United For Him 2013

It is incredible to think that this is my second year attending Unidos Por El. Last year didn't go as I expected. A speaker fell over on my leg as I was helping to set up the day before the event, and I was rushed to the hospital for the first time in my life. After an emergency surgery and more than 30 stitches, I spent most of the month on crutches or limping around. It was an incredible time, but also very difficult moving and enjoying the concert when I couldn't stand. I know that many of you were praying for me during that time, and it was very meaningful.

Romy Ram at United for Him

It is good that bad times pass and bodies heal. I have been incredibly blessed to spend my second year in the Dominican Republic and enjoy Unidor Por El with a healthy body!! We have had awesome artists come and perform, as well as great speakers that have challenged the youth. The place has been filling up every weekend with about 2,000 people for the 2nd and 3rd weekends. We are expecting a big crowd for the final weekend coming up.

This event is necessary because of the carnival celebrations that happen in La Vega during the month of February. Ever weekend, hundreds of thousands of people flood into the city for concerts, drinking, and parades. It is a very dangerous time, and a terrible influence for the youth in the city. I friend told me that they were talking to a student that goes to our school after the first weekend of carnival. The students was visiting one of the hospitals, and in a 15 minute window, they brought in multiple dead bodies, and too many injured people to count. There is a great spiritual battle in this city as the carnival festival is celebrating demons. We have provided this positive, Christian alternative to the carnival events.



Bobby performing at United for Him

It was exciting to have Transition Ministry partner with Unidor Por El to help raise support and have people watching the event from the United States. I also have had a great time as some of the performing artists have stayed at my house. Bobby is one of the artists that I have spent a lot of time with, and he is even in my first video shout out! The event is broad casted live at www.livestream.com/latinmedia each weekend. It begins at about 6:30 pm EST on Saturdays and 5:30 EST on Sundays. Tune in this weekend for the final two days!! Saturday is mostly worship and a speaker for the youth. Sunday is a mixture of rock, rap, and worship music. Check the Transition Ministry Website for more information on United For Him. Look at the Transition Ministry Facebook for pictures and the Transition Ministry Youtube for videos from the event. I have talked to many people that have been praying for this event during the last three weeks. Keep this last weekend in your prayers!! Thank you so much for the support for this event and my ministry. You are awesome!!

A Day in Miami

All my life I have tried to avoid layovers. Every time I go through Miami I have had at least a five hour layover and most times it is seven hours. It is a dread to sit in an airport that long and I couldn't imagine anything longer. This time I guess I waited a little too long to book my tickets. The only available trip back to the Dominican Republic after Christmas would be an overnight flight and a 12 hour layover in Miami. I was not looking forward to this, until I got a great bit of advice from my uncle. He told me to not stay in the airport but to look for tours and trips around the city. This turned out to be some great advice!

I was able to leave the Miami airport and travel around the city. I took a trip down South Beach and then headed downtown. My stops were the American Airlines Center, where the Miami Heat play, and the Miami Marlins new ballpark. They happened to be giving cheap tours of the brand new 500 million dollar stadium. I was able to go onto the field and through the club house. It was an incredible way to spend 8 hours in Miami.

Now that I will be booking more tickets to and from the Dominican Republic, I think that I will start looking for long layovers (I'm young and can function on little sleep). My next ticket will hopefully be booked through NY, and it will hopefully be a 24 hour layover. I came to realize that the most expensive part of a vacation is normally the plane ticket. If the ticket is already paid for on my trip home, then the short vacation in a new city is practically free!!

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.