Phương Lâm · half past four in the morning
It is not quite light yet.Please, come in.
Half past four · my usual roadside café
Hello, and may your day be peaceful.
I am Bảo Ngọc, from Phương Lâm in southern Vietnam. I work as a software engineer, and in my spare time I write books. Only a few, but I have been lucky that many people read them and hold them dear.
I love learning about history and faith, and I graduated from Yale University's course in Theology and the history of the Catholic Church. This page is my small notebook. Feel free to look around.
The piano corner at my home · Phương Lâm, Diocese of Xuân Lộc
A few words about me
I have not done anything grand. Only a few small things I care about, made and remade until they feel good enough to give to others: a book that retells the last three years of Jesus' life in plain words, an app that helps anyone know the saint whose name they carry, and a few lines of code typed late at night.
I love to write, and I laugh easily. My family is neither rich nor poor, which is enough to live gently and still have time for the things I love.
When I was young, many people took the time to teach me. So what I hope for most is to sit down one day and teach the young people back home, slowly, the way others were once patient with me.
Small things
A coffee before dawn, a red-earth road, lunch with my family, sandals left on the church steps. Nothing special, yet I would miss every one of them.
My work
Each one began with a small question from someone around me. Some are finished, some are still in progress. All of them are free, so please use them as you like.
On the App StorePatron Saints · iPhone app, Android coming soon
Every saint's name we carry once belonged to a real person who lived, who was weak, and who chose to walk toward the light. The app tells the lives of 139 saints in words and paintings, with prayers, and reminds you of your loved ones' feast days.
On the App Store and Google PlayThe Way to Calvary · the full audiobook of Ecce Homo
Not everyone has time to sit with a 550-page book. So I made this app, reading the whole of Ecce Homo aloud, so you can hear the story of Jesus' last three years while driving, cooking, or resting.
In progressPray for One Another · iPhone app
When a family is grieving or someone is ill, they can write a few lines asking others to pray, and pray for others in return. No ads, no donations, only requests and candles lit for one another.
The Gospel had grown distant,
not because of what it says,
but because of how it was told.Ecce Homo brings the Gospel back into everyday life,
in the plain words of today,
the way a father tells his child, the way a friend tells a friend.
Published book
An epic of the last three years of Jesus of Nazareth
Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House · 550 full-color pages · hardcover, 14.5 × 20.5 cm
The Gospel had grown distant,
not because of what it says,
but because of how it was told.Ecce Homo brings the Gospel back into everyday life,
in the plain words of today,
the way a father tells his child, the way a friend tells a friend.
The book is officially licensed and published nationwide, and can be found in major bookstores across Vietnam. If you pass by one, I hope you will turn a few pages.
If you are too busy to read, you can listen to the whole book in the app Hành Trình Canvê.
“The computer helps me make a thing; faith reminds me why it is worth making.”
What I hope to do
These are still only hopes. I want to start with what is within my reach: teaching programming online for free, and, when I can, holding a few classes for the young people in my hometown.
The first · written late at night
Explaining slowly, building real things, and fixing ordinary mistakes together, for anyone who wants to learn but has no one to ask.
Still a dream
The second · written after evening Mass
A few sessions for the young people of the Phương Lâm deanery: sharing what I know about programming, then talking together about faith.
Still a dream
I don't know how far this will go. For now, I only hope to begin well, and walk with them one step at a time.
Five in the afternoon
Sunlight slants through the coconut palms; evening settles slowly over the fields.
Coming home from Mass, the last light fades and kitchen smoke rises over the tiled roofs.
One by one the village lights come on. Back home, this is the hour when people call each other home.
Music
I love music. At home I pick up the guitar; at church I accompany the singing on the piano; and now and then I play for a little music café, just for joy.
I mostly play for myself, nothing fancy, but each time my heart feels a little lighter.
Letters
Ask me about my books, my apps, music, or a good thing we might do together for others. I love to write, so long letters are welcome; I read every one. What I know, I am glad to share; what I don't, we can learn together.
I usually reply within a day or two. If I am a little slow, thank you for your patience.
