Many times we refer to the difficulties of the mission without talking about specific events. The mission is an endless story of adventures, with many different events, persons and things. Strange stories and unimaginable things often happen. Where logic stops, the logic of the Mission begins . Patience along with prayer is the key that opens all doors. Once when we were going to a parish from the farthest away, we lost our way at night and fell into a swamp. It was one past midnight. The car (jeep) sank into the mud up to the door step. We tried in vain to get it out by putting rocks, sticks and sticks. The night was moonless and thick darkness all around us. Electricity was non-existent for 200km. Road assistance was non-existent. A small village near us was plunged in darkness and we did not notice it. Silence reigned. We had to wait until the morning to dawn. Our feet sank in the mud and we each took a “sleeping room” in the open air to rest and get some sleep. Some slept a little and others didn’t sleep at all until the morning from the agony they were in. In the morning, as long as it was daylight, a large truck was passing by on the regular road, and we begged the driver to help us out of the mud. Like the local he was, he asked us for a big tip. The haggling began and it came down to half price. After he pulled us over and we got out of that spot, we realized we had lost our way. In the same area another time, we lost the road at night because there were too many side streets. We stopped for a while to ascertain which was the correct road. Suddenly we saw a small farm car approaching us. After stopping with some suspicion as to whether we were good people or bandits, he suggested we follow it to get us out of the dead end. Such events have happened many times, through which we see the hand of God pulling us out of dead ends. God’s presence is evident many times and watches us every step of the way. In spite of all these minor difficulties, the work of the Church is progressing in all directions. The faithful are increasing and Orthodoxy is taking more and more ground. Difficulties, however much we may not like them, are necessary according to the Fathers of the Church. We are often asked, what are you doing, how are you getting along? A difficult question. What should I answer? I try to find an answer to give, not a formal answer, to people who ask me how I’m doing down there? All the images of the mission come to mind.
We set off loaded with the jeep of the Mission to travel up to 1400km in order to visit remote villages and towns where there are believers and churches that need to be equipped. The roads are often in a miserable condition. The jeep gasps in the huge potholes and uphill roads and the speed does not exceed 10km per hour. We reach a small village. Everyone suggests that we should stop for a rest and a coffee for the driver. The curiosity of the people brings them close to us. Strange creatures the Whites are, clerical strangers with robes and beards. I wonder what they are and what they believe, two locals discuss. Others join in the conversation and the questions devolve into catechism. Information booklets on “what Orthodoxy is” are distributed in a flash and pleas to come back to catechize them are repeated until the jeep starts. We go on looking out at nature with its traditional icons but our minds think of the earlier parking lot with the people who persistently asked to be indoctrinated, to know Orthodoxy. We finally arrived at our destination after an adventurous three-day journey. The march night and day is exhausting. The car seat becomes a bed and a table. The purpose of our journey was to oversee a new Holy Church, commune with our Christians and Baptism of the long-standing catechumens. All the programs went very well to the glory of God and our moral satisfaction. With the love of Christ
Ignatius of Madagascar
