Settling Time.

Well the rains have certainly arrived, and the timing has been perfect. We were able to finish up the brickwork along with the concrete column bases. Once they were finished, the trenches were ready to be filled up. Now filled up, the rains are doing all the heavy work of compacting the soil. Then when the soil is compacted into the trenches, it will get tamped down even further, followed by the hardcore treatment. The hardcore treatment is a couple of layers of bricks tamped down to create a solid surface to pour the concrete slab onto.

Thank you all who have supported thus far, and please ask God if He wants you to continue to support this project. The next step after the hardcore is the concrete slab, which is another estimated $18,000. Again, please consider supporting the BIC Church of Malawi and their church center building, they are very excited to have this headquarter building built.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

...we serve a faithful God...

Yep, God is faithful to say the least! Enough funds have come in to complete the concrete pour yesterday, and He held off the rains allowing us to do so! All week it has been showing signs of rain, but nothing came down out of the sky... but it has been raining, thundering, and lightening all throughout the day today. I think it's safe to say that God has a hand in this church project!!... and the past couple weeks can only be explained this way!

Thank you all so much who have allowed God to use you to provide part of the foundation...may God bless you abundantly!

The question now is, what's next? Now more bricks are being laid and then the column bases also have to be poured. It would be great if the rain would hold off another week, but these items aren't quite as crucial as the actual concrete pour. After these items are accomplished, then all the trenches can be filled back in with soil. Then the whole site will need to be tamped down... by hand. After a few tampings, loads of broken bricks are brought in and tamped down on top of the soil to provide ground to pour the concrete slab on. This layer of tamped bricks is called the hardcore treatment. In order to complete this, about another $900 is needed. The rain will be a huge aid in this phase since it will allow the soil to settle back down in the trenches and allow dense compaction of the soil then bricks.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

down to the wire

First of all, a huge THANK YOU goes out to all who have donated to this building project. This project cannot happen without you're support. Thousands of brick have been laid, and there are at least a few courses of brick around the perimeter of the building and almost all of the brick foundation is in place in the deep sections. We used up the few remaining bags of cement to complete the footer for a column and start another, but six and a half column footers remain along with about 20 meters of i

nterior wall footer. Some more resources have just come in, but not enough to complete the concrete footers. We are/were planning on pouring the remaining footers on Friday, but that's only if enough funding comes in. Another $500 will complete the concrete footers and an estimated $2000 will complete the foundation. It's coming down to the wire as rain clouds are starting to hover over the site almost daily. If it rains here, it pours, the trenches will fill up nicely, we won't be able to pour, and the kids will be able to have some fun in the mud! If you are willing and able, please donate to the church of Malawi... the sooner the better, and I know you will be blessed for sharing in the resources the Lord has entrusted you with.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

bricks...dirt...concrete?

There is a lot of work going on right now... thousands of brick are being laid, and meters of soil are being dug. The plan is to have the brickwork complete next Tuesday/Wednesday, have the digging completed around the same time and then pour the remaining footers next Friday the 19th. Today was very encouraging as the city inspector came to inspect the foundation work. He was very impressed with the quality of the work, especially the mortar strength. Here, most of the builders use quite a bit of sand, not much cement, and no lime...then they use a stronger mix when they point all the joints. Needless to say, the inspector signed off on the foundation and won't need to come until the concrete slab is ready to be poured. With all this momentum, we can very well complete this foundation before the heavy rains come... the one obstacle is resources. We scrapped enough together for this past section, but don't have near enough for this last section. Just over $1000 is all that is needed in order to provide enough materials for the remaining footers... then of course more to complete the brickwork and concrete column bases. These past months have been "building by faith" if you will, and we have no doubt that the Lord will provide in order to complete this last section of the foundation.

Here is a little walk around the building site to give a better perspective on the work being accomplished. I hope this helps.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

Footers 80% Complete!

