A letter from Dan and Elizabeth Turk in Madagascar
June 2014 - Transitions
Dear Friends,
Greetings from chilly Madagascar!
Our year of transition progresses. Robert graduated from the American School of Antananarivo on June 6. On June 14 we had a small ceremony with Malagasy friends and colleagues to mark the end of Robert’s childhood in Madagascar. It was wonderful to have those who have had a part of his life since he was 1½ be there to pray for him and send him off.
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Dan, Elizabeth, Robert and Frances Turk at Robert’s graduation, June 6, 2014
Robert will be attending Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., this August. We will be in the States briefly this summer to get him established. Because of time constraints, we will only be able to visit a few churches this summer. However, we will be on Interpretation Assignment starting in July 2015 and look forward to meeting with many of you then.
We are also transitioning in work as well. In this newsletter we would like to share with you some new work that is starting.
Dan is now involved in a new project working with several branches of the PC(USA)’s partner church in Madagascar, the Fiangonan’i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara (FJKM). The new project will help the church explore how it can help protect creation and how it can implement innovations in growing fruits and vegetables so that they can benefit pastors, congregations, and branches of the church. The new work builds on the course in practical gardening and growing fruits that Dan and colleagues have taught at the Ivato seminary for the past seven years. As part of that course new pastors received fruit trees to plant at their new churches. A new component will be the installation of intensive vegetable gardens at the Ivato seminary to both help the students get good healthy food and help them improve their gardening skills. Training will be extended in 2014 to the Fianarantsoa seminary. Other trainings will take place in regional synods and at meetings of various branches of the church. At churches, church schools, seminaries, and other church properties native trees will be planted for beautification and environmental education to help people know about the wonderful world that God created in Madagascar and the need to protect that creation from extinction.
Another new component of the project will be follow-up with pastors after they graduate from seminary. The new project will work with some of the pastors who received training in the past to explore how their skills in growing fruits and vegetables can best be used to help the work of the church and surrounding communities.
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Pastor Benja, wife, Ihary, Robert and Frances, June 2014
Pastor Benja Rakotondrainibe, Evangelist at Analalava
Pastor Benja is one of the pastors who will benefit from the new project. Pastor Benja graduated from Ivato seminary in 2011 and became an FJKM evangelist pastor in Analalava in northwest Madagascar. The next year he came back to Ivato to get his 10 fruit trees to plant. Unfortunately, on his trip home his bus had an accident and Pastor Benja returned to the capital in a coma with a fractured skull. Fortunately he recovered. He got new trees and planted them near the church at Analalava. The existing FJKM church is 3 km from the town of Analalava and serves a community of believers mostly from outside the area. Pastor Benja is reaching out to the Sakalava people of the Analalava area and will be planting the cornerstone of a new church in downtown Analalava later this year. There are many Sakalava who have become Christian and who have been ostracized from their families.
Pastor Benja sees the need to help the ostracized Christians develop sources of income, and he recognizes the potential of fruits and vegetables to be helpful in his evangelization efforts. Later this year Dan and colleagues will visit pastor Benja at Analalava to better determine how the new project can be of help.
Pastor Benja and his wife, Ihary, are currently staying at the Ivato seminary, waiting for Ihary to give birth. She has had some complications during pregnancy and needs to give birth at a large hospital.
Please pray
• for Robert as he heads off to college
• for us as we adjust to having Robert an ocean away
• for Dan and colleagues as they embark on the new project
• for Pastor Benja in his evangelism efforts among the Sakalava
• for a safe delivery for Pastor Benja’s wife, Ihary
• for students in Madagascar as they take important exams in July and August
• for the country of Madagascar as it seeks to recover from the post-coup crisis
• for the leaders of the FJKM church as they seek to share God’s love and promote reconciliation
Thank you very much for your support of PC(USA)’s mission efforts in Madagascar and for us as mission co-workers here. Without your prayers and financial support, we would not be able to minister as we do. Together in partnership we are helping to share God’s love and abundant life.
Peace in Christ,
Elizabeth and Dan
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 147
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