Phil's ZMS Newsletter - April 2009

I’ve been back in Zambia for over five weeks now. It was very good to meet up with many of you in the UK through the various church visits I made. I would like to thank everyone for the amazing support we now receive for ZMS and the work in Zambia.

It was good to get back to Covenant College and be encouraged again by the work that has progressed completely in my absence. Special mention must go to Bilison and Matthew for their faithfulness in continuing this work. Praise God for all these mercies.

Covenant College Farm

Dave Ellerton from my home church in Cambridge came out shortly after I arrived and we travelled together to CC. Dave is an agricultural advisor in the UK and came with a lot of information, knowledge and amongst other things a pH tester!

Bilison and Matthew soon got to grips with this and can be seen testing the soil in the garden. In FGW we teach that incorporating lime into the soil is important for growing maize. Both fertiliser and rain are acidic so the soils are generally the same. This was proven as we tested all the fields and found that where we had been ploughing and not adding lime the pH was far too low for good maize production.

Dave spent time inspecting all the crops with Bilison and Matthew and giving advice on various pest and disease controls.

Various farming groups have also been to visit the trial fields to see FGW and the difference it makes to the yields. We estimate that more than 600 people have visited over the last three months.

The past rain season has been a good one, it started on Nov 18^th last year and the last rains fell on the 31^st March. All the crops look very good and have prospered in these conditions.

The sunflower seed has been harvested, dried and is now in bags in the store. The groundnuts are ready to dig up; these will then be left on the field to dry before gathering in. Later they will be shelled and sold in the market.

The fields of maize look exceptional and the cob size is good. Another two weeks and they will be dry enough to harvest. The corn will then be shelled from the cobs and each trial portion weighed. We eagerly await these figures so that we can use this information to advance the teaching of ‘Farming God’s Way’.

Covenent College: New Classroom

The new classroom at Covenant College was finished in time for the new term that started in February, and is now being put to very good use. The students enjoy the comfort of sitting ‘inside’ rather than the old lecture hall which had open sides. The Trustees of CCZT gathered in the same room for its annual meeting held on the 17^th and 18^th April and CEM (Christian Education Ministry) held a two day conference for the teachers of the Community schools supported by CEM.

Prayer Points:

• Praise God for the bountiful harvest
• Pray for Bilison and Matthew and their families
• Pray for all the teaching given to the students, teachers and farmers
• Pray that all the visitors will be given the faith to take up FGW

Thank you for your continued support,

Love Phil