|Persecution.| The second period in the history of Malagasy Christianity was that of persecution which continued for twenty-six years (1835-61). During this time persistent efforts were made to root out the hated foreign religion. But the number of the “praying people” steadily increased, and although about two hundred of them were put to death in various ways, the Christians multiplied tenfold during that terrible time of trial.
The truly Christian death of these martyrs is described in a native account. “Then they prayed, ‘O Lord, receive our spirits, for Thy love to us hath caused this to come to us; and lay not this sin to their charge.’ Thus prayed they as long as they had any life and then they died--softly, gently; and there was at the time a rainbow in the heavens, which seemed to touch the place of the burning.”
|Harvest.| In 1862 mission work was re-established, and then began the third period in the religious history of the country, emphatically that of progress. From that date until the present time Christianity has steadily grown in influence.
A great outward impetus was given to the spread of Christianity in the early part of 1869 by the baptism of the queen, Ranavalona II, and her Prime Minister, and the subsequent destruction of the idols of the central provinces, and still more by the personal influence of the sovereign in favor of the Christian religion.[[7]]
[7]. The material for this account was gathered from the Missionary Review of the World--Article by James Sibree--June 1895.
|A Model Mission.| Among the societies which entered Madagascar at this period was the Norwegian Missionary Society which settled in the province of Betsileo in 1867. With admirable administration at home, and in spite of serious difficulty with an opposition mission established by the Jesuits, they have accomplished a task which is universally praised by missionary historians. They have at work, besides many Norwegian and some American missionaries, ninety-six native pastors and over nine hundred catechists. There are two medical missions and a leper asylum, schools and printing offices. It is reckoned that among the one hundred and thirty thousand Christians in the Island, eighty-four thousand are Lutherans.
Among the great names of the mission are those of Dahle, who established a Seminary for native workers, and Doctor Borchgrevink, a medical missionary.
American Societies.
The Norwegians in America, always closely connected with the Church of the Fatherland, sent their missionary contributions at first through the fatherland societies, the Norwegian Missionary Society and the Norwegian Church (Schreuder’s) Mission. To Schreuder’s Mission the Norwegian Synod (American) still contributes, having sent in 1915 about $10,000.
