College Students and Missions: Who will go?

With 3,500 university age attendees and 300 plus missionaries on hand, the December 2012 World Missions Summit in Fort Worth, Texas was awesome!  On December 28th-31st we attended the conference. We were invited to be host missionaries to represent the Caribbean area..

December 2012 World Missions Summit

It wasn't the numbers that made this three day conference great, it was the openness and response of the young people.  On Sunday morning, out of that mass assembly, 951 young people made their way to the platform (see this link) to say yes to the "Go for a year, pray about a lifetime" challenge. They went right up to the stage and shared where they felt God was asking them to go, or at least that they were committed to go wherever God would lead for a year.

On hand were displays dealing/w human trafficking, sex slavery, social issues.

My eyes teared up.  The missions baton was being passed on to a new generation.    My mind went back to the wonderful missions chapels at Southeastern University (Lakeland, FL),  where in response to a challenge to missions, I would find myself going forward and kneeling again and again in commitment to Christ.  In the midst of so much materialism and self-absorption that we see abounding in society today, here was a group of representatives from the younger generation saying they were willing to sacrifice and to take up this cause of world missions.  What was the cause?  There are two billion people in this world who have not heard a clear presentation on the importance of faith in Jesus Christ, because there are no Christian workers near them. Who will go to these dark regions of the world? I am convinced that man is a spiritual and emotional being,

The Saga of the Infected Leg

Thanksgiving took on new meaning for me this year.  I am thankful to the Lord for another wonderful day in this marvelous existence we call life.  A day with family and friends, a day with goals and wishes, and with the strength to reach forward to new challenges.

I wanted to thank the many that wished me well and prayed for me during my recent bout with a staph infection on a leg.  I tried to keep things low key, but there were so many friends that had questions about my condition, that I felt I needed to write something about it.

Time for a confession, I was definitely nervous about my infection last month.  This was really evident the second night  I was in the hospital and I couldn't get to sleep.  Earlier in the day my leg had been operated on.  The 3/4 inch deep hole in my leg, about an inch and a half in circumference did not look well.  This infection was on my shin, near the ankle, and the doctor made it a point to show me how clearly you could see the bone through that last thin layer of muscle in the hole.

Up until that night I had remained cheerful and optimistic. I had even joked to Elias, who produces our TV program, that in the worse case scenario we would have to change the program format from dealing with social issues, to instead, a children's program with me dressed as a one-legged pirate.  We had laughed about this, but later that night, it suddenly did not seem so funny.  I tossed and turned, and started getting worried. "Majority world" or "third world" medicine does not have a good reputation.  What if something terrible happened? Why did this happen to me?  I rebuked possible curses uttered against me.  I believe as Christians we need to do that every once in awhile.  I  am a firm believer in spiritual warfare.   I rebuked the spirit of fear, and depression.  We need to do that also as needed.  I examined myself spiritually, but that doesn't usually help very much because then I have to thrust myself on the mercy of God.  What I mean is that I am conscious that without God's promise to me of forgiveness and acceptance I really don't measure up to His standards.  I am a work in progress, forgiven, but still flawed.  If God wanted to find fault with me, he wouldn't have to look too hard.  Needless to say, I was definitely down in my spirit.  Debbie was spending the night in my room on a

The difference between short and long term missions?

From time to time I see "full-time missionaries" come to the field who clearly were not prepared for the experience.  They may have had a wonderful experience with a 1 or 2 week missions team visit to a needy country, and inadvertently thought, "This is great, I want to continue this full-time".  The problem is that you cannot compare a short visit with the total commitment involved in giving a year or more of your life to missions work overseas.

