Nhu Tam says spending an hour each morning with Buddha teaches her determination.
There are signs that Tam and many other Vietnamese Buddhists in Boise have reaped a reward from determination.After a year of holding services in a cramped, rented space, they have purchased a house and transformed the living room into a permanent temple.
The temple, called Linh Thuu Thien Tu, will be dedicated Sunday, Buddha's birthday. It is the only Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Idaho and one of 10 in the Northwest.
The group follows traditional Buddhist beliefs, including med-i-ta-tion.
There are different sects in Buddhism, including Zen, which is widely practiced by Japanese and Americans. But the major difference between Buddhist temples is often driven by language and country.
The differences mean some Boiseans travel to the temple in Ontario, Ore., because the service there is in English.
"The temple is a place for people to pour out how they feel," Tam said. "We dedicate this for everyone, not only just the Vietnamese people."
She serves at the temple with no pay; her food is often donated. Tam worships in the temple twice each day and tends to the offerings that must be given.
Tam, 36, has studied the lessons of Buddhism since she left her family and moved into a temple in Saigon at age 7.
An estimated 1,000 Vietnamese live in Boise. Many are refugees who left the country after it fell to the Communists. Most do not come to the temple, which draws only about 60 people each week.
But believers hope the temple will become more than a place to worship. They want the temple to be known as a community house where Vietnamese can meet and learn about each other.
Tam said, "We now have a legitimate place for our Vietnamese to come."