Jesus in Madagascar

How Radio Brings the Real Gospel to Madagascar

She met them in a coffee shop, a public place but away from family.

“When we met her, she had many questions, especially about salvation,” said Pastor Richard Ravelomanantsoa, the voice of Thru the Bible in Madagascar.

Ravelomanantsoa (“It’s very difficult” to pronounce, he said with a warm chuckle) has been presenting the Bible study program in the Malagasy language since 2003, so it’s not unusual for him to hear from listeners.

In this case the woman, whom we’ll call Anja, was from a Muslim family. That’s not the norm in Madagascar, an island country off the East Coast of Africa. The Malagasy people who make up the country are only 3% Muslim, according to Pew Research data from 2021.

But as part of that minority, Anja was wary of how her family would react to any show of interest in Christianity. So when she discovered Thru the Bible – broadcast on FM in Malagasy cities and on shortwave from TWR’s Eswatini transmitting station for remote areas – Anja listened with care. Unwilling to risk her family overhearing the program if she tuned in to the radio, she listened on her phone through earbuds. She pretended to dance so family members would think she was listening to music.

When Anja responded to the program earlier this year and asked to meet the speaker, Pastor Ravelomanantsoa was happy to set that up. He came to the coffee shop at the appointed time along with his wife, Theresa.

“When we met her, she had many questions, especially about salvation,” Ravelomanantsoa related. “‘How can I be saved?’ So we presented the gospel to her, and she committed to receive Jesus as her personal savior through prayer. After that, my wife does follow-up to disciple her. We don’t know yet when she can testify to her family members, but that time will come – that she will share about Jesus and how her life was totally changed by him.”

Three Months, 85 Saved

Although Anja’s story is especially memorable, it’s not isolated. From March to May of this year, Ravelomanantsoa’s visits to listeners resulted in 85 decisions for Christ.

It's part of a movement to Christ in Madagascar that Ravelomanantsoa has seen particularly over the past eight years, he said. That there is a need for such a movement might at first seem surprising. The same Pew Research Center data cited above report that 85.3% of the Malagasy population is Christian.

But that’s misleading, said Ravelomanantsoa, 67. He describes much of the Christianity in his country as nominal, a blend of Christianity and traditional beliefs. “It’s a big challenge to present the gospel to people who have this mixture of beliefs – syncretic beliefs.”

A Good Fit for the Malagasy

Thru the Bible is ideal for the Malagasy culture, Ravelomanantsoa said, because it speaks truth to those caught in syncretic beliefs.

“And I see the results from 2003 until now in 2026 – many changes, many changed lives all around Madagascar,” he said. “And when I visit some of them, they are very, very happy to see me. They say, ‘You are the one we hear on the radio!’ And they give testimony about how this teaching through Thru the Bible really changed their life.”

Ravelomanantsoa hears responses via phone calls, SMS texts and emails as well as letters, he said.

In Madagascar, the program is called Amin'ny Alalan'ny Baiboly and heard in the Merina dialect of the Malagasy language. Via TWR, Thru the Bible is heard in 68 languages worldwide, reported Harry Bettig, TWR’s liaison to TTB.

What has happened in Madagascar has happened in many places, Bettig said.

“I have had the privilege of meeting TTB listeners on five continents and have heard many wonderful testimonies over the years,” he said. “It is evidence that the Bible is indeed the unique, unchanging, powerful and convicting Word of God.

Listeners in Remote Places

Getting to listeners in person, as Ravelomanantsoa often does, can be challenging. The fourth-largest island in the world – over twice as large as the United Kingdom – Madagascar has only five major paved roads, Ravelomanantsoa said. Connecting with people who are accessible by those roads is not a problem. But many listeners are in remote places that can be reached only on foot. The walk through rain forests can take as long as three or even four days.

One place Ravelomanantsoa was unable to visit in the first half of 2026 was Madagascar’s second-largest city, Toamasina. Twin cyclones in January and February – one of which made landfall near Toamasina – made the area inaccessible at the time.

“But I received many letters from that area, from that town, and I could see a kind of spiritual hunger in these people, even after the cyclone – asking God to intervene,” he said.

How to Pray for Madagascar

God is intervening in Madagascar, and that makes this an opportune time for the global body of Christ to pray. For one thing, Ravelomanantsoa asked for prayer that Malagasy people would understand the difference between the real gospel of Jesus Christ and false gospels.

“For Madagascar, pray for an open door of great revival – for people to awaken to their need for Christ in their personal life,” he added. “And for my ministry, pray that many listeners will be totally changed by hearing God’s Word and that they will apply it to their everyday life.”

• Pastor Richard Ravelomanantsoa meets with a family of listeners in Malagasy.
• Pastor and Mrs. Richard Ravelomanantsoa in a recent photo.
• Pastor Richard Ravelomanantsoa has been broadcasting "Thru the Bible" in the Malagasy language since 2003.