janet, the two who founded this program called “The Bridge” and work tirelessly everyday teaching and loving around 36 kids. They are a huge blessing to these kids and I wish I could work with them more but for now I volunteer helping 2 days a week. Please pray that God would continue changing the lives and futures of these kids who are mostly very behind in school or have never studied at all.

That is a small update of some of the things that God has been using me to do but what I really wanted to share in this blog is about a place here in Colombia called Guajira. The first time I heard of Guajira was a day last year when Oscar was pouring his heart out to me concerning a desire to see his home, the nation of Colombia, change. He was telling me about all of the corruption and poverty and how heartbreaking it is to know that children die of starvation and lack of clean water everyday in Guajira. In that moment I felt the Holy Spirit touch my heart and I was suddenly filled with not only a devastating compassion but also a relentless desire to go. I remember asking Oscar why there was not more help in Guajira and he told me because of the civil war it had become almost impossible to get to that part of Colombia safely. I remember those words echoing in my mind… Almost impossible. So from that night on Oscar and I began to pray for a way to get to Guajira and for God to work a miracle in that area.

Colombia’s civil war has been going on for somewhere close to 60 years and because of the Guerrilla groups entrance into different parts of Colombia has been, as I said before, almost impossible, especially for foreigners, but as God always seems to work with me He never gives me a passion without also providing a way. Recently after so many years of war the government of Colombia has finally began a peace process with one of the biggest and most notorious Guerrilla groups here in Colombia and they are planning to sign the peace process contract in May of this year.

This peace process has made it a lot safer (right on time) to travel to places like Guajira and after months of praying and trying different avenues and possibilities with no success Oscar finally told me that a group of people from a church that Mission Critical has worked with in the past were looking for volunteers to go on a mission trip/health brigade to Manaure, Guajira. I cannot express my excitement to be going to this town of around 70,000 people (as recorded in 2005) to serve these people in the middle of the desert and bring the love of Jesus to the Wayuu Indian tribe and many others. I will be leaving on the 19th and returning on the 26th of March.

God worked a miracle to pay my way to go through my brother Luke and his wife Misti but there are still some things I need to be able to go on this trip. Please pray for provision and protection but mostly for the Holy Spirit to come upon us and give us the grace to be Jesus to these precious people. Thank you to all my readers and supporters as always you are a part of what God does through me here in Colombia. If you would like to learn more about Manaure, Guajira here is the link to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaure,_La_Guajira.

“You called me out upon the water, the great unknown where feet may fail. And there I find you in the mystery in oceans deep my faith will stand” – Oceans Hillsong

This is my command be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go! Joshua 1:9

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

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

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

Mission Critical International

301 Pruitt Rd. #1030

Sbring, TX 77380

Give online below.

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

Spent the whole day teaching kids at a new foundation I have been volunteering at… They are all way behind in school so they come there everyday after school to learn the basics and get help with homework… Was so awesome… One boy is about 12 and has never studied in school.. He recommended the foundation to his mom for his nephew and cousin but would not come himself because he was embarrassed cause he doesn’t know anything about school and works with some relatives recycling all the plastic out of the huuuuge trash yard right next to where the foundation is.

Anyway… He was standing on a huge pile of trash (that reached to our second story window) and curiously watched us today for a long time… We talked to him and smiled at him and finally invited him to com inside… You should have seen his face when he started playing with the other kids… So precious and happy… Hopefully he will start attending and we can give him lessons.

There are about 30 kids and only three of us to work with them haha so its been rough but so fulfilling. 

“Why do you want to work with young adults and not children? What is the point of trying to help people who are already almost grown?” I have been asked that question so many times that now answering it almost becomes a routine when talking to people about Mission Critical’s dream to build a home for young adults (beginning with young women) ages 18-23 in inner city Bogota Colombia. Honestly I sometimes have to ask myself the same question…. Is it really worth it? Is this a real necessity here in Bogota? Will it make a difference? These last few months that I have been in Bogota I have felt a deep dissatisfaction with the work that I have been able to do so far, let me explain a bit of what I mean.

The Colombian government is unfortunately a nightmare of nightmares when it comes to paper work especially for ministries and that means that before starting anything there is a long waiting and investigation process that has to take place and the consequences of not doing everything excruciatingly perfect can be devastating including prison time and fines of thousands of dollars. Basically if you want to help people here in Colombia you had better be ready to be patient and wear out your knees from hard-core prayer. All that to say most of the work that Oscar (Mission Critical’s general director in Colombia and my Fiancé) and I have been doing for the last 4 months, other than translations and mission trip organization for different ministries and doing our best to love on individuals, has been talking to various lawyers, ministries, churches and individuals with any knowledge about how to establish a legal ministry here in Colombia.

I have worked hard here in Colombia even to the point of losing a lot of weight and having to stay in bed for a few days because of stress and lack of rest but I can honestly say the hardest part has been these last 4 months. The endless days of waiting on papers and for God to send us the right people to work with and the not knowing where the funds will come from to launch such an endeavor have been merciless and as I said sometimes it is difficult to stay focused and causes one to ask…“is it all really worth it?”

I want to tell you a story about two different girls that I have met and talked with personally here in Bogota… the first one I will call Joanna and the other I will call Keren for their protection. Both of these girls either escaped (because life on the street was better than living there) or were forced to leave the government institutions at the age of 18 years old to fend for themselves with no money, no family and no future. Both girls have told me about how they lived on the street constantly surrounded by prostitution and drugs. Joanna has been my friend for about 7 years and during that time God has used me to help her escape from prostitution 2 different times. I remember as she begged for my help the first time and cried in my arms telling me how she was working as a prostitute and how she didn’t see a way out. Keren and another friend escaped from the government orphanage when she was 14 and they lived alone selling candy on the street for money. By the grace of God Keren was able to avoid the drugs and the “pimps” that constantly surrounded them and just recently she was finally able to reconnect with her family. Her friend however fell into the grip of drug addiction and under-age prostitution and has to this day never been able to break free from that. Every time I think about them and the countless others that I have talked to and known for years that have fallen into sex trafficking at some point in their teenage to young adult lives I say to myself and others YES! it is absolutely worth it and necessary because one of the main causes for this is because they have no other options. More than 800 young adults per year are forced to leave the governmental care systems at the age of 18 in Bogota alone and most of the girls end up in prostitution and the boys become addicts, gang members and pimps or “groomers” themselves. 15% of them will be dead within a year and over 60% will eventually face a fate worse than death in the brothels. My family has worked in these orphanages and we have witnessed the traffickers waiting at the orphanage gate to scoop up these precious little girls.

Mission Critical’s first goal is to give these young men and women that “other option” by starting a prevention program where 18-year-old girls who have ‘aged-out” of institutions can live in a home where they receive their basic needs, counsel, discipleship, help finding a job, training on how to live on their own, the opportunity to study and have a profession/degree and much more until they are emotionally and physically ready to live and be successful on their own. We are one of the only ministries that have this vision to work with young adults here in Colombia, there are countless ministries to children and families but almost nobody is doing what we are working to do. This is the first step of many to come to help break the cycle and help change the lives of young adults in Bogota and other cities in Colombia. That is why we do what we do and that is also why I always ask for prayer for Mission Critical Colombia and for our team on the ground (Oscar and me) especially now that we are hoping to have SHIELD House up and running by the end of 2016. Please, please pray for the long year we have ahead of us and, God willing, for the many years to come of countless souls being reached and changed through God’s love.

Also please ANYONE who reads this take 10 minutes to watch this video and read this article about Medellin Colombia where I spent 11 months earlier this year working with children and street ministry and saw for myself much of what is revealed in this video, http://www.channel4.com/news/colombia-medellin-prostitution-virgins-gangs-pablo-escobar . It is worth the 10 minutes and will shed a lot of light on why this is an emergency and we need all the help we can get to make a difference. Jesus came to set the captives free and He is still doing that today through those who are willing to fight. Just like in the short story of the boy throwing the starfish back into the ocean, we cannot make a difference for all of them… but we can make a difference for the one, the two, and the three that are touched by what we do.

“A soul’s worth, can it be named? What is the price of one reclaimed? We can’t afford to ignore the strife, what will you give for a life?” – A soul’s worth by Matthew Bullen.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

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

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

Mission Critical International

301 Pruitt Rd. #1030

Sbring, TX 77380

Give online below.

