Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:1, NIV).

Several of the ladies of our church meet each week to study the Scripture using materials from Kay Arthur’s Precept Ministries, based in Chattanooga. Area women who want to study with them are welcome. This is the kind of study where each of the participants prepares ahead of time so that the Holy Spirit can illumine the text of Scripture and apply it to the heart.

DORMITORY DOISAKET

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress (James 1:27, NIV).

Our church has an interest in an orphanage in Thailand that is a ministry of the national church there that is connected with our denomination. The ministry began as a boarding house for the children of pastors in outlying areas so that they could get a good education, but they also take in children from impoverished homes. Often these impoverished children must be rescued from the Buddhist Temples where they are abandoned, and/or from being victimized by the child sex traffickers that is all too common in that part of the world.

SECOND HARVEST MOBILE PANTRY

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward him for what he has done (Prov 19:17, NIV).

A few times each year our church pays the freight to have about 12-20,000 pounds of food delivered so that it can be distributed to the needy of our community free of charge. We organize it into about 200 units and disperse it on a first come, first served basis. It takes only a few hours to distribute it, suggesting that there is much need in this area.

KARM BASKETS OF HOPE

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor (Prov 22:9, NIV).

For the past several years Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM) has provided Thanksgiving meals to needy families in East Tennessee, soliciting churches to provide a list of foods that will round out the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Individuals in our church sign up to provide some of these each year.

SAMARITAN’S PURSE OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matt 19:14, NIV).

Joining many other churches in this country and around the world, our church participates in Operation Christmas Child. Families in our church fill shoeboxes with small gifts that are intended for boys or girls in specific age ranges. The Samaritan’s Purse ministry then delivers these to needy children in the Third World and offers them an opportunity to meet Jesus. Over 8 million shoeboxes were delivered this past year!

C&MA MISSIONS

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me [Jesus]. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:18-20, NIV).

Each year our church sends a significant portion of our budget to support the ministries of the Christian & Missionary Alliance – at home and abroad. The Alliance has ministries in about 80 countries, focusing especially on areas where Christ has not been proclaimed. A highlight of our church year is usually in the fall when one or more of these missionaries will come to our church as part of a tour where they will share the specifics of their ministry.