My First 6 Months

I just wanted to thank everyone for the support over the last six months. I know you have been praying for me and that means so much. It has been nice to be back in Colorado the last two weeks and be with my family for the holidays. I am so excited to return to the Dominican Republic for another six months in just one week. There are many events coming up in the next stretch and I am so excited to share with you as they happen.

So much happened in my first six months it is hard to share it all. I have created a short video which I posted on youtube that shows a little bit of what has been happening in the Dominican Republic. Here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xJKHT46soI&context=C3917e81ADOEgsToPDskKP3l4B2Ep6gDJ2s0dY0OXC

Here are some of the highlights from the video:

1. With the help from people in the US we were able to construct a Haitian school where about 30 kids are now able to receive and education.

2. There is a new section under construction on the Rails church where they will have classrooms for Sunday school and an after-school program. There will also be a kitchen where they can cook for the kids.

3. Centro Manantial de Vida (Springs of Life Center) church was started and average 50 people each Sunday. I have had the opportunity to preach there once and the pastor wants me to preach again.

4. At La Vega Christian School I have helped teach English to 5th-10th graders. 

5. One Way Ministries is the youth group I started with two friends. We have about 15-30 youth that show up each Friday night. One of the nights we had 12 youth accept Christ! I have been able to preach here twice in Spanish!

6. There was a group from Unlimited Potential Ministries that put on a baseball camp. Over 400 kids came out that day and 72 accepted Christ! In January we are starting a ministry for those kids.

It has been so exciting to see God working the last six months, and I am excited to see what God has planned for the next six months. Thank you all again for your support and prayers. I hope your Christmas season has been blessed and that you have a blessed new year!

Things that may only happen in the Dominican Republic

So I have been thinking about some interesting stuff that I have only seen happen since coming to the Dominican Republic. There are some obvious things that people expect when going to another country with culture changes, but these are things someone that only comes for a week may not realize. The first thing that pops into my mind is the need to look both ways before crossing a one way street. If it is faster to go the wrong way down a street instead of driving around the block, people will do it. You never know where cars or scooters will be coming from. The second thing is slowing down when you come to a green light. There are so many people that run red lights that you actually have to be careful when approaching a green light. There have been times I have had to stop in an intersection so a car could run the light. (Be careful when driving).

One of the funniest things has to do with phone calls. Here in the DR you pay for a certain number of minutes like in the states. However, you only get charged for minutes when you make a phone call, but you don't get charged for receiving one. Many people have cell phones but never put minutes on them. They use other people's phones to make calls but can still receive calls on their phone. One common thing is to call and immediately hang up. The first few times I didn't know what was going on!! When someone does that it means that I don't have any minutes and you need to call me back. (But what if I don't want to use my minutes to call you? haha). There are times where I will call and other times where I don't. Most of the time it is from an unknown number so I'm not fast to call back. For example, I only have 60 minutes a month and most months I don't even use all of that. I usually use 30 minutes. This is because the phone calls are very short. You don't want to use up minutes with normal talk. Phone calls are only to pass information, and that only, nothing more!! Many times there is not even a hello or how are you? Your phone call is answered with "tell me." I respond, "Hello, how are you?" In response, "tell me." That isn't important information and neither is a goodbye. Once I called to order a pizza. They said, "Hello?" (No name of the restaurant or anything). I responded, "Is this Las Palmas?" "Yes, what would you like?" they responded. "I would like to order a pizza," I said. The responded, "Yes I know, what would you like?" There is no small talk and once the information is given you hang up. Many times I haven't even gotten to share my opinion about the information.

Now I find myself doing the same thing. It is interesting how we change with the culture we are living in. No, I have not made a phone call and immediately hung up, but sometimes I do end the call very soon. Now when I call the pizza place, after they say hello, I respond, "I want a medium cheese pizza, no drink, and delivered to this address. I will pay with cash." End call.

