Youth Sharing

Vianney Truong

Vacations are fun and they can give wonderful experiences to the vacationer. My vacation to Florida was a wonderful and uplifting experience. It was a great vacation. My family and I got to sightsee, go to the beach, play, and participate in the National CLC meeting.

My family and I went with a couple of families in Florida. I made new friends.  Savio, Nam, John Paul, Bethany, Anna, Lillian, Titi, and Paulina were just some of the new friends I made. I also got to meet and admire great adults. These people enlightened the whole vacation.

My family went to Florida to attend the National CLC meeting. We were going to show our support for Dong Hanh and to participate in the CLC meeting. While we were at the CLC meeting, we got to witness an incredible event. CLC let Dong Hanh enter the organization! I rejoiced. I saw people clap and full of rejoice for Dong Hanh. I was so happy.

When it was time to leave Florida, I looked back at everything I had been through. I had fun moments with my friends at the beach and at the pool. I had enjoyed playing and just being around my friends. Whether at the hotel watching TV, or building sandcastles, I had a great time. I noticed that God was in everyone. That was why the vacation went along so well. It was His will.

Bethany Thảo-Vy Vũ

When I go to the CLC convention I also see that it is a chance to have a family vacation.  At last year’s event, we traveled to Louisiana and got to see the French Market. While we were there our parents bought us each a mask made of colorful feathers.  This was also really fun, I went with a few other families who were part of our religious group. We went to see the Everglades and went to the beach.  We were able to see crocodiles up close and my friend’s dad found a horseshoe crab.  The Miami Beach was a great experience for me. It was warm, shallow, and had small waves.  The hotel we stayed at was nice, we went swimming almost every night and we went fishing at the nearby ponds.  I also got to meet some new friends: Vianney, Vincent, Marcellin, and Mỹ Anh. There were many times I thought of how lucky I was to be able to go to these events throughout the United States.  Many people I knew could not come because of financial problems or because they were stuck at work.  Every time my parents took me to the CLC convention or Đồng Hành, it costed money but I thought it was worth it.  Even though I had a lot of fun at the beach, pool, museum, and other places, I also really liked getting to spend a lot of time with my family and friends without having to worry about school.

I felt that the CLC convention was a very good experience for me.  I met new friends and my old friends.  We did fun activities and went to see a lot of cool places. When I went to these events, I felt that they strengthened my faith and helped me increase my understanding of God.  I think that when we shared about our problems and failures we helped others and ourselves.  We met people who had the same problems as we did and they helped us go through these obstacles.  Hearing about others’ misfortunes showed us that we were blessed and we should be grateful for all the things God gave to us.  When I saw that someone did not have something go the way they wanted, I made sure to remember to pray for them and asked God to take care of them.

My favorite part of this trip were getting to share my experiences with my nhóm, a.k.a. my friends, and helping the people at the nursing home.  At the nursing home we were asked to repaint the fences and walls while the parents planted trees.  I had fun painting the walls since I didn’t usually get to. The parents planted about 150 trees and small bushes, my 9-year-old sister planted 34 of those trees.  I was very proud of her as she was of herself.  My two other siblings had a lot of fun also; my brother painted many walls while my youngest sister did the detailed work painting the gates.  I was excited about starting school this year and about the upcoming World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany.  I had an awesome summer while building my faith and confidence in God.  Most of all I was proud to be part of Đồng Hành, the Vietnamese Christian Life Community.

Phoenix, AZ
Nhóm Nagiarét

Marcellin Truong

I came to Miami at 8:00 in the morning. It took 5 hours to get to Miami from California. I enjoyed the airplane ride because every chair has a television screen. I watched a lot of cartoons. I felt sleepy when I arrived at Miami. I took a rest and then I went with my family and other families from Arizona, gia dinh Nazaret, to church. It was Sunday. We came back from church, my family checked in. Our room was so beautiful with a nice jacuzzi and a big kitchen for my mom to cook. I went outside and saw a big swimming pool with waterfall. I felt so exciting.

On Monday, we went to Miami beach. The ocean water was warm and it had no waves. I collected many beautiful shells and built a castle everyone enjoyed the beach. We ate dinner and celebrated a couple’s wedding anniversary. The food was so good, but a lot of bugs bit me, so I felt itchy. After that, we went to the hotel.

On Wednesday, we went back to the beach, but it was a different one. We played with water for 10 minutes, but the sky turned dark with a thunderstorm. The lifeguard told us to come back another time, so we went back to the car. It was the first time I had been in a thunderstorm. It was cool, but very scary. We went back to the hotel and swam in the swimming pool and hot tub.

We chose to visit a nursing home on our field trip. When we came to the nursing home, to help the old people. I saw about over 10 people there, all of them were old, and they could not hear well. I thought they were Spanish, because I heard the leader talking to them in Spanish. I enjoyed the painting job. I painted a long fence with white, also painted my hair and my clothes. After 2 hours, I felt tired, but happy. I shared God’s love with the seniors. There was a special senior, he was 105 years old, I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I felt God in him. Thank God, He let me come here.

On Saturday, my two brothers, 6 other children, and I performed liturgy dance “dang hoa” with Vietnamese clothes” ao dai, khan dong” during the mass. After mass, we took a lot of pictures with everyone. Later on that day, we went on a field trip to the museum, I had a great time.

I thank “Dong Hanh - CLC” to give me time with God at the nursing home. I give thanks to all my friends I met at Miami, especially gia dinh Nazaret. I felt God in everyone, and everywhere I went. I will never forget this trip.