Life from the mission field

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” In almost every young person’s life, sooner or later you will encounter this all important question from someone you know. It could be your teacher, your uncle or your parents’ friends who ask. And how you answer the question probably depends on what you are interested in at the time.

When I was in junior high school, I answered that I wanted to be an astronaut because at that time I was really into learning about the solar system. A few years later, I said I wanted to be a writer because by then I got into reading literature. When I was in high school, I thought about being a psychologist. Once I entered college, I set out to be a doctor. But in the end, I became none of those things.

I became a missionary.

Being a missionary is probably not on the list of careers choices for most of you out there. But it is probably one of the most challenging, rewarding, and adventurous things that one can do in life.

Every year, in October the Church celebrates Mission Sunday. This year, Mission Sunday takes place on October 19. On this occasion, I would like to share with you a little bit about what it is like to be a missionary. Hopefully, through this sharing, some of you will also think about this path for your own life.

After I was ordained as a priest in 2006 in Chicago, I was sent to my first mission assignment in Thailand. When friends and family heard that I would be serving in Thailand, they said to me, “How are you going to learn to read that weird language? They don’t even write with ABCs. The words are all swirly.”

I didn’t really know myself. But, what the heck. Why not give it a shot?

I stepped off the plane to a steamy, traffic-congested, and bustling Bangkok in early 2007 to begin Thai language studies. As it turned out, learning Thai wasn’t all that bad. The more I got into the language and able to speak and understand, the more I began to admire the beauty of the new language. I loved the way men used “khrap” and women used “kha” to politely end their sentences.

The more I understood the language the more I began to understand Thai culture and society. OK. I still don’t understand why Thai people so often show up late for appointments or put like 50 red chillies in all their food, but that’s beside the point. I appreciate the respectful way that Thai people put their hands in front of them to “wai” when greeting one another. I also understand how religion, superstition, and traditions are all woven into the people’s way of thinking. I also came to understand why so many of the Thai movies are of the scary genre.

After I finished my Thai language study, I began to venture into the mission field in a small province in the northeast of Thailand called Nong Bua Lamphu. This province has only one Catholic Church. It was built 6 years ago by another Divine Word Missionary named Br. Damien Lunders. Br. Damien also built the Mother of Perpetual Help AIDS Center next to the church.

In the six years that the church has been opened, there have been six priests working here. I’m the seventh. Everyone is hoping that I would serve here long enough to create stability for the small Catholic community here and help it to develop. In Thailand, out of 65 million people, there are only 300,000 Catholics – not even 0.5 percent of the population. In Nong Bua Lamphu province, we only have about 20 families who are Catholic. So I guess you can say the mission field is wide open.

I came to Nong Bua Lamphu on a hot April afternoon to take over the position of pastor here. I lived in a house next to an orphanage for children with HIV, ran by the sisters from Mother Teresa’s congregation. There are 21 children in the orphanage, 19 boys and 2 girls ranging in age from about 5 to 15. Recently, I moved to a new rectory built next to the church so that my work for the parish would be more convenient.

Next to the church is the Mother of Perpetual Help AIDS center and hospice. The center is run by Br. Damien. In the short time that I’ve began my mission work in this province, I have to say that it has made me realize that my decision to follow the missionary vocation, and choosing Thailand as the first country to which I would serve after taking my final vows and priestly ordination was a decision that must have occurred with God’s providence.

Here, I see what it is like for missionaries – Br. Damien, the Charity Sisters, and myself – to work serving our brothers and sisters who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. It is a highly challenging but ultimately worthwhile work. We missionaries know in our heart, that the work of caring for people who are poor, who are often left out of society, and are feared by others, is exactly the kind of work that we as Christians, and as missionaries should be doing.

In fact, it’s not just missionaries who feel this way, but all those who collaborate in this work feel the same. One woman named Wasana, who has the duty to take care of the patients in the hospice, which this year has been short of beds for all those who want to come for treatment, shared with me: “Right now, I am fully committed to serving the patients. I am proud to be able to help them regain their health and strength, so that they can return to live happily in society, in their family, and in the community. The smile of the patients is the source of strength for me to carry out my work.”

I understand what she means. When I first came to Nong Bua Lamphu, I saw Tum. He was also recently admitted to the hospice. He had lost use of his legs and they were very thin. He used his arms to move about. I said to Br. Damien, “Wow, he’s in a really bad shape.”

Br. Damien replied, “You should have seen him when he first came. He couldn’t even feed himself. We had to feed him ourselves. Now he’s eating on his own and moving about on his own. That’s already a great improvement.”

Through encouragement, a little pushing, and medical treatment, Tum began to gradually gain more strength. At first, he started training himself using a walker. Now he is able to walk on his own. As he becomes stronger and more confident, the smiles also appear more often as well. I think it is these smiles that provide the energy for people like Wasana.

Wasana, by the way, is not a Catholic. But almost everyday, late at night, she goes into church to pray, and always recommends other patients, whoever they are, to go to church to pray and ask for blessings.

Beside hospice work, the Mother of Perpetual Help Center continues to expand its other outreach programs in the province. Every week, there are HIV/AIDS meetings taking place with support groups. The center assists families with HIV/AIDS to have a means to make a living through the cattle project, through food assistance program, and education funds. At the beginning of every school year, children from HIV/AIDS families receive school uniforms. In May, 400 uniforms were distributed by the center throughout the province. And the HIV/AIDS education program that attempts to reach 40 different schools each year continues to be carried out in an active manner with the hope the this effort will contribute to a decrease in the rate of infection among the youth in the future. It takes five years to go to all the schools in the province.

As the pastor of St. Michael’s Church, which is so closely connected with the Mother of Perpetual Help Center and the orphan’s home, the issue of HIV/AIDS play an important part in the pastoral work of the church. I myself feel a tremendous sense of happiness when I see that nowadays, we have people who used to did not come to Mass on Sunday because they were afraid of being in the same vicinity as people with HIV, now come to church regularly.

I give God thanks when a young girl with HIV from the orphan’s home asked to learn catechism, to be baptized, and now comes up to read the Sunday Readings or serve at the altar without being afraid that others will make fun of her.

I give God thanks when teenagers in the parish declare that they are not afraid of people with HIV, and they don’t mind sitting and eating with their friends who are HIV positive.

I feel a great sense of gratefulness to God when I see in the church, people with HIV and without HIV sitting together, praying together, and coming up to receive Holy Communion or blessings together.

I feel amazed when a Buddhist man in the hospice said to me, “Father, on weekdays, if you don’t have anyone to do the readings in Mass, I can come do the readings for you.”

And another man, named Chai from Nong Khai province. He became infected with HIV because he spent many evenings looking for fun in the bars and brothels. But now, almost every afternoon, he would go to Mass. When it came time for communion, he would come up to receive a special blessing because he wasn’t Catholic. Recently, he left the center to return to his home in Nong Khai because he felt strong again. He came to say good bye to me, and I blessed him again to send him off. As I walked back into the retctory, I looked back and saw Chai standing in front of the statue of Jesus in front of the church to pray one last time before leaving. This man never became Catholic, but I feel that as a result of his stay in the hospice, he came to have faith in God, and felt that he could come to God for help and blessings.