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

I used to believe in coincidence… meaning I used to believe that people just happened to be at the right place at the right time… or that you don’t need to pay much attention to uncanny events that seem too good to be true because all in all it was just a happy mishap… a random occurrence.

Thankfully God began to work on my faith and began to open my eyes to see Him and more importantly to consciously recognize His work in action. Now of course, sometimes I still have my doubts and have to ask, “God is this you?” But every once in a while, more and more recently, God puts me right in the middle of something and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is Him… because I can almost literally see His finger prints all over it… God is really cool that way. Just like an artist leaves his special mark on his masterpiece either in a clear signature or a hidden message inside the brush strokes, God loves to leave His fingerprints… His breadcrumbs if you will and just like a spectator gawking at the Mona Lisa, God leaves His children in awe and full of great joy at what He has been up to.

Today I was blessed to be a part of one of those “Aha!” moments. But let me start at the beginning. About 7 years ago my family started working in Colombia on short term mission trips. I remember considering my first trip (I was 16-years-old) more like a chance to explore a new place while still being able to do some good along the way. I had no idea that God was setting up divine appointments that I would not be able to recognize until many years later. I do not have a very vivid memory of what we did or whom we met but there were a select few that I made a strong connection with and will never be able to forget. One of these divine appointments was with a girl named Yesika. Yesika entered the government care system at 13-years-old along with her two younger brothers. She grew up in a catholic orphanage separated from her siblings and parents until she was finally moved to the half-way-house (a home for young adults who age-out of the system) at age 18 and that is where I met her.

I remember taking a special interest in Yesika because she liked to play basketball just like me. I only spent one day with Yesika but I never forgot her and prayed for her often. About two years later I was living for two months in Colombia as a short-term missionary and working at the orphanage where Yesika grew up. On the long bus ride home one day as I was trying to catch a few winks of sleep I suddenly heard a very sweet voice call out my name and of course who else should it be but Yesik1 We had not seen each other in over two years and just happened to run into each other both headed home from work in a city with over 8 million people and thousands of bus routes here we were “at the right place at the right time” to reconnect and re-establish communication. Since that day I have never lost communication with Yesika and we have stayed friends.

When I moved back to Bogota in 2014 as a full-time missionary God put her on my heart one day and so I invited her to ice cream. Little did I know that God was working in Yesika’s heart and had placed in her a passion to help others like herself not only in Bogota but also in many parts of Colombia. As she poured her heart out to me and told me all about her plans I could she the passion burning in her eyes. During my year in Medellin I was barely able to stay in contact with anyone because of the amount of work so I forgot about Yesika and her project until two days ago.

Since coming back to Bogota at the beginning of August I have been praying everyday for God to clearly show me what he wanted me to do next and during my prayer this past Saturday God once again brought Yesika to my mind…. I wasn’t sure what He wanted but I knew I needed to have lunch with her so I immediately shot her a message on Facebook. And of course, wouldn’t you know it, it turns out, in a city of 8 million people, she “happens” to live a few blocks from us. After spending the entire afternoon with my friend Yesika today and hearing all about what God is doing in her heart for Colombia I am more certain than ever that my relationship with her is not an accident or a coincidence. She and I have many of the same dreams and goals and I know that God wants me to help her get this project off the ground. She also found out recently that she might have a cancerous tumor in her throat. Amazing how God sends friends right when He knows you need them most.

To end this blog I just want to say that Yesika’s top need right now is prayer and to legally establish her ministry. She has the willing hands to do the work the only problem is making it all legal. And honestly as always that is a very expensive process. I am asking special prayer for her tomorrow as she has a doctor’s appointment to see whether or not it is cancer so please pray for her. Also if God touches your heart to support Yesika on her mission in Colombia then you can send a special donation to Mission Critical and we will coordinate with her to get the legal papers she needs to start this wonderful work. Thank you all for helping make this possible.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

I have never been to a prison in my life… let alone a prison known to be one of the most violent prisons in the world (inmates once played soccer there with a severed human head). Here we were just a little group of five Mission Critical International missionaries against this Goliath of 7,000 inmates. To say we were a bit nervous is a gross understatement but we marched in unsure of what we would find but confident that God was already there, waiting for us.

As we walked through I saw dozens and dozens of men… some were sitting, some playing basketball and various games, and some just stood in groups and stared at us. My dad Matt Bullen (Executive Director of Mission Critical) had been invited to preach and minister to the men in their weekly, inner prison church service. I was expecting to see a group of 20-30 men quiet, grave and uninterested in what we had to say. I expected them to solely be attending to get early release and for the service to be rough and spiritually dry. Being completely wrong has never given me more joy.

As we walked up the stairs to the chapel we could hear a great crowd praising God. I could hardly believe my eyes when I walked into a room filled with more than one hundred men worshiping in a way that I cannot even try to explain in words. These men were so full of love for God, it was written all over their faces. Some raised their hands, some were on their knees, and others were even jumping up and down filled with joy. I have never before experienced a worship service like this one. The Holy Spirit was heavy in the room as each man listened intently to Matt Bullen preach about Grace, Salvation and God’s heart for each of us. They clapped, shouted, cried, and praised God.

When the service ended each man came and shook our hands and some hugged us and thanked us earnestly for coming to visit them. Honestly I felt more at home in that little chapel in an infamous Colombian prison than in most Christian Churches I have attended in my life. The love they had for their Savior inspired me and even shamed me a bit. Most of these men came to Christ inside the prison but I have known Jesus for years and yet at times do not crave His presence like they do. I think we thought we were there to minister but in the end it turned out that we were the ones being ministered to.

Later we were informed that what we saw in the chapel was only 10 percent of the Christian community inside the prison that in total there were about 1,000 men that profess faith and participate in the weekly services throughout the prison’s 16 sections. I will never forget when one of the church leaders who himself is an inmate and former police officer told us “I used to be in the police force, but now I am a soldier in God’s army”. God touched all of our hearts that day and we left with smiles on our faces. It reminded me of the story in Luke 7 where the woman comes and washes Jesus’ feet in Simon’s house. As I saw the love of these wonderful sons of God and their joyful hearts I could not get out of my mind what Jesus said in verse 47… “I tell you, her sins–and they are many–have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

I hope to return soon and see more of what God is doing there, also to visit the women’s prison here and see what Jesus is up to there.

“Who here among us has not been broken? Who here among us is without guilt or pain? So oft abandoned by our transgressions. If such a thing as grace exists then grace was made for lives like this. There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God” -Orphans of God by Avalon

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

I was honestly scared to death as I stepped out of the crowded taxi and immediately smelled the stench of drugs, urine, trash and a lot of people who have not bathed in only God knows how long. Rosita (the head honcho of the street ministry and a very sweet friend), Alex , Omar, Karen, Carolina (all young adults who are part of the 50 kids we care for day in and day out) and I were back once again on the streets of Medellin hunting souls and meeting needs. But as always it is not a fairy tale setting, nor is it filled with beautiful people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and need saving. No, as we began unloading the boxes of sandwiches, hot chocolate, personal hygiene items and rice I couldn’t help but feel very nervous being literally surrounded by men, women and young teenagers who had obviously been living in the street for a very long time and who simply stared at us. Some eyes reflected curiosity, others contemplating the possibility of valuables to steal and still others held pure distain for the “do gooders” who were back again.

Our mission tonight was not exactly the streets but a “hotel”, if you can call it that, actually it was more like a cramped, wet, smoke filled, roach infested community drug house where over 150+ men, women and children live their lives day in and day out spending a very little amount to live there 24/7 and sometimes just pay for their children to live there alone and uncared for. Try to imagine the worst motel you have ever been in and then times that by 4.

