Mission History
Malagasy Lutheran Church (Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy, FLM)
The Malagasy Lutheran Church was founded by Norwegian missionaries in 1866. The work was supported by Norwegian Lutherans in the United States. These Norwegian Lutherans sent Pastor John P. Hogstad as a missionary to Madagascar. He and his wife Lena arrived in 1888 in Fort Dauphin. Pastor Hogstad began mission outreach throughout the southern area of Madagascar. Rev. Erik and Mrs. Caroline Tou joined the Hogstads in 1889, and many more missionaries were sent in the following years.
Early missionaries suffered many hardships. Many of them died from malaria, sometimes after only a year or two in Madagascar. During parts of the early 20th century, the French colonial government was very uncooperative with mission efforts and even closed down churches. Nevertheless, the church took hold, especially among people who had no previous contact with Christianity.
The Malagasy Lutheran Church (Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy, FLM) was established as an independent church in 1950, when it joined the Lutheran World Federation. Its membership of 3 million makes it one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world.