letter from Madagascar
Up to 2 million people needing food
Jo Lamb
Date posted: 29 Apr 2026
Thousands of vulnerable households in Madagascar are still struggling to mitigate food shortages and rebuild their lives after failed harvests and Cyclone Gezani devastated the island in February 2026.
An early food crisis warning was issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) on 5 March, estimating that between 1.5–1.99 million people will need humanitarian food assistance during the peak lean season from February to May 2026. The report suggests that many families are trying to cope by consuming dangerous wild foods, selling productive assets and incurring spiralling debt. Nearly 80% of Toamasina – Madagascar’s main port – was destroyed when gusts of up to 167 miles per hour ripped through the country’s second largest city on 12 February. According to the UN, 478,000 people have been affected, over 25,700 homes flooded, and 781 classrooms and 30 health facilities damaged. At least 59 people lost their lives. Response efforts began immediately, with aerial surveys and essential medical supplies delivered by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) – the world’s largest humanitarian air operator – in partnership with NGOs, medics and local churches.
Sometimes evangelism begins with roast chicken
Alistair Chalmers
Date posted: 18 Mar 2026
There is a front door in almost every Christian’s life that is far more strategic than we realise.
We pray for revival in our nation. We long for gospel advance in our towns. We want deeper discipleship in our churches. And all the while, God has given many of us a dining table.
Artemis astronaut's Christian faith
en staff
Date posted: 1 Apr 2026
The pilot of the pioneering space mission Artemis II is a committed Christian.
Victor J Glover is a member of the Church of Christ, a grouping of conservative Protestant congregations mostly found in the USA.
news in brief
Uganda: Evangelist murdered
A Christian evangelist in Uganda has been murdered by alleged Muslim attackers – who pretended to be motorcycle taxi drivers – after he preached at a Christian event. Alfred Kitenga was killed in Kawaala, Wakiso District while on his way home from the event with his wife.
Morning Star News reports that Kitenga was assaulted and stabbed at around 9:30pm by attackers who claimed to be Christians who had also been at the event.
Digital discipleship: Following Christ in an age of screens
Alistair Chalmers
Date posted: 13 Apr 2026
We are the first generation in history to carry a portal to the world in our pockets at all times.
With a swipe, we can access news, entertainment, theological debate, and the curated lives of thousands. The digital age has not merely changed how we communicate – it has reshaped how we think, desire, worship, and relate.
To save humanity, we must return to humility!
James Burnett
Date posted: 13 May 2026
Jesus says: "The meek shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5). But how realistic is this Sermon on the Mount prediction for the contemporary scene?
The stage-boards of world power creak under the hefty tread of “strong men” (Donald Trump AI-imaged himself as Jesus on Truth Social and later eschewed messianic similarities as fake news); the tech industry is supine to Elon Musk who is the richest person on earth with possibly a genius IQ and certainly a hedonistic outlook; while primary school children in the UK are taught the three “s's” of western success: self-interest, self-reliance, and self-promotion.
Two complementary models of planting
Andy Lines
Date posted: 10 Mar 2026
As I look back on five years since the official launch of the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), it has been fascinating to reflect on the way our ministry has developed under the Lord’s guidance. In particular I’ve been able to discern two complementary models of mission through church planting.
In 2017 I was appointed as “Missionary Bishop to Europe” by GAFCON, to promote a Biblically-faithful Anglican movement in our region as an alternative to alignment with Canterbury. What is a “missionary bishop”? To summarise, we could say that it is a leader who gathers faithful individuals and emerging congregations into an Anglican fellowship and polity in a designated area. And it is to actively instigate the establishment of the church, ordaining and pastoring clergy, linking the new local movement with orthodox Anglicans globally, under the leadership of the GAFCON senior archbishops.
