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."

Christian Reformed Church in North America