Dan and Elizbeth Turk (PCUSA) Update October 2024

Over 30 Years of Bearing Fruit in Madagascar

Dear Friends at The Outreach Foundation,

Greetings from Madagascar. It is hard to believe that The Outreach Foundation is already 45 years old! So much has been accomplished in that time to share the good news of Christ around the world. So many lives have been transformed and improved because of Outreach and its faithful staff, supporters, and partners.

We want to share a snapshot of some of the transformations Outreach has been a part of in Madagascar. Outreach partners with the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), which strongly believes the Gospel transforms lives and the church should be a transformative agent in society, living out Christ’s call. During its 2021 General Assembly, FJKM recommitted itself to four more years of its “Hazakazaka Masina” or “Holy Race.” This involves sharing the Gospel, strengthening families, promoting education, working for better health and development for all, protecting the environment, standing up for justice, and promoting good governance.

For over 30 years, The Outreach Foundation has worked alongside the FJKM to help train and equip pastors and evangelists who share the Gospel in hard-to-reach places. The FJKM now has over 9,000 congregations spread all over the island, over 3,000,000 members, and 81 evangelism posts

Recognizing the importance of education, FJKM has over 700 primary and secondary schools. FJKM set a goal to open 111 new schools from 2021 to 2025, and over 90 have been started. Three of these new schools were built in southern Madagascar with Outreach support. Responding to the teacher shortage in remote areas, FJKM launched a program to train student teachers from southern Madagascar and other difficult areas. The students spend three years at FJKM’s Teacher Training College and commit to teaching in their home regions for five years. The first graduate of this program, Fulgence Mandigne, graduated in 2023 and returned to teach at Soatsifa in southern Madagascar, where he went to school. This year, he will replace Marc Ranarianirina as principal. Marc and his wife, Elisabeth Razanalivao, have taught at Soatsifa for 30 years. Marc and Elisabeth were brought to Soatsifa in 1994 by FJKM’s Head of Evangelism, Jean D’Elinivo, and Bill Warlick, on a trip sponsored by Outreach. In September, it was Elizabeth’s honor to visit Marc and Elisabeth as well as Fulgence and his wife, Zina Rasoavololomanantena, who will also teach at Soatsifa. Outreach helped with the student teacher training program and a new teacher training school.

As part of FJKM’s commitment to helping people get out of poverty and protect the environment, the FJKM started a Fruits, Vegetables, and Environmental Education Program (FVEE) with Dan. Dan and his colleagues train seminary students in growing vegetables, fruit trees, and native trees. All seminary students receive seeds and trees to take with them to their new churches when they graduate. In 2016, FVEE established the Mango Palace 4.5 hours NW of the capital city. This site has Madagascar’s largest collection of mango varieties – over 80 varieties of the world’s best mangoes, as well as other promising fruits and native trees. It is a site for training farmers and church members as well as providing internships for university students. This work would not be possible without The Outreach Foundation’s involvement and support.

Addressing people’s health needs is another one of FJKM’s holistic ministries. An important part of this is fighting the spread of HIV. Elizabeth works with FJKM’s National AIDS and Epidemics Committee (KPMSV), whose activities include training seminary students about HIV/AIDS and COVID as well as providing free HIV screening and COVID vaccinations at church events. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, HIV increased rapidly. KPMSV is redoubling efforts to educate the church and larger population about the need for prevention, testing, and treatment and offers free HIV testing. Without faithful support from Outreach donors, much of KPMSV’s work would not be possible.

This is just a brief overview of the many ways that The Outreach Foundation has partnered faithfully with the FJKM over the last three and a half decades to preach the Good News and help bring God’s abundant life to the people of Madagascar. Many thanks to all who have made this possible. To God be the Glory!

Peace in Christ,

Dan and Elizabeth

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts to support the mission and ministry of Dan and Elizabeth Turk in Madagascar. All gifts of any size are welcomed to help provide training and education to improve the lives of the Malagasy people. You may make a gift by mailing a check to our home office in Franklin, TN or you may give online via the link below.