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"