Columns, bricks and the Inspector!

As you can see from this week's progress photos things are moving up. First, a visit from the City Building Inspector where Mofart Louis and company got a good word about the quality of work being done and the approval to keep on building. We must say it took a couple of weeks to get a visit arranged given busy schedules, lack of fuel and transport, (BICC Malawi were even trying to arrange to transport the building inspector to the site). Work continued as the main column supports are being raised up and the brick walls in one part of the building are up to the level of the window sills. We are now awaiting the transfer of funds for the purchase of the next supplies needed. Rainy season is soon to be upon the work site so hopefully the needed supplies of sand and bricks, etc., can be sourced in a timely fashion. Thanks for your interest and support everyone. More later.... please keep those involved in your prayers in these days where the building effort begins to see people working at higher levels.

3 Courses Laid Down

Above are two photos of the recent brick work on the project and we are excited to see the first few rows of bricks being laid. 55,000 bricks are on site along with 130 bags of cement. We await an inspection from the City Building Department hopefully by end of today and then the bricklayers will start again. The heavy rains are not far off which makes everything more challenging so join us in praying that the needed materials can be sourced and delivered before those rains start. So thankful for your interest in the Maone Church Center. More later to come I am sure. Notice the walls are made of a double row of bricks - this ministry center will stand for many, many years to come. Thanks be to God!

Flag Wavers - Building Together in Faith

We have received word that there is a concerted effort underway in Malawi these days to invite the members of the 45 churches in Malawi to contribute to the giving campaign, "Building Together in Faith" for the Maone Church Center. A group of Flag Wavers, as they are called, head out to the various regional areas to encourage the locals as they give an offering on behalf of the project. Reports this week indicate enthusiastic responses. Having been there and watched as people come to the front of the church and give their offering, this is no small thing for these people to give towards this cause. 50 kgs of maize being hauled up to the platform, an offer of a plate of beans is called out or just the line up of people dancing up to give their few Kwacha. So when an offering of 15,000 comes in in cash from a service this is reason to rejoice indeed.

Why not consider being a "Flag Waver" too? Your donations will really help and be a great encouragement. You can give at http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi/ and scroll down to the Maone Church Center. Thanks and if you can't make a donation just now - offer up a prayer for the Flag Wavers in Malawi today.

Slab Floor 100 % Complete

It was great to see updated pictures recently from Project Manager Mofart Louis showing the main slab floor now complete, including the baptistry. Lots of work went into levelling the 150 mm of concrete... The platform area is done too. Good work team! The concrete is covered with sand to act as a barrier for helping with the curing process. The rebar and column boxes are being formed as you can see and soon we are hoping bricks will arrive and walls will begin to go up.

A word of thanks for any of you who have donated recently - as you can imagine - lots of funds are still needed. We are praying for generous donations to help finish the Ministry Center. If you have any questions please feel free to be in touch. Til next update, hope you are doing well.

Post Conference Report

First picture is of Bishop Disi and his wife as he addresses the Conference after being elected, second is of the Conference where people don't mind sitting of the new concrete floor, which is covered by a layer of sand to help with curing, third & fourth are scenes of the front section of the ministry center not yet finished.

Greetings from Canada. A few days after Conference Lori and I flew home after our one year term of service concluded in Malawi. It was a great time there and the climax was attending and participating in the annual meeting of the BIC Church of Malawi the first weekend of August. Over 400 people gathered on the campus for the three conference settings: Youth, Women's and the General Conference. Two big tents and one small one were erected to help provide shelter and accommodations. The Conference went very well and one of the highlights was the election of a new Bishop which turned out to be Rev. Ephraim Disi. There was great joy and celebration when his name was announced. Please pray for this time of transition and adjustment as this new leadership framework comes into play.

As to the site and the project a few of the pictures show the progress. The slab floor is nearly done and it provided a great solid base for the big top tent to be set up on for the Conference. Many bags of maize came along with the people to Conference to help support the effort. As more funds become available the floor will be completed and then the building of the walls will occur. People were glad to come to Maone to see the progress. To those who have supported the project so far, on behalf of the BIC Church in Malawi, a big thank you. We look forward to providing more reports of continued success in seeing this building raised up.

Conference Activities begin

Pictures: Top one shows Lori and I with the architect Mr Duncan Ndege, the second one is Seth Miller speaking today at the Youth Conference and the last is from the top of the hill as you approach the property. More of the finished floor area to come.

Yesterday in the rain a big top tent was set up on the new floor to get ready for the 2011 Annual Meeting activities. Today the Women's and Youth Conferences began. The concrete floor is about 80 % complete and is the base upon which the big tent is located. We are so thankful that the workers were able to complete this much - even though they ran out of cement last week since there is a shortage here in Malawi currently. This week there are estimates of over 300 people coming for Conference and so far the sun was out most of today to help make the first day a good start. Temperatures are a bit cool but we are so thankful for the sunshine.

Donations are now utilized and we are awaiting more funds so the building can continue later in August. The photos are of today's Conference action. More later as the weekend progresses.

