MADVENTURE '09

Sunday 28th June   I'm on Isle St Marie at the moment which used to be a pirate island! Have been snorkelling and saw Nemo and some other awesome fish and also today a few of us hired scrambler bikes and went exploring around the island motoring down dirt tracks and sandy, rocky paths! Felt just like Ewan McGregor or Charley Boreman going round the world! Was amazing! Tomorrow we go to a pirate graveyard and for an excursion around the island. Tis an amazing hotel and sometimes you can see whales swimming past and jumping out the water or spurting water out of their head holes. We are here for a few more days before we go back to mainland Madagascar and start the 14 hour drive back to Tana to get the plane home. God has been doing some amazing things here, ppl on the team have been healed from stomach ulcers, and we have had some amazing opportunites. The highlight was definately the street kids camp where we got an opportunity to spend days with some really cute kids. I found it hard at first but after praying to see them through Jesus' eyes my view of them completely changed. These children who were aged between 7-13ish (although they were all quite small due to malnutrititon) live lives where they either live on the street or are forced by their parents to beg instead of going to school. They are just like children from England though, wanting to play and alot of them just wanted a hug or a piggy back. I never thought I would get so attached to them but as they left I felt almost heartbroken! Not knowing what kind of home they were going back too, but the fact they were crying gave me the impression it wasn't a nice place. Despite feeling extremely low I know that the opportunity they had to go to the camp will be a memory that lasts for a longtime and even though the memories may fade I am really hoping the hope we gave them about how Jesus loved them will last and grow. I will start writing an article for the SGSG website and hopefully I will get an opportunity to email it to you before I get back. I don't know when this will be sent but I love you lots and am looking forward to seeing you when I get back!