After 27 years of work in nearly 40 countries, Drake and Serena Travis established Global Mission Connections to create opportunities for people to serve. We want people to participate in changing the world both here and abroad. Drake has trained over 1,000 people for missions.

 

Drake and Serena Travis serving with Good Samaritan Medical Dental Ministry in Vietnam during Summer 2007.

We believe:

The Godhead. Our God is One, but manifested in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Phil. 2:6; Matt 3:16-17)

Father: God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent One. He is greater than all, the Source of the Word and the Begetter (John 1:14, 14:28, 16:28)

Son: The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and as much shares in the divinity and deity of God. He is the One Begotten (John 1:1, 14, 18, 10:30)

Holy Spirit: He proceeds forth from both the Father and the Son and is eternal (John 15:26). We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)

The Scriptures. The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God, the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (II Tim. 3:15-17; I Thess. 2:13; I Pet. 1:21)

Creation. We believe that God created the universe. We reject evolution as an unscriptural theory of origin (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)

Man, His Fall and Redemption. Man is a created being, made in the likeness and image of God, but through Adam’s transgression and fall, sin came into the world. We believe that Satan is the author of sin, and the cause of the fall of man; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested to undo the works of the devil and gave His life and shed His blood to redeem and restore man back to God. (Job 1:6-7; Is. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11, 25:41; Rom. 3:9-10, 3:23, 5:12, I John 3:8; Gal. 3:13, 14; Rev. 20:10)

Salvation. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) We believe that there is only one way of salvation and that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (John 1:12, 14:6; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; I Pet. 1:18-19)

Resurrection and Eternal Existence. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6, 12-13)

Separation. We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and that separation from all religious apostasy, sinful pleasures, practices, and associations is commanded of God (Rom. 12:102;14:13; II Cor. 6:14-7:1; II Tim. 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11)

The Church. We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again persons (I Cor. 11:2;12:12-14; Eph. 1:22-23;5:25-27). We believe that the establishments and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27;20:17,28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

Sanctification. The Bible teaches that without Holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the doctrine of sanctification as a definite, yet progressive, work of grace commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation (Heb. 12:14; I Thess. 5:23; Ii Pet. 3:18; II Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:12-14; I Cor.1:30).

Water Baptism. All who repent of their sins and believe in Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. This is a declaration to the world that they identify with Christ in His death and have been raised with Him in newness of life. (Matt. 23:19, Mark 16:16, Acts 10:47-48, Rom. 6:4)

Baptism in the Holy Ghost. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and Fire is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to those who are believers in this dispensation and is received subsequent to the new birth. This experience is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit Himself gives utterance. (Matt. 3:11; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:8, 2:4, 2:38-39, 19:1-7)

Laying on of Hands. A simple belief that power or anointing or any other necessary quality can be transmitted from one person touching another. Laying on of hands was practiced by the Levitical Priesthood. Jesus practiced it in Mark 10:13-16 as a blessing, and is our grounds for baby dedication instead of baptism.

Laying on of hands for divine healing, which was provided for in the Old testament, and is an integral part of the Gospel. (Ex. 15:23-26; Ps. 103:1-3; Is. 53:4-5; Matt. 8:16-17; Mark 5:22-23,41, 28-31; Acts 28:8, 19:11-12; Jas. 5:14-16)

Laying on of hands to confer office (Acts 6:2-6)

Laying on of hands to receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:16-18)

Laying on of hands to believe words spoken, to receive anointing, and to cultivate the anointing (I Tim. 4:14)

Laying on of hands for ordination to consecrate and receive the necessary ministry tools (I Tim. 4:14).

Communion--The Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of His sufferings and death and a prophecy of His second coming. It is enjoyed by all believers until He comes. (I Cor. 11:26)

Giving. We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to support his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe, ten percent of one’s total income, as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give additional offerings cheerfully to the support of various ministries of God’s Kingdom, including, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of the tithe or offering once the gift has been made.

Missions. We believe that God has given all believers a great commission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:20).

Human Sexuality. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s plan. We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. (Gen. 2:24, 19:5,13, 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; I Cor. 5:1, 6:9; I Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)

Abortion. We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5, 139:14-16; Is. 44:24, 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5, 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).

Civil Government. We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home; 2) the church; and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God (Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 2:13-14).

Lawsuits Between Believers. We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians, the church, or Christian organizations to resolve personal disputes. We believe the Christian community possesses all of the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between believers.