PHU NHAI COMMUNITY GROUP
I. BIOGRAPHY:
In 2004 ,Sister Marie Nguyen Thi Thu Huong contacted Deacon Joan Mariasa Teresa Vu Thanh An to ask him for support on material to help the sisters afford the best means for the religionists’ activities. Considering the legitimate needs and real benefits for the soul and lives are helpless. Deacon Vu Thanh An accepted the petition of Sister Mary Thu Huong and he offered financial support for the members who can do holy missions easily. Operational needs the religionists’ activities have increased, and to respond to have more feet and more hands to offer, Sister Maria Thu Huong has called for more donators to serve, and she has members (seven single ladies) who joining in Teresa Charities Association voluntarily.
In 2005, upon the permission of the Founder-Deacon, members bought some land in this region as well as prepared the necessary materials for building the house after having got everything ready for the construction.
In 2006, members had the house built to bring the sisters to have accommodations where they can serve the needy elderly assuredly .
In 2011, some of members left the community group, and the rest of them are such members as Mach, Thuy, Hoa, Nhung, and Trang have still continued their service as a Catholic team does quietly.
In 2011, the Founder-Deacon met Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem to express his desire of asking for allowing Teresa Charities Association to be present and do Catholic missions in Bui Chu Diocese, especially in Phu Nhai parish. Considering the actual needs of the community, the Church, and the legitimate desire of the Founder-Deacon as a result, on October 01st in 2011, Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem agreed and signed the Decree of permitting Teresa Charities Association to have apostolate activities in Phu Nhai parish in Bui Chu diocese formally.
III. THE ACTIVITIES APOSTOLATE
1.Missions :
God gives each person a charism to serve the people of God, but the common charism that was given for Teresa Charities Association to take care of the needy elderly who is lonely and extremely poor ... That's why after having joined Teresa Charities Association, members have done services more enthusiastically for the needy elderly from hardships of the first stage that experienced with many up- and- down challenge daily and monthly ... Since the day when members formed the community group, they has regularly visited the needy unlucky elderly to care for them and given sincere smiles of Jesus Christ’s servants with small gifts such as knocks on the helpless and unlucky souls to awaken after suffering from hopelessness and misery.
Currently, the group is taking care of 97 needy elderly who live in poverty and sickness. From the job was regarded as a trivial thing, members learned from it to realize that the path of Sister St. Teresa to be a saint of Holy Child Jesus : "she did something with a brilliant mind".
2. Sweeping and cleaning churches :
Among the Church thou shall l be love, one of the things that show that love, members had collaboration by doing weekly cleaning churches on Saturdays and before the special holidays, members came to churches to do cleaning things in the churches such as door, windows, holy altar and so on to make God’s house fresher and brighter and become beauty and holiness in the heart of God’s servants .
