Who We Are
Independent Baptist Mission
expedite their Great Commission Ministry. We serve local churches by providing administrative oversight and training for the missionaries that they recommend to us. This includes member care, financial coordination, team building, professional training and general administration.
International
ABWE is international in that there are administrative offices in both the USA and Canada, and we partner with indigenous missions agencies and churches around the world. We are intercultural in that we welcome personnel from every racial, cultural and national background residing in North America.
The ABWE Family
The total ABWE family numbers around 1200 including field personnel, headquarters staff and Board. Approximately 450 couples and over 100 single men and women serve as teams and partner with national colleagues in more than 70 countries.
Sending and Supporting Churches
The number of churches that send missionaries with ABWE is about 500, and the number that support our missionaries is 4,000–5,000.
Our objective: church-planting movements leading to missions movements for the glory of God.
Our Missionaries
ABWE missionaries carry out a complete spectrum of biblical ministries, specializing in discipleship-evangelism that plants and multiplies churches which will pick up the torch of missions themselves and launch their own local and global missions movements. Our objective is: church-planting movements leading to missions movements for the glory of God. “From every nation to every nation!”
Our Distinctives
ABWE distinctives include: doctrinal integrity, focus on evangelism and disciple-making, pursuit of lifelong training, commitment to excellence, emphasis on team-building, compassion-in-action and partnering with nationals.
What We Do
Make Disciples
ABWE is a spiritually empowered family of servants committed to glorifying God by calling the nations to worship Him. We follow Christ’s command to make disciples among all the “ethne” (people groups) everywhere. As ambassadors for Christ representing our sending and supporting churches, we evangelize, make disciples, and train pastors and church leaders.
Multiply Churches
We recognize that the process of making disciples is not complete until the believers are gathered into local churches. We pass the torch of missions to these churches, helping them to multiply in their homeland and beyond.
Evangelism and Discipleship
In countries with religious freedom, our missionaries carry out a wide variety of discipleship-evangelism ministries using methods that are biblical, effective and culturally appropriate. In countries that restrict traditional missionary activity, we engage in educational, medical, humanitarian, literature and development projects that demonstrate our sincere love for the people and open doors for the Gospel.
Teamwork
ABWE emphasizes teamwork—among our missionaries and also with local believers. Theological education is a high priority in producing local pastors, church leaders and professors who excel in ministry and spiritual leadership. We seek not our success so much as theirs—they are the future of the churches and will lead in establishing their own international ministries. While the initial focus is the majority people group, churches planted are taught cross-cultural outreach among the minorities in their country and beyond.
Partnership
Partnership is a major emphasis throughout the ABWE world and takes many forms, depending on the local situation. Our Global Partnerships program enables us to strengthen local leaders in places where existing ministries are most fruitful or where foreigners cannot live and serve as effectively.
What We Believe
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as originally written were God-breathed, both verbally and in every part.
We believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, died vicariously, rose from the dead, ascended bodily into heaven, and is coming again to rapture His saints and establish His kingdom. The rapture of His church is imminent and will be personal, pre-tribulational and pre-millennial.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son and of the same nature. We believe there is a distinction between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and His ministry in the New Testament. We believe the Bible does not support the authenticity of the sign gifts of prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and healing for today.
We believe the Scriptures teach that a man was created by a direct act of God and not from a previously existing form of life. By voluntary transgression he fell from his state of innocence; consequently all men are now sinners by nature and by choice.
We believe the Scriptures teach that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and accomplished only through the mediatorial work of the Son of God.
We believe the Scriptures teach that the Church of Jesus Christ, distinct from Israel in the Old Testament, was inaugurated at Pentecost and must be considered in two aspects: the local church and the “church which is his body.”
We believe the Scriptures teach that baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to show his identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes.
We believe the Scriptures teach the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust. Believers by faith in Christ will spend eternity in the presence of God, unbelievers in everlasting punishment.
We believe the Scriptures teach that there is a personal devil who is the “god of this age” and the “prince of the power of the air.” We believe the Scriptures teach that every believer should be separated unto God and from worldliness and by the aid of the Holy Spirit should walk in Christian love and holiness. We believe the Scriptures teach the believer should be separated from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastic organizations which include liberals and those who sanction theological compromise.
Our Leadership
Prior to his appointment as ABWE President in 2017, Pastor Paul Davis sat on the ABWE Board and served as senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Holland, MI.
Paul is known as a strong communicator and an innovative spiritual overseer with experience in executing large projects, team building, fundraising, leadership development, discipleship and ministry growth.
He attended Liberty University and Dallas Theological Seminary and holds a Master’s Degree from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
Paul and his wife, Martha, have been married for 28 years, and have both served in numerous roles in Christian ministry and education. They have four young-adult children.