Dear Friends,

We write to you once again from Madagascar, our island home. After six months in the United States in 2001, we arrived back here as the calendar turned to a new year. It was a good period for our entire family in the U.S.; nevertheless, we are happy to be back. Our transition has gone pretty smoothly, and we are now back in the swing of things.

Presidential election

There was a presidential election in Madagascar in December 2001. The challenger, Marc Ravalomanana, won more votes than the incumbent, Didier Ratsiraka. That much is agreed upon; however, the two candidates disagree on the margin of victory. Ravalomanana believes he won a majority of the votes, and Ratsiraka does not. If Ravalomanana did not win a majority, there would have to be a second round of voting. This is what the High Constitutional Court has ruled. But the Ravalomanana group does not believe that the second round of votes would be free from corruption, and they believe that they won outright the first time, so they have not accepted the decision of the Court. President Ratsiraka is the former socialist dictator of the country who took over in 1975 in a military coup. Surprisingly, it seems that the military is supporting Ravalomanana, although not with arms at this point. Currently, most cities are effectively shut down for part of each day for general strikes and massive demonstrations—often up to a million people on the main avenue in the capital of Antananarivo. So far, the demonstrations have been peaceful. This is a critical time for Madagascar’s future. We ask your prayers for the country and the people, who have suffered under bad governments for many, many years.

Home leave report

We had a very good experience on home leave. We both taught at McCormick Theological Seminary, served as missionaries-in-residence at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and got a lot of research done. In addition, we made nearly 60 mission visits and presentations at local churches, church organizations, synods and presbyteries, and at national events. We were able to meet with a lot of good-hearted mission-supporting folk, both Lutheran and Presbyterian. It was good to get to know so many good folk and to spend time with old friends too. Thanks to all who made special gifts to our gift fund for special projects and/or through the ELCA or PC(USA) mission offices. If your church is looking for extra-commitment opportunities and would like to get involved in special mission giving over and above your church’s mission commitment, let us know.

Upcoming plans

We both begin teaching the week of February 25; until then we’re both working on writing. This is a real blessing, as we both strive to get some tangible result from all the research we did Stateside!

Mark’s mom, Dr. Rita Hrecz, will be coming to Madagascar this summer. She will be teaching a seminar on science methods to high-school science teachers in the Lutheran school system. Dr. Hrecz teaches science education at Northern Michigan University. We’re really looking forward to having Rita with us for a few weeks this summer.

Mark is working with a seminary faculty committee at bringing Fondation Voantsinapy (the Mustard Seed Foundation) to life; the foundation, when up and running, will provide interest income to fund theological education on the island. Cynthia continues to work with Maky Madagascar and the Women’s Committee, which has further developed and expanded during our home leave, so there’s much to do. One exciting thing to which we’re looking forward is the opening of the new Family Center, which is in the final days of construction as we write this. Stay tuned for pictures in the next report!

Trip to Madagascar, anyone?

A number of mission committees, some pastors, and some church members we met on our travels expressed interest in coming to Madagascar, either to visit or to do some work at the seminary on needed maintenance projects. We’d like to know what persons or churches might be interested in such a trip. As we talked to folks, it seemed that because some staff from the ELCA churchwide office are members of our sponsorship congregations, we could look to them to make trip arrangements, with Chicago as the port of departure. Based on current airfares, costs might run around $2500 to $3000 a person, including airfare, lodging and meals in Madagascar. We’re thinking about July or August of 2003. At this point, it would be helpful if we were able to gauge interest in such a possibility by May 1. If you receive this e-mail and you or your church or church organization are interested in this possibility, talk it over, pray about it, and let us know.

Thanks again

Thanks again to all who welcomed us in 2001 to your church, your organization, your meeting. It was a joy to be home and to share with so many people the good news of the church’s ministry in Madagascar. We are privileged to share this ministry with all of you. Thanks again.

In Christ’s Peace,

Mark Rich and Cynthia Holder Rich
ELCA and PC(USA) missionaries to Madagascar

The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 41