The pain of loss and heartbreak
Mike Wakely
Date posted: 4 May 2026
I have been married for 53 years, a happy and fulfilling life in partnership with a wonderful lady from Sweden. I met her on a summer Christian mission in France in 1967. We were going door to door selling Christian books and sharing the gospel. We were married in Sweden in April 1972, our name and the date of our marriage engraved on our simple gold wedding rings.
My wife fell ill in 2022 and commenced a slow decline in health both in body and mind. I became her full-time carer. We had made our vows “in sickness and in health” and it was my privilege to look after her, learning new skills in shopping, cooking, gardening, cleaning and many other household chores. The specialists and nurses of the NHS were superb. We installed a stair lift and I bought a bath lift, but she became weaker until one day (on my birthday) she fell and broke her leg. It led to five weeks in hospital and she finally died on 7 October 2025.
everyday theology
Deceptive appearances?
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 3 May 2026
According to the Gospels, the Pharisees had a remarkable ability to look like what they were not.
The crowds around them might have feared them, but they seemed convinced of their orthodoxy and piety. And yet, while the Pharisees looked like pre-eminent people of Scripture, in reality they trampled on it and ignored its truth. While they appeared devout, they did not believe in their own need for redemption. They trusted in themselves more than God. To these faults they added a third, which was both crucial and almost imperceptible: they did not believe in their own need for a new birth.
Caffeine and Kingdom?
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 25 Mar 2026
Can coffee fuel evangelism? If it’s Tommy’s Coffee, then “yes!” say directors Luke Porter and Joel Barwick, who founded the kingdom-building coffee ministry last year.
The coffee cart, based in St Thomas’ Church, Newcastle, first started serving customers in May with a mission to simultaneously caffeinate and connect with the city’s residents.
A Passion for Life ignites church outreach
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 23 Mar 2026
More than 340 churches are taking part in a nationwide evangelistic mission around the Easter period.
Churches as far north as Thurso, Scotland and as far south as Jersey (plus a church in France, en has been told!) are participating in Life’26 – facilitated by outreach organisation A Passion for Life (APFL) and covered in detail in both the January and February print editions of en.
Ukraine: Concerns that church attacks 'are not random'
Ryan Burton King
Date posted: 25 Apr 2026
Since the beginning of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly, intentionally, and shamelessly targeted civilians. In a country that has some of the largest (and growing!) Christian communities in Europe, it is inevitable that churches will be affected along with everyone else.
However, there is significant concern that attacks on churches – particularly Protestant evangelical churches – are not random or merely the product of indiscriminate assault.
Tributes paid to Christian journalist Andrew Carey
Chris Sugden
Date posted: 23 Apr 2026
Tributes have been paid to journalist Andrew Carey, who died from pancreatic cancer earlier this year. He was previously editor of the Church of England Newspaper.
David Virtue, of website Virtue Online, said: “I first met Andrew at the 1998 Lambeth Conference where the ‘infamous’ Lambeth resolution 1:10 (on sexuality) emerged and forever changed the course and direction of the Anglican Communion.
news in brief
AI misquotes Bible
Church leaders who use AI to help with sermon preparation and Bible studies have been warned that AI often misquotes the Bible.
Bobby Gruenewald, CEO of leading Bible app YouVersion, said “The best [AI] model with the best performance, with the most popular versions of the Bible that are most indexed, misquotes Scripture at least 15% of the time. Some of them as much as 60% of the time.” He said YouVersion would only introduce AI features if it had the confidence it could do so “safely” and “with a level of accuracy and integrity”.
everyday evangelism
It’s almost Life ’26!
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 7 Feb 2026
With the countdown in full swing to this nationwide gospel outreach (see more via en article here), Gavin Matthews spoke to Nick McQuaker from A Passion for Life about what to expect and how to get involved.
Reflecting on the 'Hand in Hand' conference
Matt Wan
Date posted: 16 Apr 2026
With over 700 children’s workers gathering at the recent Hand in Hand conference 2026, there was a clear buzz and excitement about what God is doing in the lives of young people across the UK, as conference delegates came together to explore the theme of “Kingdom Builders”.
