ABOUT COMEC MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL, ITS

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, FOUNDER AND ITS PRESENT AND

FUTURE DIRECTION

ABOUT THE FOUNDER - HIS TESTIMONY

THE EARLY YEARS

Paul Thomas Belcher was Born June 27th 1969 in New Westminster British Columbia Canada and raised in the Suburbs
of Vancouver. He was raised in a conservative Christian family and was led to the Lord by his parents at age four. He knew
from very early on that he had a calling on his life and that God had something for him to do even at a very early age. He
will never forget being baptized around eight years old in a glacier fed lake by his uncle; a pastor from the US. He
remembered the coldness of that lake, but also the meaning behind what it means to be baptized, the sacrifice we make
in now taking up our cross and following Him.. He was Intent on doing his best to live for Christ.
Growing up in a Christian home however did not mean that life was without problems, difficulties, hurts, and trials.
He in fact had them in spades. Growing up was extremely difficult as he and his parents discovered that he had a severe
learning disability that affected his cognitive (memory), hand-eye coordination, and many other things including but not
limited to his ability to learn in the same manner and at the same speed that many others his age were. At this time
however, learning disabilities were yet unknown and many if not most teachers, principals and other school
administrators were very ignorant and labeled anyone with disabilities as a retard and treated them as if they were
garbage; without worth, or value. The thinking back then was that they needed to spend time with the ones who could
learn. In their thinking, students who were slow and retarded wasted valuable time and resources of the teacher. They
needed to not be integrated with normal students but rather be put into a school for retards. So throughout Elementary
school Paul and his parents fought a discriminatory system that did its best to label, discourage, dismiss, and belittle him,
push him out of their school, and push him through grades without learning. In kindergarten and grade 1, they used
psychologists to do tests trying to prove that He had a low IQ as evidence that he was unfit to be in their school so they
could have cause to remove him. Unfortunately, this backfired when they discovered he had a rather high IQ; that of a
grade 6 student. In fact, they discovered that it would have been scored even higher except that as a young child, he was
bored with the question. He would be answering all the hard questions but when asked easy questions like what color is
the sky he would give a silly answer like purple. They continued to cause many problems for Paul and as a result, he
ended up being moved from one elementary to another hoping to find one that would give him a fighting chance to learn.
It was not unusual for teachers to say things such as youre a retard youre not wanted here; go find a school for retards!
Whats wrong with you why cant you be like the rest of the children? When he would misplace his pens or pencils, the
teacher would humiliate him in front of the class yelling, screaming, mocking, and belittling him in front of all the other
students and then would tie a string around a pencil and hang it around Pauls neck telling him he is not to take it off.
Another Teacher was keeping Paul in the classroom after all the other students were dismissed for recess, lunch and after
school. They would have him stay behind to catch-up on school work, however if he used an HB or other pencil instead
of an H2 pencil his work would be ripped up and he would have to start all over again from the beginning. If there were,
too many mistakes it would be ripped up and all the math questions would have to be done again. If it was not
considered readable enough again it would be ripped up and he would have to do it all again. If there was something
else, she did not like, it would be ripped up. Being verbally and emotionally abused, and mocked by teachers, principals
etc. were a very common thing indeed. Then there was the teasing, bullying, and getting beat up and picked on by other
students It too was far too frequent an event for him, an everyday event for him. Because teachers students and so
many others were telling him or insinuating to him that he was not loveable, had no worth, no value, that he was unable
to do anything right, he started to believe them. . He started believing the lies that he was told. He didnt want to
believe them, and certainly His parents and grandmother didnt say that, but when so many others were saying it, then he
thought it must be true. Then likely because of the stress, He would have trouble with his bladder, could not hold on until
he reached the washroom and would on occasion pee his pants. That again would add to the teasing, mocking, and
abuse.
 To. add to the situation His Dad was in a very high stress job and would often come home yelling and screaming about
something left undone, not done right, or other things and was quick to discipline. Thus Paul became scared at times to
be with his dad, didnt want to do things with his dad for fear of how he would react to something and frequently afraid
that He would not come up to the expectations of his father. He ended up seeing God like he viewed his Father; a person
that was frequently angry, verbally abusive, quick to discipline and one whose standards were so high that one could never
meet them. So as one can imagine Paul although undiagnosed became very depressed and even suicidal at a young age.
He knew that suicide was wrong so he would be crying and praying that God would somehow let him die in a car accident
or something. Especially into his pre-teen and teen years when the depression grew, He did not see a reason to live, did
not have hope, and did not see any kind of future for himself. Despite all this however, God seemed to use him for HIS
glory. In elementary school (Kindergarten Grade 7) He would sit in front of his locker, reading his Bible and kids would
approach him asking questions and he would answer. He would share the gospel with them telling them they needed
Jesus. When kids needed help, a friend or someone to talk to Paul was there and when someone was being picked on, Paul
would stand-up for them. Paul realized that God was using him despite all that was happening to him and around him.
Despite the hardships, the changing of schools and a move to a new area Paul continued to see God working in and
through him. As Paul progressed through school, he never did fail a grade but did in certain subjects sometimes just barely
passed the grade.

