Divine Word Missionaries

Christmas in Togo
By Frt. Tam Nguyen, SVD

Tam was born in Vietnam and arrived in the United States in 1992 at the age of 22. He graduated in 1999 from Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa, but decided to take “time out” from seminary formation before entering the novitiate. He worked for two years before applying for the Associate Program. He spent one year of formation at Divine Word Theologate studying theology and then entered the novitiate. Tam professed First Vows as a Divine Word Missionary on August 16, 2003. Tam returned to the Theologate for another year of studies, and is now in Togo, West Africa for his CTP (Cross-Cultural Training Program). He will spend one year learning French and one of the local languages like Ewe, and two years of ministry before returning to the States to complete his studies for the priesthood. He plans to be profess Perpetual Vows and be ordained in June 2009.

Editors Note: The “article” below is excerpted from a Christmas e-mail sent by Tam to Fr. Ken Anich, SVD, one of Tam’s college formators and professors at Divine Word College.

How are you? How is everything at DWC? I guess you are busy at the end of the semester and the year. Are you looking forward to Christmas break yet? During this holiday season, you can put on some weight for me, and don't have to feel bad –call it a charitable work for a friend who lost weight in West Africa!

Over here it is the dry season and it gets hot at times, but not too bad. I will have my Christmas break on the 18 th and on the 21 st I will go to the north and stay at one of our mission stations through Christmas. I'm looking forward to having the first experience of Christmas in the bush.

I am continually motivated by the people in the village. Their faith and simplicity of life continue to move and touch me each day. Last Sunday I drove my classmate, a young SVD priest from Indonesia, to an out-station for his first Mass in French (after only 7 months of learning French). It was 6 AM and I was half asleep – the bumpy and dirty road woke me up a little bit. But what really woke me up was the people singing and dancing when we got there. Seeing people who filled the small, primitive chapel praying enthusiastically early in the morning was an uplifting experience for me. The chapel is on an open field. There is only a roof, actually, and the ground is naturally made of dirt and the walls are made of branches from the bush. Seeing the women carrying benches on their heads to the chapel from far and near really touched my heart. I felt so privileged to have a seat on their bench. Many others who didn’t have benches had to find bricks around to sit on – and others just sat on the dirt. Seeing the people sitting and kneeling on the dirt, I couldn’t help but think of how many useable chairs or pieces of wood are in dumpsters in the States, but could be used to make good benches for people here.

There are many other experiences that I have each day with the people who live in poverty, which I treasure very much. I am grateful for having the opportunity to be with the people over here. Each time my heart aches as I see them suffer in poverty. I often ask myself, “What I can do for them?” Perhaps writing to some charitable organizations and finding benefactors who can share some benches during this Christmas season might be worthwhile. If you know any of generous hearts, please ask them if they can help.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

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