A beautiful surprise for Christmas...

Vietnam, Christmas dec.2011

Dear confreres, parents, friends and benefactors,                    

I am writing this Christmas card in the morning of the 24th of December. In a few hours, we will celebrate Christmas, six hours ahead of the Europeans. This year was full of diferent events. During Summer, I took holidays in Belgium, a time of blessing when I could spend time with my family, especially my parents who are in good form. When I am back in Belgium (every two years), I meet my relatives and some of my friends. It is a time for relaxing, so I avoid to run everywhere. I can’t see everybody as I would like to, and the people I see, I see them only for a short time. That’s life ! Anyway, I like to be back in my homecountry. Living abroad, it helps me to have another perspective on my own country. Vietnam is beautiful but Belgium too ! In Belgium, the landscapes, the lifestyle, the architecture of the cities, everything is just amazing ! I enjoy to see those I love but who are so far from my new home. Most of them are fine, while others face some difficulties. I also take chance to visit the Spiritan communities. They are so welcoming. I try to not be too absent from my parents’home giving them as much time as possible. But it is good to visit the spiritan communities also ; they support my mission and are glad that I am a happy missionnary.

At the end of the summer, my parents took me by surprise : they announce me that they plan to visit me in Vietnam soon. We decide they would come around Christmas. I cannot belive they made their mind. It had been four years that I was inviting them and finally they agreed to come !  Christmas is the right time to visit Vietnam, the climate is better (I mean cooler than other seasons of the year) and it is a very big feast for the christians.

The two courageous visitors, my dad and my mum.

Back to Vietnam on mid-September, I started again to live with the postulants. They are eigth. Together with nine aspirants, we have 17 seminarians. Our spiritan family is growing ! I am the superior of the postulancy since last year. But besides that work, I do a training in psychology and spirituality in Philippines, so that I can become a more competent formator. The formation in Philippines is organized by modules of one or two weeks each. There are fifteen modules, for a total of twenty weeks of formation. With the agreement of my own superior, I decide to do that course on a two years period, making back and forth trips from Vietnam to Philippines four times a year this year and three times a year next year. In the meanwhile, I keep my commitments in Vietnam : the organization of the formation for our seminarians, the catechese for wedding and baptism for the french people in Saigon, the mass and baptisms in Vietnamese, and some services to the Congregation. Being very busy, my presence in community is very irregular, which is not the best, but mission is not about the best, but about doing what you can in the current situation… What makes me happy is to see how good are our seminarians. They are dedicated people, they have a good community spirit, I trust them and when I am absent, I don’t have to worry, they manage well and my other confreres come to visit them regularly.

Christmas, a time of joy celebrated in the Church and in community.

It has been one week now that my parents have arrived in Vietnam. They will stay three weeks. They already visited our three communities and we went to the Mekong Delta for three days. They enjoy very much their stay and are lucky with the weather which is not too warm. My mother is not much at ease with the Vietnamese food but my father adapts easily.  

The menu, "banh xeo" (crepe) et "cha gio (raviolis)

Both are interested and enjoy to discover this asian world so diferent than the European one. For me this time is a time of blessing. I am so glad to welcome them in the country where I work as missionnary. I can see that they are getting older (they are 75 and 74 years old this year) but they are still in a very good health. In Vietnam, people respect very much the elderly, especially the parents of a priest.

 We are invited by so many Vietnamese families and it is a very touching experience. On Monday after Christmas, we will make a two weeks trip to visit the Center and the North of Vietnam for two weeks. That will be a wonderful experience.

Rehearsal for Christmas at the sisters'community

Four on the motorbike, business as usual!

Some street or very poor children receive education for free at the parish.

The nature is beautiful.  (coconut tree).

I conclude my letter by thanking you for your friendship. Most of you are distant from Vietnam by ten thousands kilometers. News are not frequent, but our mutual friendship and estime is strong. I pray that the God of peace and joy, Who decided to come to our world as a poor and humble person, bless you and keep you in his love.

I wish you a holy Christmas day and a happy new year of the Dragon (the Dragon year will start on the 23d of January, according to the lunar calendar).

Father Frédéric, Missionnary of the Holy Spirit.