As a priest and a missionary, it gives me a great joy to see that in so many ways, our small Catholic community in Nong Bua Lamphu is learning how to get over our fears and reluctances in order to live out our call as Christians to become true witnesses to the love and unity of God to our fellow Christians as well as to the larger community. In demonstating our love and acceptance for all people, I think there is no better way than to show to others the true meaning of being believers of Jesus Christ.

For me that is the real essence of being a missionary – making Christ known to others by our words and by our actions. In the end, most of the people I encounter in my missionary life will not become Catholic or even think about becoming Catholic. But I hope that in some ways, I have helped to make them know who Jesus Christ is and that I do what I do because of Him.

Trả lời phỏng vấn về mục vụ di dân Thái Lan

Phóng viên Dân Chúa Úc Châu (PvDCUC) xin được hân hạnh giới thiệu tới độc giả nguyệt san Dân Chúa úc Châu LM....dòng Ngôi Lời tỉnh dòng Úc Châu, một khuôn mặt quen thuộc của nguyệt san hiện đang làm việc tại Thái Lan….

PvDCUC: Chào cha, mặc dầu sống bên Thái Lan xa xôi, cám ơn cha đã tham gia vào Ban Biên Tập và hằng tháng đóng góp bài vở cho Trang Modern Talkings. Trong số Mục Vụ Di Dân tháng 6, xin cha cũng nói thêm về công tác mục vụ của cha cho người Việt Nam tại Thái Lan…

LmAnthony: Trước khi đến Thái Lan vào tháng 2 năm 2007 thì tôi không hề có khái niệm về người lao động Việt Nam tại Thái Lan, cho đến khi nhận được một cuộc điện thoại từ Seour Linh ở Dòng Mân Côi mời đến dâng lễ Phục Sinh cho người Việt Nam. Từ đó tôi bắt đầu làm quen với các bạn trẻ đến Thái Lan làm việc từ các tỉnh miền Bắc Trung Bộ như Nghệ An, Hà Tỉnh, Thanh Hóa…

Vì các bạn ở Bangkok lao động bất hợp pháp nên việc tổ chức bất cứ một sinh hoạt nào đều rất khó khăn, ngay cả việc tổ chức thánh lễ. Vì thế mục vụ chính yếu của tôi khi còn ở Bangkok là cộng tác với cha Nguyễn Tiến Đức và các seour Dòng Mân Côi để tìm nơi và tổ chức thánh lễ cho cộng đoàn một cách an toàn và thường xuyên. Những lần có lễ như vậy tôi phải ngồi giải tội nhiều giờ đồng hồ vì các bạn rất muốn đến gặp linh mục để giải bày những nỗi ưu tư của mình. Tôi cho rằng những lần ngồi tòa này là những giây phút có ý nghĩa nhất trong việc mục vụ của tôi với các bạn trẻ tại Thái Lan.

Trong những giờ rảnh rổi, tôi cũng cố tìm đến một số bạn trẻ để gặp gỡ, chia sẻ, và nâng đỡ tinh thần của họ trong đời sống hằng ngày.

Từ ngày dọn lên tỉnh Udon Thani, tôi đã xin phép Đức Giám Mục cho tôi dâng lễ tiếng Việt mỗi tháng một lần cho người Việt Nam (trong đó có Việt Kiều Thái sinh ra và lớn lên ở Thái Lan). Sau 3 lần dâng lễ ở một ngôi nhà thờ nhỏ trong phố, tôi thấy thánh lễ hàng tháng này đang ổn định và ngày càng có thêm người đến tham dự, ngay cả các bạn không thuộc Công Giáo. Sau lễ các cô bác Việt Kiều thường đãi thức ăn cho cộng đoàn như cháo, bún, hoặc chè trong không khí rất đầm ấm. Thánh lễ hàng tháng này diễn ra vào 7h30 tối Chúa Nhật, là thì giờ thuận tiện nhất đối với các bạn, vì trong số họ có nhiều người phải giúp việc bán hàng ngoài chợ vào ban ngày.

Tháng qua, từ ngày tôi dọn về tỉnh Nong Bua Lamphu, cách Udon Thani 50 cây số để nhận xứ mới, tôi đang “đi lùng” người Việt. Tôi nghe nói là ở các chợ có rất nhiều người Việt bán hàng. Nên thời gian này tôi đi chợ không chỉ để mua đồ mà còn tìm “con chiên” nữa. Hiện nay tôi đang phụ trách một giáo xứ nhỏ trong tỉnh NBL. Tôi muốn tìm đến những người Việt để cho họ biết ở đây có linh mục người Việt và còn có nhà thờ nữa. Hy vọng rằng có dịp giao tiếp với những người có đạo, và với những người chủ của họ, họ sẽ được phép nghỉ vài giờ đồng hồ vào ngày Chúa Nhật để đến nhà thờ dự lễ.

PvDCUC: Hiện nay có khoảng bao nhiêu người Công Giáo Việt Nam ở Thái? Nghề nghiệp của họ? Đời sống đức tin? Riêng về làn sóng di dân từ Việt Nam gần đây, họ đã đến Thái Lan bằng cách nào?

LmAnthony: Thực ra tôi không nắm được số liệu này. Tuy nhiên tôi có hỏi một bạn trẻ lao động thì bạn ấy ước lượng lao động di dân Việt Nam ở Thái Lan hiện nay phải lên đến vài trăm nghìn người.

Dường như tất cả đều đến từ các vùng thôn quê và đến Thái Lan bằng đường bộ. “Đường giây” đi Thái Lan từ Việt Nam cũng rất đơn giản. Vì là thành viên của ASEAN nên người Việt được phép vào Thái Lan trên phương diện du lịch 30 ngày mà không cần visa. Vì thế nếu ai muốn đi Thái Lan thì chỉ cần người quen, bà con, bạn bè dẫn đi một cách dễ dàng. Xe đò đi từ Việt Nam đến Vientiane, Lào ngày nào cũng có chuyến. Từ Vientiane vào Thái Lan cũng không gì khó khăn. Vì thến nên không có ngày nào mà không có người Việt Nam đến Thái Lan để làm việc. Dĩ nhiên cũng có người Việt về lại Việt Nam để thăm gia đình, làm lại hộ chiếu, …

Các bạn trẻ Công giáo mang trong mình một đức tin xuất phát từ các xóm làng Công giáo tại Việt Nam. Đó là một thứ đức tin rất đơn sơ, chân thành và mạnh mẻ. Vì thế họ rất áy náy lương tâm khi không được đi lễ ngày Chúa Nhật vì nơi làm việc không có nhà thờ, hoặc không có thời giờ để đi lễ. Đó cũng là một trong những lý do tại sao mỗi lần có lễ tiếng Việt tôi phải ngồi tòa đến nhiều giờ đồng hồ.

PvDCUC: Ngoài cha ra, còn có linh mục và tu sĩ Việt Nam nào cũng đang làm việc với cha hay không?

LmAnthony: Ở Bangkok hiện nay có một linh mục người Thái gốc Việt tên là cha Salerm là người đứng ra chịu trách nhiệm cho cộng đoàn. Tuy nhiên, công việc mục vụ trực tiếp thì được đảm nhận bởi cha Nguyễn Tiến Đức, OP. Ngài đang du học tại Thái Lan và đồng thời làm việc mục vụ cho người Việt Nam. Các bài tin tức về cộng đoàn được đăng trên trang VietCatholic đều do ngài viết mới có. Bên cạnh cha Đức còn có các seour Dòng Mân Côi, là một dòng Việt Nam ở Hoa Kỳ. Các seour được Dòng Chúa Cứu Thế mời sang dạy trong trường quốc tế rất nổi tiếng của Dòng. Các seour cũng cộng tác trong mục vụ với người Việt với điều kiện mà các seour có thể. Và cuối cùng là có cha Phan Quốc Trực, SVD đang ở Bangkok cũng gắn bó với cộng đoàn.

