Before Farida came to Christ, she was steeped in the tromba– the spirit of a dead ancestor used to channel to Zanahary– the Creator God. Before coming to Christ, 
Farida experienced extreme poverty, bondage, and miscarriage after miscarriage, unable to bring life to a child. All this has changed since coming to Christ. Today, she is employed by Eden Projects. Today, she exudes hope and peace. Today, she has a child… conceiving and carrying to term the baby she has always desired. Today, she can provide for her family.
Bringing the Hope of Christ to the Malagasy people is the primary objective of the Red Island project. We have both personally experienced the peace that comes with having a deep relationship with Christ and long to see the Malagasy experience the same redemptive hope.
Traditionally, the predominant religion of Madagascar is ancestral worship. Today 52% of Malagasy people still follow their traditional beliefs while 41% embrace Christianity and 7% claim Islam (taken from the CIA World Factbook). Despite the high number of Christ followers, many Malagasy still retain their traditional practices such as sacrificing cows, unearthing and turning of their ancestor’s bones, and following taboos to please their deceased family members. These taboos range from not eating certain foods such as chicken, to not giving birth to twins, to following Jesus and the Bible. We have seen first-hand how these taboos literally steal life from the Malagasy people and in turn, we’ve witnessed the freedom from the bonds of taboos that come from truly accepting Christ. We are deeply aware that Jesus is the One living ancestor for all of us and only He restores true hope.
