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Saturday, October 14, 2017

Footsteps to Joy and Bread of Life Malawi



Footsteps to Joy

Dear pastors, friends and supporters
I have been back from Malawi, Africa for a few weeks, trying my best, but unable to catch up with what needs to be done.
The Malawi people are in a difficult condition and are hungry for the hope of Jesus Christ. They look forward to hearing and receiving the gospel message
secondary Christian school. Through funding from WITHIN Malawi, Pastor Joseph has begun construction on a three-building Christian School for the Sharp Valley, Ntcheu area. It will be a one hundred student facility. Pray with us for the school to have a library and computer lab in place when it opens in September, 2018.


                                      The first of the three-building Christian school
  
Praise the Lord!
We have been able to purchase a two-acre plot of land. The property is located in Monkey Bay which is the center of a heavy Muslim area (not radical Muslims). To have a central Baptist work there will help Pastor Joseph and the ministry workers to bring the Word of God to the area with a permanent presence.
Prayerfully, we are looking to build a church on the property, and down the road, a Bible Institute. 


Church Roof repair. A church here has begun supporting the work in Malawi with $200.00 per month. pastor Joseph will use the money to replace four existing grass roofs with metal roofs.  I saw the roofs and they are in desperate need of replacement. It will cost about $900 for each roof.  This includes the timbers for the roof support which must be replaced also as the existing ones are not sufficient and are termite infested. The new timbers will be treated where they contact the walls.  
                                   Pastor James’ church roof in need of repair

Budgeting. The Footsteps to Joy board here in the US has been working with Pastor Joseph and the Bread of Life Baptist Ministries board in Malawi. Our goal was to establish operating budgets for the ministry work there. They are on-board with it and are very willing and doing their best to make it happen. A few months back we hired an accountant from Balaka to train the treasurer in using Excel. We have established monthly and annual budgets with all spending areas identified. They are required to turn in receipts for any and all money spent-without going over budget. This system is necessary for transparency. the expenditures of the ministry must be recorded and identified-as we do here in the US. We are in the beginning stage of this process. Please pray for it to become a permanent working system.

                     Malawi ministries “Bread of Life” board of directors
  
I am encouraging Pastor Joseph to send monthly updates to keep us all updated on the work there. Communication, however is somewhat difficult. Most of the time the internet is not working or is to slow to function. We are working, however, to have an update each month.
We are looking forward to being part of the Missions Conference at Vonore Baptist Church in Vonore Tennessee in October. It will be a blessing to be able to display the ministry effort in Malawi at a supporting church.

I want to thank everyone for your pray support and financial funding for God’s work in a needy area of the world.
Yours are the footsteps that are helping to bring the Joy of the Lord to souls in Malawi Africa.

We can be contacted by email at: footstepstojoy@gmail.com or phone: 828 777 3835
Donations can be sent to: Footsteps to Joy
                                      145 Autumn View Ct 
                                       Fletcher, NC 28732

Your brother in Christ
Harry Schenimann

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