The Fifohazana: Madagascar’s Indigenous Christian Movement By Cy ...

Chapter 1

The Contribution of Rainisoalambo to the Indigenization of the Protestant Churches in Madagascar

Rafanomezantsoa Roger

Indigenization is the process of taking a construct or concept and translating it, expressing it, or making it accessible to people in a context other than the one in which the construct or concept was first developed. Christianity in a Protestant form was first introduced to the people of Madagascar in the early nineteenth century by missionaries from Great Britain. As they did not understand the culture or the context of Madagascar, they had difficulty presenting the Christian message in ways that the people of Madagascar could grasp and find meaningful and relevant. Indigenization becomes a goal for the Church when adapting the Gospel to a local culture is necessary.