The fear continued to grip my heart as I made my way to the staircase but soon vanished as I was met by three tiny brown faces smiling and yelling “Chocolate! Chocolate!” One little boy wrapped his arms around my neck and used me as a ride up the stairs. I am glad he knew how to hang on because I had a 20 gallon jug of hot chocolate in one hand and a 15 pound bag of rice in the other plus this little boy around my neck and walking upstairs, lets just say my physical strength was really being tested. As soon as we entered the door a flood of little 1-4 year old kids jumping up and down and asking to be held met us. Let me tell you a bit about these beautiful little kids. None of them were completely dressed. The majority only had some old dirty sweats on and no shoes, socks or shirts and the others were completely naked from head to toe. Every one was dirty and in serious need of a tissue. They were malnourished and had their faces, legs, and arms painted with Indian cultural markings and bleached hair. I will never forget the moment when Nancy (a little 2 year old girl) stood on her toes and stretched her arms up to me wanting me to hold her. I picked her up and was immediately sickened by the fact that her little sweats were completely soaked by her own urine. But at the same I was so happy and touched to see her little face smiling at me. She followed me around the rest of the night and I never was able to find out to whom she belonged.

We took some time to go room to room inviting everyone to come to the main patio (where they all individually cook over a “hole in the concrete” stove with wood and fire) to receive the gospel and food. We started with the kids by sharing “The shepherd who left the 99 to look for the one” Bible story and giving them chips, sandwiches, candy and hot chocolate. I had to hand feed the sandwich to a little one-year-old who weighed no more than 10 pounds tops (I am not exaggerating). She was tiny and was not able to feed herself. Afterwards we shared the gospel with the adults who behaved a lot worse than the children. The adults were fighting, arguing, yelling and cursing us but we were able to feed them as well.

All in all it was a very eye opening experience and I can’t wait to go back. It is not easy, especially seeing people live that way, and what is worse seeing children live that life. But instead of letting that damage my faith and cause me to complain to God about why He would allow those things to happen, it fuels my faith even more and my passion to pursue the broken and realize that God in His great love and mercy is using me to help these people and to help bring them to Himself. Of course we don’t always see the fruit of our labor right away or maybe never in this life, but I know God used us that night to plant a seed in their hearts and He is in charge of growing that seed, all we have to do is go where He leads us and love whomever He puts in front of us.

“Where You go I go, What You say I say, What You pray I pray, What You pray I pray. Jesus only did what He saw You do, He would only say what he heard You speak, He would only move when He felt You lead following Your heart, following Your spirit. How could I expect to walk without You when every move that Jesus made was in surrender I will not begin to live without You, for You only are worthy, You are always good. You are always good. Though the world sees and soon forgets, we will not forget who you are and what you’ve done for us, what you’ve done for us.” “Where you go I go”- Jesus Culture

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

I have not been able to write for quite a while but today I just wanted to shout out to all who read this and say thank you again for your support. It has more effect than you could ever imagine and I just wanted to say that God is working like crazy here in Medellin Colombia. Currently we are working on several different projects including starting a fish farm in the coast so that the ministry (Jucum-YWAM) can be self-sustaining as far as feeding our 48 kids. The land for the fish farm is super expensive but God is providing and we are hoping that we will be able to get it up and running in a couple of months so that we no longer have the problems we have had in the past of running out of food, God in His awesomeness provided every time and always does but this is one way that we can work to insure that the kids have a constant food supply. We are still currently praying for support and consistent provision for the STAFF meals, there are about 25 people that eat their meals here at the house everyday and sometimes there is no food for us either, for example today there was no lunch or dinner but one thing I LOVE about this ministry is that whenever something is lacking the first place we all go is to our knees. God is our #1 provider and He is always looking out for us and as always He provided lunch for all of us today. The director of the ministry is leaving today for the coast were they are building a school for over 30 children who have never gotten any kind of education before now, she hopes to finalize the work there so that the children can begin attending school and learning. After they finish working there in Ure (the town where the school is) they will be going to different parts of the coast to encourage pastors who have been persecuted for their faith. I truly wanted to be a part of this trip but unfortunately it is very unsafe for Colombians let alone a U.S citizen to go there. But I know that no danger can stop the power of prayer and I really ask that all my readers would join me in praying for our two directors Enith and Silia who will be spending the next week with these pastors in the coast.

Another Praise is that God is really opening the doors for me to be a part of other mission trips and ministry going on not only in Colombia but also possibly in Cuba.
This year I am praying for the funds to be a part of the next Mission Critical Mission trips in April and May in different parts of Colombia, I am not only praying for the funds but also because I will be gone almost the entire month of May. Jucum in Medellin is struggling with the lack of personnel to do all the daily work required here. I am hoping to find at least a replacement for me so that I will not leave them hanging without any help. One of the biggest needs here are willing hands and feet. If there are any young people who are interested in serving in ministry for a month, two months or even a year with children much more please feel free to message Mission Critical through our contact page and I will be glad to send them more information about all that we do here.

Also another possible Mission opportunity that I am currently praying about is a mission trip to Cuba in December, I am praying because when I heard about it I felt compelled to pray and seek god about the possibility of being a part of the team that will be going to Cuba to encourage and support Persecuted churches, pastors and Christians that are currently suffering greatly. I am going to look deeper into this and pray more about it to see what God has for me, Also I have more information about it if anyone else is interested.

And last but not least I am praising God for all the amazing work He is currently doing in Mission Critical, this year we have the opportunity to travel and minister in several different parts of the world and carrying Jesus’ love to the lost and also encourage the needy. On my part specifically we are praying that when I end my time here in Medellin at the end of July I will be heading back to Bogota Colombia and begin the first building blocks of the dream that has been in the heart of Mission Critical for the past 5 years, starting our own house for young adults who are ineligible to live in government institutions and are in need of a safe place to live, work, study but most importantly live and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ and fulfill His plans for their lives …. Their personal Mission Critical.

Thank you all again and as always PRAYER is worth more than gold, Mission Critical is a ministry completely sustained by prayer and that is what we crave the most. Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

2014 was an amazing year. One of the best in my personal life. A year of redemption, new passion and dreams for the future. This year God brought me back and gave me a chance to start doing what it is He put me on this earth to do. After running away as hard as I could for two years God intervened and would not allow me to run anymore. I could no longer run from the knowledge that God was calling me to a higher purpose. As Christians we are called to what the modern church calls “The Great Commission” Matthew 28:19 and for years Christians heroes have been going through the whole world sharing the gospel with boldness no matter what the cost even if that cost is their lives. Unfortunately Christianity has turned into a comfortable religion instead of a way of life. “Most churches and ministries are working in the Commission but not the Great commission” – Enith Diaz. Having grown up my whole life in church I can say with authority that the modern idea of what it is to be a Christian is down right tragic.

Something I read recently struck my heart, it said “Some Christians haven’t even thought about whether they would die for Christ because they haven’t really been living for Him” Jesus Freaks, DC Talk. I will tell you that really made me rethink my life, my roll as a Christ follower and my idea of what it is to be a part of the Great commission. Thanks to God he opened my eyes just a tiny bit more this year. When God finally broke my pride and brought me back to Colombia in April I had no idea I was gonna spend the rest of my life here, but you know, there is absolutely no place I would rather be and nothing I would rather be doing than giving everything I have for the one who gave His everything for me. I am now living the life I was called to. And I would encourage everyone reading this DO NOT run from whatever it is He has put in your heart to do. WE ARE ALL called as followers of Christ, as His kids, as part of His family to go and spread that love and spirit to everybody we possibly can. THAT is what it means to live. We are of another world, this is only our temporary home and nobody is promised tomorrow. Choose to obey now.

My personal dream and my hope for all of you is that we can come to our end the same way Paul did and be able to say “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

So blessed to be here, so blessed to be doing what I was born to do… Who is it that God is using you to speak to? who is it that God put in your life that needs Him? What is it that God put in your heart to do with your life? Just something to think about. As always, A HUGE thank you to all you who support us in prayer and financially. It means so much more than you can ever imagine. I could not do this without all of you.

