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Narratives are fundamentals of storytelling. In Biblical literature, narratives do not only tell what happened (the context for God’s revelation), they also indicate why what happened matters (the purpose of history). Employing a narrative methodology and a hermeneutic of identification as an interpretive approach, this article explores the Hagar–Ishmael narrative in Genesis 21: 9–21 against the background of those who have been marginalized, exploited, excluded, trafficked, and sitting in a wilderness of despair, struggle, and mistreatment and are in need of survival. The exploration seeks to understand the narrative structure, plot, characters, and themes within the text. The Hagar–Ishmael position is too painfully close to the realities of many today. In this narrative account, one finds a pitiable scene of human suffering and misery, and yet it is bounded by divine mercy and compassion. The stream of helplessness and consequent hope of survival shows that, no matter how mistreated people might have been, they can rise above their “victimization” and embrace the promises of God by staving off defeat, shaking off despair, and vanquishing discouragement. Thus with a hermeneutic of identification, readers are encouraged to identify with the characters, situations, and experiences described in the biblical narrative.

Little is known about children's experiences and involvement in disaster preparation and recovery, in particular in low- and middle-income countries. Eliciting community members' perspectives on the 2015 floods in Tamil Nadu, India, may generate useful insights for improving services in low-resource settings. This qualitative study aimed to understand how children in Chennai experienced the floods, as reported by the adults in their community, and to explore children's involvement in disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts as reported from the adults' perspective. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews (N = 48) with family members (n = 36), and with staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (n = 12) who actively participated in relief and recovery efforts. We also conducted two focus group discussions (n = 14) with NGO staff about a year after the 2015 South Indian floods in Chennai, India. Six broad themes regarding children's experiences and behaviours during and after the floods emerged: (1) unexpectedness of the floods; (2) children's safety - barriers and facilitators; (3) parents' reactions - helplessness, fear and pride; (4) children's reactions - helping hands, fun and fear; (5) barriers to a return to 'normal'; and (6) a determination to be prepared for next time. Children and families were deeply impacted by the floods, in part owing to a lack of preparation, as perceived by the study participants. It was also clear from the data analysis that caste and socioeconomic status played an important role in the families' ability to evacuate safely. Helplessness on the part of the parents was apparent, as was children's concern over recurrence of the flood. Similarly, gender appeared to affect child safety, recovery and other outcomes such as continued education. Priorities for future efforts involve the development and evaluation of child-centred education about flood awareness, child participation and safety.