Rick Paris holds a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Baylor University. He taught history for several years in the University of Texas. His main focus was teaching World Civilizations from a macrocosm approach examining how coexistent civilizations have developed through dialogue and cultural exchange through the centuries. He has also published numerous articles for academic journals and religious magazines.

Leaving the university setting, Dr. Paris began to engage personally in transcultural work in Latin America. This included not only working with Hispanics but also with several indigenous people groups.

In 1990, he became co-founder and part of the apostolic leadership team of Ministerios Visión Internacional which is based in Querétaro, Mexico. Since that time, this ministry has seen almost 200 congregations birthed in Mexico and other countries. All of these congregations were started without a church planting agenda. The goal of the ministry has simply been to equip ministry teams to extend the Kingdom of God by carrying the presence of God into a city and then allowing God to express himself through team members both in supernatural power and practical expressions of love. These practical aspects of  Kingdom operation involve engaging society in the domains of government, healthcare, business, education, the arts, and media.

Dr. Paris currently lives in Palestine, Texas and travels extensively in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Africa conducting conferences and seminars.