The Anglican School in Marovoay

Joyously teaching the faith in the midst of unbearable poverty

Good morning Substack friends.

Annual Family Sunday

I thought I would share with you my experience of visiting the Anglican School in the parish of Marovoay yesterday. I went to Marovoay to worship with the congregation there and to celebrate with them on their annual family Sunday. This is a tradition in Madagascar Anglican churches. Once a year families are invited to return to the church of their childhood to give thanks, as the psalmist would suggest, for their ‘goodly heritage’. Each family, in turn, is invited to stand before the congregation, to sing a verse or two of their favorite hymn, and to make a thank offering to the Church. It is a wonderful way to give thanks for the faithfulness of previous generations of priests, pastors, evangelists, and catechists who have served faithfully through the years.

Celebration Feast

After glorious worship in the parish church with 282 souls present, many of whom were young children, there was a celebration feast. Having shared in Holy Communion - food for the soul Sarah, Chase, and I were invited to share a Malagasy meal of rice, zebu stew, and carrot coleslaw. Great food and even better table fellowship!

School Visit

After the celebration meal we were taken to visit the Parish School. It is the school that I am making the subject of this article. There are 87 students in this village school and they are taught by four teachers. The parish evangelist serves also as the headmaster of the school. He is a remarkable young man whose faith is obvious and whose love of the children in his care is equally obvious. Some classes of children meet in the church, other classes meet in a very humble corrugated tin building. The remaining children meet under a simple thatched roof, sitting in the dirt, with neither chairs or a chalkboard - a far cry from our North American classrooms with their smart boards!

The evangelist/headmaster asked if I might be able, as their Bishop, to find the funds to finish the school extension. With embarrassing humility, he asked if, perhaps, the children could have benches on which to sit and if it were by God's grace, perhaps even a blackboard in each room! As with most of the other requests that have been made of me, this is not an extravagant request. These are the basic necessities, one might suggest, of being able to be a teacher in a school.

A Tough Lesson to Learn

Chase noted that the very poor condition of the school was incomparable with his school in Canada. This comment facilitated an extended wonderful conversation on our return to Mahajanga. The conversation was not guilt provoking but rather gratitude producing. Like most 14-year-old North American boys, there are days when he's not excited about having to go to school - sometimes he finds it rather boring. Seeing the situation at this school has opened his mind and his heart to recognize more clearly the extraordinary blessing which is his in getting to go to a North American school. We even talked about what he and his friends might be able to do to make a difference for the students in this school. We are praying that God might lead him and his friends to respond in gratitude for what they have been given and to do something to help the Marovoay school.

Blessed are the Poor

What was more striking than the poor meager conditions at the school was the joy of the students. They were so very proud to welcome us to their school. When I suggested that perhaps we sing a hymn together, very quickly the evangelist/headmaster plugged his phone into a speaker and played the accompaniment for the hymn. They sang so joyously. I asked the translator what the words of the hymn said, and he told me that they were singing and thanking the Lord for his goodness and his favour. Their ability to give thanks for what they have, whilst recognizing, to some degree, what they don't have, is humbling. They are choosing to not allow their circumstance to take away their joy.

Perhaps by now you're picking up a theme in these articles. We have much to learn as North American Christians about gratitude and joy. I am learning so very much. My wife and son are learning so very much. We sometimes sing about ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory and the half has never yet been told’ - I am seeing this lived out in the lives of some of the poorest people. May God give to me, and to those of you reading this, a similar gift of gratitude and joy.