“Don’t let your light go down, don’t let your fire burn out cause somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe, why don’t you rise up now? Don’t be afraid to stand out… Thats how the lost get found” Britt Nicole-Lost get found

To see what God did in 2014 and where He is taking Mission Critical in 2015 please watch the video below.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

I grew up in church… a good PK and as such I had one simple job to do.. be perfect, sweet, and make sure to set a flawless example for all the church to see. My main goal was to grow up leading Bible studies with all the young “maidens in waiting” of the church body because “youth group” was out of the question and one day marry a perfect young man who would become a pastor when he was 16 years old and spend the majority of his time locked away in his library studiously pouring over theology books while I made baked goods in the kitchen of our town house with the whitewashed picket fence and watched our ten children play with their Atlas and puzzles. Lets just say I was the ultimate teenage bigot. But sadly when you live under a mountain of self-inflicted expectation and constant failure to accomplish it eventually causes you to hate yourself and anyone else who does not live up to the impossible standards that you yourself are drowning in. I remember growing up hearing about grace and about how “nothing you could ever do would make God love you any less”.. now I am not here to preach theology to anyone.. trust me I know how much I still need to learn but lets just say grace was for weak christians who couldn’t “keep it together” in my opinion and I refused to be one of “those people”.

Anyway to save on paper and to not put my readers to sleep I will skip ahead a couple of years. At 19 the once perfect saint was now a tattooed, pierced, smoker who wouldn’t dare step foot onto a church’s front lawn let alone attend. A girl who once believed being a christian meant being better than everyone else now spent her days working, smoking, and crying herself to sleep every night. I won’t go into all the details of those horrible days but I can write this with a smile on my face because God did not let that little girl stay there. Through many hard lessons she was finally able to learn and understand what Jesus was saying in Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor–sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” and it was my greatest joy last Friday night to share that with over 100 or so young men and women in a city park with some paper and colors.

Six of us went out to what is, in my opinion, one of the scariest parks in Boston Medellin. Lets just say its where all the gangs, addicts and hustlers like to hang out day and night. And I could feel the nervousness of every one of my companions as we sat down to play some music and sing right in the middle of it all. We brought with us pens, paper, paint, and all kinds of markers and our strategy was to break the ice by inviting anyone who wanted to “express themselves” by drawing or writing whatever they wanted. To my amazement it worked! I don’t know if it was the influence of the alcohol or weed but these kids LOVED the idea and in less than 30 minutes we had a huge group drawing, singing, playing instruments and listening to us share the gospel with them. One girl in particular I remember was Viviana, she was a beautiful 22 year old girl who was so touched by what we were doing that she asked me and another friend if we would sit down with her. I could feel her pain as she cried on my shoulder and poured her heart out to us. She wanted to know Jesus, she wanted to change and I know that God did something in her heart that night the same way He did it in mine. He is so amazing and we were able to share His story and His love with so many young people that night. I saved the papers with all the drawings and notes they wrote so that I will never forget that night, that experience and never again forget why and for WHOM Jesus came and died.

So blessed to be here, so blessed to be doing what I was born to do… Who is it that God is using you to speak to? who is it that God put in your life that needs Him? What is it that God put in your heart to do with your life? Just something to think about. As always, A HUGE thank you to all you who support us in prayer and financially. It means so much more than you can ever imagine. I could not do this without all of you.

“Wash my heart and make it clean, open up my eyes to things unseen, show me how to love like You have loved me” Hosanna, Hillsong

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

The lump in my throat was growing bigger as I fought to keep the tears from pouring down my face. Hearing the story of this beautiful 20 year old girl’s life of prostitution and seeing how she scarfed down the little food that we had to give was almost too hard to bear. God completely opened my eyes to see and feel His heart for the countless beautiful women young and old who spend their lives on the streets selling themselves to feed themselves and their children. But let me start from the beginning…

When I first met Enith, coordinator of Jucum Medellin, I fell in love with her and the amazing ministry that she founded here helping support and care for the children of desperately poor families who have no way of supporting themselves let alone their kids. But then I later learned that caring for the children is only one branch of the unbelievable ministry that they do here. Another branch is the “chocolate y pan” street program which ministers physically and spiritually to the homeless that eat, sleep and live their lives on the street corners of Medellin Colombia. I had been eagerly waiting for my chance to serve and be a part of what God was doing in the lives of these people through a simple cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich and finally the day came. I received a call from Rosita (coordinator of the street ministry) last Wednesday telling me that they were going out that night and I was invited. I was ecstatic, but of course, as it always goes, suddenly a whole laundry list of things I still had to do came flooding into my mind, “Laundry needs to be taken off the drying line and put away and the rest washed and hung up, Wednesday is my day to make dinner for the staff house, gotta make the dinner, serve it and then clean the kitchen all before 7:30…” A bit of a panic set in as I rushed to finish all my responsibilities before heading out. But still I was excited to finally be a part of something I had heard about all my life and finally here was my chance. But of course with all dreams comes the fear factor… I was definitely feeling it as I was rushing to prepare dinner for everyone. I was stressing and hurrying to make the sandwiches that were already late because of some complications with the purchase of the food. I was thinking about how long it would take to get it on the table and to clean the kitchen with people constantly coming in and out. While all this was passing through my mind another little demon decided to try and rob me of my joy and excitement. “What am I gonna say to these people? It’s super dangerous… what if something bad happens? your Spanish is still growing… what if you can’t speak what God wants you to say? How can you possibly help other people when your own heart isn’t feeling up to par? It’s a waste of time… nobody is going to be truly touched by this.. better to just stay home and get some extra sleep” I have to admit as I was drying the last of the losa (dishes) and putting them in their place a bit of discouragement was trying desperately to creep into my soul. I put my rag down on the counter and looked at the ceiling… now we all know that God does not live in the ceiling but still I felt I was looking at Him, I simply prayed softly for God to give me the right heart, to take away the fear and to not send me if He was not coming with me. (Exodus 33:15)

Well, as He always does God came through in a miraculous way, we gave away over 150 ham sandwiches and 60+ gallons of hot chocolate to the 13-50 year old women who stand outside the casinos and motels trying to earn money by selling their bodies to put food on the table. As we walked down the streets offering food, a listening ear, prayer and the gospel to anyone who would listen I couldn’t help but think of my two Colombian sisters Heidy and Ginary. I was so grateful that they were safe and protected from a life like this, that God had brought them into our lives and provided the funds to support them and put them through school. But as I was thinking these things I felt God softly say to me, “All of these people are somebodies sister, mother, brother, son or daughter and above all they are Mine.” God broke my heart that night as we stood in little prayer circles and interceded on behalf of these beautiful people. God has put a new passion in my heart for exploited women and children.

Matthew 5:3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs”.

“I will proclaim good news to the lost, protect at any cost the weak, abused and storm tossed for I have been called to spread His name abroad, stripping down the chipped facade give my life for the cross.. so help me God” Jana Bullen – Purchased.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

Sitting across the breakfast table from me she looked as if she could not figure me out. Sipping her coffee, she seemed to be studying me pretty intently. I must admit I felt a bit uncomfortable, ha ha. I had only been living in Medellin for about a week and was still getting used to the new group of people I was going to work with and live with. A group of us all live together in a sort of college dorm theme. We all eat together and have our different duties to help with the house up keep and cooking. Anyway, Vivianna, after a long staring contest, finally asked me if I was going to go with them to the “Brigade”… I was like… what is that? She laughed a bit and then told me “The health brigade, we go to little villages and share the gospel and help people” I was like…. YOU BETTER KNOW that I am FOR SURE going!

After a ton of planning and packing and waiting and working and praying and… you get the idea, we were finally on the road to Santa Rosita, a tiny little village out in the middle of nowhere where the closest store, let alone hospital, is an hour drive by car away. The people who live there are both physically and spiritually starving. Clean water is non-existent and food is difficult to come by, especially when every family has at least 4 children per household. We were in the bus for 10 hours before we finally pulled up on this tiny village full of excited, beautiful faces and so started the next four days of serving and sharing God’s love and story with His precious creations.

Below is a video I made from the trip. Our team of professionals were able to provide every type of medical exam and medication including psychological health. Our evangelistic group went from house to house telling families about Jesus and sharing the word with them, many were lead to Christ through these visits, one man after accepting Christ came to me and another lady and sang us a beautiful song about Jesus, he had an amazing voice and I was completely blown away, after singing for us he continued praising God as he walked through the little village.

As you can see from the pictures I was the favorite entertainment for over 100 kids and spent the entire 3 days playing, singing, doing puppet shows, dancing and playing goalie for the soccer team… my poor ribs LOL. It was an AMAZING time, check out the video to get a glimpse of what God was up to recently in Colombia. Blessings AS ALWAYS PLEASE PRAY!!!! and to all those who have given financially, thank you so much for making all this possible.

