Well, I have one week remaining in Zambia before heading back to Australia :( In preparation for my leaving, I spoke to Leonard, the Director of MMM Zambia, to see if Sylvia could rent my old unit while her Aussie visa is processed, and he agreed, so yesterday, we moved back to MMM.

My official role at Luyando has finished, which sucks as there are a few major things on the horizon. The school is making the move from Cool Bananas sponsored community school, to registering all the teachers with the Government. This means that the farm, Cool Bananas, won't have to pay teacher salaries, and Luyando Community Services (LCS) can retain the overall direction and constitution of the school - which is exactly what we want as it relieves the burden on Cool Bananas (CB). In addition to this we are trying to separate 100 hectares from CB for LCS, so that the school, church, shop and hammer mill are all on LCS land. Both of these initiatives are important as they ensure LCS's smooth running should something happen to the farm.

On the farm front, looking back through the books and talking to a few farmers, the last year or two have taught us a few valuable lessons. Firstly, mono cropping (growing only one crop) is dangerous - simple investment principals - we have put all our eggs in one basket. Even though we have 10 hectares of maize, 99% of our income is derived from growing and selling bananas. A few years ago we found that part of the plantation caught a nasty virus called Bunchy Top (BBTV). It is incurable and as it stands, we have lost half the plantation, and a half of what is remaining is suspected to be infected. This means our plantation is all but gone in the next 6 months. Over the last couple of weeks however, we have derived a battle plan to dig us out of this hole, and we have a couple of new business opportunities with local farms involving honey production, and Irish potatoes.

Sadly though - my time at CB and LCS has been short lived. Even though I am applying for a Zambian Work Permit, I have to be out of the country before Zambian Immigration will process it, and there is no guarantee that it will be granted. This means Australia will be Sylvia's and my home for the time being. I definitely want to return sometime (hopefully sometime soon), but for now I think I'll have to return to I.T. in Australia, as the move to Australia will pretty much finish the remainder our savings.

Still God is in control! Proverbs 16:17 states that man makes plans according to his heart, but it is the Lord that directs his footsteps. This is a big encouragement to me as if my ability to walk in God's will rested in my plan making - I never would've had the opportunity to come to Zambia in the first place. Even though we had planned to stay in Zambia, and have done all we can to try and ensure that, it seems as though for now Jesus wants us in Australia for whatever reason. So Australia here we come! We do hope though that we will return to Zambia to continue working with the community, providing what opportunities we are able to and serving the Lord to the fullest of our ability. The good news is, is that we don't really have to be in Zambia to do any of this - we can do the same things in Australia.