That’s right, after yesterdays and today’s combined efforts; those main sections of the footers have been poured! This includes the rest of the building perimeter and the rest of the deep sections (2 meters down). Even this alone was a miracle. This past week we had a hard rain and the trenches were filled with water which had to be bucketed out, and the trench walls started to cave in. Then the concrete mixer’s driving gear is about completely worn, so we tried renting another mixer to find that it wasn’t even working properly. We were also scrounging to find enough money to purchase the materials to complete these footers. But because we serve a God who is all powerful, He brought all these things together at the right time, made the mixer last long enough, just so we could accomplish our goal of completing the pour. God is good! We even had about 35 people come and help with the work. Not only were we able to pour the footers, but we were also able to fill up the other trenches that had the foundation walls already built. The women and children were also a huge help…even had women with children on their backs working! It truly was an honor to see the Malawi BIC church come together and working hard with an excitement of working; and that is tough to find these days.

It seems like the rains are starting to make their way in. If we make a sprint over the next 2 weeks, we can likely complete the entire foundation. We can make this happen if the necessary support becomes available. The estimated breakdown of the remaining work is as follows (with the priority items first):

1. 69cm footer = $300

2. 1.035m footer = $350

3. Column footers = $650

4. Remaining steel for column bases = $800

5. Double brick walls = $1400

6. Triple brick walls = $750

7. Column bases = $270

8. Ant/terminte poison = $700

A little over $5000 will help set the tone for the rest of this project. The work is really starting to build momentum, a momentum that is capable to complete the foundation before the rains come in full steam. This would be a huge step for the church and for the project, first for the people as they would really sense the progress being made and to continue that excitement. Then for the progress of the work it would be perfect because once the foundation is complete, the hardcore treatment is next. The hardcore treatment here is comprised of tamping down the entire site then adding broken brick on top of the soil and tamping those down. It is a huge advantage and aid in completing this work during the rains because the rain actually helps the soil (and then brick) settle into all the spaces to provide a compact and solid base for the slab. Then once the hardcore treatment is complete, the hope is to have enough resources to provide the reinforcing wire mesh and concrete for the slab.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

Enjoy the music of a couple church members praising the Lord in Chichewa!

Deep section dug.

Well we had one small rainfall so far, but nothing to really accumulate. Also just enough money has come in to pour the concrete footer for the deep section, as well as for the four column bases. As of right now, that deep section is complete dug out and the steel for the column bases are being tied. We are planning on pouring the concrete for that section on Friday (November 5th). The rest of the building perimeter is just about completely dug, but we do not have the resources to complete that section. The rest of the foundation to complete after the perimeter is only about 25 meters of interior walls and 8 more column bases. If the resources become available very soon and if the rains hold off just a few more weeks, then it is very possible to complete the building foundation before the end of the year.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

Starting With a Good Foundation

First of all, the Brethren in Christ Church of Malawi would like to send their greetings and gratitude for the funds that have been donated thus far. This church building construction would not be possible without those provisions.

As an update to the previous post, the rough construction of the retaining wall is complete. The construction will finish nearer to the completion of the building where a vertical knee wall will be added along with proper surface water diversion and pointing to the mortar joints. The General conference was a success, and many people saw the need of the building, as the rented tent (that was packed with people) took up one third of the building footprint. There were about 350 in that tent. Numerous people came from all over the country, and a lot of them had to also sleep in the tent. I was told that there were times when they were cold throughout the night, and that they were really looking forward to having a warm place to sleep during the future general conferences.

The next item, and probably one of the most, if not the most, important sections is the foundation. In order for any building to stand for a long time, a strong and solid foundation needs to be built. Therefore in some areas almost 2 meters had to be dug down in order to reach solid ground. About half of the foundation footers have been poured, along with the setting of four column bases. The whole perimeter is almost entirely dug. There is about 10 meters remaining to dig which right now provides access to the interior of the building perimeter to supply building materials. Since the rains will be coming in about a month, the main focus has been the lower foundation wall, which is nearly complete. As of right now, there is enough money to complete the perimeter of the building, but not enough to finish any of the interior walls or column bases. Because of this, priorities have been forced to be shifted. Otherwise the time and energy would be directed to digging and completing the next interior wall that is just as deep as the one being completed now. If the footer for this wall cannot be completed due to cost, the trench cannot be dug because once the rains come the trench walls will collapse. These deeper trenches are very hazardous

because the top layers are comprised of the looser soil relocated from the upper end, so there is a good chance of cave-ins. If money comes in within the next two weeks and we (Tim Jones or Jonathan Lloyd) are notified, this section could be completed. This would be a huge accomplishment and stepping-stone for the church because that would mean there would be a chance that throughout the rainy season work can be completed on the upper sections and possibly bring the foundation up to the slab level. The BIC Church of Malawi is trusting that God will provide a way for the global church to partner with the church here. They are looking forward to the day that they can have services, conferences and meetings in the building.

