For the first year of his mission assignment to Papua New Guinea, Fr Paul Trong Nguyen SVD faced so many challenges that he just wanted to go home.

Now, a few years down the track, Fr Paul says he is happy in PNG, and both the experiences he has had and the people he has met, have helped him to build his confidence and stay to face the challenges and joys of missionary life.

Fr Paul, who spoke to In the Word while passing through Sydney on home leave, was the first Vietnamese SVD priest ever assigned to PNG, and he says the cultural differences he met when he arrived were enormous.

“PNG for me, was not too easy,” he says. “For the first year, I wanted to go home, there were so many challenges there.

“I had so many experiences in those early days, like road blocks and people attacking us for money. I found the people not easy to understand, particularly their culture and customs.

“But now I am very happy there with the people. The people are very poor and we stay with them and help them, and we also train them in how to sustain themselves. I can say I am very happy.”

Fr Paul wanted to study technology when he left high school, but then felt the call to become a missionary priest. He was in the first class of novices for the SVD in Vietnam, taking his final vows and priestly ordination in 2006.

When asked what his top three countries were for his first missionary assignment, he submitted Australia, Ghana and Ecuador. However, the General-Superior called his Provincial and said he would like to send him to Papua New Guinea.

“So I came to PNG,” he says. “For the first six weeks I studied Pidgin language and then I was assigned to a parish in the Mount Hagen Diocese.

“In my first parish, there was an outstation that we would go to every so often. We would walk one day, from 7am to 7pm, to get there. There was no electricity, TV, phone. So we had to adapt.”

After three years in Mount Hagen Diocese, Fr Paul went to Divine Word University to study English for six months before being assigned to St Martin de Porres parish in the north of PNG.

“In my first and second year, I was always thinking about how I could leave the country and change my assignment,” he says.

“But now, I find the country very interesting. The people of PNG have helped me to build my confidence and to stay and face the challenges. I am learning something from this country. It’s a good country for Mission.”

Fr Paul says his parish, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary is full of energy, with work currently being undertaken for a new building for the parish, and a lively selection of groups for mothers, fathers, youth, Marian devotion, children and Sunday School.

“We are also running retreats to help the people develop their spirituality,” he says. “It is busy, and I am happy.”