In view of the 160th anniversary of the death of Reverend Jean Le Brun, which occurred on 21 February 1865, we recall the memory of the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Mauritius – thus recalling the considerable work of the servant of God. We borrow here some sources from PCM newspaper, ‘La Sève et la Vigne’ from the 1990s.
A pastor and missionary, Jean Le Brun, born in Jersey and sent to Mauritius by the London Missionary Society, had as his objectives, in addition to preaching the Word, to plant a church and establish schools among so many illiterate people of the time, upon his arrival in Murice in May 1814. It should be noted that he was the pioneer of free education in Mauritius. Schools were for him a means of evangelizing, but also a means of educating the people, especially the so-called ‘coloured’ people. Not everything was easy, he had to face the bourgeoisie, hostile to his efforts to free the poor and the slaves – his efforts for the Gospel progressed “in this dark place, full of superstitions”.
The first group to form a church was on March 22, 1818, Easter Day. After constraints (opposition, finances, cyclone, etc.) the construction of a building in Port Louis (St Jean) was completed in 1840. Help came in particular from England, France, South Africa and Scotland.
There were two services every Sunday, prayer meetings on Mondays and Fridays, a public meeting every Wednesday. Reverend Jean Le Brun was driven by vision and courage and imbued with a profound humanism throughout his ministry.
It should be noted that historian Alain Jeannot paid a vibrant tribute to this great figure on the show ‘Dimanche Culture’ on February 23 on Radio 1