October Update

Well here is a quick update since I have had a hard time writing on here each week.  We have now had four weeks with One Way Youth Ministries. Tonight was our fourth meeting and we had 25 students. We have increased every week and are encouraged with how fast it is growing.  Next week we are having a BBQ and I am planning to preach my first message in Spanish. Please keep that in your prayers. I am pretty nervous just thinking about it.  Work at the school has been getting better each week.  I am really seeing some improvement in some of the students and it is encouraging.

This week I started with a new ministry.  Mitch had heard about a team practicing at the local stadium and mentioned how we needed to meet the coach.  So last Saturday we went by the field and were able to meet the coach.  We found out that he doesn't have a team, but that he runs a baseball school.  In the morning he does hitting and defense, and in the afternoon he does pitching.  It just so happened that I get out of school at 3pm and he begins his pitching workouts at 4pm.  This week I was able to go over to the field after school and help him with his pitcher workouts.  He even wants me to start working with some of the pitchers and giving my opinion.  It has been so nice being on a baseball field again.

This week I got as sick as I have been in a long time.  I tried to go to work Wednesday morning after being up since 2am with stomach problems, but I only lasted an hour at work.  I spent the whole day at home feeling absolutely terrible and sleeping.  At times it was so bad that I could barely stand up for a period of time.  God has really come through though and I am feeling almost 100% just two days later.  For those of you that are praying for me here are a few requests.  You can pray for continued health, One Way Ministries and my message next week, and the ability to reach the ball players at the stadium.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  It really does mean a lot to me.

My adventures.

Today turned out to be quite an interesting and eventful day. Yesterday (Sunday) I had to go all over town on my scooter and was starting to get low on gas. I realized this morning when I was leaving for school that my gas was pretty low but I figured I could get to school then to a gas station after. The second I pulled into the school parking lot my scooter died, I had run out of gas. I parked it and went on to teach the rest of the day. After school I began looking for some friends to see if someone could take me to get some gas, but they had all gone home. I walked a little less than a mile down the road to where some people were sitting on the sidewalk. They were selling gas in soda bottles for $0.75, then I walked back to the school. I filled put the gas in my scooter and began driving to the gas station.

So I was on my way to the gas station and this plastic thing that connects to the carburetor decided to fall off. My scooter got all crazy and I realized that this piece was just hanging there. I ended up pushing my scooter for about 3 blocks and happened to find a car repair shop. They put a screw in the thing for no charge and I was on my way. I finally got the the gas station and filled up my tank. A feeling of relief came over me, I could finally go home, but wait. I had that feeling just a bit too soon. I pulled out of the gas station and started home. The light turned green and I started to drive away when I heard, "Your scooter! Your scooter!" I looked down and gas was flooding out from somewhere near the engine all over the ground. I quick pulled off to the side of the road and there happened to be some motorcycle taxi's nearby. One ran over and quickly began to help me. Another kid pulled up on his scooter, grabbed a butter knife, and began to undo screws. He took the siding off my scooter and found the gas line had come off from the gas take. He fixed that, again for no charge, and I started on my way home again. While on my way home I was just waiting for something else to happen and then it did... I got home. That is my afternoon so far. I hope you had a good time reading and enjoying my frustrating afternoon. Haha

God is working here!

Here it is almost a month since my last update and God has done some incredible things.  I am not going to be able to inform you of all that is happening but I will try.  So the last post talked about the Haitian school as well as students at the school that needed support.  The money for the Haitian school came in as well as some students received uniforms.  The floor is down in the school, most of the walls are up and they have begun to have classes.  God has really been been answering prayers and needs here.

On Sunday, September 24th Centro Manantial de Vida (Springs of Live Center) had their first church service.  They are meeting in the cafeteria area at the school, and there were about 150 people at the service including about 10 other pastors from the town showing their support.  The pastor really wants to reach the youth and get a ministry started soon.  I am working alongside his three sons and another friend to start that ministry.  Tomorrow we are having our first planning meeting and hopefully start within a couple weeks.  Please keep the whole process in your prayers.  It is very difficult for me at times considering I am trying to organize so much yet am still struggling with Spanish.  However, I am learning Spanish quickly and am able to have decent conversations with people.

