The ABWE Board of Directors is pleased to present Pastor Paul Davis as the next president of ABWE. 

Pastor Davis, who has sat on the ABWE Board since 2013 and serves as senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Holland, MI, will begin his tenure as president in November.

“Much like when David was appointed King and there was a sense that God’s hand was upon him as a leader, we have sensed that about Paul’s leadership as well,” says Dr. Al Cockrell, ABWE Interim President.

“Paul has had a vision for missions for a long time,” shares Dr. Cockrell. “As the presidential search team walked through this process with him, we all began to see how his previous roles, his demeanor, and his servant leadership style have positioned him to step into missions, but in a different role than he had previously considered,” Dr. Cockrell adds. “The exciting thing for me is that Paul recognizes what we do and what our vision is for ministering on behalf of churches and serving our missionaries."

The ABWE Board believes that God has prepared Pastor Davis throughout his life experiences to help lead ABWE into a new era of ministry impact.

Pastor Davis is known as a strong communicator and an innovative spiritual overseer with experience in executing large projects, team building, fundraising, leadership development, discipleship and ministry growth.

He and his wife, Martha, have been married for 28 years, and have both served in numerous roles in Christian ministry and education. They have four young-adult children. Martha is an accomplished pianist and has worked in finance and education, most recently serving as high school principal at Calvary Schools of Holland. The Davises have a passion for moving the gospel forward, and desire to serve the Lord together in this new role with ABWE.

“I have loved serving God’s people by creatively proclaiming and teaching the Word of God. I also enjoy engaging and empowering gifted people to use those gifts in the life of the church, and building a broad-based, diversely-gifted leadership team,” Davis shares. “My vision has always been to foster a Gospel-centered ministry that focuses on leading and discipling new believers in Christ.”

Pastor Davis attended Liberty University and Dallas Theological Seminary. He received his Master’s Degree from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

Davis’ connection with ABWE started at an early age. “Growing up, my pastor was an ABWE board member who regularly had missionaries into our church. We often had ABWE missionaries sitting around our dinner table telling us stories of faraway places like Bangladesh and Togo. It created a sense of wonder for me that there was something bigger than my suburban life…Even at a young age, that wonder and adventure, tied with the gospel, was very compelling.”

Additionally, Davis’ parents were short-term missionaries with ABWE in South Africa, Portugal and Togo.

For the past 29 years, Pastor Davis has had the joy of serving, supporting, sending, and praying for ABWE missionaries around the world. Serving on the ABWE Board was an extension of those relationships, he says.

“Now, Martha and I look forward to creating resources for churches and helping missionaries who have launched from those churches. We’d love to become connectors between the church, the mission, and the people serving in the Great Commission across the globe.”