He joined David Livingstone on the Zambezi in 1861 as Bishop of Central Africa and Head of the Anglican Universities Mission.

Mackenzie died of malaria and the mission collapsed almost before it began; yet he helped create a vanguard for the abolition of the slave trade by means of Livingstone's much heralded "Commerce and Christianity".

The program focuses on five areas of interaction that are approaches to Learning, community and service, human ingenuity, environment and health and social education.

The program includes six subjects with three core parts: 1) creativity, activity and service; 2) extended essay; and 3) theory of knowledge.

[3] The school offers a wide range of intellectual, cultural, sporting and service activities aimed at providing the students with an experience beyond their academic development.

BMIS regularly competes with other schools in Lilongwe and further afield (often a 4–5 hour bus ride away) as well as international tournaments.

The local Ndi Moyo, Operation Smile and Tilinanu orphanage are a few projects that the children are currently actively working on.

The BMIS Primary School has 21 teacher-based classrooms and specialized rooms for art, music, reading/ICT and educational support.

In the Secondary School, facilities include 21 specialist teacher classrooms, four science laboratories plus a dedicated data-logging lab, and three Technology rooms.

The school also provides over 100 iPads for classroom research and encourages students to bring the own devices to connect to the network and Internet.

In 2014, security CCTV cameras were introduced into the key thoroughfares and gates around the school and a central PA system was installed.