Hi, I am Paul. When I was ten years old I was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss and I am now hard -of-hearing. I learned about Jesus growing up in a Christian home. I am thankful my family attended church regularly and I learned the Bible from an early age. I received Christ as my Savior in 1995, when a visiting preacher came to speak in our church. In his message, the preacher explained why God’s only son Jesus came to earth. For the first time, I clearly understood that Jesus died for my sins. I responded in the invitation and approached the church altar at the conclusion of the service. A gentleman showed me from the Bible how I could receive Christ as my own Savior. That evening, I bowed my head and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and save me.
My call to the ministry came when I was sixteen years old. I remember listening to Dr. Tim Lee preach one Sunday evening at Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Throughout his message, Dr. Lee emphasized the importance of one surrendering to God’s will. As Dr. Lee spoke, my mind ventured back to the first missions trip I had taken. A year prior, I had traveled with a team to Melbourne, Australia, to help Robert and Lisa Gunter, missionaries to the deaf. I thought about the great need for more missionaries to reach the deaf in Australia and around the world. God was speaking to my heart. I believed God wanted to use me in some way to reach the Deaf. That night, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ to reach the deaf in any way He wanted to use me.
Once I finished high school, I attended Trinity Baptist College and earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Missions. Upon graduating. In the meantime, I served the Lord teaching Sunday school, driving a church van route to pick up the deaf, and leading music in the morning worship service of the deaf ministry. I tried to be available to my pastor to help him accomplish his ministry goals.
I have had numerous opportunities to serve the Lord in other areas as well. I have taken missions trips to Panama, Australia, Peru and Zambia. In Peru, I stayed for an entire summer in a missions internship at Efata under the leadership of Pastor Joe Kotvas. Another summer, I completed an internship at Silent Word Ministries in Trenton, Georgia. I have also been a counselor in various summer camps for both deaf and hearing children. For the last several years, I have worked with The Ark Youth Ministries, bringing the gospel to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, Florida.
My primary spiritual gift is service. I am serving on the Go Deaf Missions Team because I want to reach the deaf around the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my desire to assist Brother John in any way I can. In addition to preaching the gospel and teaching, I will provide assistance in the form of manual labor to the missionaries and national pastors who have invited our team to come and help them. I am looking forward to reaching deaf in other countries and helping train them in the Word of God. I want to answer God’s call to go into all the world and preach the gospel.