When businessman Tom Buckley signed up as an English tutor at a Vietnamese social service agency, he knew his father—a Vietnam veteran—would have approved. However, what he didn’t know was how that small sacrifice of time would eventually link him to a long legacy of service on the other side of the world.

During one of Tom’s tutoring sessions, a student reached out to him for help. The student described how her niece was a member of a devout order of nuns in Vietnam who diligently served the Lord by providing free services to those in need.

One of those services included a free medical clinic in Ho Chi Minh City, and the clinic was in dire need of medical equipment. The student asked Tom if there was any way he could help them.

“I immediately felt called to work with the nuns,” Tom said.

Soon after, Tom was able to connect with the nuns of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Working with the order’s division in New Orleans, Tom began to find ways to provide the Vietnamese clinic with the tools they needed to serve the poor. One of those ways was sending the nuns medical equipment that Tom was able to receive from International Aid.

“Whenever I need medical equipment, I turn to International Aid,” he said. “It’s outstanding equipment, and it really makes a difference in the lives of people.”

Between investing in structural changes and sending the nuns International Aid equipment, the free clinic began to take off. Tom said that the high quality of the clinic became apparent after a Vietnamese physician volunteered at the free clinic in Vietnam. When the physician arrived, he told the nuns he was jealous of the free clinic because they had the best equipment of all the clinics he had worked with.

“Because of International Aid’s equipment, the clinic is truly at another level,” he said.

Tom also began investing in other ministries at the convent. With his support, the nuns developed a vocational program that taught tribal people sewing, tailoring and other basic work skills that would enable those who had never worked before to receive jobs in factories. This program was also a massive success. All trainees received jobs in the city and were able to send money back to their villages in the Vietnam countryside. This greatly improved the quality of their families’ lives in the villages.

Even though Tom had been heavily involved with these projects, it wasn’t until after a few years of working with the nuns that he realized his work in Vietnam wasn’t the first time a Buckley family member supported an order of nuns in the region.

One day, Tom shared with his mother the details of the work he was involved with in Ho Chi Minh City. With a smile, she told him how much he was like his father. Ironically, as Tom’s father conducted his military service in Vietnam in the mid-60s he got connected with and was able to serve an order of nuns in Ho Chi Minh City who provided services to the poor.

“When my mother told me about the ministry, I though, ‘Dear gosh, I believe it’s the same order of nuns,’” Tom said. “I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I truly believe it’s the same group I’m working with.”

As the Lord continued to lead Tom, he began to expand his ministry and started providing equipment to missionaries in the Philippines and Mexico as well. He says those with a passion for ministry need to try “to do real, permanent good that has a lasting benefit.”

“When God gives you a job to do, do it to the best of your ability,” Tom said. “We live in a fallen world. As the body of Christ, we are here to do what He would do if He was here.”

Praise God for the work He is accomplishing through the nuns of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and through IA partner Tom Buckley!