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Our Purpose Our Purpose As we look upon the great harvest fields of the world, this truly becomes a gigantic task from the human standpoint. If it were not for the Lord's enabling grace and purpose, we would never attempt to even begin to obey this commandment from the Lord. We realize that we are only instruments in His hands and His sovereign purpose will be accomplished as it relates to the salvation of the lost, with or without our obedience to His will for our individual lives. If we disobey His leading in our individual lives, we will suffer the loss of His blessing and reward. God will raise up others to accomplish His perfect and complete will as it relates to the evangelization of the lost and the completion of the universal body of the elect from all tribes, tongues, and nations. In the future, our Board will seek to go in the same direction in which it has always been going. That is, we are committed to the preaching of the Gospel to the glory of God among all non-Christian peoples, the discipling of those who profess faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord, and the establishing of self-governing, self-supporting, and self- propagating churches through an adequate pastoral and evangelist training program. This is a very hard and tedious task that calls for much patience, grace, and steadfastness. In the end process, this will enable the former infant church to carry on its own program of evangelism, church planting and the training of leaders, when it becomes necessary for the missionary to leave. Thus, the Gospel is spread throughout the entire area and the Great Commission is fulfilled in a way that is humanly possible. But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully (II Corinthians 9:6). The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest (Luke 10:2). And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). Our Beliefs These words, pronounced at the close of the 1933 General Assembly meeting in Columbus, Ohio, heralded the foundation of The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. Presbyterians who could no longer conscientiously support the official Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions because of its modernism were the founders of this Board. There had developed within the Church a very widespread lack of faith in the doctrinal integrity of some of the members of the existing Board, as evidenced by the well-known Pearl Buck case, and the presence on the field of others who had not hesitated to declare their unbelief in the full authority of Holy Scriptures. The situation had developed to such an extent that it had to be remedied if Presbyterian missions were to continue commending the financial support of evangelical Presbyterians as well as other Christians, if it also be true to the Word of God, and obey the commands of Christ. Many had already withdrawn their contributions from the official Board before The Independent Board was ever conceived. This new Board was constituted to provide an agency to which sincere Bible-believing Christians could give their missionary contributions, knowing that those contributions would be used to preach the true Gospel. - William R. LeRoy D.D Our Faith Reformed - Although there are various interpretations of Calvinism, we accept that balanced and beautiful system of doctrine best summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in the Shorter and Larger Catechisms. We believe that the Gospel is the free offer of salvation to all by the sovereign grace of God through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, as an all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of those who believe, and who also were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. Fundamentalist- We believe in the acceptance, propagation, and militant defense of all of historic fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. This includes the full inerrancy of the Scriptures, the deity of Christ, the miracles of the Old and New Testaments, the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, the physical resurrection of Christ from the dead and salvation by grace through faith alone in the Person and work of Christ on the cross. We would also add the premillennial personal Return of Christ in power and great glory to establish His eternal kingdom of righteousness and peace. In Summary, we believe in the supernatural origin, nature, and purpose of Christianity in contrast to an anti-supernatural and naturalistic interpretation of Christianity. Why is doctrine so important? Because Jesus said, For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24b). The modernist-fundamentalist controversy of the 1920's and 1930's continues today, as never before as the apostasy increased a thousand fold more serious than at that time. For this reason, in 1948 the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) was formed in Amsterdam to defend and preserve the Christian faith upon the face of the earth; to manifest Biblical Christian unity among like-minded Bible believers; and to promote, defend and encourage the work of Biblical missions around the world already in over a hundred nations where God's people can pray and give their contributions, and send forth their missionaries with full confidence that the pure Gospel would be preached. This Mission Board belongs to The Associated Missions of the International Council of Christian Churches (TAM- ICCC) along with dozens of other mission groups from around the world. Separated - We believe that separation from sin in all of its forms internal and external, is a Biblical command and duty. Personal and ecclesiastical separation proceed from the doctrine of the holiness of God which, when applied to God's standard for mankind, reflects the righteousness of God. We believe in the purity of the Gospel in doctrine and in life. In practice, this means that we believe in ecclesiastical separation from all forms of unbelief or theological liberalism such as found in the World Council of Churches, and in its related agencies; and from all compromised with new-evangelicals who reject Biblical separation from unbelief, apostate churches and their related alliances. This also means that, although we cannot legislate in all areas of Christian morality, we do let it be known that we prefer and recommend total abstinence from all social vices which harm the mind, the soul, the body, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Separation from unbelief is the Biblical way to manifest the true essence of Christian unity, and to effectively fulfill the Great Commission all of which is based upon Biblical truths. The ICCC is a good example of Christian unity and cooperation with church groups from over 100 nations based upon Biblical principles. This is in contrast to the false concept of unity of the WCC with its religious liberal pluralism, and its radical theological diversity among member churches as to what constitutes essential Christian doctrine. Dr. J. Gresham Machen, the founder of this Mission agency, taught that orthodoxy, (fundamental Christianity) which does not strive to maintain its orthodoxy, will soon lose its orthodoxy. Presbyterian - Presbyterian is a descriptive term of the form of representative, ecclesiastical government in which the rule of government is by presbyters or elders, equal in rank and organized in graded administrative courts. Independent - This mission board was organized to be an independent board, both as to organization and support. It is not under the control of any church body. It is an approved agency of the Bible Presbyterian Synod. It is also a “faith” board, depending entirely on the Lord for its support, but accepting the responsibility of forthrightly acquainting His people with missionary needs and opportunities. In the context of the above mentioned five distinctive doctrines, we believe that our Board has enjoyed a broad appeal among Bible-believing Christians everywhere, commending their prayers, confidence, and support for over seventy years of faithfully sending forth fundamental missionaries to the nations of the world. We are very grateful to all of you who have contributed with your prayers, gifts and pledges. We trust that together we will be able to take an even greater step forward for missions in the future with your continued prayerful support. |
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