Hand in Hand describes itself as "the national children and family ministry conference." Its website says: "For over 25 years the Hand in Hand conference has been strengthening children’s and family ministry in this nation working in the areas of children’s and family ministry in church, whether a professional or volunteer. It aims to provide Biblical insight, basic training, deeper insight into new thinking and practical ideas for the ministry as well as times for prayer, worship and personal refreshment. Over 50 organisations, ministries and denominations come together with some of the leading practitioners in our nation to offer sessions and exhibit their resources at each conference."
faith and life
The challenge of diversity
Debbie Dickson
Date posted: 15 Apr 2026
One of the joys of arriving for our Sunday morning service is seeing who is on the welcome team. It is, I think, a feeling which reflects the growing cultural and ethnic diversity in our churches; for sure, there will be a mix, but where might the welcomers be from? Hong Kong? The UK? Nigeria? Iran? India?
Firstly, this growing diversity means we have the potential to reach a wider variety of people unfamiliar with the church or the Christian faith. This is reflected in my own experience when, a few years back, some Hong Kong Christians invited a neighbour – who was not a Christian – to a Chinese New Year party organised by my church. Though not a believer, he was an excellent calligrapher and kindly made decorations for the party – red banners of Bible verses in Chinese characters. Many others have found a warm welcome which has been instrumental in their wanting to know about Christ.
Reflections on life, possessions and eternal significance
Andrew Drury
Date posted: 14 Apr 2026
There is a somewhat apocryphal tale of two men talking at a reception after a funeral. One man asks the other, “What did our friend leave?” The reply was: “Everything”.
We can be so eager to acquire transitory things – money, possessions, reputation, status and the list is endless – that we forget that this planet is only temporary in the light of eternity. It is easy to fall into the mentality once expressed in a bumper sticker: “The person with all the toys wins”.
How would you describe your prayer life? 'Full on'...
en staff
Date posted: 9 Apr 2026
Ten Questions - with Andy du Feu
Andy du Feu has taught at Moorlands College since 2011, currently serving as Principal and CEO. He led a Congregational church in Oxfordshire for seven years, while his formative missions experience was working with children and young people in the inner cities of Camden, NJ and Wilmington, DE, in the US.
1 How did you become a Christian?
a Jewish Christian perspective
'Jewish evangelism is crucial to world evangelisation'
Joseph Steinberg
Date posted: 8 Feb 2026
Romans 11 confronts us with one of Scripture’s great paradoxes: God brings life out of death. Israel’s stumbling became salvation for the nations, and one day Israel’s restoration will mean “life from the dead” for the whole world. This mystery is not a theological puzzle – it is a mission challenge to the church.
Paul writes that God allowed Israel to experience a “spirit of stupor”, and many ask why. Why would the people chosen to be a light to the nations be blinded to the Messiah? Paul gives the answer: “Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles – to make Israel envious.” Israel’s loss became our gain. Out of their rejection came reconciliation. Out of death came life. It is the pattern of the cross itself.
What makes you erupt in praise?
If you had to finish this sentence: “I find myself erupting into praise when…” I wonder what you’d say. Possible answers might include: “I see a glorious sunset”, “I hold a newborn baby”, “I read an inspirational passage of Scripture” or, in my case, “Reading FC finally gain promotion back to the Championship”. Yes, I know, I’m shallow.
However, it’s less probable that you’d respond: “When I realise the enormity and extent of my miserable sinful state and sordid past”, but that’s what catapults Paul into his outburst of worship in the opening chapter of his first letter to his spiritual son, Timothy. Paul provides a comprehensive but not exhaustive list of his past failings in verse 13, cataloguing blasphemy, violence and the persecuting of others among his transgressions, leading him to conclude that he viewed himself as the “worst of sinners”.