In the slums of Antananarivo, Madagascar, a faithful pastor has spent 22 years delivering hope to suffering children and families through gospel-centered mercy ministry and Food Paks. As he gently recites, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” his face shines like the face of an angel, reminding a malnourished, impoverished community that God has not forgotten them.
God is faithful even during disaster, and that truth was powerfully displayed after Tropical Storm Ana swept across Madagascar and displaced thousands of people from their homes through severe flooding and landslides. As local church partners of Children’s Hunger Fund quickly mobilized—purchasing food, delivering 2.7 tons of rice to shelters, providing blankets and clothing, and even holding a small church service—God opened doors not only to meet urgent physical needs but also to share the gospel and deliver hope to suffering children and families. In the midst of overcrowded shelters and heartbreaking scenes of multiple families sharing a single tent, a young man named Luca, who had recently converted to Islam, heard the gospel while waiting in a food line, removed the taqiyah that symbolized his Muslim faith, and began meeting regularly to study Scripture and seek a new, safer life for his family, reminding us that God is faithful even during disaster and uses gospel-centered mercy ministry to shine light in dark and uncertain times.
A new partnership is helping us at Children’s Hunger Fund deliver hope in Madagascar by equipping ten local churches in the capital city of Antananarivo to minister in the midst of both physical and spiritual poverty. As severe drought, Covid restrictions, and widespread subsistence farming make access to food difficult for many Malagasy families, we are training local pastors in gospel-centered mercy ministry so they can share the hope of Christ while meeting urgent needs in their own communities.