” He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walkhumbly with your God. “
(Micah 6,8)
The Vietnamese Catholic Family Mutual Assistance Network Inc. (ViCaFaMAN)
is a social and charitable association based on Christian faith,
consisting of Vietnamese individuals and families, whether Catholic or
non-Catholic, sharing Catholic values.
ViCaFaMAN is a non-political and
not-for-profit organisation, operated within the State of Victoria,
Australia. Its main aim is to encourage the members to support each
other to achieve a peaceful and happy life in this second homeland and
serve the community, in particular to the sick and elderly members at
home, hospital and nursing home.
The organisation is an official member of the Catholic Social Services Victoria (CSSV), a peak body for Catholic community service works in Victoria with a mission to assist the Catholic Church in Victoria to fulfil the gospel imperatives to: “stand with and serve the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised; and work for a just, equitable and compassionate society”.
It was established from a meeting of the 12
founding members with Rev Fr Peter Nguyen Van Cao SJ at the parish house
of St Ignatius’s church on 17 January 2011. The association was
officially introduced to the Vietnamese community in Victoria, in
particular to the Catholic Vietnamese people, on 19/3/2011 (St Joseph’s
Day). It was unexpected the growth in which the association has
achieved. The association acquired 1484 current members by the end of 2014-2015, including:
- 406 members in the age group of 70-85 (27.18%)
- 931 members in the age group of 50-69 (62.32%)
- 157 members in the age group of 20-49 (10.51%)
By religion, we have 1084 catholic members (73%) and 410 non-catholic members (27%)
Looking back at the history of ViCaFaMAN, we
can see it was through a small group of Catholic Vietnamese people who
committed themselves to be commissioned to be witnesses for the LOVE of
Jesus Christ by volunteering their time and talent for the association
that it fruitfully blossomed. With their determination and devotion to
God, for more than 4 years we can all see that “He will also
send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that
comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle
will graze in broadmeadows” (Isaia 30:23).
The 12 founding members were:
| 1 | Mrs Nguyễn Phương Châm | 7 | Mrs Bùi Thị Nữ |
| 2 | Mr Nguyễn Chính | 8 | Mr Nguyễn Văn Hinh |
| 3 | Mr Mai Văn Hội | 9 | Mr Lưu Ngọc Hoàng |
| 4 | Mr Châu Xuân Hùng | 10 | Mr Phạm Ngọc Lâm |
| 5 | Mr Nguyễn Hữu Lâm | 11 | Mr Nguyễn Xuân Nhượng |
| 6 | Mr Nguyễn Hoàng Sơn | 12 | Mr Nguyễn Xuân Tự |
The first Executive Committee (2011-2014) was selected by these founding members include:
| 1 | President | Mr Nguyễn Hoàng Sơn JP |
| 2 | Vice President – Internal Affairs: | Mr Phạm Ngọc Lâm |
| 3 | Vice President – External Affairs: | Mr Nguyễn Xuân Tự |
| 4 | General Secretary | Mr Châu Xuân Hùng JP |
| 5 | Treasurer | Mrs Nguyễn Phương Châm |
On the 3rd September 2012 the Episcopal Vicar of Melbourne Archdiocese, Bishop Leslie Tomlison celebrated a Commissioning Mass and blessed all the members of the Administrative Council and the Executive Committee with a solemn rite, to send them forward to be willingly serve as disciples of Christ with an assignment to “Go forth in peace and love thy neighbour”.
In 2012, Rev Fr Peter Nguyen Van Cao SJ, our spiritual adviser, was transferred to another mission and replaced by Rev Fr Peter Tran Van Tro SJ. In 2014, with more responsibilities at his local parish in the role of an Assistant Parish Priest, Fr Tro SJ has since stopped his role as an official spiritual adviser for the Association.
Bishop Vincent Long OFMConv, Episcopal Vicar for Migrants in Melbourne, was kind enough to celebrate thanksgivings mass on 15/09/2012 and attended our 2012 AGM after that.
On 20 September 2014, the Second ViCaFaMAN Executive Committee for 2014-2017 was voted and approved by the participating members at the 2014 Annual General Meeting in Collingwood, Melbourne.
The members of the second Executive Committee (2014-2017) include:
| 1 | President | Mr Lê Quang Trung |
| 2 | Vice President – Internal Affairs: | Mr Phạm Ngọc Lâm |
| 3 | Vice President – External Affairs: | Mr Nguyễn Xuân Tự |
| 4 | General Secretary | Mr Châu Xuân Hùng JP |
| 5 | Treasurer | Mrs Nguyễn Phương Châm |
ViCaFaMAN has organised regularly 4 thanksgivings masses in March, June, September and December every year at four different churches in Melbourne’s North, South, East and West for its members, families, friends and relatives.
In 2014-2015, we had thanksgiving masses at:
- St Joseph’s Church, Collingwood, celebrated by Rev Fr Peter Hoang Kim Huy dbs & Rev Fr Hoang Van Quang SJ (20 September 2014)
- St Vincent Liem Centre, Flemington, celebrated by Rev Fr Tran Ngoc Tân SSS.
After mass was the celebration of Christmas (27 December 2014) - Holy Name’s Church, Reservoir celebrated by Rev Fr Vu Nhật Thang.
After mass, we have celebrated the ‘2015 Harmony Day’ with Vietnamese music, dances and foods. (21 March 2015) - St Anthony’s, Noble Park, celebrated by Rev Fr Tran Nguyen Lam.
After mass, we celebrated 40 years of the Vietnamese community settling in Australia (20 June 2015)
One of the key activities of VicaFaMAN is a Bereavement Fund for its members. Each time the Association has a deceased member, depend on the joining time, all of its current members will contribute an amount of $5 or $10 to this Bereavement Fund, and up to 90% of this collected fund will be given to the deceased member’s family to financially support them toward the funeral cost.
Up until 30/6/2015, we had 21 deceased
members with $190,585 collected through members’ contribution to support
these deceased members’ families in their difficult time. The money is
not a form of funeral insurance, but more a gesture members to their
support each other in a practical way in this second homeland.
