A True Blessing

All the girls ready to go into La Sirena.

Today started very normal like every other day before. I arrived at the school at 7:20am and prepared myself for classes. I soon began to find what looked like an easy day become very stressful. I only had one class today because of final tests, but I also have to complete all my grades before I leave on Wednesday. I found myself with my head stuck in a pile of papers, tests, notebooks, and my grade book for 5 straight hours (30 min lunch break in there). I finished my day 45 minutes early with my head hurting and my eyes burning. All of those numbers and the math on the report cards were not a good combination. All I wanted to do was go home and rest before continuing to work on grades and finals, but I had one more thing to do.

The group looking at all the flavors of ice cream.

Today was the Christmas party for the Haitian school that my ministry sponsors. There are 33 students in the school and 23 of them were ready for their party. Donations were given in order to buy each student a present and give them a treat. The plan was to take them to La Sirena (comparable to super Walmart) and get them some ice cream. Many of them have never been to La Sirena before. It is only a 15 minute drive to the other side of town. After La Sirena we were going to stop and buy each student a gift. Something so simple began to be so very special for me.

The students praying for their ice cream.

We arrived at the school to pick up the students and found them dressed in their best clothes. They were going on a field trip across town and were not going to look bad. Many of the girls were in the cutest little dresses. We arrived at La Sirena and gave the kids time to look around the store. The entire group of students stayed together as they walked around. When they were done in the toy section we moved to the deserts. They picked out a chocolate and strawberry ice cream (with no arguing) and sat down in the cafeteria. Debbie and I began to serve the ice cream for each student. We would put a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of chocolate in each cup. We also thought that some of the kids may not want two flavors so we made some cups with just one flavor. The teachers gave the cups back to us like we made a terrible mistake and forgot the other flavor! haha. I guess we do things a little different. It amazed me that as we served each student an ice cream not one student began to eat. They waited, without a single taste, until every student had received their ice cream and prayed. We talked, laughed, took pictures, and then loaded back up into the van.

One of the students with her presents.

The next stop was the toy store. Each student began to look around to see what they were going to get with their $200 pesos (US$5). One girl picked out a doll and a few other things only to realize that it was only $100 pesos!! She was so happy that she could keep looking. She returned 5 minutes later with about 5 more items that put her over the limit. haha. She was happy to return a few things a leave with exactly what she wanted. Many of the girls left with tea sets, cooking sets, dolls, sunglasses, and jump ropes. The guys chose video games, chess sets, basketballs, and yo-yos. They kids were so excited for the little things that we were able to provide. Their day was filled with joy from an ice cream trip and a small toy. It really showed me what true happiness is. What is it that brings joy and happiness to my life? It truly was a blessing to be with those students today. God bless them and God bless you all!

An Attitude of Thanksgiving

Do you ever stop and think about where God has taken you? Have you given Him something in your life and seen what He did with it? I am in amazement right now looking back over the last 4 months. These 4 months have been completely different than anything I could have imagined. I started Transition Ministry in July with a plan in mind, and God blew that plan away. He has taken it and gone further than I could have ever dreamed. I am sitting here right now in amazement and thankful for so many different things. God truly does something special when we put our lives, goals, and dreams in His hands.

We just got done celebrating Thanksgiving here in the Dominican Republic. This country does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but we get together with some of the American missionaries around the country to celebrate. This year we had about 20-25 people. We also have a special Thanksgiving chapel with the afternoon English students and a Thanksgiving dinner with the families of the teachers. I was asked to preach at the Chapel this year and it was a great privilege. Eating with the missionaries was an incredible time to share with others in ministry and give God the thanks for what he deserves. I thank God for every day that I have here in this country. I thank God for each one of you that supports me and my ministry. I would not be here if it wasn't for the support and prayers of each one of you. I cannot thank you all enough. It is truly a blessing and an honor.

However, Thanksgiving is not just a holiday or one day a year to give thanks to God. We should be living a daily lifestyle of thanksgiving. Scripture tells us to rejoice in the Lord and come before him in thanksgiving. It says to be thankful in all things and in all circumstances. Paul teaches to be thankful in the good and the bad. It is so easy to be thankful for what we have when things are good, but very hard when we are going through a difficult time. I try to teach my students that we can find something to be thankful for no matter what we are going through. Living with a lifestyle of thanksgiving allows us to see the positive in life and helps us to treat others with respect. Try waking up each morning with an attitude of thanksgiving and see how it changes your day. It won't only change your life, but it could change the lives of the people you come into contact with. God bless!!

