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Strong marriages,steady families.

The Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to support and further the mission of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Program established by the Jesuit priest founder, Fr. Chu Quang Minh, 40 years ago.

Marriage and Family Enrichment gatherings

40 years
of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Program
Established by Fr. Chu Quang Minh, per the Foundation
Weekly
Sunday Gospel reflections, free to anyone
Heart on Fire, published every week
12.1K
subscribers to the Heart on Fire channel
YouTube, as of 2026-09-18
501(c)(3)
gifts to the Foundation are tax-deductible
IRS status, per the Foundation

About us

Why the Foundation exists

The Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to enriching communities by providing families and couples with the tools, education, and support systems needed to build healthy, lifelong relationships.

It is not counseling. We offer a retreat program for married couples, followed by monthly and quarterly meetings that strengthen their ongoing relationships centered on the Holy Family.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) that supports and furthers the mission of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Program, established by the Jesuit priest Fr. Chu Quang Minh forty years ago as a movement for couples in the Vietnamese Catholic community. Wayne Lee founded the Foundation to carry that conviction into the families around him.

The meetings are mainly in Vietnamese today. The program has been translated into English, and the Foundation raises funds to carry it to the next generation, in English. Each meeting runs three to four hours and includes a Cana dinner, for networking and bonding.

Our mission

We believe that strong families are the foundation of thriving communities. Through education, resources, and community support, we empower couples and families to navigate life's challenges with resilience, love, and purpose.

Our vision

A world where every family has access to the knowledge, tools, and community they need to flourish — regardless of background, circumstance, or stage of life.

Our core values

  • Faith Love and commitment are sacred gifts, and they are worth the work of nurturing.
  • Community Building bridges between families so that nobody walks the journey alone.
  • Education Equipping families with practical tools and evidence-based resources.
  • Hope Inspiring transformation and renewal in every relationship we touch.

Serving San Diego, across San Diego County.

Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation Interview. #Heart on Fire by Wayne Lee

Providing an overview of the foundation, with service offerings for youth, young adults, and married couples through faith formation retreats and workshops, along with the Marriage and Family Enrichment Program for married couples, with the overall mission to strengthen marriage and family toward God, family, and country.

4 min

Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation Interview Part 2. #Heart on Fire by Wayne Lee

The Foundation's mission and vision, including its service offerings.

5 min

Heart on Fire

Heart on Fire, Wayne Lee's channel

Wayne Lee unpacks his memoir, Gift of Faith, and the conversion behind it. The videos support the Foundation's fundraising. Free to watch, no sign-up.

Witness to Divine Mercy. Unseal Confessions like releasing Epstein files. #Heart on Fire

Profound conversion testimony from 18 years ago to shed light on the moral crisis, especially regarding sins of the flesh.

812,329 views as of 2026-09-17 · 17 min

Latest on the channel

Tax Collectors and Prostitutes Entering the Kingdom of God. Sunday Gospel Reflection

September 27, 2026

Ecstasy Experience. An Illumination of Conscience

I am launching a campaign to promote the sanctity of life and the sacredness of marriage, which are currently being attacked in all facets of our society- schools, corporate and government agencies, the military, and, sadly, our Church- with the removal of our beloved Bishop Strickland, who is a champion for traditional marriage and family values.

23,018 views as of 2026-09-17 · 17 min

Theology of the Body. Schooled by our Mother of God

Conversion testimony. The Theology of the Body by Pope Saint John Paul II offers a solution to today's moral crisis and strengthens marriage and family as the bedrock of society.

19,941 views as of 2026-09-17 · 16 min

My Last Encounter with Our Lady of Lourdes 18 Years Ago. Validating Her Immaculate Conception

God promised to save humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve, with the Virgin Mary crushing the head of the serpent in the Book of Genesis, witnessed by my nine-year-old son 18 years ago at Apparition Hill, to free me from the bondage of sexual sins and save my marriage, with my last encounter with her revealing herself to me as our Lady of Lourdes. Ave Maria!

8,617 views as of 2026-09-17 · 5 min

All reflections on YouTube

Elsewhere

Where this story has been told

Other people's shows and channels. The links go to their sites, not ours.

  • Adrian Milag TVHe SAW the BLESSED MOTHER — and his LIFE CHANGED FOREVER!

