We call them the ones who hide behind trees, our Malagasy friends informed us. Hiding deep in the thorny Mikea Forest of Madagascar, this traditional hunter-gatherer people live unseen by most of their countrymen, let alone the world community. However, they are seen clearly by the God who created them – the God who loves them. And in 2003, God opened the way for us to find the flesh and blood people hidden behind a legend.
It began early in that year when the leaders and members of WorldView Community Church in North Olmsted, Ohio, expressed a desire to make a covenant with a people group who had not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through prayer, we identified the Mikea People of Madagascar, and, since we had been working in Madagascar since 1999, we were tasked with creating and implementing a plan to reach them with the love of Christ.
To be honest, we were unsure how to proceed. How could we find people known for their ability to slip soundlessly into the deep forest at the first sign of danger? How would we gain the trust of a people whose stories reveal a history of abuse at the hands of the vasaha – the white foreigner – who regard even Malagasy people from other Malagasy ethnic groups as dangerous outsiders?
We considered these questions and prayed in faith, knowing the God we serve is the God of the impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him, the scripture says – so we took Him at His Word.
And what happened next can only be described as miraculous.
Through our partners in Antananarivo, Ibrahim and Cathy Ravoahangy God, connected us with Pastor Jonoro and Hanitra Tefy Emmanuel, a Malagasy couple with a passion and gift for church planting. Jonoro had been praying for the Mikea People and asking God to open the needed doors. At the same time, we were praying for the Mikea tribe, asking God to connect us with an indigenous partner with a heart for this people group.
In May of 2003, two of our team members met Jonoro in the city of Toliare to prepare for travel into the remote villages on the edge of the Mikea Forest. With their hands clasped together on top of a map of the region, they tearfully prayed for the Mikea, sensing that God was in the partnership. He had answered their prayers.
At 4:00 AM the next morning, they began the arduous drive towards the Mikea Forest to establish a base on the forest’s edge. They needed to build relationships and trust with the villagers before they could think of reaching the Mikea living deep in the bush. This was the beginning of a ten-year project in the remote village of Anjebetrongo and, ultimately, with the Mikea people of the forest.
We soon learned that the Mikea have no word for friend in their dialect. We are either family or foreigners, Jonoro explained. How we became family to these unique and beautiful people is not one story, but many. We entered the forest, not to change their culture or erase their distinctiveness but to share living stories of a God who sees them, loves them, and came looking for them.
To read more detailed stories about the Mikea Project click here
To read excerpts from team travel journals click here
For a gallery of Mikea Project photos click here