Mission Action Program
The purpose of the Mission Action Program (MAP) is to coordinate existing mission programs as well as to encourage initiation of new service opportunities locally and globally. Periodic programs educate members on how they can participate in current activities. Representatives from various areas (state missions, global missions, Breadbasket, Christian Women’s Job Corp, Interfaith Assistance, WMU) comprise the Mission Action Council as well as the pastor and the associate minister of family life. Current areas of ministry include:
Breadbasket
Breadbasket is a food pantry supported by the contributions of University Baptist and 11 other Hattiesburg churches. Volunteers from those churches distribute food to needy families in Hattiesburg.
601-264-6908
Interfaith Assistance
University Baptist has joined with Trinity Episcopal Church and Episcopal Church of the Ascension to pool their funds and church members’ time to serve local individuals and families by helping them pay for utilities, medical bills, prescription drugs, and other essentials. Volunteers work from their homes talking to those who call and helping them when possible.
601-264-2300
Christian Women's Job Corps
University Baptist men and women are involved in operating the local chapter of this national organization as staff and board members. Twice a year a class of women enters a 10 week course of study that helps them deepen their spiritual lives, learn computer skills, improve their money management and hone their interpersonal skills to prepare them for employment. This is done in an environment of Bible study and with the support of Christian teachers and mentors.
601-544-4855
WMU
The Women’s Missionary Union provides regular mission awareness through periodic evening meetings and regular weekly lunches known as the Brown Bag Bible Bunch.
Alternative Gift Fair
This is an annual event in which UBC members are given the opportunity to make donations in the name of a friend or family member to various local and international social service agencies. Instead of a Christmas gift those friends and family are sent cards that indicate a gift has been given in their name (e. g., a gallon paint to Habitat for Humanity; a pair of rabbits to Heifer International).
Other Missions
- MAP has also participated in short-term ministries that include providing assistance to a hospital in Nigeria and disaster relief on the Mississippi gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina.
- University Baptist was the national distribution center for the relief work of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief work. Its work was focused on Hattiesburg for immediate relief and on the small coast community of Pearlington for restoration of housing.
- Boys and Girls Club. The church makes a monthly contribution to this valuable community organization. Sponsored by the Salvation Army, the Hattiesburg chapter provides a Christian atmosphere for after-school programs in designed for youngsters through middle school age.
- Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International. This non-profit organization serves the physical and spiritual needs of the poor living in remote, under-served regions of Honduras and Nicaragua. Its ministries include volunteer medical and dental teams, children’s homes, Christian schools, church planting, pastor and lay leadership training, construction and other benevolent ministries. www.bmdmi.org.