Church responds after cyclone batters Africa

 

A mother and her four children stand by the remains of their home, which was destroyed by Cyclone Freddy in the Zambezia Province of Milange, Mozambique. The record-breaking cyclone wreaked havoc on southeastern Africa in February and March. Photo by Zenaido Castigo. 
A mother and her four children stand by the remains of their home, which was destroyed by Cyclone Freddy in the Zambezia Province of Milange, Mozambique. The record-breaking cyclone wreaked havoc on southeastern Africa in February and March. Photo by Zenaido Castigo.

Key Points:

  • According to the World Health Organization, Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 600 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar
  • The record-breaking storm’s duration was at least 36 days. United Methodists are reaching out to survivors as recovery continues.
  • With churches and schools serving as resettlement places, classes and worship services are on hold.

In mid-February, national and international media warned of a cyclone that was quickly moving toward southeastern Africa. However, no one knew that Cyclone Freddy would ping-pong along the coast, hitting Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi and uprooting trees and houses, killing people and animals, and burying and destroying anything that stood in its way.

The Mozambique Channel, on the east coast of Africa, has become a preferred pathway for cyclones that furiously strike the continent, after first striking Madagascar. 

Two stages of this natural phenomenon occurred in less than two weeks beginning in late February and affecting thousands of families in Mozambique’s South and Central provinces. In March, the tropical cyclone made a second landfall, devastating Malawi. 

People cross a flooded bridge in Milange, Mozambique, in the wake of Cyclone Freddy. “We have never experienced so much rain and heavy winds in just a couple of days,” said the Rev. Maria Joao Budula, Zambezia North District superintendent. “Everywhere we look, we see water and destruction.” Photo by Zenaido Castigo. 
People cross a flooded bridge in Milange, Mozambique, in the wake of Cyclone Freddy. “We have never experienced so much rain and heavy winds in just a couple of days,” said the Rev. Maria Joao Budula, Zambezia North District superintendent. “Everywhere we look, we see water and destruction.” Photo by Zenaido Castigo.

According to the World Health Organization, Cyclone Freddy has killed more than 600 people in the three countries. 

Church and government officials are calling for an urgent response.

“We have never experienced so much rain and heavy winds in just a couple of days,” said the Rev. Maria Joao Budula, Zambezia North District superintendent in Mozambique. “Everywhere we look, we see water and destruction.”

Zambezia North District shares the border with Malawi, where the most deaths occurred. Three chapels and a parsonage in the district were destroyed in Mongue, Coxane and Chiriri.

“Our pastor and his family were rescued by a church member in their home,” Budula said. “Roads and pathways are (impassable). Schools turned into resettlement centers to accommodate families whose houses were destroyed.

“We thank God for sparing our lives. We believe the same God will help us surface from the rubbles of Cyclone Freddy,” said Budula, who has served the district for the past three years.

To donate

To help with recovery efforts after Cyclone Freddy, you can give to United Methodist Committee on Relief’s International Disaster Response and Recovery through Advance #982450.

Zenaido Castigo, a member of Milange United Methodist Church and a local schoolteacher for more than 15 years, said his house was shaking, and he feared it would fall. “Like my neighbor’s house, mine is full of cracks on the walls. I have to re-nail the corrugated sheets to reinforce the roofing.”

Castigo is concerned about the students who attend school in Milange.

“This is the second week with no classes,” he said. “Some schools have turned into resettlement centers for families who lost their homes.

“As I look at the landscape of Milange, I can imagine that bridges and roads were either submerged or washed away by the fury of waters. The government and communities will have difficulties ahead in terms of mobility.” 

Castigo estimated that more than 50,000 people in that part of Zambezia Province are directly affected. The cyclone took out power lines, water system distribution channels, railroad tracks, roads and bridges.

The Rev. Antonio Fafetine, also a Zambezia district superintendent, noted, “Within Zambezia South, we have chapels partially or completely destroyed.” Seven provinces compose the Mozambique North Conference. 

“In Nicoadala, the Betania Local Church had its roof completely destroyed,” said Fafetine. “In Fitimela, we were building a new infrastructure and in an advanced stage of construction. But Cyclone Freddy deconstructed it.

“Our chapel in Nicoadala serves now as a resettlement center. People who lost their homes, or their homes are flooded, have found in our church a safe haven for their families.”

