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Purpose, Philosophy, and Beliefs

Our Purpose

Grace Dental and Medical Missions, Inc. exists for the glory of Christ and the advancement of His church among every tongue, tribe, people and nation.   By demonstrating Christ’s compassion through the use of medical care, we resolve, by God’s help:

  • to promote and enable the expansion of fundamental indigenous, self-supporting, self-propagating churches
  • to inspire and mobilize local churches and individuals at home and abroad to active participation in their responsibility toward global missions
  • to support and serve missionaries of like faith and practice spiritually, relationally, and medically.
Our Philosophy

Grace Dental and Medical Missions is grounded in a core philosophy whose primary objective is sending and supporting dental and medical missionaries to foreign countries to present the Gospel and assist in establishing local churches. Our desire is “…that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.” (3 John 8) through dental and medical service to draw attention to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Our philosophy of ministry has six aspects:

Fundamentals

The Fundamentals of the Faith:

We work with local churches, missionaries, mission boards, and other Christian organizations that are in agreement with our doctrinal statement and Biblical faith and practice. Individuals on our staff and all who participate in our health care and evangelistic activities must agree in writing with our statement of faith. We do not partner with other Christian dental or medical organizations unless they too agree in faith and practice with our doctrinal statement. We do not seek or accept funding from governmental or private humanitarian organizations.

Evangelism

Evangelism First: Our philosophy is to focus our health care resources on evangelism and church planting. It would be easy to become consumed with dental and medical clinics to relieve human suffering or to meet individual health care needs. These needs alone can be overwhelming in their magnitude. However, we see our ministry of compassion aimed toward the souls of men, women, and children through our unique use of dental and medical resources.

Strategies

Proven Partnership Strategies:

Over the years we developed a partnership strategy of working closely with foreign contacts and local churches. Our strategy is to develop contacts in a target country, break down bureaucratic and cultural barriers, plant evangelistic seeds, water them through persistent follow-up, and praise God for the harvest. We identify contacts in those countries where our dental and medical clinics can be most effective and work with them to send short-term or longer term teams. We work with like-minded local churches in the United States to educate, develop and support health care professionals to send out as dental and medical missionaries in obedience to the Great Commission. We are the mission board sought for training, development, leadership, sponsorship, and support of dental and medical missionaries.

Field Teams

Short-term Field Team Ministries:

We plan our short-term field team ministries around one or more dentists, doctors, or health care professionals augmented by other team members. Our field team trips are planned so each member of the team has a valued role and a set of tasks to support either health care activities or ministry, or evangelism with local pastors. We do not subscribe to a philosophy of “sacred tourism” and ensure that our short-term field team ministries are focused on daily objectives. Our team-oriented philosophy results in more invitations by missionaries to return again and referrals to other missionaries. Also, many individuals take repeated field team trips as valued members of our field teams and view their participation as an essential part of their personal Christian ministry.

Planning

Long Range Planning:

Our mission seeks to be an organization where like-minded Christian dental and medical professionals can serve the Lord in evangelism and church planting through a variety of ways that fit their abilities and professional circumstances. GDMM has a long range five-year plan wherein health care professionals have diverse opportunities to serve in evangelism and church planting ministries ranging from a short clinic trip within six hours of the United States to a much longer ministry in a missionary clinic in Africa or Asia. Our philosophy is that Christian dentists, doctors, and other health care professionals should be offered a variety of opportunities to serve through our mission.

Accountability

Accountability:

We are committed to the highest standards of financial, doctrinal, and Christian conduct accountability to our supporting churches and individuals.

All our financial transactions are open and transparent. Our financial position is reviewed quarterly against an annual budget by our Board of Directors and annually by an auditor. We are committed to high standards of office administration and open communication with our supporters.

All our staff and missionaries must review our doctrinal statement annually and sign a statement of agreement with it. All participants in our short term field team trips must also indicate in writing their agreement with our doctrinal statement.

When we are in other countries we respect the cross-cultural sensitivities of churches in which we minister. We hold our field teams and staff to high standards of Christian conduct whether at home or in a cross-cultural environment.

Our Beliefs

Our Doctrine

The words of the original writings of the Old and New Testaments are God-breathed. Therefore they are inerrant and carry the authority of God (Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). The Scriptures we now possess have been preserved by God (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35).

There is one true God who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and these three are equally God (Isaiah 48:16; Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and having been born with a sinless human nature by the Virgin Mary, He laid down his life and shed His blood for the sins of the world. He arose bodily from the grave and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high where He ever lives to make intercession for the saints (Luke 1:35; John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-6; Hebrews 1:3; 7:25).