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

After we finally got all the bags and endless cases of water to the hotel and up the stairs Oscar and I finally had a moment to sit down and have something to eat. We had both experienced a pretty rough two weeks beforehand and were just hours away from heading to the airport to pick up the rest of the Mission Critical team. Poor Oscar had run so hard he was super sick that day so we decided to just sit and be lazy for once until finally it was time.

We met some pastor friends and my Colombian brother Juan David and sister Heidy and were able to reconnect and talk while waiting for everybody else. After luggage and pictures and a crazy bus ride to the hotel we all finally found ourselves sitting around enjoying some Colombian dinner.

I was super happy to see everyone, it had been almost three months since seeing them and to a family that is so close three months seems like an eternity. So after sharing some stories and meeting some new friends (Stephanie, a wonderful woman of God and missionary to Peru) we hit our beds for some rest before a long two weeks ahead.

The first foundation we visited was a little soup kitchen for hungry children in a rough part of Bogota. The foundation was started by a little husband and wife and they feed lunch to the neighboring children every week day. The kids call them Abuelita and Abuelito (granny and grandpa), It was amazing to spend time with them and witness the selfless, endless work of this little old lady and her few helpers feeding God’s little children. We spent time with the kids coloring and playing with the soccer balls and Frisbees we brought with us. It was a blessing and also incredibly humbling to be a part even if for only one day.

The next place we visited was a house called Colombia Chiquita. I had been here before in the past and was excited to be able to come back after almost 3 years. Colombia Chiquita is a foundation that houses and protects several children from all age groups. I dont have space to write about all of it but the founder of the ministry is a sweet lady with a huge heart for children.

After being hit by a bus years ago, losing her leg and being in a coma for quite a while she was forced to walk on crutches the rest of her life. One day when she was walking down the street a little boy stole her crutches and began to run away, when she asked the boy why he would steal a crippled woman’s crutches his response broke her heart. He was stealing them to sell because he was starving, and that day she decided that she would do everything to make sure him and kids like him would never go hungry again. We were able to encourage them and love on the kids the entire day playing, coloring and just spending time. Please be in prayer for them, we were able to help with what we had but they are struggling financially to continue living in their current home and continue caring for these precious kids.

The third place we visited was a house for young, pregnant mothers or young mothers with their babies called Asociación Cristiana Nuevo Nacimiento. This by far was one of my favorite places and I was overjoyed to be able to reconnect with a girl that I have known for years and visited and prayed for when she was in a different institution and still pregnant. I was finally able to meet her son and spend some time talking and praying for her. The house was full with other young mothers and the sweetest little babies in the world. We were able to spend some time with each group of girls and share stories and the gospel with them. It was an amazing day.

I know if I continue to write more people won’t read it cause of the length lol but these are only three of the seven institutions alone that we visited not even mentioning the churches. There is a great need here and God has not let me or my family rest since He brought it to our attention five years ago.

The day after the trip ended I moved to Medellin to work with Jucum, (Youth with a mission) in their branch in Medellin. I work 4 days a week 12 hours a day with the children who are being raised here. There are 43 of them and they are precious. Each one comes from the poorest of the poor places and are either orphans or their families live in such desperate conditions that the children are unable to live with them. And when I am not with the children I am working helping prepare for the brigade we are leaving for tomorrow. We are going to a place called Santa Rosita a tiny little place that is barely on the map. It is not a town, or a city, it is a bunch of houses with over 1,000 people in the middle of nowhere. These 1,000 people live in what is considered extreme poverty, physically and spiritually and we are going for four days to do what we can about that and bring God’s love to them. We need so much prayer, I cannot stress the importance of prayer enough. Please everyone who reads this make a commitment to pray for me and for Jucum every day, especially for the next 4 days. God bless you all.

 
[quote] “I’ll follow You into the homes of the broken, I’ll follow You into the world… to meet the needs of the poor and the needy, God… I’ll follow You into the world” – Leeland[/quote]
 

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

So much has been happening the last few weeks, I believe in my last blog I was about to go work on yet another Berakah retreat. As always the retreat was beautiful and I was super blessed to see some of the girls from our Thursday night Bible studies being ministered to and receiving the love of God there. I was not part of the ministering team this time because more hands were needed in the kitchen cooking, cleaning and taking care of the physical needs of all 115 women there. I love working in the kitchen, it is absolutely exhausting and the work seems endless but I love it, the joy that giving all you have to help others brings is inexplicable in words. Even though I was not spending as much hands on time with the women I was still able to minister and encourage several young girls that attended. God used me to speak to one girl in particular several times. Caroline was very unsure about wanting to attend the weekend and had decided not to go but thanks to His grace God used me to convince her to sign up at the last minute and was able to share the gospel with this struggling girl the entire three days. Caroline is a functioning lesbian and addict but no sin compares with the love of Jesus Christ He surpasses all other desires, sins, passions and addictions. Asking for continuous prayer for these precious girls.

Not long after the retreat I finished my time at Berakah and the time came to say goodbye. It was a bitter/sweet parting, bitter because I immensely enjoyed working with the kids in Berakah, teaching english and gaining more brothers and sisters, needless to say it was hard to say goodbye. But it was also sweet because not long after my family (Dad, Mother, Sister) came with another mission team to work with even more children and reconnect with old relationships while building new ones. In the last week and a half we have visited 6 institutions and two churches and still have not finished yet. It has been beautiful, I have loved it. Along with Oscar Useche (our General Colombian Director/future family member) my family and I came Stephanie (an American missionary to Peru) and Nick (Mission Critical board member’s son). The trip has been amazing, and I will give everyone a full update soon. Prayers as always are craved and seriously petitioned. Thank you to everyone who continues to support Mission Critical financially and spiritually. You are all a part of what we do here. As always God has something He wants to do with your life, your existence on this earth is not an accident or a road that ends safely at death, God is calling you. Go.

 
[quote] “I don’t want to go through the motions, I don’t want to go one more day, without Your all consuming passion inside of me, I don’t want to spend my whole life asking… what if I had given everything??” The Motions Matthew West.[/quote]
 

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

It has been a while since my last update so I will try and run through what has been going on these last few weeks. First of all I am overjoyed to say that one of the girls that I first wrote about was able to discover that she is having a beautiful baby girl and she has started attending church again thank God for this answer to prayer. We have continued to work with the girls every week between group Bible studies every Thursday night (lots of prayer for this group is really appreciated) and individual visits with the girls to share and be able to listen to them and pray over them. The spiritual and most times physical condition of these girls is desperate and most times very dark. But thanks to God some of them have opened their hearts to us and allowed us to try and help in the ways that we can. When I first met Luna I saw any normal 17 year old girl with hopes and dreams for the future… So I thought, but upon getting to know her instead I saw a broken girl with no hope for her personal future or the future of her two precious little girls. Abuse and hopelessness is extremely common in the lives of these girls and their families. When God said go out and make disciples of all the nations He never said it would be easy or that these disciples would be living perfect lives in perfect conditions and be totally open to the gospel. No of course not, He simply said go… It is not easy to see some of the things that I have witnessed since being here, I must confess on several occasions I was unable to hold back the tears, but thanks to God most of these girls are desperate for more of God and ready to change. Please continue to pray for them and that God would soften hearts and open minds.

This weekend I had the amazing blessing to be able to be apart of another Mision Berakah weekend retreat but this time for women. It was amazing to say the least. Two and a half days of straight prayer and sharing of the word with about 100 beautiful spiritually thirsty women. I had really enjoyed serving on the kids retreats in June but was unsure of how it would be to work with grown adult women. I must admit I was a bit nervous as we made the hour drive to La Vega, a little town outside of Bogota, where the retreat was going to be held. I had never before served on a retreat for adults let alone been one of the Guias, or Guides. My job was to minister to these women in any way that I could, from praying over them to holding their precious babies so mommy could rest. On Saturday I was asked to stand up and say a few words about September 11 and the tragedies that the United States suffered on that day. I was able to recall the day exactly and what I felt and how the actions of others had destroyed and damaged so many lives in just a couple of minutes. I spoke about anger and hurt and how God calls each of us to not only forgive our enemies but to love them and pray for them. There was not a dry eye in the room as we prayed fervently over these hurting women. God really showed up, many lives were changed and hearts were healed that day. I was approached by three beautiful, sweet young ladies on Sunday and they asked if they could sit down and talk to me. As we sat and had lunch together they shared their stories with me and I learned that they were all three living at a rehab institution for drug addicts. My heart melted and I cried out to God to give me the words to say to these young women… God in His total awesomeness loosed my tongue and I was able to talk to these three girls without any help from a translator. I am so humbled to have been chosen to share and encourage these precious daughters of God and to be able to share and visit tomorrow with them at their home with the all the other girls. Thank you Lord! We all went home hungry… Tired and extremely blessed with smiles on our faces.

