Green Door Housing

Build a home for a family in need.

The cost to build a home in Malawi is $3,000. 

About the Program

In Nsanganiza, Malawi, most houses are made of sun-dried mud bricks and mud mortar, with grass and plastic for roofing. Rats live in the thatched roofs and ants and snakes traverse across the dirt floors. Insect bites lead to malaria and other diseases. Without lockable doors, thieves enter with ease.

Each year, seasonal downpours prove the most threatening. When it rains, many stand through the night to avoid sleeping on muddy floors. Leaks ruin their belongings and stored food. When the rains are heavy, walls often wash away, and the entire house can collapse.

In 2019, Cyclone Idai delivered devastating rainfalls to southeastern Africa. In Nsanganiza, Malawi, we witnessed homes reduced to a pile of mud or a single standing wall. Children died when roofs suddenly collapsed in the middle of the night.

Soon after, we began our Green Door Housing program – building sturdy and reliable homes. We hire skilled, local workers where construction job opportunities are otherwise scarce, providing a source of dignified work and a means of income.

They build homes with cement blocks or bricks, wood trusses, and tin roofs for sturdiness. Our local committees choose home recipients–often orphans and widows, the disabled, and the elderly. If they are able, new homeowners help with construction along with local construction crews that provide many men with gainful employment.  

Many attend our home stewardship classes.

When the house is complete, we hold a dedication ceremony that shares about Christ’s love to the homeowners and community.