130 Fr. Andrew Dinh: From Refugee to Reverend

On Wednesday, August 14, host Gene Wilhelm spoke with Fr. Andrew Dinh, new associate pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Bryan, about his escape from Vietnam in the mid-1980s followed by a 20-plus-year journey to the priesthood. In the first part of the show, Gene talked about St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of our Immaculata Recurring Gift Society (did you know Kolbe ran a short-wave radio under the Nazi occupation?), because August 14th is his feast day. St. Maximilian is also the patron saint of anyone caught in addiction. Remember him if you or someone you know needs his intercession. During the main event, Fr. Andrew recollected his long and improbable, lonely, threefold journey beginning at the age of 12 from Saigon to Thailand, Thailand to England and, finally, England to the United States! For ten years, Fr. Andrew was an undocumented immigrant here in the United States while his refugee status remained in limbo and he struggled to find his way through the tough times. Nevertheless, Fr. Andrew finally made it to college here in the States where the Lord intervened to give him his vocation. Tune in to the episode to hear all the details about Fr. Dinh's unique life and journey to the priesthood.