I am going to be serving on the same retreat but with a different group of women this upcoming weekend… calling for PRAYERS and INTERCESSION for these women. As always thank you all so much for the support and prayers. Even when you feel you have nothing to give God has a life that He wants to use YOU to touch… Be bold because He is doing the work… you are the vessel.

Love Brooke

 
[quote]That’s how the lost get found by Britt Nicole

“Don’t let your lights go down, don’t let your fire burn out cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe, why don’t you rise up now? Don’t be afraid to stand out…. Thats how the lost get found….. Don’t let the lights go down”[/quote]
 

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

Have you ever had the thought “I know God is calling me to such and such but first I must prepare myself, I am not ready”. I have talked to countless young girls and even adults who have believed this lie and been held back because of it.

I have also had these same thoughts before in my life. Somehow people think that God calls people to clean themselves up and learn all the spiritual fruits before going to do His work with Him. I struggle with this same doubt and speed bump myself. I have always been tempted to put off what God was calling me to until I was “spiritually ready”, basically until I knew the entire Bible backwards, prayed for six hours a day and could spout off spirituality on a whim. Even now that I am here doing what it is God called me to the devil continually tries to use the same old lie that has tripped up many a Christian from walking out onto the water to Jesus.

This morning even as these thoughts were bouncing around in my little head God, in His awesomeness, silenced those voices with just a couple of verses out of His word. I was reading in Mark chapter one this morning when I came across verses 16-20. We all know the story really well, Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee and calls to Simon (Peter) and Andrew saying “Come follow me and I WILL SHOW YOU HOW to fish for people”. I love the NLT version of the Bible. Jesus did not go to the synagog where all the “wise”, know-it-all, perfectly religious people were and say “Well finally I found somebody who knows their Bible and lives a perfect life, come on and lets teach all these horrible sinners how to do it”. He called the unprepared. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. Jesus did not shake His head and say “Hey you should be saving souls already why are you wasting your time catching fish? Have you not read the prophecies???” What did He say? “I will show you how to fish for people”. God says come and I will take care of the rest. Just be available, just obey, and He will prepare us for all He has called us to.

I was not ready when I came, but He has been working on me everyday. I will tell you that living in a different country, no matter where, is not easy. You must give up everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything you are used to and is comfortable and normal to you. You must adapt to an entire new way of living and sometimes it really rubs you the wrong way. I have to admit it has not been easy, but every time I get frustrated or want to go back to the United States and my normal comforts, I remember a prayer I prayed a long time ago. “God I want everything you have for me, please prepare me to do whatever You are calling me to”.

The difficulties and frustrations I face now are preparing me for the future. This is why I named these last two posts bootcamp. God did not tell me to learn discipline, patience and humility before I came, He is teaching me all this stuff now, and at the same time I get to experience enormous blessings.

Yesterday I was able to spend the entire morning with a little boy named Estevan who attends the school I am currently working in while writing this haha. He had fallen down playing football (soccer) and scraped up his arm pretty bad which kept him from being able to take swimming classes with the other kids. It always amazes me how God takes bad things and turns them into something good 😀 He is cool like that. Because of that mishap Estevan and I were able to spend the entire morning together just talking and visiting. I don’t remember exactly but after exhausting the subject of best animated movies and guitar lessons somehow we got on the subject of having a relationship with Jesus and how that relationship gives us new joy and desires for our life.

Later that evening Sayira and I went on our regular visits with young women, on this particular visit we were able to encourage and be a listening ear to a girl who lives in a drug infested environment and struggles with addiction herself. I could not stop thinking the whole time of the song “Jesus rides the subway”. After about a two hour visit she could not stop thanking us for just listening to her and not judging. She is desperate for Jesus and is planning to attend the next women’s retreat in August.

Even though at times it is a difficult learning process, God is training me while I work alongside Him in what He is doing here in Colombia. All we have to do is step out of the boat, He takes care of the rest.

A special thanks to all the families who have supported me while I have been here, you are all a huge part of what I am doing here through prayer and support. I can’t say thank you enough. As always Mission Berakah and I are desperate for prayers. That is the greatest gift anyone can give.

Love Brooke

 
[quote]Jesus Rides The Subway by Trevor Morgan

Jesus rides the subway with the junkies and the freaks
Jesus rides the subway with the husslers and the creeps
He rubs shoulders with the thieves
And he looks a lot like everyone he sees
Yeah, Jesus rides the subway
While the pretty people sleep

And He says, “You can lay your burden down,
You can lay your burden down
Oh, maybe you’ve been kicked around,
But you can lay your burden down.”

Jesus strolls the sidewalk
On the wrong side of the tracks
Yeah, Jesus strolls the sidewalk
That poverty attacked
He makes his home among the shadows
Where the fatherless have fallen through the cracks.
Yeah, Jesus strolls the sidewalk
While the righteous turn their backs.

He says, “You can lay your burden down,
You can lay your burden down
Oh, maybe you’ve been kicked around,
But you can lay your burden down.”[/quote]
 

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

Most times in life, things do not turn out the way you expected. Not always a good thing but on the other hand is also not always bad either. I would not be surprised if half the time God is chuckling to Himself and thinking “You have no idea what I am sending your way next”.

Today is exactly two weeks since I stepped foot on Colombian soil and I have to say it has been far from what I expected, what a blessing. Because I could never have dared to expect the beauty I have seen in just 14 days. My first two weekends as you already know were spent ministering to children at the boy/girl retreats. Since then I have been spending most of my days attending different reunions the church holds daily, the attendance ranges from small children to elderly adults, somehow or another the ministry has some sort of ministry for all ages. The subjects of these meetings differ depending on the day or the need. They usually go from children’s Bible studies and music classes to adult prayer meetings and ministry preparation. To give you an idea of my general days I will give you a quick rundown. I have been waking up at 4am every morning for an hour of prayer with my new friend and co-worker Sayira.. We pray every morning from 4am to 5am for everything possible under the sun. Prayers for family, friends, ministry, power, presence you name it. I have not quite been able to stay up after our prayers end and usually pass out for a few more hours of sleep. I usually leave the place where I sleep and go straight to the pastor’s house to spend the morning in more prayer and outdoor activities. After lunch we head to the church together to start work. There are generally 4 or 5 reunions a day, I don’t attend all of them mostly the Bible studies, prayer meetings and ministry planning meetings. I work with Sayi most of the day when I am not in reunions and at about 6-7pm we hit the streets. The ministry is very passionate about bringing the lost sheep back to the flock. One of the branches of this ministry is staying in contact with past and present church attendees. This is where Sayi and I come in, at night we go and visit numerous women and young girls at their house to share the word with them, pray over them and encourage them to pursue their relationship with God, always assuring them that we are near if they should need anything. I love to be a part of these visits, these women and girls are usually going through extremely difficult times financially, emotionally and sometimes physically. My first visit was with a girl named Laura. She is 20 years old and 8 months pregnant with her first child. Her entire family has rejected her and she lives in a tiny room in a strangers apartment. She has no money for medicine or doctors visits, she has absolutely no idea whether her child is a boy or a girl. As she unfolded her story to me it was difficult to hold back the tears. I was able to struggle through my Spanish and try to encourage her in that all things pass good and bad. We prayed over her and have her contact information should she need anything at all that we can help with. I have been a part of several of these visits and I usually leave wishing I could do more, but God softly reminds me that, as my good friend Oscar Useche always says, it is usually in the little things we do that God works mightily. The highlight of my last two weeks was last night, since we did not have any visits on Wednesday night we went instead door to door inviting some teenage girls to a Bible study. I was concerned that none would come at first because judging by the coldness and hate I could feel from their family I wasn’t sure that they would allow the girls to attend. But God is always faithful and low and behold on Thursday night we had a total of 8 people. Not huge but a miracle none the less. The girls were so sweet and despite their obvious distaste of religion gave us their undivided attention. Sayi and I thought it best to share Matthew 14:22. Peter walking on the water. There are so many open doors to share about in this passage but we felt these girls needed to hear about faith and pursuit of Jesus. The girls listened in silence as Sayi shared about how Peter followed the call and stepped out on the water instead of waiting for Jesus to come to him. He stepped out on total faith and of course not perfectly but still made the choice to trust and keep walking forward. It is always a struggle for me to share in these meetings because of the language barrier, but I am determined to always try. God has given me a lot of love for these children and no amount of struggling through word after word is going to stop me from encouraging these beautiful people. I was able to share a bit of my testimony with them and also some words from the story of Peter also. At the end, with their permission, I went from head to head praying for each of them individually. It was a beautiful night and I can hardly wait for next Thursday to see what God is going to do at the next one.

