After the traumatic evacuation out of Vietnam in April 1975, through the sponsorship of Florida Hospital, 14 Vietnamese refugee families relocated to Orlando. Florida Hospital provided us jobs and helped us with various needs. We learned English, rode bicycles, wore trash bags as rain coats until we purchased cars and bought houses. Our father was offered a position in a small printing shop that belonged to the hospital. It didn’t matter what he was doing for a living, his goal was to get the 14 families settled in and to find and build a place of worship.
Like any other employees in the department, our father was scheduled to dwelled up in his eyes. Quietly he carried a lunch box and biked to work. This was the very first time after serving God for over 33 years that our father didn’t carry a Bible, a hymnal to church on the Sabbath day but rather a lunch box to work. On that very same Sabbath while our father, the spiritual leader, was working in the basement of the hospital, we were worshipping God in the Pods, two stories above. We were mentally and emotionally disturbed. Our father returned home from work that Sabbath afternoon with sadness in his eyes. Without a word to the family, he quietly entered his room and closed the door behind. Knowing that he often kept things to himself, we didn’t dare to make noises but held our breath.
Tuesday afternoon the following week, our father came home from work with a relieved look. The sadness and sorrow look was now replaced with smiles. At the dinner table, our father was so happy that he didn’t eat. He shared with us the news that he went to see Mr. Oaks, the VP of FH Human Resource, and turned in his resignation because he couldn’t go against God’s commandment of not keeping the Sabbath day. He couldn’t fulfill the obligation working on the Sabbath so the best alternative was to resign. Upon receiving our father’s resignation, Mr. Oaks contacted Bob Scott, the CEO of Florida Hospital. After an impromptu meeting, the management team made an exception allowing our father not having to work on Sabbath days.
Our father retired after 10 years working as a printer at Florida Hospital. After retirement, he devoted his time to the tasks that he loved most: teaching the Gospel, helping new Vietnamese refugees rebuild their lives, caring for church members who needed help, and sharing God’s love to the church goers as well as the community. He continued serving God’s work that was entrusted him since 1942.
God rested our father’s soul peacefully on Sabbath April 7, 2012 while he was on his knees praying during Church service. We praise God for such a blessing that He granted His servant. Our father’s words keep on coming back to me, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Our father lived and followed God’s instruction until his last breath. His wish was the same for all of us, and that is to believe in God, be faithful to Him until the end of our lives. We miss our father dearly. However, we strongly believe in the second coming of Jesus and we feel comforted that we will meet him again when Jesus comes back to take us home.
Tinh Chau Pham