PvDCUC: Bên Đài Loan, và gần đây Đại Hàn, có nhiều công nhân Việt Nam bị bóc lột, hành hạ vừa thể xác vừa tinh thần, có một số nữ công nhân bị môi giới bán vào trong động. Thưa cha, bên Thái Lan có những tình trạng tương tự như vậy cho người công nhân Việt Nam hay không?

LmAnthony: Theo sự hiểu biết của tôi thì người Việt Nam ở Thái Lan rất may mắn là không rơi vào những tình huống bi đát như ở Đài Loan và Đại Hàn. Lý do chính có thể là đa số các bạn trẻ đến Thái Lan là đi theo anh em, bà con, bạn bè. Họ ở và làm việc chung với nhau. Ví dụ như một chủ nhân thuê 5-6 người may đồ trong nhà của họ đều là bà con anh em với nhau. Vì vậy họ trợ giúp và nâng đỡ lẫn nhau. Tiếng Thái Lan đối với người Việt mình cũng tương đối dễ tiếp thu nên đa số các bạn lao động ở Thái Lan đều nói được tiếng Thái để giao tiếp và ngay cả “trả giá” với cảnh sát khi bị bắt trên đường.

PvDCUC: Trong vòng 10 năm nữa, cha nghĩ mục vụ di dân cho người Công Giáo Việt Nam sẽ đi về đâu?

LmAnthony: Trong tương lai nếu tình hình bất hợp pháp đối với lao động Việt Nam tại Thái Lan vẫn tiếp tục duy trì, tôi nghĩ rằng mục vụ đối với người Công giáo phải sáng tạo để giúp cho họ tổ chức những cách thờ phượng và cầu nguyện tập thể theo mô hình nhỏ ở trong các khu vực có nhiều người Việt Nam đang làm việc. Vấn đề là hiện nay ở Thái Lan chưa có sự quan tâm thích đáng từ giáo hội Thái Lan. Kinh nghiệm của tôi cho thấy trong giới linh mục tu sĩ ở đây không mấy ai cho rằng việc mục vụ di dân đối với người Việt là điều đáng chú tâm đến. Việc cộng đoàn ở Bangkok đã bị nhiều nhà thờ từ chối không cho làm lễ chỉ vì những lý do không quá nghiêm trọng cũng nói lên phần nào thái độ thiếu thông cảm này. Vì thế, các linh mục tu sĩ người Việt ở Thái Lan phải tiếp tục nỗ lực để đưa vấn đề mục vụ di dân vào chương trình mục vụ chung của Giáo hội Thái Lan hầu có đường hướng và sự hỗ trợ tích cực hơn từ giáo hội địa phương.

Trên thực tế, mục vụ di dân cho người Việt ở Thái Lan cũng có những đồng điểm với các nơi khác như đa số các người di dân là ở tuổi thanh niên. Vì thế các vấn đề như trai gái yêu đương, quan hệ và sinh sống với nhau trước hôn nhân, và ngay cả vấn đề tệ nạn xã hội như cờ bạc, bia rượu, và tội phạm cũng xảy ra đối với một thành phần ở đây. Mục vụ di dân cho người Công Giáo Việt Nam sẽ phải giúp cho họ cố gắng duy trì những giá trị tốt đẹp mà họ đã thu thập được từ những làng quê nơi họ xuất phát để tránh những vấn đề không tốt xảy ra khi rời khỏi hệ thống giáo dục và nâng đỡ của gia đình, làng xóm, và nhà thờ mà họ đã có được trước đây.

Ngoài ra công tác mục vụ này cũng phải giúp cho họ ý thức được rằng họ phải loại bỏ những thói quen không phù hợp với môi trường mới, ví dụ như hay xã rác mỗi lần ăn xong, hoặc hút thuốc trong khuôn viên nhà thờ, ăn mặc, đứng ngồi theo kiểu người quê Việt Nam. Tất cả những hành động này gây ra phản cảm đối với người địa phương và làm cho họ dễ bị cảnh sát phát hiện khi đi ra đường.

PvDCUC: Cha có điều chi muốn chia sẻ với độc giả Dân Chúa Úc Châu nữa hay không?

LmAnthony: Tôi xin quý độc giả cầu nguyện cho những người trẻ Việt Nam đang mưu sinh trên đất nước Thái Lan này. Tôi thấy rất trớ trêu khi ở giáo xứ nhỏ bẻ của tôi vẫn có những hàng ghế trống vì người Công giáo ở đây rất bàng quang trước vấn đề lễ lạt. Thế nhưng có vô số bạn trẻ Việt Nam đang ao ước có được một nơi để dự lễ, cho dù chỉ một hai tháng một lần lại không kiếm ra nơi nào để thờ phượng. Ở Thái Lan chỉ có 300,000 người trong số 65 triệu dân là Công giáo. Trong số 300,000 tín hữu đó, có tỷ số không ít mang dòng máu Việt. Họ đã sang đây trốn sự bắt bớ từ thời bắt đạo ở Việt Nam hàng trăm năm trước cũng như những thời kỳ tiếp theo sau đó. Người Việt Nam đã cống hiến cho Giáo hội Thái Lan rất nhiều linh mục, tu sĩ, và ngay cả vị GM Giáo phận Tha Re bây giờ cũng là người Việt nói được tiếng Việt. Ngày nay, vẫn có người Việt Nam Công giáo đến Thái Lan để mưu sinh, trốn tránh cảnh nghèo nàn ở quê hương. Nếu như người Việt chúng ta được tự do sống đức tin của mình trên đất Thái, chắc chắn chúng ta sẽ làm chứng cho Tin Mừng một cách rất hăng say, và Giáo hội địa phương sẽ phát triển theo chiều hướng tích cực hơn.

PvDCUC: Cám ơn cha thật nhiều. Nguyện xin Thiên Chúa tiếp tục chúc lành cho công tác mục vụ của cha tại Thái Lan.

Put on a cheerful face

Do not let anyone steal your joy!

I am not sure if it still exists, but I remember for some time, the fashion trend among teenagers was the “gangster look”. People walked around in baggy jeans, oversized t-shirts, and baseball caps. On their faces, they always wore an expression of toughness that seemed to say “You better not mess with me.”

Even though it was just part of the fashion statement that young people were trying to make to their peers, I can’t help but think that trying to look tough on the outside will eventually make you become tough on the inside as well. If you concentrate on making yourself look like you’re going to smash someone’s face in if they looked at you the wrong way, you won’t have a whole lot of time left to think about being a nice and cheerful person to people around you.

The reality is that many people walk around with angry or unpleasant looks on their faces even though it has nothing to do with making a fashion statement. Many people do not feel happy in their lives or do not know how to be joyful with what they have. Many people intentionally or unintentionally make themselves into uncheerful people that are unpleasant to themselves as well as to people around them.