The Holy Spirit is the Person within the Godhead who was sent to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He permanently indwells every believer since Pentecost and baptizes (places) each believer into the Body of Christ (John 16:7-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 12:13).

Man was created in the image of God and through his act of sin brought physical and spiritual death into the world. All human beings since Adam and Eve are born with a sin nature and are under the power and penalty of sin. All who do not receive God’s forgiveness will suffer the righteous penalty of spending eternity in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 1:26; Romans 3:9-12; 5:12; John 3:36; Revelation 20:15).

Jesus Christ is God’s substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of the world. His death on the Cross is the full and only satisfaction of the just demands of a holy God for judgment on sin. His resurrection from the dead is proof of God’s acceptance of that payment. All who repent of their sin and receive Christ by faith alone are declared righteous on the grounds of His shed blood and receive eternal life and cleansing from all sin (Isaiah 53:5-6; Romans 3:24-28; 4:24-25; Hebrews 9:26; 10:12-14; 1 John 1:7; 2:1-2).

The believer in Jesus Christ is eternally secure in Him. Having passed from death unto life, the believing sinner has been sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption and will never perish (John 5:24; 10:27-29; Ephesians 4:30; Jude 24; 1 Peter 1:5).

Jesus Christ will return to catch away the Body of Christ before the Tribulation begins (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10). At the conclusion of this seven-year period Christ will return to the earth in power and great glory to establish His earthy kingdom (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 19:11-16).

The Church [the Body of Christ] and Israel are two distinct entities within the sovereign purpose of God. Each has its own beginning, composition, commands, and promises. Therefore the Scriptures are to be interpreted grammatically, historically, and contextually in order that God’s program for each age may be clearly understood (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 9:4-5; 2 Timothy 2:15).

Because it is the pillar and ground of the truth, the local church is God’s primary witness unto Himself in this age. It has two observances commanded by Christ: the Lord’s Supper and water baptism by immersion (Ephesians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; 1 Timothy 3:15; Matthew 28:19-20).

Both the just and the unjust will be bodily resurrected. The unjust will be resurrected to stand before the Great White Throne of God to be consigned to the Lake of Fire; the just will be resurrected to share in their promised blessing for eternity (John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15; 1 Corinthians 15:22-23).

Believers are called unto a life of holiness. This means separation unto the Lord from all that displeases Him. There is to be no compromise or cooperation in any religious endeavor with groups or individuals who are unsaved or disobedient to the Scriptures (Romans 16:17; Ephesians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Timothy 3:5; 2 John 10-11).

Satan is a personal spirit being who along with other fallen angels, seeks to oppose God and His purposes. Satan and his angels will be sent to the abyss during the millennial phase of Christ’s earthly kingdom, and at its conclusion will be consigned to the Lake of Fire for eternity (Ezekiel 28:12-17; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10).

Spiritual gifts are God’s gracious abilities He gives believers to edify one another. Those gifts that were miraculous in nature ceased with the passing away of the apostles and completion of the New Testament and are consequently not for today (1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 13:8-12; 14:12).

Our Positions

New Evangelicalism: Because we believe the Bible teaches that believers are called unto a life of holiness and are to separate themselves unto the Lord from all that displeases Him, Grace Dental and Medical Missions will not endorse or cooperate in ministry with any organization or individuals who advocate or practice worldliness, a cooperation with disobedient believers, or a toleration of theological apostasy. Because we believe that the philosophical thinking of new evangelicalism (e.g. the end justifies the means) is not consistent with Scripture, Grace Dental and Medical Missions will not cooperate in ministry with those who espouse the defining characteristics of new evangelicalism (1 Timothy 6:3-5; 1 John 2:15-17).

Ecumenical Movement: Because we believe the Bible teaches that believers are not to compromise or cooperate in any religious endeavor with those who are unsaved or disobedient to Scripture, Grace Dental and Medical Missions will not endorse or cooperate in ministry with any organization or individuals who advocate or practice ecumenical ministry/evangelism (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

Charismatic Movement: Because we believe the Bible teaches that those spiritual gifts that were miraculous in nature ceased with the passing away of the apostles, Grace Dental and Medical Missions will not endorse or cooperate in ministry with any organization or individuals who advocate those distinctive practices and doctrines which uniquely characterize the charismatic movement (1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 13:8-12; 14:12).

Doctrinal Deviations: Because we believe there is a need for doctrinal purity within this organization, Grace Dental and Medical Missions will not endorse or cooperate in ministry with any organization or individuals who are unable to affirm in creed and/or practice the explicit doctrines of Scripture as summarized in the Doctrinal Statement of Grace Dental and Medical Missions (2 Timothy 3:5; 2 John 10-11).