Divine Word Missionaries

Hien Minh Nguyen , SVD

Hien Nguyen, 27, was born in Soc Trang, Vietnam. At the age of 10, he escaped Vietnam by boat. Hien was at sea for seven days before landing in Thailand after the boat he was on collided with a Thai fishing boat and sunk. He later went to Malaysia where he lived in a refugee camp for 16 months before immigrating to the United States. Hien graduated high school in 1996 from Fremont High in Sunnyvale, CA. He entered Divine Word College in August of 2001 and earned his BA Degree in Philosophy when he graduated in May 2004. Hien entered the Divine Word Novitiate in August 2004 and professed First Vows as a Divine Word Missionary on August 13, 2005. The story below was written three months before he took his initial vows.

A Change of Direction!

Many people like to live in the United States of America because it is known as the land of opportunity. Such people risked their lives to come here in the hope of having a better future. I was among the boat people who risked their lives escaping from Viet Nam.

Br. Paul Hoang When I arrived in this country, I started thinking of ways to achieve the American dream. After three years of college, I began my first fulltime job. I had wonderful thoughts about how I could help my family and needy people with the money I was making. I was very confident and quite proud that I was capable of supporting myself. After a year of work, I bought my first house. I also planned to continue to invest more in real estate in the coming years. I thought I had it made. I would surely find happiness. However, this way of life changed when my gnawing desires to help the poor and the needy reappeared. I always wanted to help the less fortunate children in Viet Nam to have a chance for an education.

I started to weigh my options. I did not want to give up my job because I was a big help to the family. I told myself that I could set aside part of my income for works of charity, but that never really happened. I could not stop thinking about another option, namely, religious life. I was so confused that I did not know what to do with my life. However, an inner voice spoke to me: “Go! Give religious life a try; you can always go back and restart your life if you are not satisfied with that life-style.” I thought more, I prayed more. In the past, my prayers had always been answered in one way or another. This time was no exception. I did not make the decision right away, but continued to reflect on it in my mind and heart. After a period of time, I came to realize that the inner voice was the one that I wanted to listen to. I responded by applying to Divine Word College Seminary. The decision was a turning point in my life.

After three years at Divine Word College, I again had to make a decision; whether or not to apply for the Divine Word Novitiate. It was a very hard decision. I thought I would like to continue with religious life, but I feared that I would not be able to make it. However, after going this far, I did not want to lose the opportunity of finding God's will for me. I applied for the Novitiate.

Having spent nine months in the Novitiate, I am at peace. I'm grateful for the grace that has given me to help make my choices, and the opportunities afforded me to explore the possibilities o pen to me. The thirty-day retreat has helped me to understand more about what I really want to do with my life. More importantly, I have learned much more about myself this year than ever before. It is now clear to me that money and security is not the answer to the question of what is the meaning of my life. Moreover, in making such a choice, I have the time and the energy to develop a more intimate relationship with my personal God.

I trust that this growth thus far will continue and with God's help I can enthusiastically embrace God’s call to serve people everywhere, especially the poor and the suffering.

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