The Shepherd, October 2004
TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORTHODOX MISSION IN MADAGASCAR, 1
THIS YEAR we commemorate the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Orthodox Mission in Madagascar. It therefore seems appropriate to give tribute to the mission’s achievements, reflect upon its historical background and mention the important events that mark this special year.
The Mission came into existence by the grace of God and through the efforts initiated by His Grace Bishop Nectarios (Kellis), who also founded the mission.
Prior to this, Bishop Nectarios (the Fr Nectarios), was an archimandrite of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Australia where he was actively involved in establishing large Orthodox youth fellowships and Bible study classes, as well as Orthodox libraries and monthly publications in Greek and English. From a young age he had a great desire - that Orthodoxy should spread across many nations and that people of different colours and races should find salvation in the One True Faith.
Our Lord Jesus Christ,Who knows the hearts of all people, was preparing the way for Fr Nectarios to come to Madagascar to begin his blessed work in His holy vineyard.
While still in Australia, Fr Nectarios had read in the monthly periodical Panta Ta Ethni (Dec. 1993), an article by Fr Constantinos Stratigopoulos in which it was said that a native from Madagascar was supposedly interested to learn about Orthodoxy. This was in fact the calling that Fr Nectarios received to begin his ministry.
In July 1994, with the blessings of ArchbishopStylianos of Australia, and with the permission of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Zimbabwe (under whose jurisdiction Madagascar then belonged) - Fr Nectarios arrived for the first time in Madagascar.
Unfortunately, upon Fr Nectarios’ arrival there was no such individual who was interested in Orthodoxy as the article had claimed. In fact, there were no Orthodox people among the natives, and Orthodoxy was largely unheard of in Madagascar. This, however, did not discourage the zealous missionary. Despite no previous interest from missionaries to minister among the Madagasy people, Fr Nectarios became the first Orthodox missionary to begin evangelisation in Madagascar. It was by all means difficult for Fr Nectarios in the beginning. He came to Madagascar without the financial support of anyone. He had no acquaintance in Madagascar, nor any knowledge of the language spoken. He was appalled at the standard of living in this poverty and disease stricken country. Moved with compassion for the our suffering Madagasy brethren, Fr Nectarios was even more determined to bring the Light to this foreign land.
In the capital city of Antananarivo, there existed one small Orthodox church which was built in 1949, solely for the spiritual needs of the small Greek community which existed at the time. With the decline of Greeks in Madagascar over the years, the church was forced to remain closed after 1964. Unfortunately the few Greeks here did not involve themselves with mission work, therefore Orthodoxy remained dormant on the island from that time.
The first Divine Liturgy since the church’s closure in 1964 was celebrated some thirty years later by Fr Nectarios, upon his first visit to Madagascar. Not many Greeks participated in the Divine Liturgy, but most importantly it attracted the attention of three Madagasy natives, who out of interest came to observe the service. It is with these three people that Fr Nectarios began his ministry. The mission subsequently established itself and took strong roots in Madagascar, rapidly progressing across the island nation, particularly in the southern and North-western provinces, as well as in the central Antananarivo area.
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