I am an editor and author, and had the privilege of editing Fr Peter Hung’s book, “The Search for Freedom”. I’ve known him since he was a Redemptorist seminarian in Melbourne, not long after he had escaped the Communists in Vietnam. His mentor and our family’s close friend, Father Patrick John O’Neill (1932-2007) reached out to us in the early 1980s for this young seminarian to spent his vacation with us in Singapore.
When Peter came to us, he hardly spoke a word in English, and all we knew then that he was one of the original “Boat People” of Vietnam who fled the brutal Communist rule in his home country. Over time Peter became part of our family, an adopted son of my parents and our brother.
It was only when Peter was able to converse in English that we began to learn the horrors of what he went through as a seminarian in Vietnam.
This book is about Fr Peter’s journey to the priesthood which was paved with extreme trials and tribulations. Caught in the aftermath of the Communists' complete takeover of Vietnam in the 1970s, he was forcibly prevented from studying in the seminary to become a priest. To this end, the Communists drafted him into their army to fight a war in Cambodia, which would have meant certain death for him.
But through God’s Grace, he managed to flee their clutches and became a fugitive, living alone in the jungles of Vietnam, before escaping the country by boat in a treacherous journey through stormy seas.
As Fr Peter recalls, “The journey to find God, that I have experienced in my life, has not been an easy one. There were times when I had fallen into a deadlock, with no way out, no hope, and I did not feel the presence of God in the darkness of life. At that time, I only wished that God would allow me to die in peace, so that I could be united with Him in heaven.
“Death for me at that time would help me to release my own sufferings, which I was constantly facing every day during that time, while I was a fugitive. Since living without freedom, without future, without education and without being able to live together with your loved ones in the family, life can be meaningless and boring. One may wish to stop living. Probably in such situations, sometimes death could be the better option and that thought flashed through my mind.”
This book also offers glimpses of his life after he was ordained priest, as he shares how he was drawn closer to Jesus Christ through the love of His Blessed Virgin Mother. We learn that through all his trials and tribulations, even as a priest, how the Holy Spirit has been at work forming Fr Peter to follow God’s Will to be a faithful disciple who takes up Christ’s Great Commission to spread His Gospel and lead all people to God and His offer of Salvation to eternal life.
Add Prime
to get Fast, Free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now
Frequently purchased items with fast delivery
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2023
Top reviews from other countries
- MatthewReviewed in Australia on November 17, 2023
"Unyielding Hope: The Remarkable Journey of a Vietnamese Seminarian to Freedom"