THE TEEN YEARS

As Paul went through Junior high school Paul started to find ways to compensate for his disabilities and things slowly
got easier for him in school. Dealing with the deeper issues however would not come until some 25 years later. In the
meantime he felt Gods call on his life stronger than ever and as a result at age 15 started walking and taking transit to New
Westminster, Burnaby, and downtown Vancouver; doing ministry with the homeless, the poor, the abused, those with
physical and mental disabilities, mental illness and others who needed help and would allow him into their lives, allow him
to become friends with them, and allow him to help them. Being raised on the outskirts of Vancouver in the suburbs of
Burnaby and Coquitlam wasnt always easy or comfortable but it allowed him to remain somewhat sheltered from the
wilder and seedier side of the city its addictions, crime, gangs and homeless and yet only a short distance away from them
making it fairly easy to still get there for the purposes of ministering to them.
He would share the gospel with them, encourage them, invite them to come out to church, and would buy a meal or a
snack to give them if he was able so that they had food to eat. This is something that he has continued to do now on and
off for almost 32 years until the present time.

OFF TO BIBLE COLLEGE AND OVERSEAS

After high school, Paul felt called to go to Bible Where he was working towards a Bachelors of Religious Education
degree with a Major in Missions. While there, Paul was active with the Missions department on Student council and was
the head of the Missions student council in His third year. It was during this time God put on his heart to start Comec
Ministries Canada; later to become Comec Ministries International. Also, while there, he also was extremely active in
working with different Drop-in Centers and Gospel Missions for the homeless in the downtown Kelowna area. After His
Third year Paul Felt God call him to serve a year with Venture Teams International a short term missions ministry that
operates out of Calgary, Alberta Canada. He was assigned to be on the Brazil team. He was chosen to be on the
leadership team as the assistant team leader and was responsible in part for the spiritual well-being of the team. As a
team, they travelled ministering around North America for approx. 5 months and then another 5 months doing the same
kinds of things in Brazil doing music, drama puppetry, preaching, sharing their testimonies, and helping with church
planting. They did ministry in schools, churches and did open air meetings, The total time in Brazil over a two year period of
being on the team was ten months. They saw many come to the Lord and many others rededicated their lives to the Lord
or were ministered to in some way.

