Our Annual Appeal Letter

3/24/2016

Dear Friends,

Since starting as Principal last August, I have been inspired and challenged by the faculty and students here, in their passion for ‘the knowledge of God’s glory [filling] the earth.’(Habakkuk 2:14) I am convinced that Belfast Bible College has a crucial role to play in training and resourcing the Church, locally and globally. 

Our heart at Belfast Bible College is to equip and send disciples; we want to see students going out from the College passionate and well prepared to live out, teach, share, and engage a broken world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I am writing to ask you to Partner with us in that amazing and privileged calling: to invest in training students like Paul, who has recently moved to Brazil after studying at BBC with Latin Link. He has a passion for the people of Recife, and sports and has assumed responsibility for a Sports Ministry and football project for boys. Or Students like Ian, an RE teacher who sees his school as his mission field. Studying at Belfast Bible College has enabled him to take his students deeper into the Bible and assist his students in grasping some of the most difficult passages in the Bible. There are also students like Olia, who is able to be here from Lviv, Ukraine through the Global Sponsorship Programme. Olia is currently in her third year here, and has been extremely encouraged and at the same time challenged in the way she views herself, God, and the world. Through Partnerships, we have been able to give her the opportunity to be equipped to go home and continue sharing the Gospel there, as well as broadening her outlook and growing personally. 

As Romans 10 suggests, without Partners, ‘how will they preach unless they are sent?’ We are seeking to develop 250 new monthly Partnerships this year, to make sure that we can continue training students like Paul, Ian, and Olia. Would you prayerfully consider becoming one the 250?

I am directly asking for your support because I want to be transparent and upfront about the challenges the College faces.  While we continue to be blessed with robust numbers of students – over 150 full-time are studying with us at the moment – the College is facing a financial shortfall.  If you would like to respond, please go to our website giving page found at: www.belfastbiblecollege.com/give. If you want to give a regular standing order please download and print out this form. 

You might know that as an organisation, we face a major challenge to deliver quality training while receiving no government funding. Student fees in Northern Ireland are limited, meaning tuition fees cover only about 75% of our costs. It is only through partnering with people like you, that we are able to cover the remaining 25%. We need new Partners like you to come alongside us to help bridge that gap. Recently, we have faced difficult decisions in terms of cutting costs, as well as making strategic decisions to focus time and resources on courses that best fit our vision. 

Hopefully, you share in our vision to see the Church in Northern Ireland strengthened and equipped to live out, teach, share, and engage a broken world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. With your Partnership through monthly giving or just a one off gift, we hope to grow and provide exciting new courses; investment in our students and staff; and strategic partnerships with other Christian organisations. Please do prayerfully consider joining with us to help make these plans become a reality for the glory of God. 

With grateful expectancy,

Dr Patrick Mitchel
Principal

P.S.  As a Partner, we are committed to developing relationships with you through regular prayer updates, an annual event at the College for our donors, our Annual Christmas Devotional, Monthly E-zine, as well as access to our Library, conferences, training events, and seminars at the College.