Please pray for a young lady who took all her clothes and ran away from the place she was staying. She was found pregnant out of wedlock. She was somewhat of a servant girl for some nuns, but well treated. Please pray for her and the child and the father. I have no idea where she would go because her family is in North Vietnam and she is currently in the South.

 

 

Please pray for a young lady who took all her clothes and ran away from the place she was staying. She was found pregnant out of wedlock. She was somewhat of a servant girl for some nuns, but well treated. Please pray for her and the child and the father. I have no idea where she would go because her family is in North Vietnam and she is currently in the South.

I was not aware that there is any difference between N & S Vietnam-- at this time anyway.  

I doubt she was that naive. Innocence is almost completely lacking among the youth in that destitute society. Perhaps she was plotting this for a while, perhaps she was just wooed by a seducer. As I didn't know her that well and have no idea who the father is, I can't comment on either. In the meantime, it's probably best to assume purity of intention on her part, as far as is possible anyhow.

Roscoe, my initial reaction was that she was going to try to go home, but as I've found out she is going along with this man to the border of South Vietnam and Cambodia, and area where a lot of workers from both countries move in and out of. Most likely, she will dissolve and eventually die in the complete obscurity of the migrant worker society there. I doubt she will return to her hosts.

Thank you for the prayers. Her baptismal name is Mary.

 

I am touched (but not surprised) that even in the middle of your joyous celebration you remembered this intention.

I'm sorry, but I have no news on this girl, nor do I expect any soon. I was not supposed to find out about her situation, but someone had a slip of the mouth. I know her [former] hosts and will update this forum if I receive any news.

I can guess at too her motive for running away. Her parents made a deal with her hosts to send her down South to live with them so that she could study to take college entrance exams. The deal was half the time she would study, the other half she would help around the house. College entrance exams there are not like in America. If you have money to spare you are guaranteed to pass but if not, it is hit & miss and doesn't really depend on your personal ability.

Anyways, she failed her exams several times and gave up. For the past year she has quit school and was learning to be a hair-dresser. I'm not sure if she met the father after or during her schooling. I think she's 20. Maybe even a little younger.

She is Catholic and said nightly prayers with the rest of the household. I can't remember if she attended daily mass like the rest of the household, but she had immediate access to the sacraments (Novus Ordo).

A sad story, but not uncommon in that part of the world, where it is especially hard for young women. Especially when marriage often means being married off to a drunk "player" or often a ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ that just gets married to "save face".

Are there many ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖs in Vietnam that marry to save face? I have never heard of this custom in Asia?

There is a significant amount. "Pop songs" have lamented the fate of girls wedded to such men.