pray for madagascar madagascar is the world’s 4 th largest island with a reported population of...
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Pray for Madagascar
Madagascar is the world’s 4th largest island with a reported population
of around 23 million. The large majority of these are subsistence
farmers growing rice and other crops.
There is evidence of increasing affluence amongst certain sectors of
the population and the capital, Antananarivo, now has its share of
stylish shopping centres and restaurants and many new and luxury
4x4s are seen on the road. In contrast to this, many people in the
towns live in ramshackle houses and struggle to find food on a daily
basis.
The ring-tailed lemur is one of over 100 known
species and subspecies of lemur found only in
Madagascar.
Political stability
Political instability has led to an increasing gap
between rich and poor.
It was hoped the election of a new president early in
2014, bringing to an end the transition government
established following the coup in 2009, would bring
greater political stability and a solution to some of the
economic problems, corruption and crime, but so far
this has not been the case and there is much
uncertainty about the stability of the current
government.
Hery Rajaonarimampianina is a Malagasy politician who has been president
of Madagascar since January 2014
Malagasy people are very religious and many people go to church on
Sunday morning, but sadly much of this is nominal religion. Catholic,
traditional Protestant (Lutheran, FJKM – Malagasy church of Jesus Christ)
are largely formal in their practice and have no qualms about mixing
Christian practice with elements of ancestor worship, which is sometimes
justified as simply being a means of showing respect to their deceased
family members, but is more about seeking blessing from them.
There are undoubtedly some true believers amongst these churches who
would not participate in such practices, but rather than leaving to attend
Bible-based churches, these individuals tend to find fellowship through
para-church organisations such as Christian unions, which thrive not only
amongst students, but amongst professionals and other working adults
and many are converted through such groups.
The island's iconic traveller's palm (ravinala) features in the national emblem.
There are various evangelical groups as well as Pentecostal and
charismatic churches which vary significantly, some being mainline
in their gospel teaching, whilst others are proponents of false
doctrines such as the prosperity gospel.
The CEIM church (Independent Evangelical Community of
Madagascar)’ established about 25 years ago in association with
French brethren assemblies, is one of the main evangelical groups
and are strong on evangelism and church planting as well as
seeking to train pastors and church leaders through their seminary.
Bible Baptist churchesThe Bible Baptist churches have sometimes been criticised for a
lack of vision in evangelism, but while this may be true of some of the
bigger, more established churches, many of the churches belonging to
this association are very active in evangelism and church planting.
There are now 153 Bible Baptist churches, some small and in remote
areas.
The Baptist Association has a strong tradition of seeking to hold firm to
biblical truth and to implement this in church practice. To this end the
Bible Baptist seminary exists to train men that they may be better
equipped to teach and train others. For those men unable to follow the
three-year theological course in Antsirabe (a small town 150km south
of the capital) there is training in 9 different regions which usually
takes place in monthly blocks three times a year. With so many false
teachings and sects around, it is vitally important that church leaders
are able to help others discern what is biblical and what is not.
One of the rural Bible Baptist churches: the believers have little materially but sing and pray with
all their heart
Current seminary students
Good News Hospital in MandritsaraOne of the major projects under the auspices of the Baptist
church is the Good News Hospital in Mandritsara. This
hospital has just celebrated its 20th anniversary and through
this work many have received medical and surgical care, but
more importantly many have come to faith in Christ, through
the witness of those who work in the hospital, and many
churches have been established in surrounding villages. There
are several smaller projects in other areas of the country,
seeking to share the gospel, teach and train leaders as well as
showing the love of Christ through practical care.
Bible translation
Welsh missionaries wrote down the Malagasy language and
translated the Bible between 1818-1835.
This translation has been updated, but there are 18 ethnic groups in
Madagascar, many of whom are largely unreached and some of the
dialects are very different to the official Malagasy, making Bible
reading difficult for them. In addition adult literacy is low – official
figures say 60%, but it may be much lower. Some work has been
done seeking to translate the Bible into other dialects, but there is
still much work to be done in this area and this needs to be coupled
with an emphasis on teaching literacy.
Pray for Madagascar Political stability – effective measures to deal with corruption and poverty
Advance of the true gospel
Challenges – nominalism and syncretism
Protection against cults – Mormonism is particularly prevalent and JW’s
Training of Pastors/church leaders. Great need for teachers and students so pray the Lord would raise up more godly men able to preach the gospel and teach others.
Good News Hospital Mandritsara- staff, funding, ongoing evangelism & church work.
Unity and cooperation between true believers and Bible-based churches: Satan always wants to attack the Lord’s work by causing division. No church group is perfect and all projects are liable to attack so this is an important area for prayer.
Bible translation projects
Unreached people groups – many live in rural communities not easily accessible
Mission groups working in Madagascar: SIM, AIM, Southern Baptists – main emphasis of such missions now is usually on unreached people groups and training Bible teachers
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