Preparing For A New Year

About one year ago I sat down to write my first blog as a missionary. I only wanted to be a missionary for about four months. That quickly turned into one year, and now I am about to start my second year. One year ago today I could not have imagined that I would be in this place. I am now ready to leave after a very busy summer. I am so excited to be working in the place that God has called me. There is no better feeling.

I had two months in Colorado to plan for another year on the missions field. This summer I was able to preach at Fishers Peak Community Church in Trinidad, Colorado. That is the church that I attended for two years while at Trinidad State Junior College. While in Fort Collins, I attended Timberline Church and Mill City Church. It was so amazing to be involved in those places. I was ordained by The Missionary Church International, and started my own ministry; Transition Ministry. It was amazing to see how God provided in all of the work that I accomplished and to raise funds for the next yaer.

I am now packed and ready to return to the Dominican Republic. I will continue to teach at La Vega Christian School, work with youth, and have a baseball ministry. I am very excited to announce that I have been working to sponsor 50 Haitian students at a school that I helped build last August. We have 28 students sponsored so far and am looking to sponsor the rest. It is only $9/month to give a Haitian child an education. I am so excited to see what else God has planned in the next year and how He wants to use me in ministry. I just want to thank everyone that has supported me and prayed for me over the last year. That means so much to me.

If you want more information or want to receive updates while I am in the Dominican Republic, please look at my website www.transitionministry.com. I have a ministry facebook and twitter account which you can find on the website. Send an email to ryan.pauly@transitionministry.com if you want to receive newsletters and prayer requests. God bless you all!!

Ways that you can pray:
1) Safe travel tomorrow, August 9th.
2) Health as my body adapts to the food again.
3) That God would provide sponsors for the other 22 students.
4) That I would transition smoothly and be able to find good friends to spend time with.

Preparing For A New Year

This summer has been different from any other before. I have spent the last month in the U.S. preparing to go back to the Dominican Republic. It is so exciting to know that I will be spending another year in the mission field. The work and ministry will be the same as last year, but there are many new and exciting changes. I have spend the last month starting my own non-profit organization. It is called Transition Ministry. The goal of the organization is to work with youth in the Dominican republic through teaching English, baseball and youth ministry, short-term missions teams, and construction.

When I arrived in the U.S. I began to apply to get my non-profit status. I went through an organization called The Missionary Church International. They provided me with a 501 c 3. This gives me the ability to provide exempt status to anyone that donates. After this application was completed, I applied to the state of Colorado to be a non-profit organization. I received this approval on July 10th. It is so exciting to have everything completed and starting a new chapter in my life. The website was also completed for my ministry with information on what I will be doing and how you can be involved. You can see this at www.transitionministry.com.

The only thing left to complete before leaving is my fundraising. I have been talking to local churches, family, and friends to complete my budget. It is also my dream to have people be involved with certain events and needs in the Dominican Republic. During my first year I had supporters give towards putting a floor in a Haitian school and paying for a little girl to have surgery to remove a growth on her face. I would love to see more people get involved in the future. During the next year there will be many more opportunities to help people in the Dominican Republic. If you would like to receive information on how to help, or receive prayer requests, send an email to ryan.pauly@transtionministry.com.

I encourage you to look at www.transitionministry.com. It is a great place to follow what is happening in the Dominican Republic and donate to the ministry. You can like the Transition Ministry facebook page at facebook.com/transitionmin to see pictures and videos. You can also follow me on twitter @transition_min for frequent updates. Please email me and check out the new website if you have any questions. I know that God is going to do amazing things in the next year, and you can have a part at making a difference in somones life. You don't have to be a missionary to change a life in another country. There are many opportunities, so I encourage you to get involved in what God is doing. There will be many more updates after I arrive in the Dominican Republic on August 9th. God bless you all.

Reflecting on the Dominican Republic

The time has gone by so fast. Here I am, sitting here, for my last night in the Dominican Republic. I have moved out of my house, and I'm staying with the missionaries for my last night. When I first felt God call me to come to this country I thought it was for maybe five months at the most. When I was told that it had to be 10 months I was nervous. I had never spent 10 months out of the US. Maybe a one week mission trip, but 10 months?? That is so long!! Can I be away from my family that long? I will miss the entire summer! All of these things plus more made me question the call to missions. After much prayer I finally made the commitment. I spent five weeks in Guatemala learning Spanish, then another ten months here in the DR.