Short Term missions team from Calvary Christian School ministers at La Vega Christian School

For example, when you are hosted by missionaries, you are usually housed in a safe furnished environment (even when not staying in a hotel), your meals and meal times are all arranged.  You are transported (you are not driving) to wherever you will be ministering or serving.  And you are surrounded by your wonderful friends from your local church.  I know I am generalizing some, but bear with me.  Church services have all been arranged ahead of time.  The cooks have been given

A Tribute to Missionary Evangelist Roy Porter

Missionary Evangelist Roy Porter 

A call the night of October 4, 2012, informed us that our long-time friend and ministry partner, Roy Porter had passed away.  I had been on the phone with him just a day earlier, going over plans and details of his upcoming visit in January, with the Liberty Ministries Evangelistic Team.
He was the one who first brought us to the Dominican Republic to help with translating needs for the Liberty Ministries Evangelistic team, in September,1991.  It was on that visit, my first trip to this country, that the Lord spoke to my heart that He wanted us here  in the D.R.. Within 10 months we had raised support and moved here with our five children. I shared some in an earlier blog  about this visit.
We had met Roy and his wife Jeanette a few years earlier in Columbia, SC, through a mutual acquaintance, Pastor Brad Morris. They had been given our names as Spanish-speaking ministry contacts in Columbia. We met together and became involved with them in reaching out to Hispanic prisoners. Later Pastor Roy came to our church and held

Best Practices and "Free" Medical Clinics

In poor rural areas, where income is very low, often those who are sick will try home remedies, teas, and herbs, before considering a visit to a doctor.  If there is a pharmacy nearby, they will prescribe their own medicine as in this country you don't need a doctor's prescription for most medicines. Neighbors will volunteer the names of medicines that have helped them with similar ailments.  Antibiotics, steroids, viagra, are all sold across the counter without a prescription.  The danger though is that they will misdiagnose their problem and hurt themselves.  They usually continue this home remedy treatment until they can't stand the pain anymore

The Pharmacy for a clinic at a church.

and are forced to go into the big town where there is a public hospital. Now that I think about it, in the U.S. we have people that put off seeing a doctor, but not because they can't afford it (though I think this is happening also), but because they have a fear of doctors and hospitals.  La Vega, where we live is one of these towns with a big public hospital. Treatment is free, conditions are poor, and families are expected to spend the day and night with the patient to make sure  the prescribed medicines are bought, and that the patient is well taken care of. I won't write about the waiting lists for operations that are common.  Considering the resources on hand the medical community is doing the very best they can.

All this was said to help you understand the impact a visiting missions medical team can have on spotting potential problems early.   And how by their directing the patients to the proper care they need, they may head off worse health conditions. Sometimes though we are not able to use to the fullest advantage these team visits.

 For instance, I remember hosting a medical team that brought in medicine and doctors and volunteers to help with a free medical clinic in a rural area.  It went great except that it was almost a madhouse.  Every

Property Ownership and Missions Giving

Why the issue of property ownership can affect missions giving?  Part I

     A missionary has to deal with the property issue every time they are involved with a construction project.  Why? Because as missionaries we are often responsible for missions monies directed towards the project.  We have a responsibility to protect the interests of the donors.  But even greater is the responsibility we have to the Lord and His kingdom.   This investment of missions funds, just like any donation to a church, demands accountability.  Often the missionary serves as a conduit to meet the needs.

Securing ministry properties is a must.  Recently, I had to talk to a local pastor who is running  a school for Haitian children. In our country the Haitian community is very marginalized.  Many are illegally in the country, or with lapsed legal papers.  Very few of their children are in the public school system.  They don't speak Spanish, they don't have legal birth certificates, they may not have the income for the public school

Debbie and Ryan Pauly Visit the Haitian School

uniforms.   That is why we have become involved in helping this school reach out to the Haitian children.   Without an education, their chances of breaking the poverty cycle is slim.

We have served as channels in one way or another to provide nearly $5000.00 US for this project.  The lastest expense was a hand dug well on the property.  Their building is made of what we would consider scrap lumber in the United States.   We donated some used student desks to help and some sports equipment. Funds paid for the floors, walls, bathrooms, and roof of the building.  The donors were thrilled that they could make a difference in these young lives.  As humble as the surroundings are, there is a sense of peace and joy in the school.  The children look happy. The pastor and his small staff are providing a good education to about 60 children, who would otherwise have no education.