Work at the school has been getting better.  The mornings are going very well and my afternoon class is better.  I am really starting to see some students responding to my teaching.  I am also starting to build relationships with some of the students.  That is the best part of the job!  I love having students call out my name around town or at the park and run up to me to say hi.  It is such a good feeling.  It has helped me to get used to living in this country.  It is also a lot easier to live here now that my scooter is running well.

I thank all of you for praying for me back home.  It is so encouraging knowing that I have people that are praying for me.  I ask now that you would pray for this new church along with the youth ministry.  We are trying to start it soon and really need God's hand guiding us in the process.  Pray also for safety and health.  Thanks to God, I haven't really gotten sick yet (or not too bad).  I also have a mailing address now so if anyone would like to send me a package just email me for more information. rpauly2006@yahoo.com.  Thank you all so much for your support and may God bless you all.

First 3 weeks

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have updated this.  I have been busy getting ready for the school year and everything else that is going on here.  I decided that I should try to list the specific things that I am involved with here as well as the needs that have come up.

We started school last wednesday and it is looking like it will be a great year.  I am the assistant in the 3rd grade and 6th-9th grade English classes.  We work with the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) Program where the kids work at their own pace through booklets.  The supervisor in the classroom helps with academic questions and the assistant answers all other questions.  I also will start teaching my own English class in the afternoon starting next week.  I have the elementary 6 class which is 6th-8th grade intermediate/advanced students.  In that class I have 11 students and we will be focusing mainly on conversational English.  During the morning English classes they learn a lot of reading and grammar.  I have also been asked if I would like to help coach the school's baseball team.  I don't know exactly when the season starts but that is a possibility that I am considering.

There are many other opportunities that have come up.  I am looking to start a youth ministry with a friend within the next few weeks.  We are planning a Bible study with the students at the school and hopefully have it grow over the months.  He started something similar here a few years back and when it ended he had about 150 students show up each week.  There are a few teams that are planning to come down and work with Mitch and Debbie doing evangelism and construction.  One team gets here tomorrow and I think there are at least four more teams coming before Christmas.  When I am not at the school I try to help out with those teams as much as possible.  There is also the possibility of me preaching at the English church in Santiago.  There is so much that I can inform you all of, but I don't want to make this too long.

There are a few needs that have come up within the last few days.  I wanted to let you know so that you could keep them in your prayers and help in whatever way possible.  Today we went to see some land where a pastor in town is planning on building a school.  He had a school for Haitian kids but had to close it because of a bad location.  Haitian kids don't go to the public schools because most of them don't know Spanish and they will be made fun of.  This pastor is looking to build an open-air building so that the kids will have a place to go to school.  He needs $2,000 to build the roof and area for the school.  Over $1,000 has already been raised.  Right now the school will have dirt floor.  He needs $260 to pour a concrete foundation.  There are also students attending my school but are too poor to pay tuition.  There are scholarship opportunities as well as sponsors in the states for students like these.  However, there are still some students that are not able to afford a uniform or books.  There is also a church that needs construction needs or teams to come work on it. I ask that you would keep these needs in your prayers.

Arrived in the Dominican Republic

Well I have almost finished my first week here in the Dominican Republic and things are going great.  I arrived safely from Guatemala on Sunday afternoon and had the missionaries waiting for me.  So far this week I have been staying at their house as we look for another place to stay.  A house opened up on Monday and we have been talking to the owner throughout the week. It looks like the family is going to move out tomorrow and we will be able to move in Saturday.  It is a 3 bed 2 bath house and I will be living with another teacher at the school and a Dominican pastor.  The rent is very cheap here which is nice, about half the price of what I thought I had to pay.

