by Julian Hardyman – missionary from the UK and former pastor
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news” Isaiah 52:7
Pastor Leonce
How does the life of a pastor from near Mandritsara compare to the life of a pastor in the UK? We could start in all sorts of places for our comparison but let’s choose his feet. Perhaps a size 7 or 8. The soles lighter than the top. Toes not bunched. The skin often dusted with red from the iron rich soil. And as with so many Tsimihety people, deep narrow crevices running up the heels. His are not as painfully cracked as many are. But there cannot be a British pastor with heels like that!
These are feet that have been walking without shoes since birth and for much of their life. Feet that have been immersed in muddy water for rice planting. Feet that can pick their way over broken land.
Leonce preparing the rice fields
Feet that have really lived a bit. And feet that are beautiful because they have climbed over mountains to bring good news.
In early February Pastor Leonce's prayer request at our weekly meeting was that rain would fall on his village, Ambodilengo, so that rice could be planted. The rain came. Two of his eight oxen were hitched to a plough and hired workers ripped though the giant clods to get the ground ready while he built up the mud banks between fields, with great dexterity.
The next Thursday was rice planting day. He and his wife were hard at work from early on. But not alone. People from the church he has pastored since 2004 (a year after his conversion) came to help. And a posse rose even earlier in the village of Antsameloka, to the NW of Ambodilengo, to tramp over the mountain and add their efforts too.
#03 Leonce and the leader of the church in Antsameloka
Leonce and some of the Christians from Antsameloka
Perhaps they feel a bit of the debt that Paul speaks about with churches he has planted.
Leonce faithfully visited their village for years (latterly on a motorbike, to be fair, with his feet now in little yellow Paddington Bear wellies), doing door to door evangelism.
Leonce and Julian Hardyman en route to Antsameloka
At first he met a brazen and even aggressive resistance. Eventually, by the grace of God, a couple of dams burst in people’s hearts. And a church formed. In the drier time of the year he now visits every 2-3 weeks to deliver a Theological Education by Extension programme. The learners lap it up. And they in turn will walk 50km to weekend regional church gatherings.
Leonce and his litchi trees
It’s not just his feet that are different. His life expectancy is 65. He built his first house himself (it is now a storeroom). Then he built the second, across the path, and a little larger (two bedrooms, living room with kitchen-diner adjacent). He is thin but wiry and immensely strong. He can wield a bush knife with deft economy and then carry the large felled tree home over his shoulders.
He inherited land from his parents – rice fields, fruit trees and fields for other crops. All totally dependent on the rains and on manual labour. He has no stipend or salary from the church.
Leonce checking the ripeness of his jackfruit
When he “retires” he will have no state or private pension. So he is also at work now to secure the future for himself and his family. He and his son are putting up pig sheds with a view to a pig rearing business.
The new piggery
The new piggery - inside
He gets up before light to get the pig food ready. As far as I can see he owns fewer than ten books. Though this is changing in general, he is barely online. He did have six months at the Baptist Seminary down south. His Bible knowledge is wide and detailed. Walking with him through different scenes, you find all sorts of Bible verses being quoted to echo what is passing by.
Leonce reading the Bible and keeping an eye as his pig feed cooks
I have woken in his house at 4am and found Leonce marking TEE coursebooks for the students. He prepares conscientiously to preach in his church on Sundays. The congregation has shrunk of late but he cares for them diligently as well as making a significant wider contribution.
Leonce preaching the gospel in a remote village on a Helimission trip
That wider work involves flying by helicopter with Good News Hospital Community Health teams all over the region for evangelism (if there is no church in the village) or evangelism and church support (where there is). He has an easy manner with lots of humour which puts people at their ease. His teaching is Biblical, thorough, clear.
Marotiana and Leonce vaccinating 2-week old piglets
Leonce’s wife is called Marotiana, which means loved by many. She is a vital partner in life and ministry. Her feet show even more signs of the hardships of life on the subsistence farm.
She too is up before dawn every day and works tremendously hard to keep food on the table. And that food is not only for Leonce and the family. She cooks for countless numbers of guests, often folk who just drop in and expect to be fed. She plays a full part in the care of the fields and the animals, holding the fort gallantly and uncomplainingly for many weeks each year while Leonce is away on conferences and missions. She often looks exhausted but she presses on.
Do I need to spell out the differences between him and pastors in the UK any further? Probably not.
Yet, there is much that is in common: a conversion to Christ that was decisive and life changing. A commitment to building the church and taking the gospel out. The challenges and sacrifices that are non-negotiable in pastoral ministry. Happy collaborations with other leaders as well as the loneliness that so often comes with being a sole or senior pastor. Gratitude for a weekly time to meet, share, pray and laugh. A desire to make his 50s and beyond really count for the cause of the gospel.
Leonce does not have a computer but is proud of his faithful typewriter
And how did Leonce find Christ? Through an evangelist who himself found Christ through one of the very first Malagasy evangelists from the Good News Hospital.
Leonce and others with the new Tsimihety Gospel of Luke
Leonce with the local Bible Baptist Organising Committee
Now he is the senior statesman of the local area. Others have flown higher and fallen to earth in disgrace but he stands steady and unmoved, a source of strength and encouragement to younger leaders and newer Christians. And green missionaries too.
Do pray for him. For beautiful feet as he brings good news. And that the Lord would give the church here more like him. Thank you
Save the Date
Friends of Mandritsara Hybrid Prayer Day - 12th April, London
Join us from 1:00pm for lunch with the prayer meeting starting at 2:00pm. There will be the option to join online, and further details will be sent out closer to the time via the stories mailing list. Click Here for more info.