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

Two components arising from and coherent within Malagasy ritual practice marked the indigenization of the liturgy introduced by Rainisoalambo. The first, the use of free prayer, employs complex understandings of Malagasy rhetorical form, particularly that of the Betsileo, the people of the southern highlands with whom Rainisoalambo shared kinship. The missionaries had introduced memorized and written prayers. Rainisoalambo introduced free prayer, in a time called fotoa-malalaka, that is, free time. This time was given over to free prayer, testimony, admonition, and teaching. An American explorer who visited the island in the early twentieth century wrote of his witnessing of this time of free prayer and how devoted and pious he saw the people being in this time.¹⁵ Clearly, the introduction of free prayer assisted Malagasy Christians in their engagement of the Gospel and their devotion to being followers of Jesus.

The other indigenous liturgical component Rainisoalambo introduced was the use of zafindraony song. Zafindraony is a traditional song form that existed before the arrival of Christianity and was in common use in secular songs. Rainisoalambo and his first iraka took some of the hymn texts in use in the Protestant churches and revised them to be sung to existing zafindraony tunes. The rhythms and chord progressions of zafindraony songs were not familiar to the missionaries, who looked down on them. Gow states that all forms of indigenous Malagasy music, particularly zafindraony, were banned by the missionaries for use in worship.¹⁶ But Rainisoalambo saw the potential of these tunes and even wrote some texts and tunes in zafindraony style that were printed in the hymnbook used at movement camps.

Finally, Rainisoalambo reclaimed the ministry of healing and introduced it into the worship life of the revival. Healing, particularly through exorcism by the laying on of hands, is a central part of each worship service. Jesus had commanded his followers to heal people as part of how they followed him (cf. Matthew 28). The missionaries did not see healing as central, and so the healing ministry of the missions was done by doctors and nurses apart from the context of worship. But when Rainisoalambo introduced healing into the worship services, it resulted in significant growth for the movement and the church, as the healing ministries were effective in solving the problems of the Malagasy people who came for prayer.¹⁷