So far this week we have had training at the school from about 8-12. In the afternoon I am normally home trying to get settled in and get everything taken care of.  I got a Dominican cell phone today for $4 and $8 a month for the service.  I am looking at buying a small Honda scooter to get around town.  It just so happened that a friends sister in law decided to sell hers at about half the price of another, and it is in great condition.

In 4 days here I have been able to make so many connections.  The missionaries that I work with know so many people that either run baseball leagues or baseball camps.  I have talked to one man that runs the league for the next town over.  Today the missionary was on the phone with an ex-mlb player who is now the president of the Arizona Diamondbacks Dominican team.  He is coming to La Vega Sunday to meet with him.  I have made contact with Ultimate Potential Inc., which is a Christian baseball outreach ministry that has camps in the Dominican Republic.  One of the guys here that is around my age was wanting to get a student ministry/bible study going here soon and wondered if I could help.  He did it once before and got up to 150 kids attending each week.  There are so many different areas that I would love to help, so it is going to be hard to narrow it down so I don't wear myself out.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.  It has been so encouraging to know people are praying for me in the US and in Guatemala.  Right now I could use prayer that everything with the house and scooter work out, and that God would lead me into a ministry that would be meaningful.  I don't want to just join 10 different things, and then wear myself out and not be effective. I will keep you informed as things unfold in the next week.  And next week is still training at the school.  School starts on the 17th.

My last days in Guatemala

Well the last week has been very eventful.  This is kinda scattered, but is a quick overview of my last week.  Last Wednesday I passed my level B test and am now studying level C.  I have been learning so much and am able to speak much more now.  On Thursday I went on a free tour through the school to a macadamia nut farm.  After that tour me and some friends when on a 75 cent tour of a museum and ruins at an old catholic church.  Saturday I took a 3 hour bus ride to Panajachel where I took a boat tour on lake Atitlan to San Marcos, San Pedro, Santiago and San Antonio.  They tours here are so cheap so I have been able to see a few sights.  Sunday I attended Vida Real Church for the last time.  After my first weekend there the pastor knew me by name, and the church is not small.  I only attended the church 4 times, but after the service the pastor pulled me aside and prayed for me in English.  When he finished the other pastor came over and prayed for me in Spanish.  He set me up with their churches adopt a missionary program where they will add me to their churches prayer list and pray for me throughout my whole trip.  He even offered his house as a place to stay if I ever come back to the country.

After only 5 weeks here I have seen God do amazing things.  He has allowed me to stay healthy and see different sights here in Guatemala.  He has allowed me to help out a medical team by translating and helping the people here.  I thought I would only be in school here and not doing any missions work.  He has also built and incredible relationship with a church and a pastor.  I told each of the pastors sunday that, "I now have a church in Guatemala."  I felt like I had been at that church for so long.  The people were welcoming and I had met so many of them.  I am sad to leave Guatemala but I am so excited to see what God has in store in the Dominican Republic.  Thank you all for your prayers and I will write you next from the DR.

Translating

Last Sunday I woke up in time to get some breakfast and head to church. I walked to the local coffee shop where I ran into three other students from the school that were going to the same church. When we arrived at the church some other students came over and mentioned that there was a medical missions team in town and needed translators. I expressed that I had only been here for two weeks and wouldn't be able to do it but they insisted that I go. When we arrived at the school where the team had set up their clinic, I was paired with a lady who was giving out glasses. I ended up translating for this lady and giving people glasses for 4 hours. I was blown away by some of the people and the joy that they had because they could now see clearly. There was one child that really touched my heart. We gave a pair of glasses to an 8 year old boy, and I asked if he could see or if it was still blurry. With the biggest smile on his face he told me in Spanish, "I can see the words!" He was so happy to be able to see clearly. Something as simple as giving him glasses has now changed his life, and something that may not have been possible without people from Georgia who wanted to make a difference in Antigua. I know that God is doing amazing things in the world through His church, and I am amazed at how I can be used in His plan. It is unreal what God is able to do when you open yourself up to His leading.

