Sep 8, 2021 Bricks and Blessings in Malawi

How many times have you started something, only to find out you were missing some pieces, or something goes wrong? Even with the best of planning, unexpected challenges can get in the way.

The South Malawi Conference developed a fantastic plan for constructing a church in Nantchengwa. The labor was easy to find. The church members were eager and invested in having a new building. They were committed to making bricks, moving sand and gravel, filling in the foundation, and providing food for the construction workers. 

They also carefully made a shopping list for the construction materials, seating for the congregation, Bibles, and hymnals. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of resources to build and stock a church.

That’s where QHM comes in! Thanks to the generous support of our donors to the chapel fund, there was enough money for everything on their list!

Once the funding was received, work on the new church started in July. The church volunteers followed their plan for dividing up the work and started the project with great enthusiasm.

But no project is without challenges and soon the team faced their first one.

The budget for construction materials was created using the current costs at the time. When they were ready to make purchases, the price was significantly higher due to rising inflation and depreciation of the Malawi kwacha against the dollar. They also discovered that the amount for sales tax had accidentally been left out of the budget.

As workers started to move the sand and gravel, they quickly realized that some helpful items had not been included on the shopping list. The sand and gravel could not be delivered right next to the construction site because there was no access road. Church members had to haul it almost half a mile. It would be easier to move these heavy items with wheelbarrows and shovels.

One group of volunteers was put in charge of making bricks. Malawi is famous for its red soil with high clay content that is perfect for bricks. Making bricks takes time and heavy-duty labor. It takes the right consistency in the blend with water, sand, and binding ingredients. The mixture is formed into the right shape and size, dried, and finally baked in a kiln. They carefully counted the bricks, including the last batch in the kiln. But, unfortunately, when the bricks were removed from the kiln, they discovered many of the bricks had broken. 

In spite of these setbacks, God is richly blessing this project and the church members who are diligently working. An access road to the construction site is finished, which makes moving materials much easier and faster. The foundation is complete and walls are going up! The community is so excited about the progress!

Keep this resolute team in your prayers!  We’ll share the next report from the South Malawi Conference as soon as we hear. We can’t wait to know how God is helping them overcome each of these hurdles and keep the building project on track.

---