After the cyclones earlier this year, churches in the south east of the Diocese need roof repairs or new roofs. The Diocese is hoping to raise $3,846 for roof and other repairs and re-painting at St Gregory’s, Fort Dauphin, and a further $2,769 for corrugated iron roofs on 20 small churches in Maroaloka and Ambovombe. 

Good news: There is a matching grant for $3500 offered to encourage you to help cover these costs.  This grant is available until November 1 – so, if you want to donate, please do so now!

Click here to make a donation from the USA   Please note that your gift is for church roofs in the box “Add instructions to the finance office”. Click here to make a donation from the UK Please note that your gift is for church roofs, specifying St.Gregory’s or small churches if you so wish. Contact us here to make a donation from elsewhere in the world

News from Canon Donné:

Dear friends in Christ,         

I am so happy to be able to give you news of the passage of cyclone EMNATI in the district that I manage (Fort-Dauphin). We thank the Almighty God because He protected us, even if there was some damage on the infrastructure of the church buildings.

The above photos are of the church under construction at Enato, where we could not avoid these damages because the roof was not yet completely fixed in place.

We hope and ask strongly for prayer from you, not only for us but for Madagascar because we know that it is not us alone that the cyclone has hit. Let us pray together so that God forgives us and deliver us from all these cyclones. There are already 5 tropical cyclones and depressions since the beginning of the year, and now there are rumors that there are 5 to come too.

We beg you to ask God together with us to spare us because we are already living in difficulty and with its cyclones we do not know where it will end. The roads are destroyed, hence the increase in the price of existing essential products such as sugars, oils, soap, etc….or cultivation and farm is destroy too.         

We thank you for our close collaboration and I hope it brings much fruit for the glory of God to bring back the lost.

We also pray all the time for you especially by seeing every day on the news about the war between Russia and Ukraine. We pray that God calms them down and that it does not widen globally.        

 Sincerely from your friends and Servant of God together.         

Rev Dieu Donné (Fort Dauphin District)

Please continue to pray for Madagascar as another possible cyclone nears the country. This is expected to hit the already cyclone-ravaged east coast of Madagascar on Tuesday morning.

An estimated 270,900 people need assistance in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai which hit Madagascar on 5th February. Around 21,000 people are still displaced, and 20,500 homes have been destroyed, flooded, or damaged.

Tropical Storm Dumako hit the north-east coast on 15th February, directly affecting at least 5,100 people.

Now the Government and humanitarian partners are closely following the evolution of a new weather system—Tropical Storm Emnati. Although Emnati’s trajectory and potential impact are still uncertain, it is continuing to intensify and could reach the stage of a Tropical Cyclone or Intense Tropical Cyclone ahead of landfall, according to MeteoFrance. See https://reliefweb.int/report/madagascar/southern-africa-cyclone-season-flash-update-no-7-17-february-2022 for more information.

Thank you for your prayers for Madagascar. We have heard news from various parts of the country.

Madagascar as a whole

50 000 people have been displaced and 10 deaths counted up to now. Most of the people of those regions found their crops destroyed.

Within the Anglican Diocese of Toamasina, 4 churches were destroyed and some Christians lost their homes. In the Diocese of Fianarantsoa, the cyclone destroyed 45 churches, 6 schools, 13 Pastor’s houses, and one part of the wall of the Cathedral. Again most of the crops are destroyed. These are statistics as of Sunday 6th and might increase once all damages has been evaluated.

Johary, Canon Donné’s eldest son, now lives and works in his birthplace, Anosibe Anala (east of Antananarivo) and reports that there was just a little wind and small amount of rain, and by Saturday night the weather was already clear. He sent a photo of the valley which was badly flooded by Cyclone Ana, which now looks much better:

Within the Diocese of Toliara

Rev. Berthier, living in the Cathedral Complex in Toliara town, tells us that the cyclone has brought helpful rain to Toliara and it is now cooler there.

Bishop Samy was able to go ahead with the confirmation service in St Luke’s, Ankilifaly, Toliara town today.

Canon Donné reports from Fort Dauphin – that the cyclone has not caused much destruction there – just small wind and rain.

Rev. Gaston in Ambovombe says “We are all fine, thank you so much. Here now there is rain and wind but not much. So it is bringing good for us in the Androy region. This rain is good for the crops of Androy, and it helps to increase the underground water levels too. We can also buy water more cheaply now, and some people don’t need to buy water because we can collect water from the roof in the blue water tanks.”

Rev Nolavy in Sakaraha tells us: “There is good rain now, and some strong wind, but no damage yet. It has been raining non-stop since yesterday till today.”

We ask that you kindly continue to pray for Madagascar and especially those regions which have been badly hit.

The island nation of Madagascar, already reeling from flooding rains from Tropical Storm Ana on January 22 and a devastating drought in southern parts of the nation, is bracing for the expected arrival of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai on Saturday.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicts that Batsirai will continue tracking west-southwest and gradually weaken, making landfall in east-central Madagascar around 12Z (3 p.m. local time) Saturday, February 5, as a category 2 storm. The coast there is moderately populated, and damage from storm surge and wind is likely to be extensive. However, the biggest concern from Batsirai will be its widespread rains of 8-16” expected to affect a populated area. Batsari’s heavy rain area may end up just south of the most heavily populated city in the country, the capital of Antananarivo, but the nation’s third-largest city, Antsirabe (population 250,000) will likely get rains in excess of 10 inches.

Unfortunately, Batsirai’s rains will mostly miss  the Diocese of Toliara in, southern Madagascar, where a multiyear drought has 1.6 million people at high levels of acute food insecurity.

Remembering how Jesus calmed the storm when out in the boat with the disciples, please continue to pray for Tropical Cyclone Batsirai to weaken before hitting Madagascar – and pray for rain to fall in the south where crops are growing nicely but need water to survive.

Many areas around the world are experiencing more turbulent weather than they are accustomed to dealing with. This is especially challenging for the poor.

Last week, Cyclone Ana hit central Madagascar, including the capital Antananarivo, on its way to mainland Africa, causing severe flooding and a river to break its banks. At least 48 were killed and 130,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to makeshift shelters. Johary, Rev. Canon Donné’s eldest son, sent this photo from Anosibe Anala where he now lives and works:

He says “The house where I live is at the top of the hill, so I think my family and I are safe but the other people down there need much prayer. There are some houses that we can’t see anymore, the cultivated areas are really destroyed, as are all the bridges from here to the the town where we import some of our needs like oil, salt, rice. So we know that prices will go up and some people will fall into famine.”

News reports indicate that there are fears that a second cyclone (Tropical Cyclone Batsirai) will hit the east coast of Madagascar this coming weekend. You can monitor the progress of approaching storms on the METEO Madagascar website

The Diocese of Toliara is several hundred miles south of the capital. Bishop Samy tells us that  it was 110 degrees F (43 degrees C) on Sunday and Monday in Toliara.  The heat is suffocating and burning in the south west particularly Toliara, Andranovory, Betioky and Ampanihy.   There is serious famine in Betioky.

It is crucial that this rainy season delivers adequate rain to prevent a return to drought-induced famine and to allow crops to grow, without there being so much rain that damage is done.

Please remember all these situations and the people of Madagascar in your prayers