Charles Evans Hughes, who was chief justice of the United States Supreme Court once said, “A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.” One of the ways we turn ourselves into good company, not only to people around us, but also to ourselves is by being a cheerful person. Cheerfulness is not like when you do not have a good grasp of reality and become ditzy and everything is “Like omigod, how cool!” But cheerfulness is an attitude in which we reflect the joy we feel inside at all the good things that we have in life.

There are many aspects of our lives in which should make us feel joyful, but this isn’t happening because we are not aware of these good things. Sometimes, we even mistake a good thing for being a bad thing.

Let’s take the case of being stuck in traffic when we are driving on the highway. To most of us, this is really terrible, especially when we have some important place to go. But think again and we’ll find that we should be cheerful even when stuck in traffic because it means that we actually can afford to have a car in order to drive around, unlike many others in the world where even finding money for a bicycle is not possible.

Or let’s think about when we are stuck on a difficult math problem. We might be really angry at the teacher for assigning us so much homework, especially with math problems that are impossible to solve. Yet, if we think again, we’ll see that even now, we should be cheerful because being stuck on a homework problem means that we have opportunity to go to school and learn many things that are important to finding success in the future. In this world, there are millions and millions of young people who would love to be able to sit at a desk listening to the teacher explain lessons but cannot because they have to go out to find a job to make money for their family or for their own lives.

Despite the fact that our lives are full of occasions for joy and cheerfulness, many of us choose to go for the tough look every time we step out of the house. We look tough so that other people will afraid of us. We look tough so we don’t have to smile at the beautiful things that appear in front of our eyes. We look tough so we don’t have to show gratitude at all the blessings that have been bestowed on us by God, who is the most cheerful Being in the universe. According to American philosopher Dallas Willard, “We should, to begin with, think that God leads a very interesting life, and that he is full of joy. Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe. The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy. All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness.”

Since God is joyful, God always wants each of us to be joyful. In the Gospel of John, Jesus himself prayed for our joy (John 15:11;16:16-24; 17:13). And Jesus wants to make it easy and joyful for each of us to come to him. As he assured us, “My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)

Lastly, we must remember that to be cheerful and joyful is a decision that we make ourselves. It is not a result of something that happens to us. Just as we can make a choice to be angry and resentful, we can make a choice to be cheerful. The way to make that decision is by looking at our lives for signs of God’s presence. God’s presence is not only detected in the good things, but oftentimes, also in the hardships and difficulties. In fact, we are even more likely to find that God is walking with us in times of pain and suffering than in the good times. As a result, no matter in what state we are in, if we want to feel God’s presence and support in our lives, we will be able to feel joy.

Life is difficult and sometimes painful. In our modern society, there are many things that we can use to justify why we walk around looking angry all the time. Yet, it does not have to be this way. We can all be cheerful and joyful, if that’s how we want to feel!

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.- Chinese proverb

Modest Beginnings

July 2008

As of my writing this, it has been about a year and three months since I’ve studied and worked in Thailand. I spent a total of 8 months learning the language (5 months in school and three months on my own). I then moved to Udon Thani Diocese for a program of internship that was supposed to last six months. But three months into my internship, the church at Nong Bua Lamphu province found itself without a pastor because the present pastor was reassigned by his order to another part of the country. St. Michael Archangel church in NBL is a lovely small church that was built by Br. Damien Lunders, SVD and opened in 2002.

Although I haven’t finished my internship program, I approached the bishop and asked that I’d be sent to NBL to administer the parish, until Fr. Truc Phan, SVD who was still studying Thai in Bangkok was ready to take over the job. The bishop readily agreed because the diocese was already short of personnel. I moved my belongings to NBL in April, and now, I have been here for about three and a half months.

Looking back on the time that has gone by, I must say that it has been a very unexpected experience for me. Many things happened not according to what I had planned, but turn out to be the very things that speak of the great providence of God. I originally planned to study Thai for a year, but found out that I was itching to go into the “field” after six months into the experience. I felt I had enough language skills to do the work. So I asked my superiors to let me shorten the time of language program. They agreed, on the condition that I would take the Thai language proficiency exam given once a year in December. I took the test, and passed.

Once in Udon Thani, I also cut short my internship program because of an unexpected need in the local church. Through personal reflection and seeking advice from some people around me, I decided to take on the challenge.

Now, here in NBL, my aim is to help build this small parish into a meaningful place in the community and in the diocese. Because of the small number of parishioners and many changes of priest in a short time, the parish has been slow in developing, unlike the Mother of Perpetual Help Center and the children’s home, which have seen tremendous development in the past years. Catholics in the province still don’t go to mass regularly, and many do not attend mass at all. For various reasons, the diocese’s subsidy for the parish is rather modest, only 300 UAD a month for all church expenses including the pastor’s expenses. Sunday collections are also quite modest since over half of the church are children/orphans, teenagers, and manual laborers. The previous pastor managed to have a confirmation catechism class for a group of 5 teenagers, but the teacher is “on loan” from Udon Thani. The church has no organ, so the song leader uses a CD player to play recorded music to which the community sings along. The priest also has no altar servers.

Facing a rather unlively situation, my goal has been to do what I can in order to help the small parish become a place where people come to hear the Good News and to participate in enriching activities. People should know of the church as more than just “where the HIV/AIDS Center is located”. Certainly, the HIV/AIDS center is an essential and extremely significant part of our ministry in NBL, but the church itself needs to look for ways to serve other pastoral needs as well.

With this understanding in mind, I have taken some modest steps towards realization of this goal. First, I attempt to tailor my homily messages (which takes me quite some time to prepare in Thai) to help parishioners become more conscious of their Christian identity and mission so that they would take a more active role in the family, parish and in society as God’s witnesses.

Second, I have started programs that each parish must have, that is, catechism. Presently, the confirmation class continues to take place. The children’s catechism class has also been opened two months ago, with the help of another parishioner from NBL. This class has 19 students, who are from the children’s home run by the Sisters of Charity. Although, we encourage parents to send their children to this class as well. Two weeks ago, I have opened an adult catechism class, which I teach myself. This class has two adult women and one teenager. They are Buddhists but want to convert to Christianity. Beside catechism, I have also opened an English class for high school students in NBL in an attempt to put the church to the service of the greater community. My class now has 10 students, and I teach on Saturday and Sunday. More are interested in studying, but I have to restrict the number of students for practical reasons.

Third, I try to make small but tangible changes to way the church looks and feels by asking parishioners to be responsible for donating and setting up the flowers in the church each week; by having altar servers at every Sunday mass; by implementing correct liturgical practices in the mass, and by introducing people who come to mass for the first time or who has not been to mass for a long time to create a sense of hospitality. Hospitality is further enhanced after mass, in which snacks and drinks are served so parishioners have an opportunity for fellowship. However, the most important change to the “feel” of the church took place last Sunday when through some contacts with good-hearted Catholics in Bangkok, the church now has a second hand Yamaha electric piano that can replace the CD player as provider of music for the liturgy. For the first time, the community can sing their praises to God accompanied by live music played by the catechism teacher.

Finally, I am trying to work toward community building by seeking out parishioners. An ongoing project is registration of membership in the church. This project was started over a month ago, and will take some time to complete. I have made a number of visits to parishioners who do not go to church often, or at all. Since May, I have published a monthly parish newsletter that includes community news, articles and reflections. Lastly, being of Vietnamese descent, I am also seeking out Catholic migrant Vietnamese workers in the area who were unfamiliar with the parish. I hope that the church will become a place of support for these young workers who are trying to make a living far away from home.