I couldn't have been more blessed with my time here. I was paired up with the most amazing missionaries, Mitch and Debbie Martinez. I learned so much from them, and they felt like parents away from home. I had two great American friends. They are both English teaches at the school with me and are also missionary volunteers, Rayven and Jerry. I also made many other friends, and I can't list them all. I was also blessed to be a part in many ministry events. We held sports camps, worship services, United for Him, painting, constructing schools, giving out Bibles, helping flood victims, and much more. I started a baseball ministry and youth ministry. All of these things are what I did on the side. I spent 40 hours a week teaching English to 5th-10th graders. I had five classes every morning and one English intensive in the afternoon. Keeping busy is what made the time fly by so fast.

While I am home in the US I am really going to miss it here. However, I have made another 10 month commitment for next year. Yes! I am coming back to the Dominican Republic! Many things are going to be changing in my next year here. I will not be returning with the Assemblies of God World Mission. I am in the process of forming my own non-profit. I have created Transition Ministry. It will be a ministry where people can donate, as well as send funds to help with different projects. My main project for my next year will be to grow the baseball ministry. Right now I am helping coach a small group of kids. When I return in August my goal will be to begin Bible studies each week with the players. I will still be teaching English at La Vega Christian School, helping with short term teams, and trying to grow a youth group.

During these next few months I want to ask you for prayer. There is so much that I am trying to get done in a very short amount of time. I have to fundraise for another 10 months overseas. I am building a website and setting up my non-profit ministry. I am trying to make contacts in the US. I will be preaching at churches, meeting with pastors, youth, and spending time with family. I will also be trying to organize a short-term missions team for people to come down to the DR from Ft. Collins. If you would like to donate, or would like more information please email me. My new email is ryan.pauly@transitionministry.com. Go to my Transition Ministry facebook page for pictures and updates. That page is facebook.com/paulymissions. Thank you for the love, support, and prayer. God bless you all.

The Blessing of God's Word

Back in November I was presented with the opportunity to receive New Testaments. Biblica Publishing and Group Publishing had begun a project to send Spanish New Testaments all over Latin and South America.  We were going to receive a few thousand for Unidos por El. Unidos por El is the Christian event where we had artists come every weekend in February. We wanted New Testaments to give to the people that received Christ at the event. There were thousands of people that came each weekend. However, we had shipping problems and were not able to receive the New Testaments until March. God still had a plan.

There were many different problems in the shipping process. At first, we were not able to find an address where the Bibles could be shipped to. Next, they took too long in the shipping process and arrived in the Dominican Republic after the event. When they arrived in port, the customs agents decided to tax the backpacks that were sent with the Bibles. These backpacks were colored by children in the United States to give along with the Bibles. The customs agents said that they were done too professionally and said we had to come up with $2,000 in two weeks. The money was provided and we received the Bibles a few days later. I have to say thank you to so many people that had a hand in this process.

We finally received the Sports New Testaments and now we have the job of handing them out to people that need God's Word. That process has started as we have given away over 1,000 of the 6,000 that we received. The first group to receive Bibles were about 30 students from the Haitian school that we built. Since then, we have given Bibles to Christian business owners, drug rehabilitation programs (Teen Challenge), pastors, medical clinics, an orphanage, and other ministries. I will be giving 200-300 to a ministry that does evangelism in the worst park in Santiago for drug users and prostitution. The most memorable to me is when we had a week of sports camps. We gave backpacks and New Testaments to 200 kids at different sports camps in the Rails. We were also able to share testimonies and give New Testaments to about 75 baseball players at the local stadium. Some of these kids are the players that I work with in the afternoon.

I am still receiving phone calls from pastors and ministry leaders who want Bibles and backpacks. Many of them work with youth and some even do sports stuff. This couldn't have been possible without the help of many people. I have to specifically thank Rich Blanco from Biblica Publishing for giving us the Bibles. Rose Pauly for coordinating things inside the US. Mitch Martinez for the many phone calls here in the Dominican Republic. Timberline Church for allowing a place for people to donate money for the shipping costs. I also want to thank every person who gave towards getting the Bibles in this country. I know that many of you have been praying and will continue to pray that these Bibles get into the right hands, and that lives will be changed. If you would like to see more pictures please visit http://www.facebook.com/paulymissions. You can like and follow the page to get more updates on what is happening in the Dominican Republic. If you would like more information on how to get involved in this project, or projects like this, please email dominicanmissions@yahoo.com. Thank you for everything. God bless!

The Love Experiment

Tonight as I was doing my laundry I began to think about the ways that Christians evangelize to the world. I see groups come down here for short-term missions trips to do construction and programs. They preach to adults, children, and hand out tracks. Then I began to think about evangelism in the United States. We have churches that people come to, and people invite their friends. College ministries give rides to drunk people and feed the homeless. Each of those things is sharing the love of God with other people. I then began to think of the people that stand in Denver or around the bars and tell people they are going to hell because they are drunk. The people that stand with signs and say that God hates sinners and how they are going to hell. There is no love in that message. The Gospel of Christ is filled with love. I then decided to try and experiment.

