Missions Philosophy

Grace Independent Baptist Mission is a unique local church mission, which RECOGNIZES the sovereignty of each local New Testament church in its ministry of worldwide evangelism. Grace exists not to replace the local church but to assist and complement each local church in its God-ordained task of fulfilling the Great Commission at home and abroad. Grace refuses to supplant the primary and compelling authority of the sending church and home pastor in the lives of its missionaries.

GRACE RESPECTS the call of God upon a missionary's life and family and honors the Divine direction of the Holy Spirit in his ministry. The ministry of Grace is to support the call of God, not to determine the call or question the call.

GRACE RESPONDS to the needs of each missionary in continual cooperation with the sending church and home pastor. The expertise and experience of Grace personnel enable a missionary to reach and to serve on the field of God's choosing. As a sacred trust, Grace handles missionary financial matters and administrative needs in an efficient and professional manner.

GRACE steadfastly RESISTS any and all attempts toward deviation from separatist, fundamental, Baptist doctrine in order to maintain the distinctiveness of New Testament Christianity in obedience to the Word of God.

FINANCIAL POLICY

GRACE is a faith mission dependent wholly upon God to supply the needs in answer to believing prayer and through those interested individuals and churches that volunteer support. While as a local church ministry we are primarily funded by Bethel Baptist Church, Sellersville, Pa., those churches and missionaries we serve ought to sense some obligation to help with the expenses of the mission office. However, no missionary is required to financially support the mission office. All gifts sent to the mission by donors are only used as designated. We will maintain no unified budget, nor guaranteed missionary salaries.

God's program indicates that missionaries should be sent out and supported by local churches. The church at Philippi illustrates how God promises to supply the needs of local churches that sacrificially give to support missions (Philippians 4: 19) .The only method used by GIBM for soliciting funds shall be to pray for the needs, to request others to pray for us, and to present those needs to the people. No mission work shall proceed beyond the limitations of the available funds in the treasury or beyond the funds authorized by the Board on the basis of available resources. The faith principle of missionary operation is the belief that God will provide for the missionary and the mission board the funds necessary to carry on the ministry to which God has called them. GRACE will only operate with that belief.

WHAT IS GIBM DOING?

Grace Independent Baptist Mission serves as a medium through which independent Baptist churches can engage in missionary work. It provides a means for independent Baptist missionaries who are true to the Word of God to accomplish their divine calling without compromising their biblical convictions under the pressure of apostasy. Its objective is to establish local Baptist churches that will hold to the biblical distinctives that are taught in the Word of God and have been held through the centuries by true Baptist churches.

We further believe that the local church is the sending agency (Acts 13:1-3), and that the missionary is primarily responsible to the church where he holds membership. He is under the discipline and oversight of that local church. While the church may work in cooperation with a mission agency in the direction of the missionary's work, it is essential that all parties understand that a church, being an autonomous body, cannot delegate authority or responsibility to any person or organization. Grace believes in the autonomy of the local church.

It is the purpose of the mission and its missionaries to help establish local Baptist churches that are:

SELF-GOVERNING: They govern their own affairs, maintaining order, discipline and holiness. Once a national church is indigenous, the missionary will not act the role of Bishop over the church. He may provide advice and assistance if asked, but will not assume the role of overseer over local church affairs. They must, using their own resources, resolve their own administrative and ministry problems.

SELF-SUPPORTING: They support their own church by giving their tithes and offerings. The indigenous policy requires that national believers assume the responsibility and privilege of supporting national pastors and financing their own operations, rather than being supported by churches in other lands. GIBM and its missionaries will not permit a dependency to be created, whereby the national believers count on the American dollar, the support of national leaders, or construction funds from the States. This practice unfortunately gradually siphons off finances from the priority of church-planting.

SELF-PROPAGATING: They know what they believe and why they believe it. This enables them to share the Gospel with others and to produce spiritual children. They need to be missions-minded and moving forward in starting their own churches among their own and other people groups. Missionaries may be needed after churches are established to assist in the training of nationals through Bible institutes, colleges or seminaries, but the local indigenous churches are responsible to evangelize their own country.