By Joseph Masilamany
FOR Tran Thi Phuong Hoa, the journey to the Catholic faith did not begin in a church, but in an English classroom.
Born into a Buddhist family, Hoa grew up “without paying much attention to religion” because of Vietnam’s largely secular setting.
As she prepares to be baptised during this Easter Vigil at St Anne’s Minor Basilica in Penang diocese, the 35-year-old woman recalled how the journey began in 2015, when she decided to improve her English to better her prospects.
Such classes in Vietnam are expensive, but she found a free English class run by Filipino Christians. “They welcomed everyone,” she recalls.
“They taught with sincerity and even provided food and drinks. I could see their kindness and generosity. They treated everyone equally.”
One video shown in class stayed with her — the passion and resurrection of Jesus, ending with a simple question: Where is God?
“But I felt something,” she says. It was a small stirring — but it lingered.
Love and miracles
Years later, Hoa met Borneo-born Bexter Lim through work. Although he was based in Penang, his job frequently took him to Vietnam.
“He showed me what it means to believe in God,” Hoa says. On their first dinner — a Friday — he abstained from meat.
“He told me marriage is a commitment for life,” she says. She would learn it was part of his Catholic learning. By that time, she had already begun attending Mass with him.
At the church, “people were kind, and the sermons touched me.” But the old question returned: Who is God?
With Lim’s help, Hoa enrolled for catechumen classes in Penang diocese in early 2025, hoping to attend monthly classes by traveling to Malaysia.
On her third visit, immigration officials in Malaysia stopped her. Since she was not married to a Malaysian, they said she could only visit the country every three months, not every month.
Hoa and Lim then took a decisive step. They registered their marriage on Aug 25, 2025.
Yet further challenges followed.
A name error on her birth certificate, combined with administrative changes in Vietnam, delayed the processing of her documents. Officials initially refused to process them.
“I felt like giving up,” she admits.
Then, unexpectedly, an officer whose wife is Christian stepped forward. “He said he believed in God and wanted me to have the chance to learn,” she recalls.
Within two weeks, the issue was resolved. “It was a miracle,” Hoa said.
A name, a grace remembered
Jennifer Cornelius-Gasper, one of her catechists at St Anne’s Minor Basilica, told UCA News, Hoa’s journey reflected both commitment and community.
Hoa’s catechumen program, officially known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, in the diocese lasts about nine months. However, pre-catechumenate sessions usually begin earlier.
Hoa “showed a deep desire to understand the faith and remained committed throughout,” she said.
Cornelius-Gasper noted that Hoa built a strong rapport with fellow candidates and catechists, and her “Catholic life centers on relationships, sharing struggles and moments of grace.”
Hoa has taken Anne as her baptismal name, to remember the patron saint of St Anne’s Minor Basilica in Bukit Mertajam, Lim’s parish church and the first Catholic church she stepped into with curiosity.
From a free classroom in Vietnam to a compassionate officer who intervened at the right moment, she believes her story carries a pattern of grace and divine guidance.
As the Easter Vigil approaches, “My heart is full of expectation,” she says.
“I feel stronger,” she says. “Less afraid of life’s challenges.
“I am not only ready to become Catholic, but ready to become part of God’s miracle,” she says when asked how she plans to live out her Catholic faith. – UCA News
