What it means to start a church in Malawi, Africa

Over the last few weeks since my return from Malawi; many have asked what it takes to start a church like I did. Well there are several steps that must be taken and I will be glad to outline them with little comment. Make sure that terminology is the same, words have meaning especially in Malawi and working with the nationals who do this type of work will cut down confusion. Decide what it is you want to do, plant a church or build a church. Planting or building are two different things and need clarity of understanding in the beginning. In all cases planting a church will come first and can lead to building as follows. Whatever the decision you will need to:
1. Select an area or village that has had or will have one on one soul winning. Depending on the response will determine the next steps. If the response is good and the village Chief or Elder wishes a church in the village check with interpreter and sponsoring agency (Victory World Outreach Ministries) for directions in the next phase.
2. If all responses are in the affirmative pick an evening that you will show the “Jesus Film” and make plans to spend a few days informing the village and surrounding area of the upcoming event. Depending on the circumstances this can be done with the help of the Chief or his/her designated representative and is also a good time for more soul winning.
3. It is very possible that attendance will reach in the many hundreds of villagers and hundreds will accept the Lord as their personal saviour, this is where you will be planting a church. If this is all you can do you have done a good work but it is only the beginning. Someone must follow up and come back repeated times to help the new Christians to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. This is where many of the hundreds of churches are right now in Malawi. They met in a makeshift hut or in a home or in the great outdoors and learn more of Jesus and discipleship.
4. If the Chief wants a building in his village then a whole lot of things must take place in order for it to be accomplished such as where do we get the land to build on? Is it to be a gift or must it be paid for? If a gift, all is well and the trip to the district Chief will go easy, if it must be paid for then deciding on a fair price with the knowledge that Americans cannot own land in Malawi needs to be recognized and dealt with.
5. Most churches start with a very basic design of a pole hut with a grass roof (see pictures) and this will do till funds can be raised for a permanent brick structure of a size to accommodate the needs of the village
6. The cost of a building will vary according to the size and what will be needed. A good rule of thumb is that a basic building with brick walls and cement floors with steel roof cost around $2000/2500, a larger building with raised platform for pulpit area with finished walls and cement pews and a baptistery will bring the cost over $3000.00 (see pictures) and if you want water and electricity then the price is what it is. Most of the work can be done in a very short time using local workers and members of the church but this should be worked out well in advance of starting construction and will in all likelihood be done in the absence of who ever started the project.

It is sometimes asked why the sponsoring church or individual would or should pay for the construction of a church building, isn’t it enough to start a church and then turn it over to the congregation to pay for the building. That is a fair question but can be answered and will be answered your first time in country. The people who live in the villages live day to day by subsistence farming and have NO money period. If you were to have a church of 300 members there would be no way for them to come up with $2000-3000 ever. The best you can hope for is that after teaching they understand tithing and that enough could be raised to feed and care for a Pastor. That is why after years of planting and building churches many still have only a pole hut building to meet in. Some others have brick walls and straw roofs but lack the funds to put on a steel roof or cement floor, when you have no money and no way of getting any then someone outside the village has to help if a church is to be planted and/or built.

For further information on this topic and what you can do to help please contact Dr. Gardiner Gentry Or W. Charles Miller by sending a comment to the email: victoryworldoutreach@yahoo.com