WORK WORK WORK AND OH YEAH LOTS OF MINISTRY TOO

Upon his return, Paul along with his parents, grandma and siblings moved up to Fort Saint John, BC where he worked
and also did ministry there. One of the Jobs he held was working at a Salvation Army Shelter.
 There they would feed the homeless and others needing meals, allow them to stay in the shelter so they are out of the
cold temperatures, the bad weather, and away from those who might harm them. They also would assist them in getting
work, getting housing, and getting help in dealing with their various addictions. This was a job that Paul enjoyed very much as
it was a job and ministry all wrapped up in one. During this time Paul was able out help various as he had previously helping
and leading worship, helping with sound ministry, and being a part of church boards. Also during this time, God started
working in the life of Paul more as he started to deal with some of the underlying issues from his past

. COMEC MINISTRIES CANADA GOES INTERNATIONAL

It was also during this time that Paul started developing more of the foundations for the ministry. Paul had made many
contacts throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East and received many invitations to speak around the World. Because
there was no funding source other than what Paul made for income, he had to tell everyone that if the Lord provides then he
would come. Out of this came the opportunity for Paul to travel to Uganda, speak a week there at a pastor and leaders
retreat, and then after that at churches, schools, communities, and villages, and also get to know the people the various
ministries, the pastors, leaders and some of those in the local government. It was an amazing time for Paul, and many good
things came about as a result. This included but was not limited to, seeing people freed from demons, seeing people come to
the Lord, seeing people being ministered to, and also establishing a formal partnership with Comec Ministries Canada. For
this and other reasons, a name change was made to change the name to COMEC MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL. Along with
that name, change came a slight change in the meaning. It went from the Center for Outreach Missions and Evangelism
Canada, to the Center for Outreach Missions Evangelism and Christian Living International. Paul was invited and wants to
return to Uganda, do more ministry there, and helps start new ventures, however this is all contingent on God supplying the
money. God willing this will happen.

DIRECTION OF COMEC AS OF JANUARY 2014

Presently Paul is working and doing Ministry in the Philippines and Canada and is online ministering to others throughout
Africa Asia and elsewhere He is married to his beautiful wife, has a son and daughter and is enjoying living in his home there
in the Philippines when he is not working in Canada. Presently he is working with the local churches, speaking in churches,
assisting a church to help get it revitalized, and getting to know Pastors and various church leaders, and also building up
friendships and contacts in, schools, organizations, communities, the cities and throughout the Philippines. He is trying to
establish and in some cases re-establish his contacts overseas and continue to do ministry with them online as was done
previously, however this is difficult as internet signal here is extremely weak and unreliable.

PRESENT SITUATION WITH COMEC MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL AS OF MAY 2017

Paul is on a six month sabbatical from work to be with my family in the Philippines and is expected to return to Canada in
early Oct 2017. As it stands presently Comec Ministries International has numerous contacts, Pastors, lay-leaders, and others
throughout Uganda, Kenya, Philippines, Korea, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Ghana, and Gambia, with many more coming
every year. We have Ministry Partners in Edmonton and Vancouver Canada, as Well as In India and Uganda. Though we are
small and struggling financially, we have requests for Financial and other help coming in most every day. We need your help.
We need volunteer staff to help get information from our clients, and also to listen, pray with, and love and care for them.

FUTURE DIRECTION OF COMEC

The Plan is to formalize Comec Ministry International as a non-profit and charitable organization. Furthermore, Comec
will as part of the church growth and development project will develop ministry teams to do ministry throughout Uganda,
Kenya, India, Nepal, and elsewhere as the Lord leads.

It is the desire of Comec Ministries to expand its online ministries. Comec wishes to expand its ministry contacts and its
formal and informal Partnerships They desire to have staff who will keep in touch with the various ministries throughout
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Paul hopes to be able to speak around the world and bring ministry teams with
him. Ultimately, whatever the Lord directs and gives us funding to do we will do; all with the focus of seeing people coming
to Christ, His Kingdom established, and seeing that He gets all the glory Honor and Praise due His name.

If you are, or know of anyone that is interested in being a part of the CMI Ministries Organization, taking part in a ministry
Team or Interested in supporting us through prayer or through your giving please contact us at
comecministriesinternational@gmail.com