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!

Hi everybody!

Hope you've had a good week, ours has been full of action, hard work and 'challenges'.

On Monday we went to visit the local football team who are partly sponsored by Mary and Martin. Some of the team got to play football with them and Joe was talent spotted! The rooms were finished off and final touch ups made.

Tuesday was packing up and we left for Montasoa. On the way the boys gave us the first viewing of the song they had written about Madagascar and bought some instruments at the market. When we arrived Mamy, the friend from the previous camp had come unexpectedly to stay with us. That first night we sang a lot of songs together and played various instruments which is when we discovered this incredible demo tune on the keyboard that has got us through many difficult times since. It has been really fun living in a house together and working together to get things done as opposed to living in more of a hotel-like setting. The place is incredible. The house overlooks the lake which has a mountainous backdrop.

On Wednesday we had a rest and some went fishing, boat trips were running around the lake in the Barber's boat and there was a tour around the site. On the tour there was an exciting discovery, the biggest spider most, if not all, of us had ever seen about the size of a small person's hand. It was nicknamed Peter Parker and has gone down in urban legend since. The boys fed it things and it would wrap them up at lightening speed. We also visited the school and saw the kids for the first time.

Thursday was the first day of work in Montasoa. We went to Mary and Martin's site for their house in Kanana where they have built a community centre for the local people to do various activities such as working on sewing machines, library, computers, projector capabilities and doctor's surgery. The girls worked on the painting and ceilings whilst the boys made a playground out of various bits of wood and rope. This as you can imagine was a very exciting project for them and all the creative ideas came flooding out while they studied various kinds of knots. This kind of thing could never be done in England due to health and safety! We were pretty much given the freedom to build anything that we liked. When we got back home the guys decided to race across the lake (it must have been all the testosterone pumping). They had to swim the first part, run up the hill and then swim back. Joe was a clear winner but they all made it which was a bit of a relief!

On Friday some went to Kanana to continue the work and others stayed on site to help out with the kids at the school. After lunch the team went out on the lake on dingys, canoes, and swimming. The English camp arrived that evening and there were games and songs with a session in the evening.

Saturday had a very early start, with Dan and Katherine up at 5am to cook food. Joe and Dan also led a run and volleyball match before breakfast (which was rice!!!)

We had sessions, English lessons and games and then in the afternoon there were workshops such as a rapping/ hip hop song writing, painting, building toys, electronic lessons and dancing workshops. After this there was a volleyball match Malagasy vs. Brits (including of course the national anthems sung at the beginning!). Brits won by the way - we brought it home! Even though there were about 30 Malagasy and only 12 Brits! The evenings entertainment consisted of the performances from the workshops, including Vive (a friend of Mary and Martin) doing a traditional Malagasy dance.

Sunday was another early start but it was all finished by 6:30am so that the youth could go to their local church services!!! What kind of youth camp finishes at 6:30am!?? This was the followed by the best breakfast we've had since being here with real milk!!! (I kid you not!) and pain aux chocolat. Mmm. More messing about on the lake and rest followed by a trip to another animal reserve. There were snakes,

millipedes, lemurs, charmellions, geckos and crocodiles. Dan and Joe also conquered their fear by holding some of the snake (only if someone else had the head!!!). This is where we started trying to remake the film Jurassic park so watch this space! In the evening we had pizza and a movie so it turned into a completely rice-free day! This was a treat in itself.

Monday was yet another early start as some went to Kanana for more work and others stayed to do the school. David had been really sick in the night so some of the boys hadn't got much sleep. After the morning's work we went out in various boats to conquer this little island. When I say little, it was about 5 meters diameter! There was one tree on it and that's about it. On the way back Charlie was in the Topper sailing boat but there was absolutely no wind so he was way behind. There was a glorious sunset over the lake when we got back but Charlie still wasn't back. Bex went out in the powerboat but was out for a long time. She finally found him and he was pretty worried - thinking up Ray Mears style survival techniques! But all are back safe and David is better so things are well, especially since the stars are out tonight and they are glorious!

Prayer points are:
* Praise that Martin and Mary are well again
* The political situation in Madagascar as Independence day is coming up.
* David's illness and continued recovery (and that no others would catch it)
* Street kids camp (starting tomorrow)
* That the team would continue to grow and get on with each other, we really have been blessed in this respect so far so thanks for your prayers!
* Energy for everyone!

Day 4

Hello everyone!

 
It is day four of being in Madagascar and already I am feeling very at home. At the moment we are staying in Antananarivo which I think might be the capital. We are staying in a Scripture Union camp and have been decorating two rooms, painting, plastering, sanding, varnishing, the works! I myself have restored a door. We have also been to a Christian youth group where we had Bible studies and sang worship songs (some Malagasy and some English). It is quite hard learning the local language but they speak French too so I am just about getting by. Have been getting on really well with the team and built up some good friendships. Also made some good Malagasy friend called Nahrinda and Mamy. Have had some bad side-effects to the Malerone tablets. The other night I woke up from some horrid nightmares and started seeing people in our room in the shadows. Also got swollen gums but hopefully it will get better. Have lead worship a few times which has been great! Also went to a Lemur reserve today which was awesome and saw loads of different types of Lemur really close up. I got a few photos of King Julian too! We are going to Mantasoa either tomorrow or Tuesday depending on if Martin (one of the people we are staying with) gets better as he has been really ill! Please pray for him that he will get better. My friend Dan lost his passport on the first day but we found it today in my bag which is good although now I have been accused of trying to leave him here!

 
Hope all is well at home and hopefully you will be hearing from me again soon!

 
Thank you for all prayers and everything, God has already answered many prayers with people feeling unwell, the passport, the malerone side effects and changes in plans.