2012 - Target Year!

Happy New Year to you! A brand new year has begun and this is the year that the BIC Church in Malawi has targeted to see the Maone Center completed. The hope is to have a grand opening in November of 2012. The above pictures are of the structural columns which are now finished up to the design height for the main walls. Great to see the continued progress including the laying of the brick exterior walls up to the window sill level.

May the Lord bless the work of the hands that are building this ministry center. May many offer their support as funds are needed to buy the balance of the materials. May this be the year to celebrate the opening. All the best to you as you begin this new year too and what might be in store in your lives. Thanks for your continued interest in encouraging the church in Malawi.

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.