As one can see, the situation of the parish is rather modest. And the work I am carrying out is also modest. With my limited Thai ability, it takes me longer to do many things, for example, preparing my homily, writing articles for the newsletter, or even writing a thank you letter to Thai benefactors. However, this is also an “excuse” or rather an “opportunity” for me seek help and collaboration from parishioners. But I have expressed to the parishioners that I am young, inexperienced, and I need a lot of help. However, I do hope and am confident that with every little thing done, it is done with God’s blessings and inspiration.

Soon, Fr. Truc will join me and take over the position of pastor of the parish. Fr. Truc has many talents and abilities that I lack in. I hope that with the bishop’s consent, I will be assigned as Fr. Truc’s assistant, and help him to make this parish into a small but lively witness of the Good News of Christ in NBL province.

WYD: When the party's over

During the World Youth Day 2008, I watched with envy as youths from all over the world came together in Sydney to celebrate the Catholic faith, celebrate Christ, celebrate unity and diversity, and celebrate hope.

I did not have the luck to be onsite to breathe in the festive air of the Holy Spirit over the World Youth Day, but thanks to the internet, I was able to follow the major events live, from the Pope’s arrival on the boat-a-cade to the evening under the stars with the Pope. I was especially moved by the Stations of the Cross on Friday as the re-enactment of Jesus’ last moments took place on the streets of modern day Sydney.

I am sure that all the participants of the event have been deeply touched by what they have experienced these days. But all of us who follow on television or the internet also feel affected by what we see on the screen. This is the wonder and the grace of this tremendous event that our late Pope John Paul II started over 20 years ago.

Yet, as I was watching the wonderful images of young people smiling, hugging, praying, shedding tears, singing praises to God, and giving witness to God to their peers, I can’t help but think forward to the days following all the festivities.

Great, I said to myself, it’s fine to pray and talk about God when you’re among friends, among people who are like you. But what happens when you return back to your country, your house, your school, and your neighborhood?

What happens when you live in a house where your mom sometimes go to church and your dad refuses to ever step into one?

What happens when speaking about faith and God to your friends is like speaking about a taboo subject?

What happens when you go to Sunday mass where there is not even a choir, much less a whole orchestra like that at the World Youth Day?

What happens when you go back to a neighborhood where people don’t greet you with hugs and smiles like they do this week?

Many other situations come to my mind that represent the reality in life, a reality that many young people face everyday in their normal environment. All these situations are contradictory to the spirit and actions seen on the streets of Sydney.

The World Youth Day only lasts a week, but these situations last for years, and even for a lifetime. It is easy to express and celebrate our faith in a utopia like the World Youth Day, but the real challenge for all of us is to live out and celebrate this same faith with the same spirit and zeal in the very difficult situations of our everyday life, where our faith confronts real obstacles.

During the WYD, we hear the Pope teaching about the danger of popular culture. In our every day life, we need to act according to this teaching by avoiding paths that lead to self destruction. Are we willing to be less obsessed about clothes, car, Ipods, and mobile phones? Are we willing to not run after the latest technological gadgets that are advertised on television and in the magazines?

During the WYD, we hear the Pope entrust the environment to us to take care and protect. In our everyday life, we need to make decisions about how we use resources that deplete the earth of life and beauty. Are we willing to take public transportation instead of demanding the convenience of driving our own car everywhere? Are we willing to separate the paper from the plastics and take them to the recycling center?

During the WYD, we hear about the virtue of chastity. In our everyday life, we need to make a decision of what to do when we are alone in the room with a girlfriend or boyfriend when the parents are away. We need to be not ashamed in telling our friends that we are going to wait until marriage before having sex.

During the WYD, we praise God along with hundreds of thousands of people accompanied by huge orchestra. In our everyday life, we have to be able to praise God alone, unaccompanied by any musical instrument except for the beating of our heart.

During the WYD, we make the sign of the cross in front of tens of thousands of Catholics. In our everyday life, we have to make the sign of the cross before eating when all around us, there are only Muslims, Buddhists, or atheists.

During the WYD, we hug people who hug us, and laugh with people who are hapy to meet us. In our everyday life, we have to smile with peole who frown at us, and love people who want to harm us.

The surreal feeling of faith and zeal of the World Youth Day will fade as we all return to real life and confront with the cold reality of everyday life. How each of us live in this very environment will speak the greatest of what we truly got out of our experience of being taught by the Holy Father, the Bishops, and fellow young people at the event. How each of us do when we are alone will be most meaningful – much more meaningful than what we do when we are surrounded by people just the same as ourselves.

It is impossible to have the World Youth Day everyday so that we can live in this set up environment all the time. We have to return back to real life. We have to return to a life in which we are often surrounded by a lack of faith, a lack of love, full of temptations, and full of opportunities for evil.

The hope is that having been at WYD, or having participated indirectly through television, all of us have brought Jesus into our heart so that even when we don’t have friends around us, don’t have the Holy Father in front of us, and don’t have bishops and priests behind us, we still have Jesus inside us. It is Jesus, in the end, who will help us to stand up to all situations that put our faith to the test.

Let us remember that we did not come to WYD just for the Pope. We did not come to WYD just for the people. We did not come to WYD just for the spectacles. But remember that we came to WYD, first and foremost, for Jesus. If that’s what we truly came to WYD for, surely, we would have gotten him. And when we return to our home, school, and neighborhood, Jesus will follow us to all those places. On the other hand, if we did not come to WYD for Jesus, but only for the Pope, the people, or the spectacles, then we missed out on the greatest thing that WYD had to offer.

WYD comes and goes, but Jesus comes to stay. May each of us be filled with Jesus and His love in every difficult and challenging situation of our life.

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Vietnamese Americans sound off to the Pope

This year the World Youth Day takes places in Australia, thousands of miles from the United States. Many young people from America have been doing fundraising and other activities in order to have the funds to join in the festivities in Sydney. However, many are sad that they will not be able to meet this Holy Father in person this year.

Modern Talkings asked three young people from California the following questions and here’s what they had to say:

1) If you could meet the Pope in person, what would you like to tell the Pope about life as a young person nowadays?

Ben Tran: These days and age, especially in capitalism societies such as America. Young people are faced with many challenges. Stepping into the world, we need to establish our own places in life. With so many different forces influencing us from all directions. It is very easy for us to go astray and set a priority that leads us on a dangerous path away from God and could potentially cost us our salvation. I have friends that are formerly devout Catholics who are simply too busy to attend Sunday masses or even go to confession once a year.

X.S.: I would like to tell the Pope that believing God and living the God's words have changed and continue to shape my life in a positive way. I think with God’s power, I can help out many other people who haven't had a chance to know about God.

Minh-Kha Michael: As I am only experienced in the life of American Western society, I can only speak about the youth in this society, even though most of the world is following in these capitalist countries' footsteps. The youths are exposed to so much of the "culture of death": drugs, sex, violenc, etc. A lot of youth cannot even fathom life without the internet, cell phone, cable TV, fast cars because life = technology.

