GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH, ZOMBA, MALAWI

JANUARY 2010 NEWS LETTER

By Percy C.

The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad (Psalm 126:3 NASB)

Dear praying friends and partners in the work of extending the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We end the year 2009 rejoicing and giving glory to Him who works all things after the counsel of His will. As we look back we can see the outworking of His hand to fulfil His gracious purposes in this part of His vineyard.

Evangelism

In our door-to-door and street outreach efforts we found that people in Zomba are generally thirsty for biblical truth. When they are invited to come and hear the preaching of the gospel on the Lord's Day they ask the big question, "Where do you meet?" Most people find it below their dignity to meet in a classroom for worship. Many people we invited promised to come, but they never did. Among the few that visited us from time to time God granted us to see some remarkable conversions.

Another challenge we faced in our outreach was having suitable gospel tracts. The majority of people here prefer to be spoken to in Chichewa and to read Chichewa tracts. Our English tracts were not very effective in reaching the hearts of many.

We ended the year with great hope that our challenges in outreach will soon be overcome. The Lord led us to launch two projects by which we trust that our present obstacles will become history. The first project is that of developing bilingual Gospel tracts. These are tracts bear the same message in English and in Chichewa on either side of the same sheet of paper. The second project is that of construction of a Church building for which more details are given below.

Building Project

God provided most wonderfully for the launching of the building project. When we applied for a church plot in March 2007 we were informed that there were no plots available in town and that we would have to wait for up to two years for one to be available. Some other churches who had applied had been waiting for over a year. However we committed the matter to our sovereign Lord and kept calling on the authorities from time to time to check on the progress . To our amazement, a plot was found for us in July of the same year. The condition was given to us that before we could start developing the plot we had to arrange with the electric company to redirect a power line that passed over the plot. This arrangement could not be accomplished until January 2008 at a cost of MK302,200 (just over US$2000). By that time the Lord had graciously supplied the church with US$10,000 for the building project and we were able to settle the fee with the electric company.

After that we prepared and submitted drawings for a church building that we could afford to construct with the funds we had at hand. The plans, however, were rejected by the Planning Committee in May 2008 as not "matching the standard of the site." The town had been upgraded to city status and the plot is on the main road near the city centre. The authorities want prestigious buildings to be constructed in the area. We had to redesign the plans four times before we could meet the required standard. The plans were finally approved in July 2009. The approved plans were estimated to cost us four times more than the funds God had already provided for us. We trust that having supplied the funds to get the project started, the Lord will also provide for its completion.

Following the approval of the building plans we got busy organising equipment and materials for construction. After facing a few challenges, the foundation of the building was set on Tuesday November 10, 2009 and approved by the building inspectors the following day. By the end of December 2009 the foundation walls had been completed to slab level. Back-filling and compacting in preparation for putting in the slab concrete is in its final stages at the time of writing this newsletter. The works done thus far have cost MK1,645,000 (about US$11,345), there by empting the coffers.

13th November 2009 - Foundation Digging (viewing from the north)

8th December 2009 - Building Foundation Walls

Back-Filling the Foundation Walls

Foundation Walls, South-Western Corner

Progress at the time of writing this newsletter

The completion of this project will be a big step in removing the major obstacle for multitudes of needy souls to come under a consistent preaching of the biblical gospel. Pray with us that God may soon supply us with the funds for the project to continue to its completion.

Pray also that we may have the funds to produce bilingual tracts suitable for reaching every member of the community with the gospel.

We are always grateful to the Lord for your prayers and support. May all honour and glory be to the name of our God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Percy C.