About Vision Baptist Missions, Inc.
Dedicated to partnering with local churches to train and send missionaries worldwide.
Vision
Vision Baptist Missions, Inc. is a mission agency with a vision to evangelize the world in our generation for the glory of God. We envision a world where every person has heard the gospel, every community has an indigenous Baptist church, and every church has trained national leadership.
Mission
Vision Baptist Missions is dedicated to partnering with local churches to train and send missionaries worldwide.
Methods
Vision Baptist Missions trains missionaries through mentoring relationships, biblical teaching, and practical instruction. Vision Baptist Missions, Inc. sends missionaries through providing financial services, member care, and accountability.
Distinctives
Missionaries with Vision Baptist Missions are:
- Passionate about world evangelism, seeking to evangelize the world in our generation.
- Purposed in mission, focusing primarily on church-planting and leader-training.
- Prepared through life-on-life missions training, developing a humble confidence.
History
Vision Baptist Missions was born out of the heart of a local church to serve missionaries who desired to reach the world with the gospel in our generation.
In 2008, Vision Baptist Church of Alpharetta, Georgia, was preparing to send its first missionary candidate who was finishing his final preparations at the church. As the church considered sending agencies and how this missionary candidate would be sent, the church decided that it would serve him and other upcoming missionaries training at the church best to start a missions board out of the church, keeping them unified in beliefs, philosophy, and vision. Therefore, Vision Baptist Missions was created and its first missionary (to China) was accepted on June 20, 2008. He began full-time deputation in January 2009.
Initially, Vision Baptist Missions only served missionaries who were the missionary members of Vision Baptist Church. As time passed and more missionaries were sent out, Vision Baptist Missions was approached about accepting missionary candidates from other local Baptist churches, especially those involved in the missions training of the Our Generation Training Center at Vision Baptist Church. After some consideration, Vision Baptist Missions agreed to accept missionary candidates from other like-minded Baptist churches, partnering with them to train and send missionaries worldwide.
With this extended focus and steady growth came an increased administrative burden, so Vision Baptist Missions established its own 501(c)(3) non-profit status in February 2017. Vision Baptist Church supported this step and the growing partnership with many other local churches. Although the church and mission have separate administrations, Vision Baptist Missions continues to partner closely with Vision Baptist Church as we have the same heart and vision for world evangelism. In October 2021, a Pastoral Advisory Committee made up of local Baptist church pastors from around the United States was established to help to give counsel, encouragement, and godly influence.
Also in October 2021, the Our Generation Training Center came under the training arm of Vision Baptist Missions. This allows Vision Baptist Missions to train future missionaries to be passionate about evangelizing the world in our generation, purposed in church-planting and leader-training and prepared with humble confidence through life-on-life missions training.
In February 2022, God opened the door for Vision Baptist Missions to purchase a 16+ acre piece of property in Dawsonville, Georgia that is now home to the daily operations of the Our Generation Training Center and Vision Baptist Missions.
Statement of Faith
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all VBM beliefs. VBM does believe, however, that the Statement of Faith accurately represents the teachings of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all VBM Personnel. The full Statement of Faith is contained in the two following sections: Doctrinal Beliefs and Biblical Positions.
Doctrinal Beliefs
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is divinely inspired. We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of Scripture. We believe that the Bible is the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man and the supreme, infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct. We use the King James Version of the Bible for teaching and preaching in the English language.
God
We believe in the Trinity, the unity of the Godhead. There are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are equally perfect in every divine quality and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. We believe in God the Father. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Holy Spirit.
THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
JESUS CHRIST
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people and His personal, visible return to earth. We believe Jesus is God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ and that He is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide.
MAN
We believe that all men by nature, choice and practice are sinners, but that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We believe, therefore, that those who repent of their sins and, by faith, receive Christ as Lord and Savior will rejoice forever in God’s presence, and those who refuse to accept Christ as Lord and Savior will be eternally separated from God.
SALVATION
We believe salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who obtained eternal redemption for the believer by His blood. We believe that Jesus tasted death for all men and wants all to be saved. Salvation, in its broadest sense, includes regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Therefore, we affirm that the Gospel is the good news that God has made a way of salvation through the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for any person. This truth is in keeping with God’s desire for every person to be saved. Therefore, we deny that only a select few can respond to the Gospel while the rest are predestined to an eternity in hell.
ETERNAL SECURITY
We believe in the eternal security of all blood-bought individuals or believers and that such inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled. The power of God keeps each believer, and nothing can separate us from Him, ourselves included. We believe that believers can lose the joy of fellowship with God, can grieve God, and can quench the Spirit of God in them but not lose their salvation.
ETERNAL STATE
We believe in a literal Heaven, the eternal home of the redeemed. We believe Heaven to be the literal place where the saved will live forever in the eternal bliss and blessings of God. We believe in Hell, the Christ-less eternity for the lost, where there will be burning and tormenting for those without salvation who have refused to receive the gospel and Jesus Christ as Lord. We believe that Hell, unbelievers, Satan and all the fallen angels shall be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and forever.
