Partner with US!

Although April Fool's Day has just passed, this is NOT a joke. Brenda and I are changing jobs to become staff with Cru Faculty Ministry, as I wrote about last post.  Here's my mail out:

Partner with US! Bishops are Joining Cru! YES!  After much prayer and some neat circumstances, G^d has worked it out for Brenda and I to work with Cru’s (Campus Crusade) faculty ministry, called Faculty Commons.  We have been associated with Cru’s faculty ministry for over 32 years- but now since I finish teaching in mid-May, we are excited to be able to invest more fully.  Faculty have a TREMENDOUS opportunity to have an influence for the Christ in typically a spiritually dark and often hostile environment of Public Higher Education. Here are the sort of things we will do with Faculty Commons: ·       Mentor faculty at strategic universities such as UA, Shelton, Stillman College, AU, MSU, UAB… ·       Speak at faculty conferences across the USA (Phil spoke at a Faculty Conference in Taiwan in July, and the FL Conference in Feb, 2017). ·       Help lead and serve faculty and student teams that are taking the hope of Jesus Christ all over the world (The photo above was with a team of Ole Miss students getting ready to minister overseas). ·       Work with other Cru ministries such as the collegiate ministry, grad ministry, Athletes in Action (Cru Sport Ministry), and multiple international ministries (We’ve been doing that a while already). What YOU can do with us: 1)    Pray!  The secular University can be a hostile place.  Fortunately, we have learned a bit in our 37 years as a professor in the university environment.  “The effectual fervent prayer… availeth much!”  James 5:17. 2)    Come along.  There are opportunities for you to see first-hand what we are doing at UA, in the USA, and even abroad. 3)    Partner with us financially. Due to my many years as a professor God has provided all of salary needs, so our only expenses will be for travel (International and in the States) and other ministry needs. Our Pledge of Stewardship includes: ·       We will always seek the most economical transport, food, and accommodations. ·       We will conserve funds in the same manner we have in raising 5 kids over our 45 years of marriage (e.g. our newest vehicle is a 2001 Nissan Altima) on one faculty income. ·       And although we enjoy travel and tourism, we will never spend Cru donations on personal tourism or entertainment. ·       Whenever local groups volunteer to pay all or part of our expenses, we will conserve your money as far as good stewardship allows. We would love to see God provide our financial support as soon as possible because we have several ministry/training trips already on the books, including a trip to Honduras with Athletes in Action (Cru’s athletic ministry), upcoming faculty conferences (acommoncall.org), and various summer missions opportunities around the US and the world. We will speak when the opportunity presents (Phil), but more centrally we will endeavor to encourage professors and their families in the great ministry opportunities that abound for professors and their spouses. We want to see God use us to raise the next generation of Christ-following professors, all over the world There are several ways you can partner with us financially if you would like to join in our ministry. We hope to do this for a few years, Lord willing, so our desire would be to have ministry partners that are generally inclined to continue support year by year. We, however, know that, for all of us, our financial circumstances change from year to year. Because our salary is provided by my retirement, we only need to develop funding to pay for our travel and various ministry expenses. We estimate these expenses for us to be $37k/year. God might provide this via $3000/monthly. Many people prefer to give this way, so folks could give $100/month or $500/month or $50/month. It is easy to set up automatic giving via credit cards or account transfers at give.cru.org. (You will find our names there, and a link to our staff account number 0928216. But God could also provide it in $37,000 in lump sum gifts. Many prefer to give this way. You can even give via stock gifts. Most likely, God will provide this $37,000/year through a variety of means. We would love to have you join with us in whatever way best suits you. Of course, all gifts are to Cru and, tax deductible. And you can still give by snail mall, too: Mail a check to us at Phil Bishop, 314 Legacy Oaks Circle, Lynchburg, VA 24501 until 15 May, then 4515 Allums Ave., Northport, AL 35473 (Make checks payable to Cru). We would love to tell you more about this, so feel free to contact us. Your prayer support is MOST VALUED!  Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, our efforts are of NO effect. The fields are white unto harvest in faculty ministry. Pray that G^d would use us, and raise up more laborers, to reach our universities and the world. Thanks for your prayers and financial support. This is a big step for us, and we would love to have you partner with us in this great cause. Please let us know how we can pray for you. Blessings, our Friends, Brenda and Phil Bishop Serving Christ through Cru/Faculty Commons 205 799 7504 pbishop@cru.org