    1:45:27 · May 2025

    A testimony interview about the escape from Vietnam, the Navy, Medjugorje, and the marriage and family work that followed.

    Watch the interview →

    What Adrian Milag TV says about it

    In this life-changing episode of Istoryang Katoliko, I sit down with Bro. Wayne Lee—a former U.S. Navy commander, high school teacher, and Catholic convert—who shares the miraculous and supernatural journey that brought him back to the Catholic faith. Once a boat refugee from Vietnam who fell into a life of promiscuity and was on the brink of divorce, Bro. Wayne’s life was radically transformed during a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. There, he experienced an apparition of the Blessed Mother, received what he calls an illumination of conscience, and witnessed Eucharistic signs that confirmed God’s mercy and love. His 9-year-old son also saw Jesus on the Cross, bleeding and smiling—a vision that changed their entire family forever.

    Adrian Milag TV
  • Voice Of ReasonTestimony Tuesday: Wayne Lee

    September 2026

    Wayne's conversion testimony in a conversation with Catholic apologist Alex Jurado.

  • Close Up RadioClose Up Radio Spotlights Navy Combat Veteran, Author, and Teacher Wayne H. Lee of Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation

    33:30 · March 2026 · Sponsored appearance

    An interview with Doug Llewelyn about the Foundation, the Navy years, and the memoir.

    Listen to the episode →Read the press release →

    What Close Up Radio says about it

    Wayne H. Lee is a retired Navy combat veteran, educator, author, and founder of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation. A survivor of communist Vietnam, Lee draws from his harrowing journey as a refugee and decades of military service to inspire and educate families and young adults

    Close Up Radio

Recently

From our gatherings

Photographs from the Foundation's own rooms. This is what turning up actually looks like.

Members of the Marriage and Family Enrichment community in ao dai and leis posing in front of 2023 Lunar New Year decorations
Lunar New Year, 2023The community in ao dai and leis under the lanterns.
A round table of women with name tags writing notes on printed handouts
Pens outA full table working through the handouts, name tags on.
Members standing and talking between the round tables of a large hall
Up from the tablesMembers on their feet and talking across the hall.
Two women with name tags in conversation at a table with a microphone
One conversation at a timeTwo members talking it through at their table.

Calendar

What's coming up

Where and when we meet. Two dates are still being set.

  • Couples meeting
  • Youth faith formation

Regular

  • Every SunYouth Group ministry with Gospel and Homily ReflectionEvery Sunday, until May 23, 2027Sunday Religious Education10:30 am to 12:45 pmHoly Spirit ChurchNext: Sunday, October 4Sunday, October 11Sunday, October 18Sunday, October 25Sunday, November 1Sunday, November 8Sunday, November 15Sunday, November 22Sunday, November 29Sunday, December 6Sunday, December 13Sunday, December 20Sunday, December 27Sunday, January 3Sunday, January 10Sunday, January 17Sunday, January 24Sunday, January 31Sunday, February 7Sunday, February 14Sunday, February 21Sunday, February 28Sunday, March 7Sunday, March 14Sunday, March 21Sunday, March 28Sunday, April 4Sunday, April 11Sunday, April 18Sunday, April 25Sunday, May 2Sunday, May 9Sunday, May 16Sunday, May 23
  • 3rd SunMonthly Meeting for Married CouplesThe third Sunday of every monthRegular monthly meetings for married couples to gather to reflect and share as a part of the Marriage and Family Enrichment Program.1:30 pm to 4:30 pmHoly Spirit Church RectoryNext: Sunday, October 18Sunday, November 15Sunday, December 20Sunday, January 17Sunday, February 21Sunday, March 21Sunday, April 18Sunday, May 16Sunday, June 20Sunday, July 18Sunday, August 15Sunday, September 19Sunday, October 17Sunday, November 21
September 2026
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September 2026