THE CHURCH
We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of professing, born-again believers in Jesus Christ, immersed in a credible confession of faith and associated for worship, work and fellowship. We believe that to those local churches were entrusted the perpetual observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and the task of proclaiming to a lost world the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the enthroning of Him as Lord and Master. The scriptural officers of the church are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the offices of pastors and deacons are limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE
We believe that every human being is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and autonomous and must be free from any ecclesiastical authority or any illegitimate, unconstitutional, or illegal political authority; therefore, Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions with each fulfilling its duties free from the dictation or patronage of the other.
BAPTISM
We believe in baptism by immersion after salvation with no merit for salvation in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit). Baptism is an outward expression of our inward faith in Jesus Christ and a public testimony of what God has done by His grace. Therefore, we reject infant baptism and any form of sprinkling for infants or adults.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe that spiritual gifts are given to the church for the express purpose of winning the lost and edifying other believers. The Holy Spirit is given to each believer upon acceptance of Christ, and His purpose is to exalt Christ and bring people to Christ. Speaking in tongues was the least important of these gifts in the New Testament and was a sign for unbelieving Jews. Therefore we do not teach or practice speaking in tongues.
WORLD EVANGELISM
We believe that the Apostolic office ceased with the death of the New Testament Apostles. We believe that it is His church that He promised continual existence, to continue the work He started until He comes again. We believe that the ministry of reconciliation is committed to every believer, and all are saints/priests of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
BIBLICAL SEPARATION
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; that they should be separated from the world while being present in the world; and that they should abstain from all appearance of evil as a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ECUMENICALISM
We believe that doctrinal purity is essential to gospel harmony and that the Bible commands us not to partner with someone preaching another gospel or teaching contrary to sound doctrine.
SECOND COMING
We believe in the literal return of Jesus Christ in the clouds to take all saved people from the earth before the beginning of the Tribulation period. We believe in the bodily/visible return of Jesus Christ with his saints at the close of the Tribulation period to rule and reign for a thousand years on earth. According to their works, we believe that unbelievers will face and be judged by God at the Great White Throne Judgment, not for salvation, but for their proper and rightful places in the lake of fire.
Biblical Positions
Marriage and Sexuality
- We believe that the term “marriage” has only one legitimate meaning, and that is marriage sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman in a single covenantal union, as delineated by Scripture. Marriage ceremonies performed in any facility or space owned, leased, or rented by VBM Personnel will be only those ceremonies sanctioned by God, joining one man with one woman as their genders were determined by anatomy at birth (and not subject to change). Whenever there is a conflict between VBM’s position and any new legal standard for marriage, VBM’s Statement of Faith will govern.
- We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage as defined in (1.6.3.1) above. We believe that any other type of sexual activity, identity or expression that lies outside of this definition of marriage, including those that are becoming more accepted in the culture and the courts, are contradictory to God’s natural design and purpose for sexual activity.
- We believe that God creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, unchangeable genders together reflect the image and nature of God, and the rejection of one’s biological gender is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
Family Relationships
- We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church.
- We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the spiritual leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are a wonderful gift and heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values through consistent lifestyle examples and appropriate training and discipline.
Sanctity of Life
- We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion is murder and constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life.
- We believe that an intentional act or omission that facilitates premature death is assuming a decision that is to be reserved for God. We do not believe that discontinuing medical procedures that are extraordinary or disproportionate to the expected outcome is euthanasia.
Love
We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers, but also toward those who are not believers, those who oppose us, and those who engage in sinful actions. We are to deal graciously, humbly, gently, and patiently with those who oppose us. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of revenge, or the threat or use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal justice. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such actions.
Protection of Children
We believe that children are from the Lord and must be absolutely protected within VBM from any form of abuse or molestation. VBM has zero tolerance for any person, whether paid or volunteer personnel or visitor, who abuses or molests a child.
