Recently, the province of Vietnam has sent two Vincentian priests to the missions in Pakistan. Fr. Peter Tran Dinh Duong, CM, and Fr. Vincent Nguyen Van Doan, CM, became the first missionaries to serve people experiencing poverty in the land of Pakistan. This is a program of collaboration between the Curia of CM and the local bishop to open a new mission in this country, and two Vietnamese Vincentians volunteered for this mission.
This is a mission that the missionaries have really wanted to come for a long time; however, the process of asking for a visa and the necessary documents took a lot of time, so the mission could not be done immediately as they desired to go. Fr. Peter Tran Dinh Duong, CM, arrived in the middle of May this year, and shortly thereafter, Fr. Vincent Nguyen Van Doan, CM, also came there in the first days of August. Now both are safe and happy in joining the missions. Before being sent to those missions, both of them had been sent to the Philippines to study language (English) for more than one year to prepare for the future mission. It is an excellent attitude to the Philippine province for this help and support for our missionaries.
Presently, the missionaries are living in the parochial house of the parish of Saint Joseph in Sargodha, and belong to the diocese of Rawalpindi, a way far from Islamabad (capital), around 400 kilometers, in the southern part of Pakistan. The parishioners of this parish estimate around 10,000 Christians with 450 low-income families, with a central church and 12 chapels in the villages, and administered by Fr. John Vianey Karam.
There are some pastoral works in this parish, such as celebrating the masses, giving the sacraments, home visits, education for the poor children and adults, medication, …
Mostly, the parishioners are farmers and manual laborers with blue-collar work to earn a salary for their family, and a few are working as construction workers. Most of the people of working age are jobless in their hometowns, so they have to move to the cities to look for jobs.
There are many causes of poverty in these places; one of the reasons is the lack of basic education. They find it very difficult to find jobs and are often unable to find a job because they have a low education and no professional experience.
On the other hand, this area is usually affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, landslides, etc, and causes significant casualties and property damage.
There are many languages in Pakistan, and mutual communication depends on the location. English and Urdu are the main languages used in the State administrative agency and school systems. Presently, the two missionaries are studying Urdu with a muslim teacher to be able to say masses and communicate with the local people here.
Hopefully, we will soon be well-inculturated in all things in these missions and can do well in missions in the future, following the footsteps of Saint Vincent de Paul, our founder.
Fr. Vincent Nguyen Van Doan, CM, from Pakistan