Again, a huge THANK YOU to those who have donated already, may God bless you abundantly!!

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

Fruits of Labor

It’s been a very encouraging past few weeks with the progress of the construction. The retaining wall is currently under construction. This week has been a blessing because four bricklayers from within the church worked all week (Monday through Saturday), laying about 6000 brick. The people seem to be enjoying seeing the fruits of their labor. The church leaders are also excited because with the BIC Malawi General Conference coming up next week, a couple hundred church members will be able to see that progress is being made. We are hoping that this will spur the churches on to providing more labor so that the construction can continue at a reputable pace.

After the General Conference, the trenches for the building foundation will start to be dug. The trenches will range in depth from one meter deep to over two meters deep. There is a lot of digging to be accomplished, about 180 meters in total. This comes out to about to potentially 200 cubic meters of dry, hard soil needing to be dug… by hand. After about half of the trenches are dug, the concrete footers can be poured, and then the bricklayers can be brought back in. However, once the trenches are dug, money will be necessary for the materials to be purchased. The broken down costs of the estimated materials to bring the building up to slab level are found below:

Building Footer (estimated total cost = $7,270)

260 bags of cement: $4,110

40 metric tons of sand: $350

56 metric tons of stone: $1,350

1 Roll of A142 steel mesh: $710

Ant/termite Poison: $750

Building Foundation walls (estimated total cost = $8,375)

110 bags of cement: $1,740

19 metric tons of sand: $160

32 bags of lime: $120

35,000 brick: $1,200

Brickforce: $75

Reinforcing steel for column bases: $5,080

Concrete slab (estimated total cost = $18,160)

575 bags of cement: $9,090

85 metric tons of sand: $700

125 metric tons of stone: $2,970

6 rolls of A142 steel mesh: $4,250

6 rolls of DPM (damp proof membrane): $750

Ant/termite poison: $400

A couple of videos have also been made. The first is a video made for a vacation Bible school whose special project for the week was to provide money for bricks.

The second video gives a good summary of the project history, given by some of the church leaders.

If you would like and are able to provide a part of the Malawi BIC Church Center foundation, please don’t hesitate to donate. You can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scrolling down to "Maone Church Center." You can also send a check written out to BICWM with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, and sent to either BICWM, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 or BICWM, 2700 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 6E1.

Moving along.

Well things are really moving along. This week we were able to prepare the forms to pour the concrete footer for the retaining wall. On Friday, we rented a large, diesel powered concrete mixer and poured the footer. We had a great turnout then, with 15 total people present so everything went smoothly like a well-oiled machine. The neatest thing was that all of us are Brethren in Christ Church members, so working alongside so many brothers within the church halfway across the world is such a huge encouragement.

We will start this week laying the brick to build the retaining wall. The BIC Malawi General Conference is coming up in a couple of weeks, so it would be great to have the wall built before then, along with having the entire work site completely leveled and compacted. Thanks all for your support. Please continue to pray for the BIC Church of Malawi - for the people and for their project. There is so much potential for this project and for the general church in so many ways.

So what's going on?

Well the past few months have been pretty crazy (in a good way). Lots of traveling was occurring; and of course, when you have travel (aka time away from the work) the time on site becomes very busy and valuable. When looking at the work site, one may think that there has not been much accomplished. But things unseen have also been accomplished. Relationships have been built, and some skills have been passed on. The journey may be slow, but they are baby steps towards the Malawians' own BICC country headquarter building. It is something else looking at what's been done; it doesn't look like much, but then sometimes it's forgotten that everything is dug by hand. Once you're actually digging, it becomes a little more clear on why and how things are moving along slowly, especially because volunteer labor is being used (because of the lack of financial resources to pay local tradesmen). In reality, the work has been moving along with the influx of money for the project. So far, a little over $4000 has been spent, with not much left in the account (for a budgeted $100,000 building). Take a gander at the pictures, hopefully some more will be coming up soon.