Exploring Guatemala

Week two is officially over.  I have a stack of 500 notecards with new vocab and verbs not counting the vocab written in my notebook.  It is a little frustrating trying to learn over 600 new words in 2 weeks along with new concepts, but I am slowly learning this language.  My teacher has continued to push me hard, almost to the point of complete frustration and giving up, but I have made it through.  Now I have the weekend to explore a bit of Guatemala with the little time that I have left here.

Last Sunday was my first day exploring.  A friend at the school suggested a church to attend and it was great.  It was completely in Spanish, but I was able to understand the songs and a bit of the message.  After the service, the pastor suggested a local restaurant to try.  I had to go to the hotel by the church and they would bus me up the mountain to this restaurant.  The restaurant was named El Tenedor del Cerro (The Fork of the Hill).  It was an amazing restaurant that overlooked the town of Antigua.  Along with the restaurant there was a small art gallery, sculptures, bird cage and some other sights.  When I got back to the town, I walked to the hill on the other side of town and hiked up that hill.  That hill is called Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross).  There is a huge cross on the side of the hill over looking the city.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Now after another week of studying it is time to explore some more.  Tomorrow morning I am going to hike up Volcano Pacaya.  It is an active volcano about an hour outside of Antigua.  It only costs $16 for round trip bus ride, a guide and entrance to the volcano.  People say that you can roast marshmallows over the lava and that there is a cave at the top.  Volcano Pacaya is a big tourist attraction and I guess is a must see for anyone visiting Antigua.  Next weekend me and some friends are going to some lake town that is about 3 hours away and staying the night.  All of the students go there at some point and say that is also a must see.  However, I don't really know what is there that is so cool, but it should be a great weekend.

This town is wonderful and the people I live with are amazing.  It seems like we are all laughing so hard at every meal.  They only speak Spanish yet that hasn't been a barrier for conversation.  My body finally had enough of the different food and trying to fight off any germs, and I finally got sick this week.  Thanks to God it only lasted 2 days.  Some people are affected for a week or more from the food.  Thank you for you prayers.  I ask for continued prayers for safety, health, and the ability to learn this language.  I miss you all back home, but I know that God is going to do amazing things here and in the DR.

I'll go where you want me to go

Hymn: I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go
By Mary Brown

It may not be on the mountain's hight,
Or over the stormy sea;
It may not be at the battle's front
My Lord will have need of me;
But if by a still, small voice he calls
To paths I do not know,
I'll answer dear Lord with my hand in thine,
I'll go where you want me to go.

I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
O'er mountain, or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord.
I'll be what you want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words
Which Jesus would have me speak;
There may now, in the paths of sin,
Some wanderer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if thou wilt be my Guide,
Tho' dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet,
I'll say what you want me to say.

There's surely somewhere a lowly place
In earth's harvest fields so wide,
Where I may labor thro life's short day
For Jesus the Crucified.
So, trusting my all unto thy care,
I know thou lovest me!
I'll do thy will with a heart sincere,
I'll be what you want me to be.

I open my devotional to the week of June 26th and it is titled "The Cost of Servanthood." I read the hymn that goes with the week and thought that it couldn't be more fitting for my first week of missions.  I want to make that my prayer during my time in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as well as the rest of my life.

On a lighter note, I absolutely love it here in Antigua.  I am living with a host family while at the school that is awesome.  There is the grandma, her son, two grand-daughters and two maids.  There is also one other student that lives at the house.  At the house I have my own room, and it is so big!  I have a table for my homework, a couch, two big chairs, two beds and a full bath.  They have electrical wires that go to the shower head to heat the water so you don't want to put your arms up while in the shower, that could be bad news.  Brent, you know what I'm talking about.

