Huu Ke Nguyen is a proud dad to spiritual father Fr John Nguyen OFM Cap and his siblings, who grew up together in south-west Sydney during the 80s and 90s.
Theirs is a familiar Aussie migrant story. Huu Ke married his love Thi Lan in 1980 in Nha Trang, a beautiful coastal city suffering difficult times amid regime change in the aftermath of the Vietnam war.
They escaped their homeland together with Thi Lan’s parents and younger siblings. The treacherous journey by boat took six days.
At one point the newlywed Thi Lan gave a starving young man the last bit of food they had, a small portion of burnt rice.
Years later, safely in Sydney, a man she didn’t recognise came over to her in church one day and said he’d been the recipient of that act of kindness and would always remember it.
“I thought there was a chance we might all die together at sea, like so many others had,” Huu Ke recalled with the help of a translator.
They reached the Philippines where their first child, Phi, was born in Manila. From there they moved to a refugee camp in Palawan, where they discovered their second boy was on the way – who became Fr John.
Life in the camp was hard for the adults and it was no place to raise children. Finally they gained asylum in Australia, where Huu Ke enrolled in English classes.
They initially lived in a hostel and then a succession of rental homes while he worked at whatever jobs he could find to support his young growing family.
“God has blessed us and loved us very much,” he said. “Every child and every birth of each of our children has been different and special, and brought a different joy.
“Each of them have gone on to take good paths in their lives.”
The pair have also endured the tragedy of losing two of their seven children; little Thi Chau, who lived for one day after her birth, and their third child Michael who also passed to eternal life, in 2009.
They have a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, and believe it was through her intercession that their twins Brandon and Brenda were born two years after Thi Chau.
Despite living across the road from a public school they made many sacrifices to send their children, who also include Fr John’s other brother, Jason, to Catholic schools, as a Catholic education was “most important to us”, Huu Ke said.
“We also gave them a routine of prayer and Mass-going so when they were older they could continue on their own and not lose the faith,” he added.
Fr John said his father had worked hard in order to provide the necessities for his children.
“We weren’t well off financially, but we were blessed to be together with God and Mother Mary at the centre of our lives. Faith and family are valuable and irreplaceable,” he said.
“We attended Masses together each Saturday evening, and when my dad couldn’t take us kids because we had guests over, we would ride our bikes to church.
“My parents introduced us to the faith. For that, I am truly grateful. It is the greatest gift that any parent can give their children. For me, from baptism to priestly ordination.
“For almost 45 years (their anniversary will be this October) my parents have shown me that true love is possible because they have responded to their vocation.
“My old man has shown me that there are challenges in life and plenty of sacrifices. He never gave up. He powered through them with hope for a beautiful future for us, and what a beautiful future we are living in now because of him.
“I love the priesthood and being a spiritual father to the flock entrusted to my care, including the family who raised me.”
