It is our mission to Share Jesus With The World, Our Community, and Our Neighbor! We are a Church that believes in going BEYOND THE WALLS!                                                    

GLOBAL/NATIONAL/STATE

                                         INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD                                                            The Mission of the IMB is to Make Jesus Christ known among all peoples. The Vision is to lead Southern Baptists to be on mission with God to bring all the peoples of the world to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Basic Principles are obedience to the lordship of Jesus Christ and to God's infallible Word, that Jesus Christ is God's only provision for salvation and that all people without personal faith in Him are lost and will spend eternity in hell, that the means of understanding and fulfilling God's mission is prayer. The Purpose of the IMB is to provide all people an opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the gospel in their own cultural context. The task is evangelism through proclamation, discipleship, equipping and ministry that results in indigenous Baptist churches. The strategy is to send and support gifted, God-called missionaries who, with mutual respect, accountability and cooperation, carry out the Great Commission in an incarnational witness. The basic role of the IMB is to lead and facilitate the international missionary involvement of Southern Baptists in partnership with overseas Baptists and other Christians who are fulfilling the Great Commission. Philippi Baptist Church supports the IMB both financially and through sponsorship of selective Missionaries.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST DISASTER RELIEF                                                The philosophy behind Southern Baptist disaster relief efforts has been summed up in the phrase, "A cup of cold water in Jesus name." They follow the example of Jesus of Nazareth when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, and His teachings in the parable of the Good Samaritan and Matthew 25:32-46. Southern Baptist disaster relief is Christian love in action, meeting urgent needs of hurting humanity in crisis situations. Disaster response is meeting those needs with loving care and timely response as James 2:15-16 instructs us. There is no hidden agenda or ulterior motive. Some members of our congregation are trained by the State and are deployed as needed to join efforts of relief and cleanup as needed. It is also our mission to reach out to this organization with in-kind donations, financial assistance, and other cooperative efforts as needed.

NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD                                                        The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their defined mission is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, start New Testament congregations, minister to persons in the name of Christ, and assist churches in the United States, Canada and U.S. territories in effectively performing these functions.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD                                                           Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. This program of Samaritan’s Purse led by Franklin Graham provides an opportunity for all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift. Along with shoe box gifts, millions of children are given Gospel booklets in their own language. In 2004, over 7 million shoe box gifts worldwide were distributed to children in 95 countries.                                     

LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING                                                 Lottie Moon - the namesake of the international missions offering - has become something of a legend to us. But in her time Lottie was anything but an untouchable hero. In fact, she was like today's missionaries. She was a hard-working, deep-loving Southern Baptist who labored tirelessly so her people group could know Jesus. Why was the offering named for this early China missionary? Throughout her career, Lottie Moon wrote numerous letters home, urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters triggered Southern Baptists' first Christmas offering for international missions - enough to send three new missionaries to China.

ANNIE ARMSTRONG EASTER OFFERING                                              Each year, we honor the life and work of Annie Walker Armstrong (1850-1938) when we give to the annual offering for home missions named after her. As a tireless servant of God and a contagious advocate and supporter of mission efforts throughout the world, Annie Armstrong led women to unite in mission endeavors that ultimately led to the formation of Womans Missionary Union, for which she served as the first corresponding secretary. Annie believed in Christ with all her heart, but it was her hands that expressed that belief in tangible ways. She spent a great amount of time typing and handwriting letters in support of missions. Many of these letters were quite lengthy and all were filled with conviction that more could and should be done in our mission efforts. In 1893 alone, she wrote almost 18,000 letters! Annie also never hesitated to use her hands to reach out to hug a child or distribute food and clothing and the Word of God to those in need. Her hands held her own Bible as she studied to know how best to share Gods love with others. And, most important, Annie was a woman of prayer, folding her hands in prayer to intercede for the missionaries and for those they were helping discover Christ. Annie rallied churches to give more, pray more, and do more for reaching people for Christ. As we continue to unite to make her vision a reality in North America today, we can be confident that her legacy will also be ours.

JANIE CHAPMAN OFFERING                                                                
(for State Missions, Missions Education, and Empowering Kingdom
Growth)                                                                                                                                In 1884 members of Baptist Woman’s Missionary Societies of South Carolina gave $70.34 to the State Mission Board and marked their beginning of state missions support. Four years later, at the request of the Executive Board of the state convention, they agreed for $300 a year to fund the Cannon Street Mission in Charleston. In 1891 the salary for a missionary was added. Thirty-five years before the Cooperative Program (the unified system for funding Baptist missions causes) was begun, the societies’ Central Committee voted to give one tenth of all undesignated money received to state missions but that was not enough. On Wednesday, November 30, 1899 at the annual meeting of Woman’s Missions Societies of the Baptist Denomination in South Carolina, the members voted to establish the first state missions offering. The first offering, in the amount of $235, was received in September 1900. State Missions referred to the total scope of the work of the Convention at the turn of the century. Eight years later, in 1908, a Season of Prayer was begun. In 1902, the women’s organization changed their name to Woman’s Missionary Union, Auxiliary to South Carolina Baptist Convention. The first president was Janie Weston Chapman, wife of a prominent upstate pastor, J.D. Chapman. In 1937, WMU’s state
missions offering was named “The Mrs. J.D. Chapman Offering for State Interests” to honor Mrs. Chapman’s strong missions leadership. In 1985, the name was changed to the “Janie Chapman Offering.” In 1995 the subtitle “for State Missions, Missions Education, and Empowering Kingdom Growth” was added. The State Missions portion of the offering ($5,000 of $20,000) was first dispensed through the office of the General Board in 1946. Twelve years later, Missions Department allocations were administered by the General Board of the Baptist Convention. In 1969, the South Carolina Baptist Convention began serving as the receiving agent of WMU for all money given to the Mrs. J. D. Chapman Offering for State Interests. Monies received for the offering are transferred to WMU monthly. In February 2004 the South Carolina Baptist Convention received $1, 230,452.54 from the 2003 Janie Chapman Offering. The eight day observance for the Season of Prayer began in 1987.

