It is a pleasure
for me to share with you our Oblate missionary life in the mission of
Marolambo. It is made up of five sectors: Ambohimilanja, South Andonabe,
Betampona, Sahakevo, and Mangabe, with an established parish in Marolambo. We
also have a development center, under the patronage of Brother KOWALCZYK, for
the youth of the area.
Within our
Oblate community, we are five Oblates (four priests and a Brother) who work
here, each with his own responsibility: one missionary is appointed pastor and
superior of our Oblate community. At the same time, he is in charge of the
sector of Ambohimilanja which is made up of thirty local churches, not to
mention the young laity movement of the parish. Another, who was just ordained
on May 29, 2011, has been put in charge of two sectors: Betampona and Mangabe.
Thanks to his impressive talent as a musician, he works with the choir and the
altar servers of the parish. One of us takes care of a sector located north of
Marolambo: South Andonabe. In our parish, he is primarily responsible for the
Eucharistic movement for children and youth.
As for me, I am
in charge of a sector called Sahakevo. This place is located 80 km from our
Oblate community. There is no other way of getting there than on foot, staff in
hand. Thanks to all the Montfortian and Oblate missionaries who had worked
there courageously, the fruits are abundant, not to mention the construction of
a big chapel for the center which branches out to 49 local churches. Greatly
thanks to them, many pagans are becoming Christians. For my part, with much
work, I am trying to continue what they did, since presently, the number of
faithful is growing. This chapel is becoming very small since every Sunday, the
Christians of Sahakevo and all the surrounding areas come here in great
numbers. As for the big feasts (Christmas, Easter), we can count on more than
three thousand Christians.
How do the
people live? In general, when one speaks of Betsimisaraka, they all live a very
simple life and are warmly hospitable. One could say that it is an
extraordinary life, for they all have a house in the village, but their daily
life continues to take place in the forest for farming and raising livestock.
They come together in the village only for big events: a death, the new year
and independence day celebrations, and certain Christian feasts. They come to
church every Sunday. What surprises me is that when one passes through the
village, there is no one around except two guardians. If there is an alarm or
some danger, they blow a whistle to warn the village people. A few minutes
later, everyone is there. Furthermore, if there is a state circular demanding
some sort of service or there are officials in person, they carry them to
another village.
As far as our
ministry is concerned, how do the people live? One could classify them into
three categories: some of them are very devout; there are some who believe that
God is very powerful, but they also worship other gods; and there are those who
are simply pagans. When the priest wants to visit them, he must send the
program ahead at least a month in advance in order to prepare them. Then, they
are all there to see the priest and to receive the sacraments. In order to
become Christians, the catechists teach them the faith and prepare them for the
sacraments. Therefore, collaboration with the laity is necessary and very
efficacious: that is why the pagans are taking small steps toward the Church
and many have become Christians. Thanks to the Gospel, several of them have had
the courage to take on a responsibility in their own church. The mission in our
sectors is not easy, but thanks to personal prayer, all is well. (Fr. Alfred
ZANDRY in Écho OMI Madagascar, July 2011)
