First Steps into the Bush

After a few days of rest at the MEP mother house in Antananarivo, the MEP country superior sent me to go and visit the different missionaries in their missions. MEP missionaries only come home for a bit of rest and to visit their families once every three years, which means that there are many MEP missionaries whom I’ve never even met, and others whom I’ve only met briefly. So the objective of my visits was first to get to know my brother priests serving in Madagascar, and then to also get a feel for the life and mission in Madagascar.

The MEP missionaries here started me off very gently. I think they didn’t want to give their new missionary too much too quickly. I would later find out why, but I welcomed this little grace, and took a plane with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) from Antananarivo to Mandritsara. The flight took just an hour and a half, and it brought back many memories of Lesotho, where I had served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There, I was in a very remote location, so if there was ever a need to get to the capital quickly, I would take the 30-minute flight with MAF instead of the 14-hour taxi ride.

Upon landing, I was warmly welcomed in Mandritsara by MEP volunteers who are currently working in the area, and by Fr. Gabriel de Lépinau, MEP, who works in the diocese. He is based at Holy Family Parish. The parish is spread out over an area of 70 kilometers and includes many villages, but there aren’t many roads. He and the pastor of the parish, Fr. Christophe, walk quite a bit, or they take motorcycles to visit different small Christian communities in the area.

Holy Family Parish, Mandritsara

Building for the Future

Fr. Gabriel manages a number of different construction projects for the diocese, such as the building of schools, chapels, and a radio station. We visited some of the projects, and then he thought it would be good for me to have a first experience visiting villages in the “bush,” the rural countryside where most of Madagascar’s population lives. Our visit into the bush was a wonderful experience. We took his motorcycle over muddy roads, up steep hills, across a river, and eventually reached a village where a local group of Christians had built a rectory for visiting priests. The rectory serves as a sort of second home base for the priests. From there, they can venture out into even more remote areas. We were warmly welcomed by the catechist and his family, who prepared all of our meals and gave us the news of the region.

Fixing the motorcycle chain which came off because of all the mud

In the afternoon, we continued our journey on foot with the son of the catechist to visit another village. There, after several years of preparation, the Christians had built a chapel. We came to talk with them, encourage them, and see how the work on the chapel was progressing. The visit was very memorable and caused me to reflect on the sometimes complex work of missionaries here.

The parishioners were discussing what color paint they would use, but the choices were limited to local paints that more or less stained the color of the bricks. Fr. Gabriel asked me what I thought, and I said I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to use a proper, more expensive paint for the chapel, a project which took them years to complete.

His answer was very interesting and showed that he'd spent a good amount of time thinking about the future of the christian community. He told me that even nice, expensive paints have to be redone after a number of years, especially in a climate like Madagascar’s. The problem, he said, is that if we use an expensive paint, we will have to repaint with that same expensive paint, but if we use a paint they can make locally, it will be easy for them to repaint the building when the time comes.

It struck me as a deeply incarnational way of thinking: allowing the Church to take shape within the limits, rhythms, and realities of life in Madagascar. The aim is not to import a ready-made model from elsewhere, but to accompany the growth of the local Church as it takes root here.

Looking over the newly constructed chapel

A Little Global Church

After spending the night in the first village, we headed back to Mandritsara, where I enjoyed the remainder of my time with Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Christophe. We visited a prayer group, ate with the MEP volunteers, saw a bit of the city, and spent time with the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, sisters who work in the parish. The amazing thing is that I knew the congregation! I first encountered the Salesian Sisters at my first parish in France, St. Jean-Baptiste de Belleville. There, I had enjoyed Christmas dinner with them twice, and most importantly they had prayed for me all throughout my years of formation. It was wonderful grace to encounter their counterparts working here in Madagascar.

It's amazing to see the bridges the Lord builds between peoples and countries, between parishes and dioceses, and how, even though the Catholic Church spans the whole world, it can sometimes feel wonderfully small and close.

Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate sisters, Mandritsara, Madagascar