Please continue to pray. Prayer is priceless to me and this ministry. I pray that God would bless all the readers and their families. Don’t ever forget, God has a purpose for your life and you do not want to miss out on the countless blessings He has for you and others through you.

“Que para esta hora he llegado, para este tiempo nací. En sus propósitos eternos yo me vi, Para esta hora he llegado aunque me ha costado creer, entre sus planes para hoy me encontré”

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

So pre-travel (and by that I mean pre-complete change of life as you know it in my case) anxiety is normal. But bursting into tears from stress three hours before I was to embark on the greatest adventure of my life seemed a bit dramatic to me. Things thus far had not gone exactly as I had planned and on thursday night as I lay on my bed trying to catch a nap, Satan was having his last try at discouraging me. All the reality and fear of the situation began to creep into my mind, “What am I doing??? What if I fail?? Was quitting my job, quitting school, and walking away from everything I know a mistake? Was God really orchestrating all of this or was it all in my head?” All of these thoughts and doubts finally pushed me to melt into a pathetic puddle of tears. But thank God for the best family ever who instead of encouraging my pity party, dragged my sobbing self into the living room for some much-needed prayer and worship time. Jumping forward lets just say everything, and when I say everything I mean every single thing, that could have gone wrong trying to get to Bogota went wrong…. I finally escaped the Bogota airport at about 6:00 am and was able to reconnect with some close friends, It was such a relief to see some familiar faces.

That evening after some rest la pastora (wife of the pastor of the church I am working with) and I started off to, according to what I was told, a girls retreat in the city. Three hours later still driving I began to wonder where exactly they were taking me. If I didn’t know better I would have expected I was being kidnapped seeing as though we were literally out in the jungle of colombia. But I soon learned that the retreat was being held at a little club outside of a tiny pueblo. The place was absolutely breath-taking. A view that could literally bring tears to your eyes. It was definitely one of those places that brings to mind Psalm 19:1. The camp is owned by a Colombian missionary who preaches all over the world in different churches and through a direct calling from The Lord had purchased that little camp and built it into what it is now for the specific purpose of ministering to pastors and spiritual leaders. A place for them to rest and refresh their relationship with God. After a tour and some history about the place, the pastor’s wife and another amazing woman of God sat me down and prayed over me like I have never been prayed for in my life. God was moving strongly already and I had barely been in Colombia one day. We spent the rest of that day decorating los salones for the girls to come and receive the word and pray. Well, I say we decorated but really, since they were unable to communicate with me well their wishes, I was handed a bag of tangled decorations and asked to organize them…. Finally something that didn’t require communication. Fifty or so girls arrived on buses at about 9:30 pm and were immediately ushered to their separate meeting rooms for some Bible time and prayer. One for little girls and another for older girls. When it was finally time to go to bed I don’t even remember laying my head down. I had no idea what God had in store those next two days.

On saturday morning I jerked awake in a panic trying to remember where I was. Judging by the soft chuckles I heard, it must have been quite amusing to the three women who were sitting near my pallet on the living room floor. I hurried to shower and get ready. I was a little behind since the rest of the camp leaders had been up since 5 am but I didn’t feel too bad seeing as though I had gotten next to no sleep the day before. We had a full day of testimonies and presentations. I spent the first day with the older girls and wow, God really moved that day. The messages were about inner beauty vs. outer beauty, God’s calling in on our lives as women, also on abuse and how to find healing and freedom from that. This particular subject is very near to my heart. About five years ago God put a burning in my soul for abused women and children, especially the children of Colombia and on more than one occasion a tear came to my eye during that message… I was not the only one.

At the end they invited the girls to write a trauma from their past on a piece of paper and hold it while we prayed, and if you have never heard Colombians pray then you cannot imagine the power and passion with which they cry out to God. I was invited to join the other Jefes in praying over the girls which I had never done before but was super blessed to be a part. As I was praying over one girl, she began to cry profusely and refused to be comforted just hid her face in my shoulder and wept for a good 15 minutes. She began to cry so hard at one point she almost fell on the floor, thankfully most Colombians are small and I was able to hold her up. I just let her cry and prayed that God would relieve her of the past and give her a hope and a future Jeremiah 29:11. At the end the leaders and I took the little papers from the girls and threw them into a bucket filled with water, I guessed to signify how God’s love washed that pain and hurt away.

Sunday I spent with the little girl group, and after a full day of adventures (hiking, scout drills, almost being drowned in the pool) we finished the day with another time of prayer for these precious little ones, I started from one side and went from tiny head to tiny head praying blessings and protection over them and when the words would not come I would just sing over them in english. Well before I knew it I was handed the microphone and asked to sing for the whole group. I was more than glad to do it, it’s amazing to me that something as small as an english voice could bring so much excitement and joy to those little faces. God is so good, and He is working in Colombia. Please, Please continue to pray for these precious people and the work that we will be doing together with God’s children. Next weekend I am going to be a part of the same camp but this time for boys, please pray that God will move in the hearts of the kids and also the adults working on these camps, we all need so much more of Him.

“I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace for I am Yours, and You are mine”

Love Brooke

Photos of Brooke’s work in Colombia

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

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

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

Give online below.

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

[lightbox full=”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_5322-e1400786828512.jpg” thumb=”https://missioncriticalintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_5322-e1400786828512.jpg” title=”Brooke Bullen” /]

I grew up as a PK (Pastor’s Kid) so serving God with your life and everything you have came natural to me in the beginning and just seemed like the normal flow of life. However, the thought of being a missionary in another country was never appealing to me. Obviously there was more than enough work to be done here in the United States and leaving your home, life, and comforts was for the “Hero” Christians, not for little me who was of no great significance to anyone.

All of that changed one day when I heard the story of Bruchko, (Bruce Olsen) a young nineteen-year-old missionary to the Motilone Indians of North East Colombia. I had sat under the dull sound of my father reading dry theology books, in my child like opinion, written by even drier, old preachers and missionaries who were all together much too holy for me and way beyond all reason of regular life. But one night somehow my regular routine of solitaire and puzzles that I used to lessen my boredom was interrupted by the enrapturing story of a young man leaving everything he had to follow a passion and a calling that only God could have put in his heart, against all odds and against all “sound judgment” he set off to an unknown, unreached, savage people to share the gospel. To this day I still have no idea why I connected so closely with this Bruchko, but from that night on a hunger began to burn in my soul. I said that night as I lay in my bed, “God if you want me to go somewhere and do something for you, provide the passion and I will do it.”

Two months later my Dad asked me to go to Colombia with him for the first time In January 2010. I was excited, what a great vacation! Leaving the country and being able to see all the things that my father and sisters seemed to endlessly and exhaustingly talk about. Perhaps at last I would be a part of the missions “In crowd” made up of my father and two sisters who had already been broken by the Holy Spirit in Colombia the year before. But unlike them I refused to come back a puddle of tears surging with righteousness. I was going to be tough. I was going to show all of them up as the babies I felt that they were being. By the third day of the trip with not a tear shed and still being able to maintain my hard heart I was quite proud of myself. It wasn’t until I met a little boy named Andres (Andrew) in a tiny orphanage called Pronacer that God finally destroyed my walls, but that is for another story. When I got home I was burning for another chance to go back, I began emailing every one I knew telling them about it trying to get enough money to go back. When I was finally able to return I thought that God had broken my heart before, but He completely demolished my former desires, thoughts, and hardness toward His beautiful children. On that trip June 2010 God told me that I was going to be His missionary in Colombia. I didn’t know how or when but I finally had the desire.

