Akayla my PBG

This week I received one of the best birthday presents ever. My parents are so wonderful and supportive and they have given me a new puppy for my birthday.

She is a four month old Cane Corso Italiano.  This breed is known to be great protectors of both their people and their property. This is the reason I call her my 'PBG' (personal body guard). She will be a great asset when we move to the farm and even now as I am traveling back and forth.

She looks like a panther but she is a big lovable teddy bear.

Now, meet Akayla.

Where things are at.

Wanted to update briefly where we are at. I was informed this morning that the map and the diagrams are now done. Unfortunately the one who promised to bring them to Ndola has not managed to do so.
It is quite far to drive to Mpika just to pick them up but if other arrangements can not be made it may be our only option..... We will see what can be arranged.

It seems my blogs are very sparotic these days due to the time it takes to get this paperwork moving so I was thinking of including other things instead of just Sonshine happenings.

We had a visitor with us for two weeks in August.... One of my little buddies from Grace Academy came for a stay during school holidays. He was very well behaved and Mercy really enjoyed having him around. They went on long walks often.

Also wanted to let people know Mercy and I have been invited to join a team from Grace going on a mission trip to Thailand next year. It is quite exciting and will be an excellent opportunity to learn and maybe even make some contacts for future trips with Sonshine.

Thank you to all those who continue to pray for us and support us even as we are struggling to get Sonshine going. May God bless all of you.

Please pray for continued guidance and that God would help us find the right people to work with.

An Interesting Find

As we were walking on the farm we came across something I found quite interesting.
It was a shelter made of grass where someone used to live. Certain farmers cut down trees and line them up and burn them because they believe it fertilizes the soil. They plant in this soil only for one season and then move to another location. This site is what is left of one of those farmers that has now moved on.

This is the inside. You can see a bed on the left and the fire pit for cooking in the middle. 

Beacons and Demarcation

We have made some progress. Praise God for that!!!
We were able to do the demarcation of the land and put the beacons showing the boundary.
The details of how much we have been given will be known once the maps are done.

Nothing is ever staightforward

We traveled to Mpika again last week. This time the information we were given concerning the cost of the land and the procedure for the paperwork was different from what we were told last time.
I don't know why nothing is ever straightforward.
But we praise God anyway and keep moving forward step by step.
We are hoping the paperwork will be able to be done in good time but please pray for us in that area.

We did go to the land and although we didn't have time to do much we did clear a small area so at least we could park off the road and turn around.........

Trade Fair

Yesterday there was an international trade fair here in Zambia.
It is a fun time for kids to go and have their faces painted, buy small toys, hats and clothes and for adults to find out about the different companies and businesses.
We attended and I asked around about hammer mills, and solar paneling. Also I was asking questions about submersible pumps.
It was good to get an idea of the various costs.
It was very crowded though!!!!!

Mpika

We traveled to Mpika to look at land last week. It is a beautiful place.
It looks like this is the direction God is leading us.

We will work on the paperwork first.

Here are some pictures of the new land.