Christian Reformed Church Concerns on Madagascar

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Christian Reformed Church Concerns on Madagascar

March 31, 2011 -- A Reformed pastor and church
leader in Madagascar this week informed officials
of the Christian Reformed Church in North America
of continued repression of his and other churches
by the de facto government that came to power
through a coup more than a year ago.

In his remarks, the pastor and church leader says
he and fellow pastors and citizens are not free
to express themselves out of fear of reprisal
from the unstable political situation in his country.

The pastor communicated his concerns as part of a
note in which he thanked the CRCNA for standing
with the church in Madagascar during this difficult time.

Since the CRCNA has an ecumenical relationship
with a denomination in the African island
country, it recently sent out a letter to CRC
churches and others to alert them of "a very
troubling situation threatening the leadership
and ministry of one of our sister denominations and to ask for your prayers ."

The letter was signed, on behalf of the

Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee of
the CRCNA, by Rev. Jerry Dykstra, executive
director of the denomination and Rev. Bruce
Adema, director of Canadian ministries and ecumenical officer for the CRCNA.

"I've had several calls from our people wondering
what the status is over there, and how the Lord
has been responding to their prayers" since the
CRCNA sent out the letter, says Adema.

In part the letter from the CRCNA said, "The
government of Madagascar has taken actions which
have disrupted the ministries of the Church, and
put ministry leaders at great personal risk."

The same church leader who sent the communication
this week also sent an update on the situation to
the CRCNA earlier this month. In that
communication, according to the letter sent to by
the CRCNA, the pastor informed them that "the
Church has been accused of subversive activity
and that ministry leaders have been arrested."

The pastor said he was expecting his "violent
arrest" at any time. He says the government has
made untrue allegations about him and his ministry.

?The church and I feel threatened and harassed.
Some of our employees have been interrogated and
put into detention,? the pastor told CRC officials in that communication.

In their letter, Dykstra and Adema write: ?Please
pray for him (the pastor) and for those who have
already been arrested, that they may be spared
from injury and abuse? And please pray that the
government of Madagascar will use its power in
ways which allows peace and justice to be
available to all the people of that nation.?

Recent statistics indicate that since the coup of
2009 poverty has increased by about 9 percent,
?meaning that roughly 1.8 million people are
newly poor? in Madagascar, according to news reports.

"Government funding for health dropped from $8
per person in 2008 to $2 per person in 2010,"
says a news report. "Greatly diminished
government funding in the education sector has
effectively meant the demise of free primary school education."

According to the U.S. State Department, "The
right of citizens to choose their government has
been effectively curtailed (in Madagascar).

"In addition, the following serious human rights
problems were reported: unlawful killings; other
security force abuses; harsh prison conditions,
sometimes resulting in deaths; arbitrary arrest
and detention; lengthy pretrial detention;
censorship; official corruption and impunity;
societal discrimination and violence against
women and children; trafficking of women and
children; and child labor, including forced child labor."

> ?Chris Meehan, CRC Communications

> --
> Chris Meehan
> News & Media Manager
> Christian Reformed Church in North America
> 1-616-224-0849