by Jeremy Halcrow
More than twenty years after fleeing Communists who had taken control of their home city of Saigon, elderly couple Mau Huynh and Anh Luong were living in fear in a Cabramatta block of units.
“They had bad people in the other flat. We were very scared of them,” Mr Huynh said.
Their daughter-in-law was working as a translator for a home care unit that provided support to a resident of one of the independent living units run as part of the Anglicare ministry complex at Cabramatta Anglican Church. She thought the support facility looked ideal for her parents-in-law and found out they might be eligible to apply for one of the units.
Although the couple were not Christians and had never had any contact with the church, they were accepted as new residents. On moving in, they were immediately embraced by the Christian community on-site.
“The other residents were very caring and very loving towards us and they invited us to church,” said Mrs Luong. “We listened to the Bible and found out that the teaching of the Bible is about God’s love.”
“We feel safe living here. Security is very important to us,” added Mr Huynh.
The ten elderly housing units, opened in 1998, form one part of an integrated ministry complex run jointly by Cabramatta Anglican Church and Anglicare. The latest development is a $1.7 million building which will house Cabramatta Anglican Church’s new worship centre, as well as meeting rooms, kitchen facilities and offices for about 40 of Anglicare’s Migrant Services workers.
The bulk of the building funds came from Anglicare,who contributed $700,000 in lieu of future rent. Substantial funding also came from members of the congregation, who gave to the tune of $400,000. Donations were also received from Gymea Anglican Church and the Georges River Regional. The remainder was a loan from the diocesan property trust.
Xuyen Tang, manager of Anglicare migrant services and a lay reader at Cabramatta Anglican Church, said the congregation is grateful for the generous support the peoject has received. She also said ‘Howard Dillon’s visionary leadership of Anglicare’ had made the project possible.
“God has graciously provided,” she said. “Although we are a vibrant and growing church, we are not rich, as most of our people are of refugee background.”
Mrs Tang said the facility will make a powerful visual statement to the people of Cabramatta that Anglicare and the church are working together as agents of God’s mission.
“Anglicare and the church have the same mission and the same goal, but different roles,” she said. “Working in the same building will enable a more integrated approach to ministry and will hopefully help us facilitate more knowledge of Christianity before asking to become a volunteer at Anglicare only six months ago.
“I saw Anglicare advertising and thought working with them would be related to my studies,” she said. “Christianity was like a shadow to me as I had too many religions in my mind. Now it makes sense to me.”