As technology advances, a lot of youths become dependent on it and are often pulled away from what is serene. Lots of people cannot even sit in silence for they are too accustomed to being busy. On a more basic level, some youths are homeless and poor, and do not have the luxury of even "touching" technology. On a deeper level, youths are often confused about a lot of things. They struggle with internal identity issues, whether it is vocational, sexual/gender, religious, ethnic/cultural, or all combined simultaneously. They are also influenced by social agents like parents, religion, culture, and school. I'm sure the pope is aware of a lot of these factors that shape and form the lives of the youths today.

One important trend I see happening, from both personal experience of friends and acquaintances and from studying psychology, is that youths are learning to differentiate between their religiosity and spirituality. People claim that religiosity is defined by religious rituals, practices, dogma, and doctrine of a specific organized religion like Christianity and Buddhism, and spirituality is defined as a relationship with a higher Supreme being, whether that is God or nature or whatever. It is said that you can be spiritual without being religious, but if religious, you are most likely spiritual as well. Youths I see are tending to move towards the un-theistic spirituality, which I feel can be dangerous if they have no foundation and believe that they will waver and fall. It's hard though with so much busyness, temptations, and questioning of the faith, and I am no exception to at least being exposed to this trend.

I hope the Pope could address the needs of the youths. I know it most likely starts at the diocesan level because that's where most youths live and can be influenced at large. That means priests should integrate their homilies to address the youths and relate the readings to their issues at masses, and more religious should be involved more with retreats and other youth supported activities. I remember the late Pope John Paul II saying, "The youth are the future of the Church and the world." We are the true foundation of the Church.


2) If you could meet the Pope in person, what questions would you like to ask him?
Ben Tran: Living in such a society, I would ask the pope what is the best way to keep up with life and not losing your relationship with God and your chance for salvation?

S.X.: I would like to ask the Pope: What is the best way to approach most elders of the way think about God? Even though they heard some good things about God. Also, will God be listening to other who is not Catholic when they pray in the name of God? I am a newly converted Catholic baptized in March 2008.

Minh-Kha Michael: How will the Church improve it's training and focus on the youths needs? What will the Church do to keep the youth from falling or leaving the Church, if that is one of the goals of the Church? I know that the World Youth Day may be fun and exciting, but the youths may come down after the "high" when they go back home. How would the Church explain or help the youth maintain their faith and "highs" even when they have dry spells in their spiritual journey?

Given that the more mature youths become early career professionals, how does the Church and/or God expect/want/help us to reconcile the difference between staying true to our faith and Church teachings while also being morally and ethically bound to our professional stances? For example, a Catholic doctor struggling with giving an abortion, a pharmacist selling contraceptive pills, a lawyer arguing for a death penalty or divorce case, or a psychologist discussing with teens about sexual activity (abstinence).How can/will the Church tell parents to be the primary educators and instillers of the faith with their children? Because I see that most parents nowadays drop their kids off at catechism class and expect the religious education teachers to do that work. I don't think it's fair to rely and depend only on these teachers to teach about the faith. It must be lived out and encouraged by the parents.


(Ben Tran, S.X., and Minh Kha are Vietnamese Americans in their early and mid twenties, from the cities of Rosemead, El Monte, and Rancho Cucamonga in California. They are members of Thieu Nhi Fatima Movement, which is based in the archdiocese of Los Angeles).

Sự bất ngờ trước Tin Mừng

(tặng hai tân linh mục Trần Chí Hiếu và Nguyễn Tuấn Long trong dịp hai cha thụ phong linh mục tại GPLA/CA/HK ngày 31/5/2008)


Hôm nay tôi ngồi xuống viết vài dòng tâm tình để gởi đến hai tân linh mục Trần Chí Hiếu và Nguyễn Tuấn Long mà bổng nhiên làm cho tôi nhớ đến câu chuyện mối tình đầu đơn sơ và lãng mạn thời tuổi 18 mà một người bạn mới đây đã kể cho tôi nghe. Chuyện là thời đó, anh chàng này có để ý đến một cô gái rất xinh đẹp, tính tình thùy mị, duyên dáng. Cô ta không phải là con nhà giàu có, nhưng là nhà đàng hoàng, gia giáo. Anh ta tìm nhiều cách để tỏ tình với cô ta, nhưng vì tính tình nhút nhát nên những lá thư anh ta bỏ ra hàng giờ nắn nót viết bày tỏ tâm tư cuối cùng thì cũng chỉ là mang đến rồi lại….mang về.

Nhưng sau đó, nhờ sự giúp đỡ của một người bạn thân, nên anh bạn tôi đã có dịp đứng đối mặt với người con gái ấy. Anh ta đã cố lấy hết can đảm trong mình để ngỏ lời mời cô ta sáng Chúa Nhật tới đi uống cà phê ở một quán ở trung tâm thành phố Sài Gòn. Khi cô gái nhận lời mời của anh thì trong lòng anh ta vui mừng không thể diễn tả nỗi. Anh nóng lòng chờ đợi cho đến ngày hẹn để được ngồi uống nước và trò chuyện với người con gái ấy.

Ngày giờ dường như trôi qua quá chậm, nhưng cuối cùng thì sáng Chúa Nhật của ngày hẹn cũng đã đến. Khi tia sáng bình minh đầu tiên lọt qua khe cửa sổ, anh mở mắt ra, tỉnh giậy. Trong lòng không ngờ hôm nay thực sự là ngày hẹn, ngày mà anh đã mơ ước có được suốt thời gian qua cũng đã đến. Anh cảm thấy bất ngờ mặc dầu suốt cả tuần qua, anh đã ngồi đếm từng giây từng phút mong sao cho thời gian trôi qua thật nhanh để mau được ngồi đối diện với người con gái mình đã yêu thầm từ lâu. Ngày hẹn đến như một điều mà anh không thể ngờ có thể thực sự xảy ra, không phải là một giấc mơ sẽ bị kết thúc một cách đột ngột bởi một tiếng động nào đó….

Câu chuyện này nảy lên trong đầu tôi không phải vì nó trực tiếp liên quan gì đến quá khứ của hai tân linh mục, mà quá khứ đó thì ngay cả tôi cũng không biết gì chi tiết cho mấy. Nếu câu chuyện trên có trùng hợp gì với những ký ức của hai tân linh mục thì cũng chỉ do sự tình cờ mà thôi.

Khi nghĩ đến sứ mệnh của hai tân linh mục sau khi đã lãnh nhận chức thánh, trở nên linh mục của Chúa, có trách nhiệm phục vụ Ngài qua những người dân của Ngài, và có sứ mạng rao giảng Tin Mừng của Chúa đến mọi người, và đây cũng là sứ mệnh của chính tôi là một vị linh mục với lứa tuổi không khác với hai tân linh mục là bao, tôi cảm thấy rằng đây là một trọng trách vô cùng cao cả và chất chứa nhiều khó nhọc. Có lẽ cũng có những lúc các ngài sẽ cảm thấy mệt mỏi, chán nản, và căng thẳng khi thi hành những công việc mục vụ mà các ngài được giao phó. Có lẽ cũng có những giây phút các ngài phải rao giảng Tin Mừng trong khi chính mình đang cảm thấy trong lòng khô khan và thiếu sức sống. Và ngay lúc ấy chính các ngài cũng không còn cảm nhận được sự đặc biệt của Tin Mừng nữa.

