A breath of fresh air"
Interview with two young Vietnamese missionaries in
Hungary, Project Europe
Lengyel
Erzsébet
BUDAPEST: 15 October 2012--
The
first missionaries to strengthen the Hungarian Salesian
Province
arrived in 2006. Here below we can read the experiences of two
young
more recently arrived Vietnamese Salesians, Pham Quoc Thai
Hung Dominic
Savio and Nguyen Hai Ly James.
What do you feel is the most
important task? Dominic Savio – When
Project
Europe began, the first difficulty we faced was to actually
get to
Hungary. Then we had to learn the language and get accustomed
to the
cultural differences. We slowly learned how to be amongst the
youth
here and what kind of activities they liked to engage in.
Right now
learning is the most important thing in my life; this comes
first,
everything else comes after. At least now I can get a glimpse
of the
real task ahead with the help of another missionary, Fr
Claudius
Misquitta, who has already finished the early learning stage
and begun
his work. Later, I will also have other tasks, but first I
have to
learn how to behave among young people in Hungary. I feel that
there
are already some results. When I arrived, I said to myself:
Jesus and
Don Bosco were already here before we arrived, they were well
known and
I do not have to introduce them. We only have to live together
with the
youth with the help of Don Bosco and Jesus Christ.
What difficulties have you
encountered? James – There are
hardships
everywhere. In all walks of life I have experienced successes
and
failures as well. Sometimes I feel like the only difficulty is
how to
preach about God to the children. It is still not easy to
invite them
to pray together. It is no problem to invite them to other
activities,
camps or such things, they will always come; but to invite
them to
church, that is something else… As we embarked on this
mission, we knew
that a new culture and life awaited us where we must find our
own
niche. Our presence here is like a breath of fresh air, which
brings
tranquility. The distance and the differences do not pose a
real
problem; we have the ability to overcome the cultural
differences.
What was the oddest, most
surprising aspect for you? Dominic Savio –
One difference
was that in Vietnam it is easier to invite people to church,
but this
is difficult to do here. We have been told that in this
country most of
the people are Christians, but it is still not easy to invite
the
youth. It does not matter where we come from; the only thing
that
matters is that we are Salesians. There is only one Don Bosco,
and the
Salesian charism is the same everywhere: we want to take care
of the
youth. Our language is different, our culture is different,
but there
is one thing, which is the same: the Constitutions. This
remains
unchanged in every country of the world. I have told my
friends and
relatives back home how lucky we are to be a part of this
Congregation.
Within this family we are together as Salesians wherever we
go. It is
not easy to get acquainted with Hungarian culture, but we have
been
supported with all the help we need. Pope Benedict said our
mission is
to invite the children to the church, and we will see that
parents will
also follow them. If we win the hearts of the children,
Christianity
will spread again. The children might not fully comprehend
what they
hear from us yet, but when they grow up, they will remember
and perhaps
give it a second thought.
What was similar between
Vietnam and Hungary? James – In the
past, there
were a lot of children in the families, but now this has
changed and
there are only two or three, like here. There are many larger
families
in Budapest-Óbuda, so there is no great difference in
this respect from
Vietnam.
Is there difference between
the missions earlier, and those of now? Dominic Savio –
Earlier,
missionaries from Hungary went to Cuba, China and others from
every
place in Europe. Now, it seems to be the other way around. At
that
time, evangelisation was the most important goal. Nowadays, we
need
re-evangelisation. Back then, Catholic families were common,
but by now
they have almost disappeared, their number has dwindled. I
think, our
task now is somewhat more difficult, but of course this
depends on us
as well. For example, I have heard about European missionaries
who went
to Vietnam but could not learn the language and had to come
back. But
we are still here. There is a difference between the missions
of our
time and of former times. When the missionaries from Europe
left, they
brought a lot of material help with them. Now, we have to
bring
something else. Wealth is not important, we have to find that
'something else' which youth need from us now. This 'something
else'
lies within our heart; this is the charism of Don Bosco – the
most
important!
What do you think about the
situation of the youth in Hungary? Dominic Savio – When
I first
came here it was surprising that the people in general were
much richer
than in Vietnam. But I quickly realized that the children need
encouragement and praise just like the children in Vietnam.
This is
what matters! We do not have to give them things, because they
have
already got everything; we only need to take care of them and
to be
with them. If the children enter the oratory and no one is
there to
greet them or to play with them, they will simply leave. But
if there
is someone who greets them happily and talks with them, they
like to
stay. They have got modern phones, mobiles, sometimes even two
of them,
computers, everything, still they miss "something”… I think
this is the
greatest difference between Europe and Asia.
The young people do not comprehend the meaning of perpetual
profession
as yet; what it means to be in service of the youth until the
end of
your life. that we have come to Hungary and want to stay here
FOREVER.
To stay forever with Don Bosco and be Salesians forever and
take care
of the youth. Fortunately, slowly, new vocations are coming.
And God
does call people to his service! The Province still lives and
the
Salesian charism is carried on in Hungary. Right now, there
are two
novices, and two candidates – not too much, but at least there
are some.
Do you feel that you are
accepted now in Hungary? James – A couple of
old ladies
walked up to me and said to keep on going. I am still young
and have
got plenty of time, and they have little time left, but still
they
would like to see me become a priest. I think they count on me
and
surround me with their love. I know that everything I achieve
is also
the result of all the love and prayers I receive.
This is what I have
experienced from older and younger people as well, and this is
very
good to feel.
Dominic Savio – Every
time I
have exams, I get a lot of messages telling me, “keep it up,
Domonkos,
you can do it!” I feel that there are many who care about us.
Still I
always ask them to be patient with me, because this is
something
different for us than it is for a Hungarian. A native can
easily do
anything but for us, this does not always happen for the first
time. We
have to consider how something should be done, because we have
to do
everything according to Hungarian culture and not according to
our own.
I ask everyone to be patient. Patience always yields its
fruits. Still,
I can barely wait to reach the end of the learning!
