Filipus is a monastic, missional community ...
What is Filipus?
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What is Filipus?
Filipus is a monastic, missional community that trains Turks and Turkish speaking believers for ministry in Turkey and in the nations.
Filipus is not a school. It's a family, a brotherhood committed to Christ, to each other and to a way of life.
A Monastic ...
Since the fourth century, Christians have been committing to intentional community and to a lifestyle of prayer, study and service. This “monastic” tradition had a significant beginning in central Turkey (Anatolia), and such men and woman were a blessing to their neighborhoods, their cities and even their nations. We join in their legacy by also committing ourselves to community, to God, and to a way of life.
Filipus Vows
That way of life is represented by the vows Filipus students take every year. These vows are lifelong commitments made to God and to one another. They clarify the significance of graduating the Filipus program and entering Christian ministry.
- Prayer
- Ministry
- Study
- Community
- Faithfulness
Will you commit to disciplined prayer for one another, for your church, for your people, and for the nations in the knowledge that prayer is an essential part of a life of dedication to God?
Understanding that ministry is a privilege from God, will you serve according to your gifts and calling in the work of making disciples of all nations, submitting yourself to the church and rejecting the temptations of pride and self-centeredness?
For the transformation of your heart and as an expression of loving God with all of your mind, will you study the Bible and commit to a life of study in fields which will support the call of the church?
Will you commit to being a blessing to the church, choosing a communal rather than an individualistic life, forgiving your brothers and sisters and living in peace with others?
Will you commit to a life of faithfulness to your leaders, to your church, and to the Lord?
Graduation
Upon graduation, we give students rings instead of diplomas. We think that a diploma is a symbol of accomplishment, while a ring is a symbol of commitment. Students come to Filipus, not for a qualification, but to be equipped for a way of living and become a lifelong member of the Filipus brotherhood.
... and Missional Community
We believe it is the mission of God's church to make disciples, to reveal the goodness, the justice, the power, and the love of God to our neighbors, our cities, our nations and our world. It's our responsibility to represent Christ, and share his love in such a way that people are compelled to know and follow him.
Filipus teaches and lives out this vision, praying to see a missions movement born out of the Turkish church, one that reaches into the surrounding countries, Central Asia, and beyond.
Local Church Kurtuluş Church
We believe strongly that God works especially through the local church, and for that reason, Filipus students, during their training, are full members of Kurtuluş church, learning to serve, submit to leadership, exercise their gifts and live missionally all in the context of a church community.
Authentic Witness Coffee Haus
Throughout the year Filipus students receive training and work at Coffee Haus, producing high-quality, fresh-roasted, gourmet coffee. By graduation, every student is a certified barista. Students experience and practice doing business as Christians, working as a unified team, creating an excellent product and selling that product with passion and integrity.
Outreach and Ministry
Soup Day
One afternoon a week, Filipus serves soup as a service to our neighborhood and an opportunity to know and be known in our community. Soup day is a unique environment where spiritual discussion and good questions are frequent.
AŞTİ Outreach
One evening a week, cook up chicken and rice and pass out 200 meal packets to the homeless at Ankara's main bus station. It provides a touch point with the poorest of the poor, a chance to experience God's compassion for people and be a blessing in our city.
Refugee Ministry
More that 50,000 refugees have flooded into Ankara from the nearby Syrian and Iraqi crises. Filipus, together with Kurtuluş church, serves more than 5,000 families in our weekly distribution program. We're teaching marketable skills and by creating opportunities for those who come to hear the good news.
Six Week Internship
Students spend 6 weeks all working at different churches or ministries around Turkey. Ministries around the country have come to count on Filipus students coming and interning for 6 weeks a year. It's both an opportunity for our students to be a blessing, to sow some of the vision they've gained while at Filipus into other ministries, and a chance for them to get practical experience, serve under another leader, and be a part of a different team.
One Month Serving Abroad
It's our vision to see the Turkish church making disciples in Central Asia, the Middle East, and around the world. In order that Filipus students might catch God's heart for the nations and experience his goodness in a foreign place, every year Filipus spends one month abroad, partnering with God's church and sharing his good news.
Filipus Programs
Filipus was founded in 2003 at Kurtuluş Church in Ankara. Since then, more than fifty people from churches around the country have come, been equipped for ministry, and are now serving in various places throughout Turkey.
Since Filipus started we've prayed that God would send Filipus graduates as representatives of his Kingdom and of the Turkish church to the nations, especially Central Asia and the Middle East. In 2011 God began to answer that prayer, not by sending students, but by sending Filipus itself.
There are now Filipus programs in three Central Asian countries in addition to Turkey. These program run as ministries of their own local churches in consultation with us, implementing a training curriculum inspired by our curriculum in Ankara. Filipus has become an international network of Christian brotherhoods and training programs, opening doors for ministry between Turkey and Central Asia.
Ankara Established 2003
Out of 5000 Turkish Christians in Turkey Filipus gathers 5-10 of those every year, sent by their own churches, from diverse geographic, ethnic and theological backgrounds. They live together in an apartment building in downtown Ankara, serve in the context of the local church and become coffee professionals. It's a full-time, year-long, dedicated community and training program.
Kazakhstan Established 2012
Filipus Kazakhstan is hosted by a church in Almaty. Students live in community and join in the life and ministries of the church. The program is divided into two modules. The first lasts 10 weeks, and focuses on classes in our five areas. The second is focused on cross-cultural ministry and includes an internship in another Central Asian country. Many of our students in Kazakhstan are students who have graduated from the church's rehabilitation program and are wanting to take the next steps in ministry.
Kyrgyzstan Established 2014
Filipus in Kyrgyzstan operates in partnership with a growing number of local churches. Students live and study in community in a house near the center of Bishkek. During the week, Filipus students work to support ministries established by local churches and organizations including an orphanage, a homeless ministry, an evangelistic ministry, and several camp ministries. We are currently in the process of establishing a branch of Coffee Haus in Bishkek.
Central Asia Established 2011
Operates in a country where security concerns make it difficult for us to share openly it's location details. Students are sent from a diverse network of churches for in-depth discipleship and ministry training. They are engaged in a number of local ministries including safe-houses for women at risk, state-run orphanages and rehabilitation centers and other local church ministries.
New Developments
In addition to the locations listed above, we're currently in relationship with churches located in other Central Asian countries and are making efforts to open new Filipus programs with the aim of equipping more believers for a life of Christian ministry.
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