Những suy nghĩ của tôi đi vào lối bi quan thì bổng nhiên tôi nhớ đến câu chuyện mối tình đầu của anh bạn mà tôi vừa thuật lại trên. Tôi đem câu chuyện ra để chia sẻ với hai tân linh mục vì tôi cảm nhận rằng niềm vui của anh bạn tôi lúc ấy rất sâu sắc, xuất phát từ bên trong tâm hồn của anh; một niềm vui pha lẫn với sự bất ngờ trong đời mình có một chuyện tốt như thế có thể xảy ra.

Cái cảm giác của anh bạn khi sáng tỉnh thức, chợt nhớ lại rằng hôm nay mình có cuộc hẹn với một người đặc biệt chính là cảm giác mà tôi ước gì mình luôn có được đối với Tin Mừng của Chúa. Ước gì mỗi sáng tôi thức dậy, tỉnh ngủ thì chợt nhớ lại rằng: Chúa Kitô yêu thương mình, cứu chuộc mình, và đã trao tặng cho mình sự sống vĩnh cửu. Ngài cũng đã dành tình yêu đặc biệt ấy cho mình bằng cách chọn lựa mình giữa hàng ngủ để làm chứng nhân cho Ngài. Vì thế mình phải hân hoan để rao giảng Tin Mừng của Ngài đến cho tất cả những ai chưa được nghe Tin Mừng ấy.

Tôi ước gì cứ mỗi sáng tỉnh thức thì chợt nhớ lại rằng, cuộc sống của mình thật hạnh phúc vì mình đang sống trong tình yêu của Chúa. Niềm vui ấy sẽ làm cho tôi hăng hái bước xuống giường để bắt đầu một ngày mới. Nó sẽ làm cho tôi nở nụ cười trên môi khi gặp gỡ những người khác, sẽ làm cho tôi nhìn những đứa trẻ với ánh mắt trìu mến, nhìn những người già với ánh mắt yêu thương, nhìn vào cảnh nghèo khổ với ánh mắt hy vọng, và nhìn vào công việc khó khăn với thái độ kiên trì hơn. Vì trước những khó nhọc trong đời sống phục vụ, không có gì mãnh lực hơn niềm vui sâu sắc trong tâm hồn của mình.

Tuy nhiên, trên thực tế, nhiều linh mục tu sĩ không cảm nhận được niềm vui trong Tin Mừng của Chúa. Sáng thức dậy, chúng ta bước ra khỏi giường một cách nặng nề. Chúng ta nhìn vào người xung quanh với ánh mắt thiếu thiện cảm. Và chúng ta bi quan trước những công việc trước mắt. Trong cuộc sống, chúng ta không có chỗ
cho niềm vui bất ngờ chợt đến với mình nữa vì chúng ta bị chi phối bởi vô số vấn đề rắc rối trong công tác mục vụ.

Vì thế tôi viết những dòng chữ này đến hai tân linh mục để chia sẻ với các ngài rằng, chúng ta phải cố gắng duy trì cho mình cái cảm giác bất ngờ trước Tin Mừng của Chúa, để cho Tin Mừng ấy luôn gợi lên cho chúng ta những điều thú vị và mới lạ. Nếu chúng ta để cho Tin Mừng trở thành một cái gì đó nhàm chán và cũ kỷ trong đời sống của chính mình, thì khả năng mình truyền đạt Tin Mừng lại cho người khác cũng sẽ bị suy giảm.

Ai trong chúng ta cũng đã từng nghe người khác kể chuyện vui. Tính hài hước của bất cứ chuyện vui nào cũng nằm ở câu cuối cùng. Câu ăn tiền làm mọi người ồ lên cười vì sự bất ngờ của nó. Tuy nhiên, chúng ta đã nhiều lần nghe ai đó kể một câu chuyện mà mình đã nghe đi nghe lại không biết bao nhiêu lần. Khi lắng nghe một câu chuyện quen thuộc, chúng ta có thể mang hai thái độ. Một là tỏ ra không quan tâm vì mình đã biết nội dung câu chuyện ấy như thế nào. Hai là chúng ta cho như mình chưa bao giờ được nghe câu chuyện ấy, để rồi chúng ta cũng ồ lên chung vui với người khác khi câu cuối cùng được nói ra. Người kể sẽ cảm thấy hạnh phúc vì kể câu chuyện thành công; còn chính mình sẽ được bồi dưỡng bằng một liều thuốc bỗ tiếng cười thật giá trị.

Tin Mừng trong đời sống của chúng ta cũng thế. Đứng trước Tin Mừng mà chúng ta đọc và rao giảng hằng ngày, chúng ta có thể tỏ ra nhàm chán với những câu chuyện quen thuộc trong sách Kinh Thánh. Khi soạn bài giảng, chúng ta chỉ xem bài Phúc Âm là bài nào, nhưng không bỏ thì giờ ra để đọc hết bài đọc và bài Phúc Âm, vì chúng ta cho rằng mình đã biết nội dung bài đó. Không cần đọc cũng biết bài ấy đang nói về điều gì.

Thái độ và hành động này cho thấy, chúng ta đang phủ nhận sự kỳ diệu của Tin Mừng là có khả năng đối thoại với chúng ta một cách mới mẻ mỗi lần chúng ta mở sách ra để đọc một cách nghiêm túc và sốt sáng. Chúng ta xem Tin Mừng như một câu chuyện quen thuộc và không còn cảm thấy bất ngờ trước sự diễn biến của câu chuyện nữa. Và chúng ta không cho chính mình cơ hội để cảm nhận những điều mới lạ mà Tin Mừng mang lại cho bản thân.

Hai tân linh mục thân mến, tôi hy vọng rằng, trong đời sống của hai cha, hai cha sẽ luôn cố gắng duy trì sự bất ngờ trước sự việc vô cùng kỳ diệu mà Thiên Chúa đã làm cho chúng ta qua mầu nhiệm chết và sống lại của Chúa Giêsu Kitô để cứu chuộc chúng ta khỏi sự chết muôn đời. Đừng bao giờ để cho Tin Mừng trở nên cũ kỷ và nhàm chán trong cuộc sống của hai cha. Chỉ như thế thì hai cha mới có thể phấn khởi và hăng say tiến bước trên con đường rao giảng Lời Chúa trong thánh lễ và qua các bí tích thánh mà hai cha sẽ cử hành cho giáo dân của hai cha.

Lời cuối, chúc hai cha luôn hồn an xác mạnh khi hai cha chuẩn bị lên đường với chức vụ và trọng trách cao cả mà hai cha đã lãnh nhận từ Thiên Chúa trong dịp lễ tấn phong của hai cha. Chúc hai cha vững tâm và kiên trì thực hiện công tác rao giảng Tin Mừng một cách làm cho mọi người lắng nghe có cảm giác như vừa tỉnh dậy sau một giấc ngủ dài và chợt nhớ lại rằng: Mình đang yêu và đang đuợc yêu. Tình nhân của mình không ai khác ngoài Đức Giêsu Kitô đã hiến thân vì yêu thương con người yếu đuối, tội lỗi. Và xin chúc hai cha cũng luôn cảm nhận được rằng: Mối tình chung thủy và tốt đẹp nhất của hai cha chính là mối tình yêu thương giữa hai cha và Thiên Chúa chúng ta.

