At this crossroad, a wholly indigenous religious movement arose in the central highlands of Madagascar. The movement, which would come to be known as the Fifohazana1 (“Awakening” or “Reawakening”—“Revival”), has grown and increased since that early time to its current state of prominence and influence. The Fifohazana, which operates in significant ways in independence from foreign assistance, is guided by organizing principles laid down from its earliest days, which emphasize preaching of the gospel, evangelism, hospitality, and care for the poor and sick, as well as community development. This volume seeks to explore and to increase understanding of this movement and also to share understanding with a wider audience in Madagascar and abroad.
There are many features of the Fifohazana that merit attention and research. First, although the Fifohazana shares many characteristics with the more well-known—and more researched—congregations and traditions of the African-Initiated Church (AIC) movement on the continent,2 there are compelling and important differences that mark the movement in Madagascar as unique. The Fifohazana started before most of the AICs. Separated by water from the cultural impact of what was happening religiously and socially on the continent, the Fifohazana arose in isolation. And, while many AICs have arisen through separation from or in negative response to Christian traditions and denominations founded by European and North American missionaries, the Fifohazana has throughout its history sought to work alongside and, oftentimes, inside the mission-founded churches on the island while retaining independence in funding and governance.
These unique components of the Fifohazana have created some interesting cognitively and culturally dissonant moments. For example, the second prophet to arise and lead the movement was female, ushering in a time when women were understood as having all of the gifts necessary for religious leadership in this movement, even when they were not—and in many ways, are still not—understood in this way in the life of the churches.