Ranavalona

Missionary work began in Madagascar in the 19th century under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. Welsh missionaries, David Jones and David Johns, did some great work there . . . the church grew to around 1,000 members during their time there. However, all the missionaries were expelled from the island when a new queen, named Ranavalona, came to the throne. She then persecuted the church for nearly 30 years. By the time of the queen's death . . . the church numbered 7,000 members! Ranavalona had killed almost 1,000 Christians, yet during her rule the church had grown to 7,000 members. How can this be? How could this happen? One of the Christian women who went through the persecutions gave the answer: "The Queen does not know that the best teacher of all, the Holy Spirit, is still with us."