My name is Maria Nguyen Thi Thanh and I was born and raised in a Buddhist family in Vietnam.
I married a Catholic, converted to Catholicism, and together we have 5 children. For years I attended Catholic mass and prayed but my faith was never truly tested until two major life events.
The first was my family's treacherous journey by boat from Vietnam through Malaysia, to Australia from 1982-1983 (an 18 month journey).
The second was the birth of my grandson, Andy Nguyen on 11/8/2002. Andy was born four months prematurely. Full terms babies are born at approximately 40 weeks but Andy was born at 24 weeks, weighing only 0.900 kg. His premature birth came with many extreme health challenges, making his life extremely fragile during the first 10 years of his life. Those were the most difficult years for me and my family.
But this period was also when I truly learned the power of prayer.
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, I chose Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to ask him to help me in my prayers and I used the Archbishop's five-coloured World Mission Rosary to pray for Andy and everyone also suffering around the world.
The colours of the World Mission Rosary guided my prayers: green stands for Africa; blue for the vast Pacific region of Oceania; white for Europe; red for the Americas; and yellow for Asia.
Thanks to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton J.Sheen, God and Our Lady accepted my prayers. Andy is now a capable 20-year-old who loves to pray the Rosary.
With a heart of thanksgiving to God and Mary, and to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Andy, my husband and I were inspired to make a five-colour rosary bead set to support him in achieving his life goals: Andy wishes to go to America to visit the grave. of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and would also like to meet Ms Abby Johnson so that she can help Andy get involved in the program ''Protecting the lives of unborn babies''.
I hope everyone supports Andy's endeavour to spread hope and prayer around the world through Rosaries on Mission.