Love Boat.

New love seeks your weakest parts, your darkest corners.  It binds them to itself and to you, allowing growth out of old destitution.  And if it is love, you will hold yourself to it like a mirror with your best reflection�because it will be. 

I know this because I came to DC seven years ago looking for adventure and excitement.  Lonely, and to be honest, looking for girls, I joined Chú Đạt’s church group.  There I felt, for the first time, the hand of God ... slapping me upside the head.  Who were these people and why were they so nice to me?  Who was this man and why was he so bald?  Hehehehe.  Did they not see my conspicuous Revenge of the Nerd glasses?  What possible appeal could I present and when would it go away? 

But it did not go away.  Instead, new love blossomed.  As each day passed, I found assurance in their handshakes and courage in their smiles.  Together, we soldiered through victories and disappointments.  They taught me to dance (or tried to), to love, to live unabashedly knowing that I will always have a revered place at the table of their hearts, and they at mine. 

If I had been a good friend to anyone, it was because of time spent with Love Boat.  Unintentionally and effortlessly, they looked past all I was and loved me anyway, teaching me to do the same.  If I could read the words scribbled on your locked doors, would I still love you?  Or is friendship most enduring if the roads are mapped and lighted?  The Love Boat answered for me, and I will never forget the gift of their reply.

The beginning for us was truly new love.  It was fun, exciting, and full of the magic potential that made everything possible.  Sometimes, it made me tingly to feel what was emanating between us-like finding Christmas presents I didn’t expect.

Like I said before, new love finds our weakest parts, our darkest corners, and binds them to itself and to ourselves, allowing growth out of old destitution.  And if it is LOVE, we will embrace it like a mirror with our best reflection-because it is. 

JP Dinh

Like most 14 year-olds, religion wasn’t on my list of concerns. The retreat was in October 1990, hosted by cha Thành, anh Hỷ, Bác Thu, and chú Đạt.  I lucked out because the minimum age was 15.

“Ha!” I said to my sister, “You gotta be 15 to participate, and I’m only 14.”

“Fine,” she replied, “but you gotta come with me on Sunday.”

I agreed.

After the retreat, chú Đạt and anh Hỷ met with us after mass on Sundays for about an hour or two. We had icebreaker galore. We played every game there was�name shooting, “U,” and “tic-tac-boom” to name a few.  Though exhaustive, the games created team spirit.  We played for an hour and then chú Đạt and anh Hỷ talked about the Gospel, being a Catholic, who we are as individuals, and who God was, and His role in our lives.  We focused on developing awareness and ways to become closer to God.  We shared about the challenges we faced in our family and at school.

In August of the following year, chú Đạt and anh Hỷ wanted us to come to the annual east coast gathering in Pennsylvania. We were excited because we had become close and to spend a whole weekend TOGETHER was too cool!  By now our group had about 16 members or less.  Imagine, 16 loud teenagers in a mini-van!  What a headache that must have been for chú Đạt.  No wait!  He was just as noisy as we were. Singing with us, planning for the Văn Nghệ, and simply sharing his thoughts.  He kept reminding us that we were going to have a good time with other groups.  He was proud of us�we’ve come so far in such a short time.

When everybody arrived, we gathered in the big room and introduced ourselves. We were known as nhóm nhí Maryland by default. We were the youngest, loudest, and craziest group.  We were unbreakable!  Everybody enjoyed our energy. We didn’t sleep when we were supposed to. We stayed up all night talking, playing cards, and just hanging out.  Maybe we should have slept though, because during the adult discussion, we were sleeping in a corner. 

This first gathering made our group stronger.  We invited more young people to come to our meetings.  By now we had at least 20 members.  I was responsible for calling EVERYONE, informing them of meeting topic, date, time, and location. Thank God the phone tree was created soon after that.

Our first retreat was at the barn in 1992.  I remember there was a lot of crying during reconciliation. Through our sorrows, God’s forgiveness, and love, we formed a bond with our Lord Jesus Christ and with each other.  Through the years, our meetings focused on the gospels and how they played out in our lives, bringing us closer to God. 

In 1993 or 1994, our group had no activities. We didn’t meet regularly and members got bored and drifted apart. It was nobody’s fault really.  I suppose people had better things to do and preferred that instead of the group.  I felt the same way, and deliberately skipped certain meetings because I felt like we weren’t do much anymore.  But Chú Đạt picked us up and continued where we left off.  Meetings started to become more serious because our main concern was mending the group and re-igniting the sparks that once enflamed our group. We scheduled meetings and activities for the group and brainstormed for a group name.  Since we were no longer “nhí” it wasn’t appropriate to use that name anymore.

Huong Nguyen

It was 1990 when I first heard about the weekend retreat. Of course, like most teenagers, I was not interested in spending the weekend reading the Bible or praying. I was too wild for that.  Sure, I go to church every Sunday and all, but being a Christian was never a big deal for me, and definitely spending a whole weekend in retreat wasn’t my idea of fun.  Besides, I had no idea who was going to be there.  Also, I didn’t speak any English at the time and that would have made it hard for me to get to know anyone.  Somehow though, I gave in and decided to give it a try.  I suppose I was more curious than earnest.  Besides, the deposit was non-refundable.  My attitude was, “What’s there to lose?”

Anyway, the first evening went smoothly, and I became acquainted with the group. When the weekend was over I was glad I went.  It went by so quickly!  I discovered God in a different way, not at church all the time but in silence.

A group formed, then summer came, and we went to the northeast region reunion. We were the youngest group. We were known as “Maryland Nhí.”  That made everyone love us; besides, we were darn cute!  As time went by, the group had trouble just like all groups, and we got lost searching a way for ourselves.  If it weren’t for Chú Đạt we would have broken up.  He kept bringing us back together.  Just like all other groups in Dong Hanh, we had our ups and downs, but we battled through them together. As time passed, we grew older, people came and went, myself included.  New groups were born so we were no longer “Maryland Nhí.”  No matter what, I will always feel special for being a part of the group.  I’ve learned so much and have grown to be a better Christian.

Since I moved away, I cannot attend the regular meetings, but I still feel the presence of the group in my life and am proud to say that I still belong to the group. Nothing can ever take my group away from me. I hope one day, I will be back with the group because I live better as a Christian with my group’s help.

Tuan Long