wfn.org | UMNS# 046-Church camps help Vietnamese children learn heritage

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Church camps help Vietnamese children learn heritage

Jan. 25, 2006

NOTE: A UMTV report and photographs are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By John Gordon*

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) - In an area better known for its Cajun and
French influence, a very different language can be heard at Broadmoor
United Methodist Church.

Twice a year, after Christmas and during the summer, the church hosts
day camps for children of Vietnamese immigrants. They learn Vietnamese
as a second language and more about the culture their families left
behind.

"We love to teach and explain for them some very, very important
culture. They need to keep their culture," said the Rev. Tuyet Tran, who
leads the Baton Rouge camps.

Tran escaped from Vietnam by boat in 1979. She is a licensed United
Methodist local pastor in Michigan, where she also heads up a Vietnamese
outreach program.

"We have a good time to help them to speak Vietnamese and read
Vietnamese and talk with them (their parents and grandparents) in
Vietnamese," Tran said.

More than 25 children attended the holiday camp held in late December.
The Baton Rouge program is in its fourth year.

"I've never been to Vietnam before," said Diana Nguyen, 11, a 6th-grade
student attending the holiday camp. "And so it's a joy to learn about my
culture and where I came from."

Many of the children were born in the United States. Others were very
young when their parents left Vietnam, searching for a better life.

"My mom, she takes me to the library to read books about Vietnam,"
Nguyen added. "In here, I learn a lot of Vietnamese language and words I
never knew."

Learning the Vietnamese language helps the children communicate with
their parents, grandparents and other relatives. They also learn songs
in Vietnamese.

"It has helped me learn more about my culture - that we are different
people with different language, backgrounds and history," said Tram
Nguyen, 12.

The Rev. Amy Mercer, minister of missions and discipleship at Broadmoor,
said the program began as the area around the church became more
diverse. More Vietnamese families began moving into the neighborhood.

Mercer said the city's Asian population increased after Hurricane
Katrina wiped out an area where many Vietnamese families lived near New
Orleans.

"It gives us a better understanding of who our neighbor is," Mercer
said. "It's good for our congregation members. It gives them an
understanding of who lives down the street and how we can help."

The church also helps by offering English as a Second Language courses
for the children's parents, as well as courses to help them become
naturalized citizens. The outreach is taking place three decades after
the Vietnam War.

"There's something really incredible when you see a Vietnamese person
who's been here less than three or four years, wanting to be a citizen,
who's sitting in the same room with one of our members who served in
Vietnam, who's her instructor," Mercer said.

"There's a sense of God's purpose in all that we've experienced in our
history, both as a country and in their country, as well."

Tran's daughter, Bichthy Betty Nguyen, assists with the camp. She is a
student at United Methodist-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological
Seminary in Evanston, Ill., and wants to help the Vietnamese children
discover new opportunities.

"Vietnam is, of course, a Third World country," Nguyen said. "The living
and transportation is very different, and school as well. The
opportunity over here is a lot more."

Nguyen helps the children with Bible studies and teaches them how to
bake a cake and make ice cream.

"The reason why we introduce food is we realize they really enjoy
cooking," she said.  "And it also is an opportunity for them to do a lot
of teamwork."

Mercer said Broadmoor never charges for the language and citizenship
courses or the camp for children. She said the programs have earned the
church a reputation as being a "safe place" to bring children.

"This is a ministry," she said. "This is a way by which we can be
helping people in the community be the best that they can be, in order
to survive in America."

*Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org