Deacon Hai Dong Nguyen. Deacon Hai Dong Nguyen is the son of Dong Van Nguyen and Phong Thi Truong. Age 41, he is the youngest of four children. He grew up in Vietnam, where his father was a political …More
Deacon Hai Dong Nguyen.

Deacon Hai Dong Nguyen is the son of Dong Van Nguyen and Phong Thi Truong. Age 41, he is the youngest of four children. He grew up in Vietnam, where his father was a political prisoner and his mother went from town to town to earn a living for the family. His grandmother helped him attend church, and Deacon Nguyen credits his family with nurturing his faith.

In 1991, at age 17, he moved to Washington, D.C., with his parents and sister. While working, he received undergraduate degrees in chemistry from the University of the District of Columbia and computer science from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, he got a programming job in Austin. St. William Parish in Round Rock is his home parish.

Deacon Nguyen explained that while he had continued to attend Mass, his faith was not yet central to his life. In 2006, he attended a retreat, where he “experienced the initial sense of the mercy of God and the sense of being called to share that through the priesthood,” he said.

For three years, he continued his discernment. Under the spiritual direction of Father Alberto Borruel, he prayed, was active in the Legion of Mary, a parish prayer group, and visited patients in a nursing home.

“Through my service to others, the call to become a priest became even clearer,” Deacon Nguyen said. Yet, he was in a serious relationship, which he believes helped him grow in faith. Through prayer, he realized that he had to end the relationship to prepare to enter the seminary. In 2009, he began his seminary studies.

“There I continued to experience the love and mercy of God, and his conversion in my life. As a priest, I have a great desire to share that mercy with others,” Deacon Nguyen said.