Did you know that, among its objectives, the Delegation of Vietnam aims to offer quality, charitable services, befitting the country’s reality, based on the model of our Founders?
My name is Teresa Mai Thi Thuy Hong and I am the Superior of the Sisters Hospitallers Delegation of Vietnam, which is dependent upon the Province of Spain. I held this responsibility for the last three years, from 2016 to 2018, before being re-elected to the position of inspiring and governing the Delegation for the subsequent 3-year period that began in December 2018.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). This has occurred in us. Many challenging situations have arisen in the birth and growth of the Hospitaller seed in Vietnam, but seeing how far we have come, we thank the Lord for the constant gifts he delivers to our Hospitaller family. With 32 years of history, the Delegation continues to grow step by step, identifying with the charism, learning from the lives of the Founders, seeking to serve the Lord through our brethren who suffer.
We currently have three centres dedicated to people with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and orphans. Our team consists of 66 sisters and three novices. All of our communities and groups are located in southern Vietnam, a communist country where religious orders encounter significant hurdles. Our centres are not subsidized by the state, which means we have to work and look for ways to sustain our activities.
The Delegation’s sisters are young and many are in the training period. Because we undertake all the activities of the Hospitaller mission ourselves, we require intense training in the Hospitaller charism and spirituality, as well as good professional training in order to offer quality services and guarantee our “commitment to practice hospitality with courage, to respond to the signs of the times.”
