Truth in Their Hands
In the spring of 2025, Rick Kress, TMAI’s director of global publishing, received an invitation to visit Antananarivo, Madagascar. Faly Ravoahangy, president of developing TMAI school 3M, wanted Rick to lead a workshop for Christian writers, editors, and publishers.
Faly also wanted the workshop to be practical—not just educational. Rick knew a creative assignment was in order, but even as he touched down in Africa, he wasn’t quite sure what it would look like.
On the first day of the workshop, Rick gave an overview of the publishing process to a group of attendees that included men and women, 3M students, and working professionals. As he taught in the seminary library, surrounded by stacks of books and pupils eager to write, an idea began to crystallize in his mind.
Could this group create a book in five days?
Solving a Shortage
Developing countries are often severely under-resourced in theological publishing. This resource gap results from a lack of equipment and materials to produce books, and indigenous authors trained to write them.
Since 2020, Rick Kress and TMAI’s Global Publishing Department (GPD) have been working to close this gap.
“In places like Madagascar, where high-quality options are scarce or costly, print on demand equipment is a game-changer.”
For some training centers, this requires outsourcing printing to other countries or partnering with larger publishers. But in places like Madagascar, where high-quality options are scarce or costly, print on demand equipment is a game-changer. Unlike traditional offset printing, print on demand is extremely cost- and time-efficient, whether the need is one copy or one hundred.
In 2022, the GPD was able to connect 3M with a full suite of print on demand equipment—generously funded by TMAI donors. Having in-house publishing access has not only increased the reach of 3M’s ministry but also provided financial support for their operations. Meva Rabenja, 3M’s strategic publishing director, described print on demand as “essential to our ministry.”
When Rick arrived, he saw the printers ready for use—and a group of people willing to be trained. All that remained was to put the two together.
From Print to Start
On the second day of the workshop, Rick presented the objective to attendees: write, edit, and print a devotional in five days. Rick and Faly had decided that the finished project would be a study of the gospel of John in the Malagasy language.
Participants were more than ready for a challenge. “They were thrilled,” Rick said.
Each person was asked to write a brief devotion on a passage from John, with the aid of Bible reference tools. Rick shared, “I wanted them to understand hermeneutics a little bit to make sure that they interpreted it correctly.”
“We believe that local publication is much more culturally and contextually relevant for the Malagasy people.”
They then took turns editing each other's work. 3M staff laid out the design of the book’s pages and cover. Finally, Faly made theological edits to the 16 total chapters.
On Friday, 3M’s printers came to life. Other machines cut and bound the printed pages. Though a power outage threatened to delay the process, attendees were resolved to see it through.
By 7pm, their patience was rewarded. Each person left with a copy of Mba hinoanareo (“That You May Believe”) in their hands—and a new sense of possibility.
Writing for the People
In a country with several official languages, producing the devotional in Malagasy reflected one of 3M Publishing's priorities: to put biblical resources within reach of local believers.
Meva said, “We believe that local publication is much more culturally and contextually relevant for the Malagasy people. While French is more common in literary and professional contexts, Malagasy is the only language many people understand, especially those in rural areas.”
Technological solutions, from AI-assisted translation to digital printing, are accelerating access to these communities. But these tools are most powerful when they support local authors who unite an understanding of their people with love for God’s Word. Whether in a writing workshop or a preaching class, TMAI schools are giving believers the training they need to build up the church—with truth in their hands.
Learn more about TMAI’s indigenous publishing efforts and the projects we support here.