GSA Buildings & Grounds Team: Michael, Velson, Alex, Thomson, Tikondane, and Pilirani
Permit me to introduce you to the six hardworking men who make up our Buildings and Grounds Team. From left to right their names are Michael, Velson, Alex, Thomson, Tikondane, and Pilirani. These men are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of 55 acres of campus, the Academic building and the Girls’ dormitory. What makes their task even more daunting is that almost all of it is done by hand. Grass is slashed, not mowed, gardens are tilled, planted, watered and weeded by hand. During the rainy season, the weeds that wend their way up from the bricks are pulled by hand.
The Team takes pride in their work, knowing that how the place looks to parents, students, teachers and visitors is a testimony and it makes a difference! Please pray for their safety. Recently we were able to provide each of them with steel-toed safety shoes, but manual work comes with hazards of all kinds, and so we ask that you partner with us in praying that they’ll be safe in their labors.
Hiring people from the surrounding villages is another way that we can support our community. Most employment in the surrounding areas is in the form of casual labor, and so it is a blessing to be able to provide steady employment to these gentlemen.
Our Scholar of the Year!
Memory was GSA’s top performing student for the 2025-2026 school year!
I’ve written to you about Memory in the past. She is one of our scholarship students, and she is a gifted and talented young lady. I am pleased to announce that Memory was GSA’s top performing student for the 2025-2026 school year! Her academic performance was consistently at the top of the charts, and because of your generosity, she has a pathway ahead of her that is full of promise.
Here’s an interesting fact; did you know that 9 of our top ten students for 2025-2026 are scholarship students? This fact alone illustrates that our scholarship students are highly motivated to make the best of the opportunity that has been afforded to them. Thank you so much for your generosity. Your students do not take it for granted, and they deeply appreciate the opportunity you have given them!
Prayer and fasting are integral disciplines in worship in Malawi
Prayer!
Prayer at GSA is woven into the fabric of what we do. The picture above depicts our students during a recent day of prayer and fasting. In Malawi and much of Africa, fasting is an integral discipline in worship and it is always partnered with prayer. These students are using their assigned lunch time to pray, and when they pray corporately, they all pray, all at once. You have not genuinely experienced corporate prayer until you hear what God must hear- a chorus of voices, all bringing their own petitions and praise to God.
In Memory
In this edition we also remember my mother-in-law, Gail Holder. Gail went to be with her Maker on Monday, October 12, 2026. Her long life of 92 years was devoted to living out her faith as a mother, Pastor’s wife, Church administrative assistant, music teacher and member of the Board of WVNH Christian Radio.
She was a generous supporter of Good Soil Partners and had a heart for the young women of Malawi. This was best demonstrated by the arrangements she made such that after her death the three girls she sponsored at Good Soil Academy would be able to complete their education. She was much loved and will be sorely missed by many of us.
A Reminder about Need
Looking ahead. We see the need to begin building a commercial grade kitchen and 6 to 8 new classrooms during the summer of 2028. God has been with us at every turn and step, and so we are confidently able to depend on Him for our future.
For His Kingdom,
Dean
President, Good Soil Partners, Inc.
Donations can be made through this website or be sent to:
Good Soil Partners, Inc.
PO Box 1354
Concord, NH 03302