People in Search of a Living

Abstract

This chapter serves two purposes. First, it introduces the places where the two Adventist congregations, with which this study is concerned, are located: the town of Maroantsetra, which is the center of a remote district in Madagascar, and Sahameloka, a village located some 25 km upriver to the north of the town, which can only be reached on foot or by canoe. Second, it gives a sense of the social context in which the members of the Adventist church live, which is important because, as I mentioned in the introduction, church members do not live in isolation from the rest of society, but are for much of everyday life firmly embedded in it.