"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor" (Lk 4:18). There is no doubt that Christ's teachings, life and mission are concerned with the afflicted; therefore we have no other choice.
- "Ethnic minorities" means the "poor". They live in all the Dioceses of Vietnam. Since the beginning of the missions, founded more than 300 years ago, missionaries have cared for their evangelization.
- Having an "innate" religious sentiment and continuously living under the menace of evil gods and evil spirits, (whose anger they must appease with offerings of their belogings), our good people, having once learned to recognize the supreme and merciful God, Father and Protector, firmly adhere to our Lord and remain faithful to him for ever.
- To proclaim the Good News is the very essence of the Church.
- But three other factors must be kept in mind:
1. Development of life: being poor, very poor, how can one feel one is a child of God, created in his image and a brother to everyone?
2. Health problems: they are very deprived of elementary health care.
3. Culture and education: without which it is impossible to attain a level of honourable, spiritual and material life.
1. Little by little, we have become more dynamic, courageous and generous.
2. We have greater unity and solidarity with one another.
3. We are more credible in the message brougth to the world.
1. Material progress always has two sides, beneficial and harmful: how can we help them to understand the difference?
2. Faced with the development of a market economy and tourism, their history, customs and good morals tend to disappear: how can we save them?
Let us not miss the best opportunity in life, the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, in order to venture into the new evangelization.