Seeds planted by mission co-worker Dan Turk and the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a longtime global partner of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission, are beginning to bear fruit.
Seeds planted by mission co-worker Dan Turk and the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a longtime global partner of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission, are beginning to bear fruit.
Mission co-workers Dan and Elizabeth Turk, who have served in Madagascar for more than 20 years, continue to shelter-in-place in Florida, but are working daily with global partners through Skype, Zoom, and WhatsApp to address the growing twin pandemics of COVID-19 and severe food insecurity facing the world’s fifth-largest island nation and one of the world’s poorest countries.
One of the long-term effects of COVID-19 in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries will be widespread famine. In Madagascar, where the average person lives on less than $250 a year, the FJKM (Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar) fruit tree center at Mahatsinjo will help offset the impact of hunger in one of the poorest countries in the world.
The Fiangonan’i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara (FJKM), PC(USA)’s partner denomination in Madagascar, believes strongly in spreading the gospel and helping people improve their lives. The FJKM also believes that Christians have a responsibility to help preserve Creation. Church leaders often quote Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (NIV). Helping people improve their lives while helping to preserve Madagascar’s unique biodiversity is especially challenging given the extent of hunger and poverty in Madagascar and the environmental degradation threatening many species with extinction. The climate crisis is intensifying these challenges.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been committed to interconnectional ministry in God’s mission at the local, national and global levels since 1837. Since that time, more than 8,000 mission co-workers have shared the good news of Jesus Christ with millions of people worldwide.
Meet some of our mission co-workers around the world.
When Dan Turk gazes at fruit-laden tangerine trees in Antanetibe, Madagascar, he sees more than an agricultural success story.
He sees a path out of poverty for the families who tend the crop.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar — known by its Malagasy acronym, FJKM — has issued a statement calling for peace, prayer, repentance and dialog following violent clashes between police and protesters in the center of the capital, Antananarivo, which left at least two dead and more than a dozen wounded.
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world with some of the highest chronic childhood malnutrition anywhere. The Fiangonan’i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara (FJKM), the PC(USA) partner denomination in Madagascar, believes that as Christians, we should help our neighbors both spiritually and physically. Reducing poverty and improving food security are important components of FJKM’s outreach efforts.
