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.