YEARLY TRIP TO NICARAGUA                                                                          Each year, volunteers from our congregation pay their own way and travel to the country of Nicaragua to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, to work, to fellowship, and provide the people of this Country a chance to experience the life and rewards of knowing God. This is a chance to put their Faith in action by traveling outside the Comfort Zone and giving personal testimony and friendship to people in another country.

NICARAGUA TRIP 2007!

GOIN' FISHIN' (We Catch them, Jesus Cleans them)

Goin' Fishin' is an organized Ministry that leaves the Church walls and goes face to face with people, witnessing for God based on Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17. It is our mission to spread the Good News of Christ to a lost and dying world (Mark 16:15), and each Monday night we do just that. Goin' Fishin' is also utilized to follow-up with those who have visited our Church for the first time, requested a visit, or to make visits to some of our sick, hospitalized, shut-in, and nursing home believers in the community. We also try to visit those who haven't been to Church in a while, or maybe are having a difficulty. In this case, the visit is used to investigate how the Church can help and offer our assistance, support, prayers, and comfort if needed. Goin' Fishin' is a Bible based program that is Administered and led by the Pastors of the Church where we pray, fellowship, go out in teams and share the gospel to those in need, come back and reflect, and grow in the Ministry of leading others to Christ.

A small group of teenagers in Burleson, Texas, came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in early 1990. They came seeking God. Little did they know how powerfully God was about to move. On Saturday night God penetrated their hearts like never before. The students were broken before God and burdened for their friends. Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Those students had no idea how God would use their obedience. God used what He did among those teenagers and others who were holding similar prayer meetings at their schools to birth a vision in the hearts of youth leaders across Texas. The vision was that students throughout Texas would follow these examples and meet at their school flagpoles to pray simultaneously. The challenge was named See You at the Pole at an early brainstorming session. The vision was shared with 20,000 students in June 1990 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Only God had envisioned how many students would step up to the challenge. At 7:00 a.m. on September 12, 1990, more than 45,000 teenagers met at school flagpoles in four different states to pray before the start of school. A few months later, a group of youth ministers from all over the country gathered together for a national conference in Colorado. Many of them reported that their students had heard about the prayer movement in Texas and were equally burdened for their schools. No other events had been planned, but it was clear that students across the country would be creating their own national day of student prayer. There was no stopping them. On September 11, 1991, at 7:00 a.m., one million students gathered at school flagpoles all over the country. From Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California, students came together to pray. Some sang, some read Scripture, but most importantly, they prayed. Like those first students, they prayed for their schools, for their friends, for their leaders, and for their country. As in all great movements of prayer, See You at the Pole did not begin in the hearts of people. It began in the heart of God. God used the obedience of a small group of teenagers to ignite what has become an international movement of prayer among young people. Since 1991, See You at the Pole has grown to God-sized proportions. Within only a couple of years, students were praying in several countries around the world. Now, more than 3 million students from all 50 states participate in SYATP. Students in more than 20 countries take part. In places like Canada, Guam, Korea, Japan, Turkey, and the Ivory Coast, students are responding to God and taking seriously the challenge to pray. God is continuing to call His people to repentance and prayer. Countless inspiring testimonies of how He has used See You at the Pole to bring students to Christ and to change lives affirm God’s power to answer those who cry out to Him in humble dependence. Bible clubs, weekly prayer meetings, and other ministries have begun on campuses where students participated in SYATP.

                                   
WMU (Woman's Missionary Union)
In 1888, a handful of women dedicated to the cause of missions founded Woman’s Missionary Union®. Since that time, WMU® has become the largest Protestant missions organization for women in the world, with a membership of approximately 1 million. From the beginning, WMU’s main purpose has been to educate and involve women, girls, and preschoolers in the cause of Christian missions. Throughout its history, WMU has been an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, which means that it acts as a "helper" to the SBC. The auxiliary status also means that WMU is self-governing and self-supporting. Our goal is to learn about missionaries and mission activities in order to pray specifically and with knowledge about what God is doing to Empower Kingdom Growth. We also spend time praying for people and activities at Philippi Baptist Church. Philippi's WMU welcomes the opportunity to pray with anyone about any concern or burden they may have. We also participate in various mission opportunities throughout the year like "We're Here for You",  which is a day all Baptists in South Carolina are encouraged to get out in their communities for simultaneous mission activities. We help provide Migrant Health Kits and Prisoner Bags which supply personal items to these groups as well.

  

DJJ MINISTRY                                                                                                                In Union on Highway 18, there is an evaluation center that serves the South Carolina Upstate Region for the Department of Juvenile Justice. Within our Church is a group of Ladies and a group of Men, dedicated to going to this facility as often as possible and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and His saving grace. Through Bible Study, Prayer, and Face-To-Face Counseling and Caring, this Ministry provides a beacon of hope for these youngsters at this critical decision making time of their lives. We don't care what the youth did to get there, but we do care about helping the youth find a better way to go for the future.
 

JCREW
 
JCrew (Jesus Crew) is the music ministry for youth at Philippi Baptist Church. Once a year, JCrew embarks on a Summer Mission trip to various locations to bring the message of the Gospel in drama, song, and one-to-one fellowship and prayer.