The problem is that the school is functioning on a piece of property that belongs to the pastor's daughter.  We would love to help provide a better facility for this school.  But when approaching churches in the US for help, there is always the question of who owns the land.  There is a risk that one day the daughter will sell the

On the Origins of our Missionary Calling

 There is no space in this journal to tell all the factors leading to our becoming missionaries. To save time I will say that Debbie and I met at Southeastern University (then Southeastern Bible College), Lakeland Florida in 1976. We were both missions majors. Which means we both felt a call to missionary service before we came to college. We both felt a call to work with Hispanics, and in fact both worked together, starting the first semester there, in an outreach program to migrant workers. We had both lived

overseas previously to attending college, and so had some experience already in communicating cross-culturally. We both spoke Spanish; Debbie was more fluent then myself. What we lacked was ministry experience. After graduating from SEBC, we attended two semesters of Wycliffe Bible Translators' Institute of Linguistics. This was an intense program to prepare missionaries for working with unreached people groups (UPGs) with no written language, or no Bible in their language. At the end of our year there in Dallas, Texas, we decided that our call was to work with Spanish speaking peoples. We moved to New Jersey, near Debbie's family, and worked to provide for our growing family (2 kids by this time), and immediately tied in with a Hispanic church that was starting in the basement of a pastor's home (Canaan Christian Church in Jackson, NJ). We began working with children, organized a children's church, a Royal Ranger scouting program, taught children and youth in the Sunday School program, and even had the opportunity to preach every once in awhile. Meanwhile, I had a year of my educational benefits (the GI Bill) left, but these would run out soon. After seven years in New Jersey, we sold our home, packed up and moved to Columbia, SC to study at Columbia International University (then Columbia Bible College and Seminary). We were excited about this school as it had a tremendous missions emphasis. I worked on my Master's Degree there in Bible, and Debbie on hers in Education. It was 1985 then, and we had three children when we arrived there. After a year of studies there, we began a Spanish speaking fellowship called Fuente de Vida. We felt there was a great need for this ministry. The 1980 census showed that there were over 5,300 Hispanics in the greater Columbia area. Today this church has over a hundred hispanics attending. We pastored this church for seven years before moving to the Dominican Republic.

  So how did we get to the mission field? In 1990, an evangelist friend, Pastor Roy Porter, mentioned that he had been going into the Dominican Republic to

Pastor Roy Porter from Greenville, SC

The 2012 Liberty Ministries Team 

minister for a number of years. He mentioned an upcoming trip in September and Debbie's heart began to beat rapidly. She really wanted to accompany the team. By then we had five children, and it was no easy task for Debbie to find free time to get away for an afternoon, never mind a whole week. I volunteered to take care of the family while she accompanied this team from Liberty Ministries, SC. She had a wonderful time of ministry, and her fluent Spanish was an important contribution to the team. That trip had a profound impact on Debbie, who now felt sure that God wanted us in the Dominican Republic. Of course, I reminded her that as head of the home, it was a decision we needed to be agreed on, and not hers to make by herself. Evangelist Roy Porter made it easier for me to arrive at a decision, he paid my way and Debbie's way next year to accompany the team as translators. We actually took Ruthie our oldest daughter with us on this trip also. I had never experienced such a reception in ministry. Everywhere we went, people responded to the message. We saw hundreds of people come forward to express a commitment to the message of Jesus Christ in services. As we handed out Christian literature on sidewalks in towns, people received the tracts gratefully. We had people coming to our hotel asking if we had New Testaments. One day, Debbie and I took a walk to a local park in Barahona, where we had been ministering for three days. As we were sitting on a park bench, two young men came up to us with a question. "He says the world will end soon, what do you say?" I told him that the Bible teaches that no man knows the hour or