Greetings from Hell Ville (actual name) Madagascar  family, friends and followers of Sail and Serve,

God in His Sovereignty and amazing grace has redirected our course yet again and although I'd always wanted to visit Madagascar I was bound and determined to get Elin up and over the top of the roughly eight hundred mile long island , due to the far superior weather and sailing conditions, and then as quickly as possible to Richards Bay South Africa and well situated so that I could return to Sweden and my family whom I miss terribly. God had other plans, however, which unfolded the day before yesterday when the winds shifted and I felt the return of a vague but persistent feeling that perhaps we should stop at Nosy Be on the North West tip of Madagascar where several of our cruising friends had been or are currently. I resisted that nagging feeling, but told God "not my will, but thine, but show me clearly if that is your plan." Just after that prayer I used the Satellite Phone to check weather and while doing that received an email from Beatrice that the residency permit I had applied for in Sweden had been denied and that to work on it on my behalf she would need a signed letter issuing her power of attorney. She felt there was an urgency in this and ironically had also felt so when we were in Mauritius just over a week ago which led us to go to the Swedish Consulate there to fill out the application electronically. In what seemed to be a little more than a mere coincidence that Consulate was housed in the very office building of the boatyard where we had all the work done on Elin.

All that to explain what has brought me and Kostas, my 59 year old Greek sailing crew, to Hell Ville, which thankfully has not lived up to it's name, but has proven rather to be a colorful and exotic representation of this unique country and it's beautiful people. Kostas left the outskirts of Athens at 18 moved to America, got a degree in aeronautical engineering and wound up doing three 8-12 year stints with NASA first working on the international space station and then the Mars space suit. This chapter of his life finds him traveling around the world by bicycle and sailboat. He left Greece in June of 2014, the same month we moved aboard Elin in Florida, and made his way all the way to Singapore and from there sailed to Mauritius, where I met him, on a catamaran.

In His omniscience God saw that we would need to come to this amazing place not only so that I could send the aforementioned letter, but so we could refuel, buy some more fresh fruits and vegetables and bread and most importantly to recharge the satellite phone which has a 12V charger cable on the boat which I am unable to locate despite extensive searching. In the movie Nim’s Island the agoraphobic author played by Jodie Foster overcomes her fear of leaving the house and finds herself in a wild and exotic locale where she is suddenly and unexpectedly whisked away by a young savior who excitedly and repeatedly says to her "I know what you need; I take you there! " 

In Hell Ville Romeo is THAT GUY, and he arrived at high speed by skiff before we'd even set anchor and has been such a God send ever since, helping us through all the cumbersome formalities of checking in with the various authorities, getting fuel, provisions,  SIM card for the cell phone so I could photograph and email the letter to Beatrice and can also send this email. Kostas even went out to a nightclub with him last night and spent the night at his house and I went there this morning and was able to charge the almost dead satellite phone with a different charging cable than the one we use on the boat.

I wish I could send the video I took today as we careened through the center of the bustling village by taxi, whizzing by women with baskets on their heads, babies on their backs, ox drawn carts and cars with big baskets on the roof with eight or ten live ducks in it and of the open market where there are rows and rows of fresh fruit and vegetables and fish and fly covered meats, presumably less fortunate oxen then the ones drawing carts. To that point when I am suddenly and profusely bombarded with lots of exotic input, as I was yesterday when we arrived, I typically find myself leaning towards the familiar, and so it was that Kostas and I found ourselves in a cafe with free Wifi eating a "cheeseburger" and drinking a coke without having really thought about it. Based on the toughness of that meat I'd bet we were consuming some of the less fortunate beasts, but now that I reflect a little maybe they received the greater mercy. 

I just wanted to provide the briefest of snapshots of our ongoing adventures and send out a long overdue great big "Thank You" to so many of you for your prayers, support and well wishes.  Josh and Gabriella are absolutely thriving in Sweden in school and with the Youth group at Immanuel Kyrkan, the church Beatrice grew up in, and Beatrice is so happy to be home and be able to help out her parents during a significant season in their lives. There is potentially a position for her with Open Doors Ministries which we would really appreciate your prayers for. Please also pray for my Residency Permit (which seems important even though right now my planned stay in Sweden is only about 3 1/2 months) , for Kostas and for a smooth sail to South Africa and a good safe place to leave Elin once we're there. Please let us know what is new in your lives and how we can be praying for you. 

May God Bless You Abundantly! 

 Kenny, Beatrice, Joshua and Gabriella