Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions by Timothy J. Wengert

Author:Timothy J. Wengert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History/Lutheran;REL015000;REL082000;REL108020;Lutheran Church—Dictionaries | Martin Luther (1483–1546)—Dictionaries
ISBN: 9781493410231
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

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Madagascar

The large island off the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar, was a French colony from 1896 and was granted independence in 1960. The Malagasy Lutheran Church is one of the fastest growing Lutheran churches in the world. Madagascar was a major mission field of both the Norwegian and American Lutherans. In modern times, Madagascar has also been a leader in mission exchanges among African churches of the Southern Hemisphere.

A brief sixteenth-century Lazarist (Roman Catholic) mission to Madagascar was the first Christian mission. No other serious attempt was undertaken until the London Missionary Society (LMS) sent two couples in 1818. Within months, three of the four missionaries were dead from malaria. The sole survivor, David Jones, went to Mauritius, where he recovered and learned the Malagasy language. He returned to Madagascar in 1820 and began a very successful effort at evangelization. Madagascar was the first African country south of the Sahara to have the Bible translated into its own language. Shortly after this feat was accomplished in 1835, a new monarch, Queen Ranavalona I, expelled all missionaries and forbade Christianity. Intense persecution ensued for the next thirty years.

Upon her death (1861), Christian missions were again allowed. The recently created Norwegian Mission Society (NMS) sent two missionaries, John Engh (1833–1900) and Nils Nilsen (1834–1923), to Madagascar in 1866. Madagascar became the chief field of the NMS. After negotiations with the LMS, the NMS began work in the Vakinakaritra region, with the understanding that the NMS would concentrate its efforts to the south of the capital of Antananarivo, while the LMS worked northward from the capital. A brief period of conflict between the LMS and the NMS ensued since LMS did not view Vakinakaritra as being sufficiently south of their own field and also because the NMS insisted on a representative in the capital. These disagreements were soon resolved, and the two missions worked amicably together.

The NMS’s first station was at Betafo. The NMS concentrated their efforts equally on evangelization and education. Education was deemed important so believers could read and study the gospel in their own language. In 1874 the NMS opened work on the west coast, with centers in Tulear and Moronda, and on the east coast in 1888, with the base of operations located in Vaingandrano. A decision in 1887 resulted in mission work in the center of the island, extending south to the coast. The NMS missionary conference commissioned Peder Eilert Nilsen-Lund, from Ambato in the central highlands around Fianarantsoa, to make a momentous exploratory journey and recommend places for the society to establish new work. He has been called “the Livingstone of Madagascar.” Nilsen Lund’s route took him from the central highlands southwest to St. Augustine Bay, then across the semidesert of Mahafaly land and Androy, and finally to Fort Dauphin (now called Tolagnaro) on the southeast coast.

In the United States, Norwegian immigrants read the Norske Misjonstidene (Norwegian missionary times) and learned about the Madagascar work. When the Norwegian Conference decided to send out a missionary, they consulted with the NMS.

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