Fragments of Vietnamese Immigrant Workers’ Lives in Thailand

In January 2008, I was watching a Thai language news program when I heard a terrible news about a group of young Vietnamese people. Twenty-one people tried to cross the wide Mekong River from Thailand into Laos in the middle of the night on a small boat. When they reached the middle of river, the weight of the people and their belongings was too much for the boat to bear. It began to sink. In the end, 13 lost their life. Only 8 survived.

These young Vietnamese were on their way to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their family in the province of Ha Tinh. But they all entered Thailand to work illegally, which was the reason why they decided to find secretive but dangerous ways to cross the Thai borders in order to return home for the New Year celebration.

Because this issue of Dan Chua Magazine highlights the situation of Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand, I have decided to introduce to our readers three young people to find out a little bit of their backgrounds and life as a migrant worker in this country.

Nguyen Van Doan



Nguyen Van Doan is a 24 year-old young man from Thanh Hoa province. He is the third son in a family of 7 children. The two older brothers are married with their own families. Doan has the responsibility of help take care of the three youngest siblings who are still in school. Doan quit school after he finished year 9, and crossed the border to Thailand when he was 18 years old.

Like many other young Vietnamese in Thailand, Doan sews clothes for a living. Doan works and lives in the house of a Thai family who is his boss. He has been sewing for four years. Everyday he starts working at 8 in the morning and finishes at midnight. “I choose to stop working at midnight,” Doan said. “But I know others who work until two or three in the morning. I think it is very bad for your health.” Working 16 hours a day, Doan earns about 7,000-8,000 baht a month, which is equivalent to 240-275 AUD.

Doan sews pants and is paid by the number of pairs he finishes. He is paid 17 baht each pair. With his earning, he sends whatever he could to his family which has many fiancial hardships. “But a lot of times I don’t send anything, or I have to borrow from friends to send to my family,” Doan said. The reason is that sometimes the living expenses take up all of his earning which does not leave him much to send home. Other times, some of the earning is given to the police. Like virtually all Vietnamese workers in Thailand, Doan is an illegal and is always in danger of being stopped by the police when he is outside. In the past 6 years, Doan has been stopped by the police 6 times. However, he relates that most of the time, he is able to talk to the police into letting him go.

Despite the risks of living in Thailand, Doan feels that this is still a better place to work than in Vietnam. “Right now, in Vietnam, there are not many jobs. The pay is low, but the price of goods is high,” he said. Recently, Doan thought about returning to Vietnam to find work selling goods for commission for Amway, a foreign company. But he has changed his mind and decided to stay in Thailand further until a better opportunity comes along.

Tran Van Tuan




I met Tran Van Tuan the first time when he went to Mass in Vietnamese language that was organized at a church in Bangkok. As I talked to him, I found out that he was working in a restaurant very close to where I was living in Bangkok at that time. The restaurant is located near a big and beautiful park in the heart of the city. Tuan works there with a friend from his hometown in Ha Tinh province.

Tuan is 22 years old and like Doan, he also came to Thailand when he was 18. Tuan is the fourth child in a family with five children. Tuan managed to finish only the 8th grade. He quit school twice, the first time after he finished year 6. At that time, the family had no one to take care of the buffalo, so Tuan had to quit school to take on this responsibility. After some time, he returned to school and completed the 8th grade. But because of financial difficulties in his family, Tuan had to quit school again to go to work.

Like many young people from Ha Tinh province, Tuan decided when he was 18 to find work in Thailand. Tuan ended up working in various restaurants, and has worked at the latest location for a year and a half.

One time Tuan told me that he took a bus to Pattaya, a tourist city two hours drive from Bangkok, to find a job. He only had a few hundred baht in his pocket. He wandered from place to place looking for work in restaurants, but was not able to find a good job. At night, he had no place to sleep because even cheap motel rooms were still too expensive for him. So he had to sleep on the beach. According to Tuan, having to sleep outdoors like a homeless person made him feel the most pitiful that he has ever felt in his life.

After he left Pataya, he took a bus back to Bangkok. After he got off at the bus station, he walked along many streets to look for work in restaurants. After many hours of job searching, by chance, he found the restaurant where he is now working near the center of the city. Tuan works from 4 in the afternoon until 1 in the morning, earning a base salary of 5,500 baht (189AUD) a month plus tips.

Vietnamese entering Thailand can stay for 30 days before they have to leave. Tuan, of course, stays for much longer than that. If he wants to maintain his legal status, he has to cross the border into Laos, then come back with an extension of 30 days. To make this trip costs about 1000 baht in transportation expenses, not including money lost for not going to work. Like most Vietnamese workers, Tuan decides to risk it instead of making the monthly trip.

In the past four years, Tuan has been stopped by the police 4 times. The latest incident took place only a few weeks ago. Tuan was helping a friend from Vietnam looking for work when they were stopped by the police. Tuan recountted, “Even though my passport was still valid, the police said he did not believe I was a tourist. He said, ‘I know you are here to work. If you are a tourist, why don’t you have any money to spend? What hotel are you staying?’ He took us in his car and drove us to the front of the immigration agency. He said, ‘You decide whether you want me to take you inside or you pay me and I let you go.’ We didn’t have much money in our pocket, so he took my cell phone instead.”

Tuan’s experience is not uncommon. Many Vietnamese workers have to pay the police in money or by cell phone to be let go. Recently, I received a call from Thoai. He told me over the Thai New Year, he went out with some friends and were stopped by the police. As a result, he also lost his cell phone. Thoai said sadly, “Now I have to work for about two weeks to have enough money to buy another phone.”
Duong Hoang Thuan


Duong Hoang Thuan is Thoai’s older brother. He is 25 years old, and comes from Huong Son District in Ha Tinh province. Thuan came to Thailand in 2004 and found work sewing clothes. He is paid 16 baht for every pair of pants he finishes. According to Thuan, on average, he can complete about 25 pairs of pants each day. As a result, each month, he is able to make about 8,000-9,000 baht.

Thuan has also had encounters with the Thai police. But unlike others who only had to pay money and let go, Thuan was put in prison for ten months not long after he came to Thailand. During those ten months, Thoai, Thuan’s brother had to use most of his earnings to take care of Thuan while he was in prison. After that period, Thuan was deported to Campuchia because he told the police that he was from this country. However, family and friends sent him money so that he could make his way back into Thailand again.

After returning from Kampuchia barely a month, Thuan was arrested again. This time, he was not even outside on the streets, but working inside the Thai owner’s home. Someone had reported to the police that there were illegal workers in that house. Thuan was put in prison for one month.

Another time that Thuan was stopped by the police, he only had to pay about 800 baht. “I only had 1000 baht in my pocket. So the police took 800 and let me have 200 so I could take the taxi home,” Thuan recounted. For some people, depending on how well they can deal with the police, they may have to pay 3,000-4,000 if they had the money in their wallet. But most are willing to pay to be let go because they don’t want to be taken to the police station, and then to the immigration agency. Once they are taken in, things become even more costly and complicated. Even though police corruption is bad for Thai society, but for the illegal workers, police corruption also helps them to be not arrested and deported to Vietnam.

According to Thuan, “The bad thing about working in Thailand is that we don’t have freedom to go about as we like. But on the other hand, Thai people are very good-hearted. Life here is more pleasant than in Vietnam.”

No one is sure how many Vietnamese workers there are in Thailand. The workers themselves tell me that there may be up to several hundred thousand. Even though life is not easy here, but for most, it is still better than in their home villages in Vietnam, where the situation is difficult and nowadays, even expensive.