3. Catechetical Formation Program for the Sisters of the Holy Cross:

Classes are held in the evening and early morning each weekday. It is a repeat of the lectures for the catechists.

4. Collaborative Work with Members of the Secular Institute:

Date:	July 15 - 22, 1999
Location:	Son Tay and Ngo Xa

• Days of Prayer and Reflection
• Ministry assessment and on-going Formation
• Plans and actions for career development and future educational opportunities
• Issues of Recruitment and Formation of new members
• Need for formation personnel within and from other dioceses
• Site visit to Ngo Xa in the province of Phu Tho to help set up a Community House. Members are responsible for leading the parish's daily Morning and Evening Devotional Prayers at the church. Sunday Masses are celebrated at a nearby parish 3 miles away. Mass is occasionally celebrated here. There is an immediate plan for initiating the celebration of the Liturgy of the Word with the parish community in the place of daily Evening Prayers. They have also been asked by the local authority to assume responsibility for the relief work of the local Red Cross. It is unpaid and un-funded charity work, but still it is a big leap from the customary government hostility toward anyone Catholic, especially for this underground Secular Institute.
• Tuition and expenses for two members to receive training in Early Childhood Education and Music Ministry.
• Each member received a Revised Version Bible newly published this summer.
• Last year's farm animal raising venture generated a modest community fund to be used for the Institute's activities such as monthly retreats and meetings.

OUTSTANDING NEEDS

1. Texts for the Sacramental Preparation Programs need to be compiled and printed. Catechists are not able to independently plan their lessons from the Outline developed last year.
2. RCIA Curriculum and materials need to be developed for use in 7 - 10 day pastoral visitations throughout the diocese.
3. Catechists at all levels need audio equipment (a short wave radio) to listen to daily Radio Vatican/Veritas broadcasts as a means of on-going faith formation and learning about the Church and her teachings. In my 1997 Hung Hoa Mission Report, I recounted that a Highland Tribe in this diocese had converted to the Catholic Faith even though they had never seen a Catholic priest before they received final preparations for Baptism. They learned about Jesus Christ through daily listening to this type of program broadcast from outside Vietnam

EXPENSES

1.	Transportation (airfare, and ground transportation)	1,400
2.	120 Revised Version Bibles for master catechists and members of the Secular Institute	1,200
3.	Printing program materials	500
4.	Program supplies and activities	1,000
5.	Meals (Please refer to my Mission Memories below)	900
6.	Miscellaneous	400
TOTAL		$5,400

The entire grant from the Mother Mary Veronica Ministry Fund was exhausted for this year's mission. My vacation allowance and the donations from family and friends have been used to fund small undertakings at the parishes of Ha Thach, Ngoc Thap and Xom Buom and others.

MISSION MEMORIES

Toward the end of last year's Mission, some postulants jokingly said that I looked like an elephant standing next to their Sisters (I weigh only 115 lb.). I then became curious about the diet of the Sisters and decided to transgress my customary "religious modesty" in the dining room. I had been seated with the "elders" and could not see from afar anyway, so I was horrified to discover that the Sisters' meals consisted only of rice, seasonal vegetables grown in their garden, and pickled roots or bamboo shoots. A very small ratio of meat is served once a week. This explains why all the sisters look frail, pale, and anemic. No wonder my attempts to sit with ordinary sisters had been thwarted.

In this year's planning meeting, the Mission Personnel strongly protested when I coolly stated that I would be sharing the meals with the catechists rather than eating in the Chancery's dining room. I then found out that they would have to spend more money for food, and that it would be very difficult for them to spend more than 35 cents a day for each catechist's three daily meals. Someone proposed raising it to 70 cents. A compromise was made at 50 cents. Everyone was concerned, but I convinced them to let me try. I offered to pay for the program's food expenses. It turned out the meals were sufficiently nutritious in a short run. The food was edible and rather bland, instead of being richly seasoned as in the South. I enjoyed the meals in the company of the catechists though; my easy eating habit was a great help in this. Most challenging was the way to sit down for meals. Everybody else was able to squat comfortably on the cement floor to eat, but I had to change sitting positions from squatting to Zen meditation postures every two or three minutes, and occasionally I found myself on my back on the floor. This made me the subject of everyone's compassion.

CONCLUSION

I am deeply grateful to the Congregation and the Sisters for this renewed opportunity to serve the underprivileged and oppressed Faithful in this diocese. I am aware that there are many other Congregational-sponsored programs competing for grants from the Mother Veronica Ministry Fund. I have already noticed some warning signs that Congregational funding might not be available for next year's Mission. However, I place my trust in God's loving care and divine providence for this part of the Church. I am beginning to look around for new employment opportunities that would allow me to take vacation time during other parts of the year instead of the summer. The cooler temperatures of the other three seasons are more conducive to learning for the participants, and they are friendlier to the faculty as well.

I am proud and privileged to be the missionary in the name of the Congregation to bring God's Compassion to the poor both in real life and in spirit in the diocese of Hung Hoa.

Faithfully yours in Christ,
Sr. Theresa Vinh Nguyen, RDC