When people are standing in downtown Ft. Collins telling the college students they are going to hell for drinking most of the people walk by them. I decided to see what would happen if you just told people that Jesus loves them. Many times the world gets a hateful message and not one filled with love. I entered a website and began to ask the people one question. I asked, "Do you want someone to love you unconditionally?" Most people are looking for the love of parents, a spouse, or friends. We are lonely without love. I figured that this question would get some responses, and responses I did get. Some people said I was weird, others said yes and asked why, others stated that they already had that love. Some said how it would be so nice but they don't believe in an unconditional love.

I responded to each one of these people by saying something like this, "This unconditional love is the love of God. He loves you so very much and all we have to do is accept it." The responses blew me away. Very few said that they have already accepted God. Some replied that they were happy the way they were and that they didn't need any more love. They only need the love of their family and that is all this life is about. What surprised me the most was the hate that came from some people. One girl said that she was an Atheist. She claimed that I was being hateful and shoving crazy, uneducated beliefs down her throat. How am I being hateful when I am saying something so good? That is the best news!! It is His love for us that saves us! It is also God that teaches us how to truly love one another. Without accepting God's love it can be hard to love other people.

Some people have hardened their heart so much that they get angry when you talk about love; especially the love of God. How is it that we can best show the love of God to this world? Is it standing on a street corner telling people that Jesus loves them? Is it going on a website and sharing with people? Is it through church services and missions work? Or does God use each one of these ways to bring people to him? Maybe what I said to one person will plant a seed in them. I don't know what will happen. One thing I do know is that without God this life is worthless. Acts 20:24 tells us that we need to testify the good news of God's grace to the world. The Holy Spirit will touch the lives of the people. That is not our job.

New Adventures

Over the last few weeks a few new adventures and ministries have come up.  About two weeks ago we received a shipment of 6,000 Bibles and 4,000 backpacks from Biblica Publishing.  4,000 of the Bibles are sports New Testaments with testimonies from different athletes.  Albert Pujols, first baseman for the Angels, is probably the biggest baseball player to come out of the Dominican Republic. He is on the cover and his testimony inside. Now we have the task of distributing these Bibles to different churches and at different events.  Within the last few weeks we have added two more short-term teams from the US that will be coming this month.  We have a team from Florida that will be coming and doing sports camps! What a perfect way to reach children and give out sports Bibles and backpacks.  I am actually going to talk with Mitch (the missionary I am working with) right now to figure out ways we can distribute these Bibles.  Our main goal is to get God's Word into the hands of the people that need Him!

The second thing that has come up is that I have been asked to work with some kids and do baseball every Saturday.  My church has a children's ministry at an apartment complex.  They have something planned for them each weekend and now we will be starting baseball.  One of the kids came up to me yesterday and said, "Are you going to be practicing with us?" I responded, "Yes." He said, "Well what is our team name going to be?"  He ended up walking away and giving me a huge high five!  The kids here love baseball and that is such an awesome way to show the love of God.

Prayer requests are:
1) Pray for the travel and ministries of each team that is coming down this month.
2) Pray that these Bibles get into the hands of people that need God's Word.
3) Pray for strength and guidance as God continues to work in my life here and as I look toward the future.
4) Pray for this new baseball ministry that I have agreed to take in my already busy schedule.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. It means so much to me. God bless.

What is Important?

Today has really got me thinking about the important things in my life. What is important and what is not? What is important in your life? My grandma sent me an email a few months back with an interesting story. If you have a large container and fill it with golf balls is it full? Yes. Then if you put little pebbles around the golf balls is it full? Yes. Then if you put sand around the pebbles is it full? Yes. The golf balls are what is most important and the pebbles a little less, then the sand is the least important. If you fill your life with sand, or the least important things first, do you have room for the golf balls or most important things? No. If our lives only have the golf balls, are they full? Yes. So what are the golf balls in your life and are you putting them in the jar before the sand?

That was not the point in writing this blog. I decided to write this blog to ask this question. Are you going to stick up for the important things in your life? If you said at first that God and your family are the most important things (golf balls), are you going to defend those things? Are you going to let someone talk bad about your family or God and not do anything about it? Will it roll off your back, or are you going to say that it offends you and give an explanation of your beliefs? I hope that you can recognize the important things in your life. The things that are essential for living. Without God in my life I would have no purpose. He is the reason why I am here in the Dominican Republic, and the reason why I want to be a pastor and teach youth. Youth need to be able to identify the important things in their life. What seems important in Jr. high and high school is popularity, grades, boyfriend, girlfriend, alcohol, sports, and the list could go on. I had a conversation with my students today because I found a note being passed around the class with a vote about who is better between two students. That is what is most important to them; being in the cool group of friends or being the best.

