Teaching and Testifying in Tana

What do you think of when you hear the word “Madagascar”? Some of us probably think of the movie that came out a few years back, or perhaps the lemur or some other exotic animal. From now on, I’ll think of the Big Red Island as the place where God is up to Big Things.

My wife, Amy, and I arrived on a Saturday and were greeted at the airport by Dave Johnson and his teenage daughter, Amanda. As we wound through Antananarivo, the capital city with nearly 2 million residents, the bustling activity was striking. Many barefoot men muscled a “pousse-pousse” (French for “push-push”) laden with bags of rice or other staples. Women set up small tables along the road, wooden stalls filled with colorful fruits and vegetables, suspended plucked chickens or dried fish and beans. Others displayed their wares on the ground, including shoes in all shapes and sizes, brooms or soap.

On Monday, I began to teach a course on Galatians, part of the pastoral training program through the Institut Théologique Nazaréen. Fifteen students came faithfully, morning and afternoon. It would have been impossible except for Pastor Richard Ravelomanantsoa, who translated my French into Malagasy, the local language. Every day, we memorized another verse from Galatians. Between lectures, students broke into small groups of three or four and talked about how to apply what we were learning to pastoral ministry. In this way, older students became mentors for those who were younger, encouraging them as they took their first steps as shepherds of the flock.

A highlight for me was hearing the testimonies from the students. Many had been born into homes where going to church was only a formality. Only later had they heard the Gospel, that Jesus could change their lives and give them a purpose. Others spoke of how they had participated in the “turning of the bones” (ancestor worship) but later abandoned this annual ceremony, putting their faith in Christ. This was a step of faith for them, since honoring the dead by digging them up is prevalent in Madagascar.

Here is the testimony of Pastor RAHELISOA Rondro (RUNE-drew):

To God be the Glory for what he has done in my life for this testimony.

I was raised in a Catholic family. I was baptized and took my first communion. Our family was a poor family, living always with difficulty in meeting our needs. There were always quarrels and fights in our home; our father was always drunk when he came home. I never sensed peace, not even one day. Because of these things, my mother had a heart problem which led to her death when I was 10. Soon after my mother’s death, my father remarried and abandoned us. My older siblings took charge of raising us and our father rarely visited.

When I was 19, I married a young man I loved. I thought then that I would finally know the happiness of family life, but after only a few months, I began to see my husband’s real character. He drank alcohol and smoked nearly every day and once at the house he scolded and beat me for no reason. We had many marital problems at that time and neither of us knew God. After two years of marriage, my father died and I felt alone and desperate. I had no one to confide in. It was then that I decided to commit suicide. It was also the moment that God confirmed His Word in my life according to Ezekiel 18:23, “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die,” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

God was always there, He waited for me and He sought me out through the messages brought by the Nazarene missionaries, namely Rev. John Cunningham and Pastor Ed DiSante. Pastor Richard and his wife Therese were used by God because they started a Bible study in our neighborhood. Following these meetings, they gave invitations and I decided to open my heart and let Jesus be my Savior.

But that is the moment that I had another problem with my husband -- either before going to the Bible study or once I returned home. When I came home, he tore up my notebook and was very angry. It was a great burden for me.

One Sunday, I returned home after the service full of joy and hope, but I saw my husband completely drunk on the bed. I sat down and I began to pray for him. In that instant, God began to work in our home because after five minutes, while I was still praying for him, my husband began to complain and he kept repeating, “Help me, I hurt all over.”

For many women that is the moment to mock, but I prayed for him to accept Jesus. He said, “I have seen that the God that you serve is a very powerful God and I will no longer be what I was before.” He told me to take the money he had stashed under the bed to go buy food. In the box, there were three cigarettes which I offered to him. He destroyed them and said firmly, “No more alcohol or cigarettes!”

That was the first time in my whole life that I sensed true joy. The glory of God lit our house. My husband freely let me do my ministry. Later he joined me in ministering and now we are a team for our neighborhood to preach the gospel, make pastoral visits and attend the weekly prayer meetings.

We are witnesses that the Lord is always at work and nothing can block Him. To Him be the glory for ever and ever.

_________

Before I knew it, our time was up. Amy and I said goodbye to our new friends. We left grateful for the many Nazarenes who continue to give sacrificially to the work in Madagascar. Most of all, we’re grateful for the Big Things that God is up to on the Big Red Island. 


Greg Crofford (Ph.D., University of Manchester) is Director of the Institut Théologique Nazaréen, which is responsible for pastoral education in French-speaking Africa. He and his wife, Amy, are long-time missionaries in the Church of the Nazarene, and opened the work of the church in Benin, West Africa.