  • Sun Sep 20Sunday Gospel reflection for youth group faith formationYouth faith formation, followed by a Sunday Gospel and homily reflection by Wayne Lee. It is shared with the Heart on Fire community.10:30 am – 12:45 pmHoly Spirit Church
  • Sun Sep 20Couples meeting, with guided Gospel reading and reflectionA workshop for couples to strengthen communication, deepen connection and build strong bonds.1:30 pm – 4:30 pmHoly Spirit Church Rectory
Past eventsMost recent: Sunday, September 20
  • Sun Sep 20Sunday Gospel reflection for youth group faith formationYouth faith formation, followed by a Sunday Gospel and homily reflection by Wayne Lee. It is shared with the Heart on Fire community.10:30 am – 12:45 pmHoly Spirit Church
  • Sun Sep 20Couples meeting, with guided Gospel reading and reflectionA workshop for couples to strengthen communication, deepen connection and build strong bonds.1:30 pm – 4:30 pmHoly Spirit Church Rectory

    Dates still being set

    Date to be confirmed

    Quarterly couples meeting, with scripture sharing and reflection

    Families from across the community meet for an afternoon of faith, fellowship and reflection.

    Date to be confirmed

    Journey of Faith testimony night

    Community members tell their own stories of what faith changed in their families.

    Families of the Marriage and Family Enrichment community gathered together for a group photograph
    Nobody learns to stay married alone.
    The Marriage and Family Enrichment community
    Cover of Gift of Faith: A Foretaste of Heaven, the memoir by Wayne Lee
    Gift of Faith: A Foretaste of Heaven, by Wayne H. Lee

    Journey of Faith

    Where the work comes from

    Forty years ago a Jesuit priest, Fr. Chu Quang Minh, began a program for married couples in the Vietnamese Catholic community. The Foundation exists to support and further that mission.

    Wayne H. Lee came to it by his own road: out of Vietnam at fourteen by fishing boat, rescued at sea by a U.S. Navy submarine, thirty years an officer in that same Navy, then a conversion he has spent the years since explaining. He tells all of it in his memoir.

    Governance

    Who is behind it

    A refugee who became a Navy officer, a linguistics professor of eighteen years, a parish faith-formation director, and the founder of a consulting firm.

    Wayne H. Lee, President

    Wayne H. Lee

    President

    Read bio

    Featured in the Wall Street Journal as a distinguished leader. At fourteen he escaped communist Vietnam by fishing boat and was rescued at sea by a U.S. Navy submarine. He went on to a mechanical engineering degree, more than thirty years as a U.S. Navy officer, and deployments supporting operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa. He is the author of Gift of Faith: A Foretaste of Heaven, a memoir of the journey from refugee to Navy officer, educator, and nonprofit founder, written so faith-lapsed Catholics might find their way back. A high school teacher, catechist, and Naval War College graduate, he has taught college and high school engineering, information technology, and business for over a decade, and is pursuing a doctorate in business administration and information technology.

    Marilyn Frater, Vice President

    Marilyn Frater

    Vice President

    Read bio

    A linguistics professor in Russian and French at San Diego State University for over eighteen years. A devout Catholic with a zeal for teaching young adults the skills to become successful members of society. Adopted as an orphan, she believes in the Foundation's mission from lived experience, and serves to strengthen marriage and family as the bedrock of society.

    Lee Do

    Treasury

    Read bio

    Director of Vietnamese bilingual education and faith formation for children and youth ministry at Holy Spirit Catholic Church for over six years, and a dedicated leader committed to the Foundation's mission of enriching families and communities.

    Anatalia Macik, Secretary

    Anatalia Macik

    Secretary

    Read bio

    An award-winning content leader with a twenty-year record in writing and editing, fifteen years in business development, and a decade in management. Named to DCA Live's Power Women of GovCon 2024, a Marketing 2.0 Outstanding Leader in 2024, and a Technology Rising Star by STEM Women of Color in 2022. As founder and CEO of Kanda Consulting she handles document preparation across environmental engineering, international development, and IT, and has built business development pipelines and gate review processes for commercial clients and U.S. federal civilian agencies.

    Accountability

    Who you would be giving to

    The details a stranger needs to check us out, in one place.

    Legal name
    Marriage and Family Enrichment Foundation
    Status
    501(c)(3) nonprofit, per the Foundation
    Answerable
    A board of 4: Wayne H. Lee, Marilyn Frater, Lee Do, Anatalia Macik
    Reach a human
    wayne@mafefoundation.org

    Journey of Faith

    Share your Journey of Faith

    Has a reflection, a meeting, or a conversation here made a difference in your family? We would be grateful to hear it, and honoured to share it.

    Share your story