On July 28, 2025, at 7:00 a.m., the doors of the parish church in Turku open for morning Mass. Gradually, a small group of Vietnamese parishioners enters. Lien and her husband, who run a cleaning company called Reipas Siivous Oy, have invited some of their employees and other volunteers to join them this morning.
There are fourteen Vietnamese and me. After Mass we have a quick cup of coffee, and then Lien starts organizing the work. We lift the benches and move the loose furniture aside. We wash the windows, walls, radiators, wooden grates, and pews. We remove the old wax from the floors and thoroughly clean both the church and the parish hall floors. With a special machine we even manage to clean the carpet around the altar, though it is so worn that it really should be replaced soon.
The work proceeds quickly and cheerfully. At 10:30 we take a short lunch break, and Father Kazimierz Lewandowski SCJ blesses the food and all of us. At 11:00 we continue. Around noon many have to leave for their workplaces, but gradually the work is completed. At 2:30 p.m. only three of us remain. Spreading the new wax is quiet and precise work.
After 3:00 p.m., Lien and her husband leave to clean their clients’ premises. If the parish had had to pay for this work, the cost would have been about 4,000 euros plus VAT.
Florence Schmitt
Turku