Core Values
In addition to our doctrinal beliefs, Vision Baptist Missions has fifteen core values that are the foundational and distinctive guiding principles of our mission board. These values help to establish our culture, determine our practice, and accomplish our mission. We expect all of our board members, missionaries, and personnel to value the following:
1. WALK WITH GOD
To prioritize a personal relationship with Jesus and become more like Him each day
2. BUILD A GODLY HOME
To continually work on building a God-honoring marriage and family
3. LEAD WITH INTEGRITY
To be honest men and women of godly character in every aspect of life and ministry
4. BE A LEARNER
To be teachable, continually growing, learning and pursuing wisdom
5. BE A SERVANT
To be Christ-like servant-leaders who love and serve others
6. BE A GIVER
To be generous givers and faithful stewards of our time, resources and abilities
7. DO LIFE-ON-LIFE DISCIPLESHIP
To prioritize “withness” in making disciples by spending time with and doing life together
8. TRAIN LEADERS
To train the next generation of Biblical leadership by investing our lives in them
9. START MULTIPLE CHURCHES
To multiply Biblical churches that are healthy and indigenous through proper church-planting methods
10. WORK HARD
To work heartily as unto the Lord and to labor abundantly by the grace of God
11. WORK AS A TEAM
To build and maintain an edifying team with a family spirit
12. PURSUE HUMILITY
To be meek and lowly in heart, clothed with humility and esteem others better than ourselves
13. EXTEND GRACE
To be gracious in our words, deeds and interactions with others
14. KEEP A WORLD VISION
To stay actively engaged in “both” our local ministries and in evangelizing the whole world
15. STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
To do the best we can in everything we do for the glory of God
Board of Directors
John Pearson
Chairman
Snyder Turner
Vice Chairman
Wayne Naugle
Secretary
Todd Wipf
Treasurer
Pastor Steve Hall
Director
Leadership
Jeff & Mindy Bush
VBM President; Missionaries to Argentina 2000-2012
Travis & Teri Snode
VBM General Director; Missionaries to the UK 2002-2022
Ty & Rebecca Pepperdine
VBM Asia Representatives; VBM Deputation Director
Mark & Amy Coffey
VBM Africa Field Director; Church Planting Missionaries to South Africa
Jason & Lori Holt
VBM Latin America Field Director; Church Planting Missionaries to Chile
Jim & Sandy Roberts
VBM Europe & North America Field Director
Name Withheld
VBM Asia Assistant Field Director; Church Planting Missionaries to Asia
Name Withheld
VBM Asia Assistant Field Director; Church Planting Missionaries to Asia
Kevin & Beth White
VBM Latin America Assistant Field Director; Church Planting Missionaries to Bolivia
Pastoral Advisory Committee
Matthew Herrell
Chairman
Fairview Baptist Church
Athens, TN
Jason Georges
Vice-Chairman
Immanuel Baptist Church
Corunna, MI
Jim Callen
Eastern Avenue Baptist Church
Saint Cloud, FL
Kyle Coker
Philadelphia Baptist Church
Calhoun, GA
John Copeland
Grace Baptist Church
Alpine, TN
Trent Cornwell
Vision Baptist Church
Alpharetta, GA
Rick Finley
Fellowship Baptist Church
Durham, NC
Keith Hamilton
Forrest Hills at Mountain View Baptist Church
Snellville, GA
Ryan Hayden
Bible Baptist Church
Matoon, IL
Michael Jones
Oakwood Baptist Church
Anderson, SC
Erick Knight
Victory Baptist Church
Copperas Cove, TX
Bill Schneider
Fellowship Baptist Church
Upper Marlboro, MD
Rick Spence
New Life Baptist Church
Dalton, GA
Luke Wilkerson
Southside Baptist Church
Knoxville, TN
Scott Young
Temple Baptist Church
Kingsport, TN
Staff
Chris Fies
Media Director & Executive Assistant
Anna Rodman
Office Administrator
Teri Snode
Secretary
Lydia Ellis
Receivables & Printing
Julie Backsheider
OGTC Secretary
Mindy Bush
Receivables Clerk (Volunteer)
Rebecca Pepperdine
Office Assistant (Volunteer)
Location
We are located on the Vision Baptist Missions Campus, a 16+ acre piece of property in Dawsonville, Georgia that is home to the daily operations of the Our Generation Training Center and Vision Baptist Missions. The physical address of our campus is:
77 Hugh Stowers Road, Dawsonville, Georgia, 30534
In June 2020, due to the growth of Vision Baptist Missions and the Our Generation Training Center, we began praying and asking God to give us room to expand.
Through the Lord’s blessing, in November 2020, we were able to purchase land in East Cherokee and begin working on the first phase of development. During this stage, we realized that an “extended amount of time” was going to be a factor before our first building could be completed on the property.
With that in mind, the God opened a new door for us to purchase our current property, which had five structures already built on it. In February 2022, through the giving of many generous individuals and churches, we were able to purchase this property
We are so excited about how the Lord has blessed us. We are very thankful for the property the Lord has given us and the opportunities there are to expand in the future.
Please keep the development of the VBM Campus in your prayers. To find our more about partnering with Vision Baptist Mission, please visit our Vision Partner page.
Application
Vision Baptist Missions requires all missionary candidates to meet certain spiritual, educational and health requirements. These requirements include the need to be saved, baptized, and a member of an independent Baptist Church(es) for at least two years. Missionary candidates must also agree with the vision, doctrinal beliefs, core values, policies, and procedures of Vision Baptist Missions. Missionary candidates must meet the educational requirements which include at least a six-month internship (foreign or domestic) approved by Vision Baptist Missions. They also must agree to abide by the VBM Code of Conduct and the VBM Social Media Code of Conduct.
More details about VBM requirements and expectations can be found in the Missionary Handbook.