So during the week the days are pretty much identical.  I wake up at 6:30am.  Breakfast is at 7:15 sharp every morning.  I have school from 8-12 then head home. Lunch at 1pm and school again from 2-4. The only place I have internet is at the school, so I stay here till about 5 to talk to people and get stuff done (I am on skype weekdays between 4-5ish Mountain time.  If you want to talk then add me at rpauly2006).  I head home to study and dinner is at 7:15, then I study till about 10 and time for bed.  They are very particular about when they eat their meals and they are always within 5 min of those times.  Every meal is provided throughout the week except for Sunday.  It is sunday that I get to experience some of the restaurants and hope that I don't get sick.  The food at the house is absolutely amazing.  They eat black beans with bread at every meal.  Example: for breakfast we have scrambled eggs with tomatoes, beans, bread and papaya juice or cereal, beans and bread.  It is awesome!

I am learning so much at the school.  My teacher is pushing me so hard, but it is what I need.  After 1 week I have over 300 verbs and vocabulary that need to be memorized by Monday.  I have also completed about 40 pages of worksheets.  I didn't know that it was possible to learn a new language so fast.  Rosetta Stone has nothing on CSA!  I also get as much coffee that I can drink and it is so good.

I thank you all so much for your prayers and your support.  This first week has been so much better than I expected.  I love it down here.  I could use prayers for patience and health.  I have not gotten sick yet from the food but I know it will happen soon.  There are also times that I get so frustrated with not being able to understand a concept, and it doesn't help that my teacher can only explain it in spanish.  If I can't understand what she is saying then I will never understand the concept.  It has caused me to become frustrated and I need patience when learning this language.  God is so good and I thank him every day for this opportunity.  Dios te bendiga ("God bless you" for all of you non spanish speakers haha).

Leaving the country

Well hopefully this will be the first of many.  I will be using this blog as my main way of communicating what is happening and prayer needs while overseas.  I am so excited to see what God has in store for my life over the next year. For those of you who do not know, here is a brief explanation of what I will be doing.

I have connected with the Assemblies of God World Missions and am doing their MAPS program.  The Missions Abroad Placement Service (MAPS) program is designed to involve men and women in world missionary service on a short-term basis.  They have connected me with missionaries in the Dominican Republic for my service.  My MAPS assignment in the Dominican Republic will be 10 months.

For the first part of my trip I will be going to Antigua Guatemala for language school at the Christian Spanish Academy.  This is not a part of my MAPS assignment, but is necessary in order to learn Spanish in order to work in the Dominican Republic.  I will be in Guatemala for 5 weeks where I will be studying Spanish 6 hours a day.  The school is also providing a Guatemalan family for me to live with.

On July 31st I will be flying from Guatemala to the Dominican Republic where I will start my missions project.  The main part of my missions work will be working at La Vega Christian School in La Vega Dominican Republic.  At the school I will be teaching English as a second language to the advanced high school English class and help with P.E. classes.  I will be living in a house with another missionary teacher and a Dominican Pastor.  Along with teaching at the school I will have the opportunity to help in other areas.  First, I will be assisting with evangelism and construction teams that come from the US for short-term missions projects.  Second, I will be assisting with sports programs.  And third, I will be helping with youth ministry at the local church.

After spending months planning and figuring out every detail, I sit here now getting ready to leave in 29 hours.  I am kinda nervous, but am so excited for a new adventure.  It is crazy to think that in 2 days my primary language will be totally different from what I am used to, but I guess that everything will be different.  I am excited to learn a different culture and a different language, and be able to use that in order to minister for the kingdom of God.

As I get ready to leave I want to ask for your prayers.  Pray that I would have safe travel and that God would be able to use me how He wants.  I am ready to be a learner and grow in my faith, and I pray that God would help me in that process.

I want to thank all of my family and friends who are so supportive of me.  Knowing that I have amazing people praying for me daily is such a blessing.  I will try and keep you all updated on a weekly basis.