If you would like to give, there is a link on the right hand side at "View and Donate to the Project"

Video made

Here is a video (split in two parts) that was made for the kids of a BIC church in Pennsylvania. Please watch and enjoy!

Part 1:

Part 2:

The Maone BIC Church Center Building Project

The Brethren in Christ (BIC) Church in Malawi began as an outreach ministry of Zimbabwe in 1983. Today there are two significant BICWM ministries in Malawi – one to the people in Southern Malawi who are mostly Chewa, and another to the Yao near Lake Malawi. The headquarters for BIC Malawi is in the southern region, in Maone, which is just 5 minutes outside the commercial capital city of Blantyre. The Maone church center was established in 1998, with a house and guest house on the property. One of the senior pastors of the BICC of Malawi lives in the house, but one room in the house is also where the congregation of the Maone BIC Church currently meets. The congregation of about 70-80 meets in the room where there is almost no room for expansion. A make-shift tent is also set up on the property for the meeting of the annual BIC Malawi General Conference.

There are many expectations for the new building. The first, of course, is that it will hold more people and allow the congregation to grow. It can also grow through new membership from a broader level of Malawian society without losing any of its existing membership. The congregation is also excited to see a “real church,” as in a physically larger building that you can see from a distance. Therefore if someone wants to go to church, they can see the building and go to it. For example, on the way to this church, you can see three mosques (which are places where Muslims worship) on the hill side in the village. Finally the building will be a place to better minister to the compassion needs of its membership and provide a greater quantity and quality of training by hosting conference wide gatherings, such as “Home Based Care,” HIV-AIDS prevention, “Farming God’s Way,” various skills training… etc. HIV-AIDS alone is a huge problem in Malawi, as more than 10% of the population is infected. The village near this church has a much greater percentage infected than the country average. The church also trains church workers through programs like “Go Ye Therefore” discipleship training. This training program brings in older teenagers and disciples (or teaches) them to then go back into the villages and lead programs.

The plans for the building have been in the works for over 10 years and now with the drawings paid for and approved, it has finally come to a place where it is ready to be built. The following is a timeline that was created back in 2007:

• Excavation and Masonry – Complete by end of 2009

• Roofing System – Completed by 2nd quarter 2010

• Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical – Completed by 3rd quarter 2010

• Finish Items – Doors, Windows, etc. – Completed by 4th quarter 2010.

It was estimated to be completed by the end of this year, with the excavation and masonry already completed at the end of 2009; but due to lack of funding and the rainy season, materials couldn’t be purchased and trenches for the foundation could not have been dug. So if this project is going to be completed by the end of this year, or even by the middle of next year, some miracles will need to happen and funds will need to come in; and God-willing, the building will be completed in a timely manner. The plan that was established in 2007 was that the project will be supported through funds and labor provided by the Malawi BIC church, in partnership with funds contributed by donors. Work teams from North America will be recruited to minimize labor costs, and to help build a spirit of unity between sister conferences. The project estimates are as follows:

• Foundation - $5,000

• Slab - $25,000

• Walls - $25,000

• Roofing System - $30,000

• Mechanical, Plumbing, and Electrical - $25,000

• Finish Items - $15,000

After donated funds were used to pay for the city council to approve the drawings, we have about $1800 in the building fund. This is enough to start purchasing some of the materials, but with more financial support, we will be able to start pouring the footers within the next couple of weeks. The people of the church here are thirsty to get the project completed. Individuals as well as churches have given money and food, and have donated labor. There is just a big difference between Malawi and the US regarding finances, it would take the church many years to save enough money to even build the foundation and pour the concrete slab. If you would like to donate to the project, you can either send your tax-deductible donation to Brethren in Christ World Missions, PO Box 390, Grantham, PA 17027 with “Maone Church Center” in the memo line, or you can donate online at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/get-involved/partnership/malawi/ then go down to “Maone Church Center” and click the “Donate” button.

Thank you so much and may God bless you abundantly.

-The BICWM team in Malawi