Unity of religions in Ngoc Thon

These days, the people of Ngoc Thon parish are very excited because the parish church was just inaugurated and put into use before Christmas 2018.

Ngoc Thon parish church has just been inaugurated and put into use. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Mr. Dau Quang Sang - member of the Pastoral Council of Ngoc Thon parish said: Although it was established a relatively long time ago (1917), due to the small number of parishioners, before 1982, the parish only maintained religious activities in a small chapel built in 1940.

In 1982, the chapel collapsed after a big storm, from which the religious activities of the parish were interrupted, the people moved to the Thuong Nam parish church (the parish house) about 500m away. The church of the parish was built on an area of ​​136m2 with a length of 17m, a width of 8m and a tower of 17m high, mainly contributed by parishioners, especially children who work and live far away. After its inauguration, the church has met the living needs of the parishioners. From now on, the parishioners of Ngoc Thon have their own church, serving the growing living needs.

With the spirit of "living a good life, living a good religion", "respecting God - loving the country", in recent times, together with the parishioners of Thuong Nam Parish in general, under the leadership of Priest Nguyen Ngoc Quy (Parish Priest), Ngoc Thon Parish has made significant progress. The parishioners wholeheartedly worship and follow the commandments of God while at the same time confidently producing and doing business to improve their lives. Not only producing, doing business and trading effectively, most families here have children working abroad in countries such as Japan, Korea, England, Australia, etc. In the area, there are more and more economic development models with high incomes such as the food service business of Mr. Thai Van Tai, making traditional vermicelli and cakes of Ms. Dau Thi Dung. A typical example is the comprehensive farm model of parishioner Dau Quang Sang (born in 1980) - Mr. Sang is also a member of the pastoral council of Ngoc Thon Parish. This is one of the economic models applying science and technology to production for an income of 250 million VND/year.

Hamlet 1 chief Nguyen Viet Tan said: Mr. Sang's farm is one of the high-income models of Hamlet 1, Ngoc Thon parish in general, and Hong Long in particular. With an area of ​​7.2 hectares located right on the alluvial land along the Lam River. Previously, he and his wife mainly grew vegetables of all kinds but the income was not high. Since 2010, Mr. Sang decided to borrow 50 million from the bank, plus borrowing from relatives, and his own savings to hire land leveling, invest in planting fruit trees, raising chickens, buffaloes, cows, pigs...

In 2017, Mr. Sang invested more than 100 million VND to install an automatic drip irrigation system to reduce labor costs and increase production efficiency. In addition to being good at economic development, Mr. Sang is also one of the leading parishioners to contribute funds to the construction of the New Rural Area. His family voluntarily donated 15 million VND to build a propaganda cluster right in the center of the hamlet.

Ngoc Thon village gate was built with the joint contributions of Catholic and non-Catholic people in the village. Photo: Thanh Thuy

Along with the development of household economy, the Catholic and non-Catholic people in Hamlet 1 have united to change the structure of seasonal crops. Previously, people only produced 2 crops, now they have made the 3rd crop the main crop of the year. With the direction and close attention of the local government and the Pastoral Council, promoting the advantage of the alluvial land along the Lam River, people have focused on the 3rd crop specializing in growing commercial vegetables such as squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, sticky corn... Compared to before, the income from the 3rd crop has increased 3 times. In 2018, the agricultural production of Hamlet 1 reached 75 million VND/ha; of which 50% of the area reached over 100 million VND/ha. The average income is approximately 40 million VND/person/year.

In addition to taking care of economic development, the Catholic and non-Catholic people here live together in solidarity and harmony, and actively participate in all emulation movements organized by the Party Committee, the government, and the Fatherland Front Committee at all levels. In the village, if anyone has a problem, a sad or happy story, the government and the Pastoral Council come together to visit and share. For example, in the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu (born in 1957), her family is poor and cannot afford to repair her house. With the support of the commune government, the village, and the people, she now has a spacious house to welcome a peaceful Christmas.

Most recently, the movement of “building new rural areas” was enthusiastically supported and effectively implemented by the parish priest and parishioners, making the village look more and more modern and spacious. For example, in the construction of the village gate worth 78 million VND (the commune supported 5 million VND), the rest was contributed and supported by Catholics and non-Catholics. In particular, priest Nguyen Ngoc Quy, parish priest of Ngoc Thon parish, supported 4 concrete blocks to contribute to the completion of the spacious and beautiful village gate.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Hong Long Commune - Mr. Dinh Huu Vinh said: Hamlet 1 has 65 households, of which Catholics account for over 25%. This is a special hamlet of Hong Long Commune. Catholics of Ngoc Thon parish live honestly, love God and love their country, and always comply with the Party's policies and the State's laws.

On occasions such as: International Women's Day March 8, Vietnam Women's Union Day October 20, National Great Unity Day November 18, as well as movements launched by the government and mass organizations at all levels, 100% of parishioners here participate. In particular, charity work is always of interest to the parish's Pastoral Council, in coordination with the village, commune, and district to give gifts and help policy households, families in difficulty and hardship inside and outside the village.

Life is increasingly stable, parishioners trust in the Party and State's guidelines and policies, feel secure in doing business, developing the economy, expanding industries... contributing to building a new rural life in Hong Long commune to become more and more prosperous./.