After a couple of years and some hard times though, that passion began to fade and the calling was pushed to the back of my personal closet of plans. Until the summer of 2012 out of shear desperation to reconnect with the heart of God I bought a plane ticket, put in a two month leave of absence at my job and flew to Colombia to work in the orphanages there with the needy children teaching English and encouraging them in the Lord. I can honestly say that it was the happiest and hardest time of my life. God was rebuilding my whole outlook on life and Himself altogether, which is a difficult process when you have grown up in American churches and been fed the milk of the prosperity gospel your entire life. He was showing me what I was put on this earth for. I was desperate for God and His power like never before in my life. I wanted to serve Him so badly I would stay up for hours lying on the floor praying for the children of Colombia. When my time was up and I was finally forced to come home rather than be deported I was heartsick, I felt I had left my home and my family behind. To this day I still have an entire shoebox full of the love letters and pictures the children made for me on my last days there. Of course we parted with many tears, hugs and Colombian cheek kisses with all the promises in the world of my quick return.

But God works in mysterious ways and was not done working on me yet; I had not quite learned all the lessons He had for me. Somewhere amidst the new job and endless banter of friends and even extended family to make something of myself and that I needed to think about me and my life for once (prosperity gospel) I found myself working and going to school busting my back to try and prove to everyone, including myself, that I was something. And again, the passion was forgotten and put aside for the things of this world. But praise God that He didn’t leave me there. He would not allow me to be comfortable in my rebellion and my state of trading His beauty for ashes. I had been fighting His still small voice for almost a year, and then one day my mom was listening to David Platt’s message “Follow Me”. He was talking about how God calls all of us to shake off our modern day beliefs, and pick up our cross and follow Him, to go where He went, to go where He is. I sat down on the couch and began to cry, over and over God had showed me that nothing can satisfy the burning in my soul except Him, and He wanted me to go with Him to Colombia.
 

I am finally going full time to Colombia on June 5th 2014. One way ticket with just my clothes and my Bible to work with my friends Pastors Henry and Mable Castillo in Bogota for the summer and then Enith Diaz in the heart of Medellin, Colombia serving God and His people through, mercy, evangelism, street ministry, homes for children and much more. If anything I ask for prayer, I believe deeply in the power of prayer and crave it more than anything else. Please do that for me and for the people I will be serving. God also has a calling in your life as well as mine. Don’t trade it for anything this world promises. As the song “Empty Me” says, “ ’cause everything is a lesser thing compared to You so I surrender all.”

 

Like many missionaries, Brooke has no source of income other than love gifts from home.

 

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

 

Mission Critical International

11743 Northpointe Blvd #1025

Tomball, TX 77377

 

Give online below.

 

100% of your tax exempt gift will go to Brooke in Colombia.

 
 

Jesus is risen! We started the morning praying over the leaders of the church. I prayed that God would give them a double portion of His spirit like Elisha had. That He would make them the spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers to tens of thousands. And that He would increase their capacity to enjoy Him and that the overflow would touch Bogota, Colombia, South America, and the nations. I have been so blessed and enriched to spend 4 days with these precious saints. We’ve been treated like royalty and have felt very loved. Thank you Jesus for this opportunity.

I was blessed to preach in the 9am and 11am services and I have never had more fun, more response from a crowd and prayed over more people or received more hugs in my life. I’ve never seen people so hungry for God. It is infectious and they drank up every word and every minute of this conference and I can’t wait to see the fruit that comes from it. So many people young and old told me that God had used my messages to confirm in their life things that God was already stirring and they thanked us and thanked us for coming. What a blessing! This afternoon we enjoyed a wonderful time of rest and relaxation. Tomorrow we head to Meta for more ministry. I’m ready!

Today was a day of rest and soaking it in for me since I was not on the schedule to preach today. Pastor Hans preached a wonderful message this morning and then we prayed over the leaders of the church. I was blessed to pray over Pastor Henry’s mother and father and over his sister who is a pastor with her husband in Medellin. After the service I was surprised and super blessed to discover that we would be honorary professors of their seminary and help officiate a graduation of their students. We donned our gowns and sashes and caps, signed the diplomas, and were honored to present the diplomas to each graduate with a gran abrazo. They gave us the sashes as a momento to remember the day. I am so impressed with all that God is doing at Mision Berakah and am blessed to be around these heroes of the faith.

Another humbling and beautiful surprise was to follow the graduation. The church has a large scouting ministry called Ghibbor which means great warrior. The children and young people were all decked out in their uniforms and performed some of their drills for us. Then they explained that we were to be inducted in their troop as honorary members of the highest order. We were presented with a beautiful neckerchief representing green for Jesus our shepherd, purple for Jesus our King, and white for purity. We were also presented with a pin showing that we were of the highest rank. Then the children and young people prayed over us that we would shake the nations for Jesus. Wow! What a blessing. God is raising up powerful leaders for Colombia, South America, and the world.

We had a wonderful dinner at a typical Colombian restaurant in the mountains. It was beautiful. We returned to the coliseum and saw a Christian film and then it was time for Brooke to share. The only word that describes what happened next is supernatural. This girl who has all her life hated being in front of people, stepped up with power and confidence and shared her heart in a very vulnerable and authenticate way. She shared her pain and struggles and how God is redeeming them into a monster passion for Jesus and His cause in the world. She challenged the people to follow Jesus and never give up. Many many young people came to her weeping and thanked her for the push that she gave them to go further into the kingdom of God. It was such a blessing. After we enjoyed dinner with Juan David. He is the first orphan Beverly and I met on our very first day on our very first trip to Colombia 5 years ago. He was the first one that broke our hearts here. We had a wonderful time with him tonight. Something he said tonight rocked my world and reminded me why we do what we do here. He said, “I was so terribly alone before you came that first time and you came and loved me and I have known from that day to this that you guys love me and are there for me and it has made a difference in my life.” Wow. One day of love for one of these love starved children can alter a life forever. Praise Jesus! That is why we keep coming. Well, good night, I preach in 2 services tomorrow. Prayers greatly appreciated!

Relationships part 2.

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

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

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

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

Love Brooke

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…

Love Brooke

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love Brooke

I seriously have no words to type right now, even now after two and a half weeks when I get a moment to stop and think where I am what I am doing here, it blows my mind. I am so blessed to just be here with these wonderful kids ¨´serving´´. I say ´´serving´´ because as always they bless and serve me more than I could ever give back. My first week I spent most of my time in Santa maria, one of the larger institutions, getting to know the girls and reuniting with old friends. From braiding hair to making a fool of myself showing off my ´´dance moves´´ every second with these precious people is a gift. I have been able to spend a lot of time with my godsister Heidy and have some much needed sister time and conversation, it has been a big relief for the Profesores to have a fellow peer the girls can confide in and be positivly enfluanced by.

My first English lesson was very nerve wrecking for me, first of all because, as I tell my Colombian mom, I have never taught anyone anything in my life, and also cause my limited spanish makes teaching english difficult, but thankfully the girls are always patient with me and love to learn anything they can. One of my high lights here is that I was reunited with a friend from the vacation host program last summer Louisa. I didnt have the slightest idea that when I walked into San Miguelito (a smaller institution for babies and pregnant mothers) that I would be greeted by one of my best friends whom I had lost contact with a couple months ago, the joy I felt and still feel everytime I visit is unexplainable. I am constantly reminded every day of the words No Orphans Of God, this statment is so true, the more time I spend with these girls the more I fall in love with each and every one of them, and if I a sinful being have such love in my heart for them how much more does their Holy Heavenly Father love them, I cannot but be humbled and blessed to be allowed to live here and love on these amazing people.

’cause Lord with You…… there’s nothing I cannot do….
—
Your friend!
Brooke,