When the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest at the last supper, Jesus had something to say. He said that the servant is better than the one at the table. Luke 22:27 says, "For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one is is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves." That is a very hard way to live, very hard. Now I am getting off track. All that to say, the story from my grandma says that the important things are God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions. Is that what should be first in our lives? If that should be first, is it? If you believe those things should be first and someone criticizes you for that belief, will you defend it? There will always be people saying that we are wrong or bad. I want to be able to stick up for what is right even when it is the hardest. Do you feel the same?

My Carnival Experience

Today after church I was taking a nap when Paul, Mitch and Debbie's son, came in the room and told me I was going to carnival with him. He is here for the week doing some video stuff and wanted some footage of carnival. It is a dangerous place with pick-pocketers and other stuff, so he wanted another person with him for safety. I agreed to go since I have been wanting to see what this town has been doing the last month. I have heard many stories but that is never the same as experiencing it for yourself.

When you arrive at carnival you have to walk through what they call "caves" in order to get to the main streets. The caves are filled with people to the point where you can barely walk through. There is a picture of one of the many caved throughout the town.  Carnival takes up almost the entire downtown area. Most of the side streets that enter downtown have a cave blocking the street.

Once you exit the cave you are on the main streets where there are many people dressed up in demon costumes. They parade around in different groups where they are all dressed alike. There were around 5 or 8 demons in each group. Each one of the demons has a foam stuffed ball connected to a rope. You can see the black ball that this one is holding. They are made of foam, but they are packed so tight that it becomes hard. As they walk down the street they will find people that are not watching and hit them as hard as they can. They pretty much march around the streets beating people with these things. I got hit a couple times, but one time left my backside hurting for about five minutes. The rest of my time there I was constantly checking behind me.

The craziest thing about carnival was the feeling. All month I was at Unidos por El where there was a feeling of love and peace. You could feel the presence of God in that place. As soon as I arrived at carnival I felt hate, confusion, and a presence of the Devil. It was one of the weirdest feelings I have ever felt. I became sick to my stomach for about an hour after. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard in my life. It was the constant feeling that I was going to be hit, hurt, or get something stolen.

This experience has showed me even more clearly that God is a loving God. He desires that we live a life of love and peace with others. When we are living a life like Christ we are not out to hurt other people but the complete opposite. He came to heal and forgive! We serve such an amazing God and I pray that he breaks Satan's hold over this city. This month was one that I will never forget.

Thank you all for the prayers and support while I have been here. If it wasn't for many of you I would not be having the opportunity to minister and serve Christ in this town. I want to thank you all so so much for this opportunity. God bless you all!!

United for Him!

The month of February is a busy time here in La Vega. All of the people are celebrating Carnival; which is a time of drinking, drugs, sex, violence, and demons. Every weekend in the month of February they dress up in demon costumes and parade around the town, and every night they have concerts and parties. There are many streets throughout the city that have been completely blocked off for different stages and clubs to meet.

Mitch Martinez has been working alongside some other Christian brothers here in La Vega the past few years to create a Christian alternative. We are having the event Unidos Por El (United for Him). Last year there were a couple thousand youth that came to the event and this year we hope it is bigger. The event will be held every Saturday and Sunday in the month of February. There are around 30 Christian artists that will be coming to perform. The event will be broadcasted on national TV and on the internet at latinmedia.org. The 4th video shows a little bit of carnival and United for Him. It will begin at 6pm EST on Saturdays and 3:30 EST on sundays. Here are some videos showing last years event. http://vimeo.com/35863310

I know that God is going to do some amazing things at this event, but we need your prayers throughout the month. We have Biblica Publishing donating 6,000 Bibles, but still need to raise the shipping cost. We are praying that these Bibles can make it here before the event is over. We also hope to reach as many youth in the city as possible. If they are at United for Him then they will not be at the other parties. Pray that God will move in this city and that lives would be touched. Prayer is also needed for the safety of everyone involved. I had to visit the hospital yesterday to receive over 30 stitches in my leg from a speaker that fell. Pray that no one else gets hurt this month. The last thing to pray for is that this event is very expensive. We have raised about 1/4 of the cost. Showing the event on live national TV, building the stage, buying speakers, paying artists, and other costs is very expensive. Pray that God will continue to provide for us. I will keep you all updated.

Be sure not to miss it live at latinmedia.org