COLORADO SPRINGS. The ushers wore yellow safety vests. The pews had bucket seats and license plates. Above the altar was a tent; behind it was Pikes Peak. The homily could be heard at 88.9 FM on the radio dial.

COLORADO SPRINGS. About one of every 500 people in El Paso County claims to be of Vietnamese heritage, according to the Census Bureau. That amounts to fewer than 1,400 people, and for the Catholics among them who want to celebrate Mass in their native language, they have one parish in Colorado Springs from which to choose: Vietnamese Holy Martyrs.

It was natural, then, that Salesian Sister Phuong Nguyen, born in Vietnam, educated since childhood in the United States and a newcomer to Colorado Springs, eventually would settle into a pew at Vietnamese Holy Martyrs.