45 % done and counting - July 25, 2011

Hello friends! Tomorrow the site will be active again and the goal is to finish the main part of the floor by Friday. It is likely that the corner office space and the platform and baptismal area will not be completed by then but at least the main floor area will be available during General Conference for the BIC Church next week. The photos show the newly poured concrete being covered with sand which is watered down regularly to help with the curing process. One challenge we have had this past week is that we ran out of cement and when Mofart Louis (our project manager) went to purchase more - guess what? All sold out! No cement to be found in the Blantyre region - and then Lafarge one of the world's largest cement making companies says they will not have any for sale until sometime in August. So now you can guess what I am going to say, can't you? Exactly - the price just went up for any remaining cement. Mofart found some (made in Pakistan of all places) but at a premium price. Our last shipment was bought at MK 2900 per bag - now it is MK 3500 - the equivalent of $22.87 USD. But we have little choice and are now buying at the new price. With the current fuel and foreign exchange shortages in Malawi - most things are going up in price. The photo above shows Mofart Louis and, if I may add, please be in prayer for his young 9 month old son, Yankho. We are seeking medical attention to further diagnose his condition. He has limited motor skills and movement. Please keep us in mind here when you are praying and if you would like to contribute please see the link on the right hand column of the blog site. Thanks so much - feel free to be in touch if you have specific questions about the project at bjbell07@mac.com.

Concrete slab underway

Monday July 11, 2011 the new mixer was fired up and the first batch of concrete came spilling out. We are very thankful and glad for the new unit which seems to be working quite well. Throughout this week many volunteers have come along to help. Most of the materials are in hand to be used to finish the slab floor. Unfortunately the prices have been going up here in Malawi due to the for-ex and fuel shortages. Cement which used to be under MK 2500 is now selling at MK 2900. Supplies are even getting low. Wire mesh went up and is in short supply. Thankfully we have much of what is needed to get the floor done. Mofart Louis is coordinating the project and does a fine job. As some of the pictures will show, everything is done by hand pretty much. The goal is to get the floor done in time for General Conference August 5-7. Thanks for your interest and support. More later - we appreciate your prayers as well for those working for safety and strength.

The New Mixer Arrives!

Yesterday June 14 we bought our new concrete mixer and now we are getting ready to pour the slab floor. The photo shows the guys who helped unload it and it looks like a good solid unit - made in Italy with a 430 L capacity. Thanks to those who contributed to make this purchase possible. We are looking forward to purchasing a lot of cement since we already have the sand and the stone needed for making the concrete - we just need the cement now. It currently sells for about $17.00 USD for a 50 kg bag. We need about 400 bags to pour the whole floor so if you are interested in "pouring" with us why not log onto the BICWM website and assisting with a few bags of cash (I mean cement.) Thanks for your on going prayer support as we meet this month in Area Council Meetings with all the congregations to work on the kingdom business here in Malawi with the Brethren in Christ and to encourage the Malawian church to give to this project. Recently we received besides a good cash offering of almost $100 USD equivalent, a bag of maize, a bag of cement, a goat, a chicken and some beans. You can donate on line here: http://www.bic-church.org/wm/give/partnership/malawi and scroll down to the Maone Church Center.

Building Together in Faith - June 2011 update

Thanks for checking out the update to the Maone Church Center. Tim Jones as many of you may know is no longer in Malawi - so I am pleased to offer this update at this time. I serve as a Global Volunteer with BICWM in Malawi and my name is Brian Bell.

Area Council Meetings: May and June 2011 allow for time for all congregations to gather in area meetings over a weekend. So far two have taken place with three more to go. Yesterday in the Chickwawa area there was a great response to the challenge to support the project. Over MK 10,000 was raised in cash - with another MK 5,000 pledged. (See the pic above of the money being counted at the front of the church service.) Donations included a bag of cement, of 50 kg bag of maize, a goat, and a chicken. It was pretty amazing to see people offer these things. We have been able to take a power point presentation along powered by a generator to show progress on the project and set some targets for the building. (PS - The cash given yesterday was the equivalent of about $65.00 USD - this is one of the largest offerings I have seen to date received in the BIC church - so you can see why we need help from beyond Malawi.)

Concrete Mixer: A plan has been struck to buy a mixer rather than rent one for the reminder of the project. When the Center is built we can then see the mixer used as a income generation and make work opportunity. It is being purchased within the next week or two - special appreciation to those Canadians who helped make this possible.

Slab Floor Pour: We are targeting to pour the concrete floor between now and the end of July in time for General Conference Meetings starting August 2. When we say pour we mean using wheel barrows, not ready mix trucks. Lots of volunteers will be needed to manage this and there is still about 400 bags of cement to be purchased at about $17.00 USD per bag.

Project Drawing: You will have noticed the drawing we have included abovc which shows the finished building, without the roof, of course. Imagine such a place for this young BIC Church and what it mean to them to come to have their training seminars, special meetings and be the home of a thriving congregation.

Building Together in Faith Giving Campaign: As noted above the church is using this theme to raise support for the project. Once again we are praying for the global BIC family and other interested friends to help make this a reality for the church in Malawi. Please consider a generous donation. The balance of the project will cost only about $125,000 USD which is so reasonable compared to a similar sized building in North America. Wouldn't be great if this budget was met now so that the project could move forward without delay? Thank you for thinking about this and considering what you might be able to contribute to help build together in faith with the Malawian Brethren in Christ Church. We deeply appreciate your assistance at this time.

Concrete Plans

The rains have been a great help to completing the hardcore treatment. The next step is the concrete slab. There are many aspects to this phase. The first is a layer of ant or termite poison over the hardcore treatment, followed by a layer of DPM or damp-proof material. This will prevent the moisture from getting up into the concrete. The concrete slab will be ready to be poured after these items are accomplished. As the concrete is poured, wire mesh will be laid into the slab to provide reinforcement. After the slab is poured then the walls can be built. Just like the foundation, the walls will be brick built with steel-reinforced concrete columns and beams. Since a mixer will be necessary throughout the rest of the project, we are hoping to purchase a concrete mixer. This will be a huge blessing as not only will the mixer be available at all times, but also will end up saving time and money because of the cost to rent a mixer and pay for transport every single time. It is estimated at a mixer will be about $4500, and estimated that another $16,000 is needed to complete the concrete 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.