As churches and schools serve as resettlement places, classes and worship services are on hold. 

A huge tree is shown uprooted by Cyclone Freddy in the suburb of Milange, Mozambique, in the Zambezia Province. The tropical cyclone killed more than 600 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. Photo by Zenaido Castigo. 
A huge tree is shown uprooted by Cyclone Freddy in the suburb of Milange, Mozambique, in the Zambezia Province. The tropical cyclone killed more than 600 people in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. Photo by Zenaido Castigo.

The situation is similar in parts of the South Conference.

“Our infrastructures in Chicuque and Cambine suffered considerably,” said the Rev. Hortencia Bacela, connectional ministries director.

The Center of Hope and residences around Chicuque Rural Hospital were damaged or destroyed. Church and community members, Bacela said, “still today cry and claim for assistance due to Cyclone Freddy.”

Church leaders in both the North and South conferences are working to gather data on the estimated number of those directly affected. Cyclone Freddy also wreaked havoc in Madagascar, a mission field of the Mozambique Episcopal Area.

Subscribe to our
e-newsletter

Like what you're reading and want to see more? Sign up for our free daily and weekly digests of important news and events in the life of The United Methodist Church.

Keep me informed!

“Our relief intervention will include Madagascar,” said Respeito Chirrinze, the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s disaster management coordinator in Mozambique. He has been working with the agency to coordinate relief efforts.

UMCOR has provided two initial $10,000 grants to The United Methodist Church in Mozambique to provide emergency food rations and basic hygiene supplies for vulnerable people in Mananjara, Madagascar and the Zambezia Province of Mozambique. The agency also is working on larger-scale relief grants for Malawi and Mozambique.

“We look forward to partnering with UMCOR in support of those survivors,” Chirrinze said.

The Rev. Joao Damiao Elias, a United Methodist clergy and the Mozambique Christian Council secretary general, said he is concerned with what is happening in the country.

“Our immediate intervention was to sit before God in prayer,” Elias said. “We convened all Mozambique Christian Council church members for a solidarity worship service on March 11.”

The United Methodist Church sent donations of clothing and shoes, school supplies, funds and foodstuffs to the council.

“We are grateful for what we have received so far,” Elias said. “Not only United Methodists generously donated, but other denominations did as well.”

While statistics are not firm, more than 2 million people may be affected. Roads and bridges and private and public infrastructures were partially or completely destroyed.

“Our country and our conference in particular have suffered from these cyclones yearly,” said the Rev. Jacob Jenhuro, administrative assistant to the bishop in the North Conference. “Chapels, schools, parsonages and houses of our church members suffer every year from the effects of Mother Nature.”

Sambo is Africa Lusophone correspondent for UM News. News media contact: Julie Dwyer at [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.

 

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Annual Conferences
Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. (right), who leads The United Methodist Church’s Liberia Conference, walks beside Bishop James Boye-Caulker of the Sierra Leone Conference during the 192nd session of the Liberia Annual Conference, held Feb. 10-16 in Gbarnga, Liberia. Quire said the church was fighting for control of several sanctuaries in Liberia that were seized by members of the Global Methodist Church following the annual conference session. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, United Methodist Communications.

Fights erupt over West Africa church property

United Methodist leaders in Nigeria and Liberia are caught in legal battles with the new Global Methodist Church over the ownership of United Methodist properties.
Global Health
Christine Ntamubano expresses gratitude to The United Methodist Church in Burundi for providing clean drinking water closer to her home. Around 5,000 people in the region now have access to drinking water, thanks to a borehole installed by the church. Photo by Jérôme Ndayisenga, UM News.

Borehole offers hope to Burundi town

A drinking system, installed by United Methodists, provides access to water and contributes to the economic and social development of Ruburizi.
Bishops
The Rev. João Filimone Sambo of Mozambique receives the United Methodist  episcopal pin from Bishop LaTrelle Easterling. Sambo was elected bishop March 15 by the Africa Central Conference. Photo by Priscilla Muzerengwa, United Methodist Communications.

João Sambo elected as bishop

The Rev. João Sambo, an elder in Mozambique, was elected a United Methodist bishop on the 14th ballot at the Africa Central Conference.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved