Stories of Impact
Every step along a path of transformation is a story worth telling. We tell stories to one another to make sense of our lives. Stories bond us in joy, in healing, and in seeking to find God in all things. This page is dedicated to sharing the stories of those impacted by ISC. Do you have a story to share?
Escaping War, Finding Peace
Summer Ignatian Retreat 2024 scholarship recipient and healthcare professional Tu-Ha Nguyen has come a long way.
Tu-Ha was born in Saigon in March of 1971, when the Vietnam war was raging. But her family had a more immediate problem. While her mother Lan was only seven months pregnant with Tu-Ha, she was fetching eggs for breakfast from the rooftop of the family home when she stumbled and fell down a flight of stairs. She was rushed to the hospital.
Tu-Ha’s mother was immediately induced. When the doctors asked her if she wanted to spare her life or that of her baby daughter, she said, “I’ve lived a challenging but good life. Please save my baby.”
But even that outcome was not assured. Due to Tu-Ha’s premature arrival, her lungs were not developed. Nevertheless, Tu-Ha and her mother both survived the difficult birth, only to be thrust back into war. Lan was a homemaker and Tu-Ha’s father was a jet fighter pilot working with the US Air Force and Southern Republic of Vietnam. Tu-Ha was the youngest of five children
“The silence brought me a sense of peace that I had not known before”
In April, 1975, Tu-Ha’s family of seven managed to escape Saigon one day before it fell to Communist Forces. Thousands of miles and dozens of refugee camps later, the family ended up in Redmond, Washington. A local church sponsored the family and helped them get back on their feet.
Tu-Ha graduated from Seattle University in 1998, with a promise to her Jesuit teachers, Fr. Roger Gillis, SJ, Fr. Joseph McGowan, SJ, and Fr. Pat Howell, SJ that she would work her way back to becoming “Catholic again,” after she had been baptized as a baby in Vietnam.
She started the RCIA program (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) at St Joseph Parish in Seattle. While in RCIA, Tu-Ha cared for her brother as he succumbed to kidney and heart disease, the same illnesses that had claimed the lives of her parents and nine other family members. Tu-Ha completed RCIA, and on Easter 2024 celebrated becoming “Catholic again.”
As for her time at ISC’s Summer Ignatian Retreat, Tu-Ha said, “The silence brought me a sense of peace that I had not known before.” She was inspired by the shared life experiences of the speakers, as well as their “words of triumph over struggles.” Tu-Ha appreciated that the retreat also brought her a sense of justice for all that her family had to leave behind when they fled Vietnam so many years ago, and the massive loss of life the war had caused.
Tu-Ha resides with her husband Tony and their canine “son,” Cinnamon in the Seattle area.
WHEN “EVERY DAY” BECOMES THE BEST PART
In February 2024, The Ignatian Spirituality Center invited St. Therese Catholic Academy principal Malcolm Nelson to join a three-person team, leading parishioners through the nine days of the Novena of Grace at St. Ignatius Chapel on the Seattle University campus. He had been developing his gifts as a public orator, and it seemed like a good fit. So what was his initial reaction?
“Scared,” said Malcolm. Not only was he busy running a PreK-8 school, his speaking experience was limited and he had never even “been to church that many days in a row,” as he put it.
“At first, there was a daunting feeling of like, oh snap. This is every single day. And we've got all these parts—stand here, turn there, gesture, kneel. I was just trying to absorb it all.” Malcolm wanted to get the procedural elements right, but he also wanted to provide something worthwhile.
By all accounts, participants responded enthusiastically to Malcolm’s presence and the powerful words he shared throughout the nine days. But Malcolm not only settled in after the first day or two, he also had a personal response to the Novena.
“Every day became the best part,” said Malcolm. “It was really powerful for my own spiritual exercise—that time to reset each day. And if you hang out with people long enough, you begin to miss them. I couldn't wait to get back to the team each day.”
Malcolm pointed to the seeing the strengthening and growth of the community as his favorite takeaway from the Novena. He looks forward to inviting members of his teaching staff to the Novena next year.
GROW AND GLOW: WOMEN COMPANIONS OF COLOR
With pandemic-era roots and sponsorship by the Ignatian Spirituality Center, a small but mighty group, Women Companions of Color, has discerned and developed a Spirit-led ministry model of shared leadership and spiritual companioning that seeks to be compassionate witness and welcome to nontraditional voices and cultures, and to facilitate community building experiences for all. I am humbled by the gentleness of our processes we have grown over time, the recognition and honor given to our respective and collective gifts, and the impact our work has on the
community as we step into providing retreat leadership and host other sessions that foster safe harbors for creative engagement and personal reflection, as well as small and large group sharing.
I am grateful for Carla Orlando’s earliest vision and invitation to each of six of us to expand what it means to provide spiritual companionship beyond the educational rigor of spiritual direction with an aim to model Spirit-led leadership in its purest sense to all in witness and service. Women Companions of Color are a particular mirror to that end that together identify and grow our natural gifts while responding to the needs of the community. We are flexible in who, how, and where we serve and look forward to journeying with the ISC to both grow and glow our ministry of presence. Reception to our offerings thus far has been a thirsty welcome with invitations to do more. At a steady, considered pace, we are indeed growing our ministry.
Cézanne Hardy is a certified Spiritual Director, Advance Practice Board Certified Chaplain, visual artist, educator, and member of St Therese Parish and Shades of Praise Choir. Expressive arts, trauma-informed care, and transformational healing guide her work to inspire mind, body, soul, and spirit integration.
ROOTS AND WINGS
Roots…
A devout Catholic mother and my piano playing skills led to my first ministry as a teenage church organist in Montego Bay, then folk Mass at college in Miami. As a young adult, I drifted from religion until a friend asked about Catholicism. I devoured books by Jesuit writers and found community in a multicultural parish where attending young adult retreats and leading children’s liturgies rekindled my spirit.
Wings…
To Seattle and St. Therese where soulful preaching and spirited gospel music said, “Welcome!” The choir led to marriage and children, then a new call to serve as Lay Presider; what a privilege to nurture gifts of listening, discernment, and hospitality in this ministry. I yearned for more time to discover and recover God in all things, but as a busy working mother, was limited to a presentation here, a day of reflection there, then ISC-sponsored (silent) retreats, the Examen, and Jesuit prayer apps.
Some months into the pandemic, I finally accepted Carla’s gentle, insistent invitation to consider spiritual companionship with other women of color. Our monthly learning sessions enrich and encourage, opening my heart to receive and offer, question and listen, observe and support. The highlight so far: co-facilitating an Advent retreat with whole-body prayer, and reflection on the Visitation story and our own of pregnancy and parenting. On that snowy morning, we embraced each other as the sun warmed our faces and hearts. And as we journey into this new year, I am filled with hope for the precious encounters in spiritual companionship that lie ahead.
Sharon Spence-Wilcox (she/her) Black, Caribbean immigrant, woman | cradle Catholic | (grand)daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother, godparent, aunt, friend | lifelong learner, librarian, educator, flawed/faithful lay minister | lover of sun, sea, sand | seeker of peace, love, joy | motto: Humankind, be both.
GROWING AND HEALING WITH ISC
Serving as a presenter at the Novena of Grace: Healing Our Hearts for a Mission of Mercy in 2021 was a blessing for me. Those nine days of inspiring music, reflecting on God’s word, and community was contemplative prayer at its best, a much-needed balm in a world of isolation during the pandemic. This is just one example of how ISC has helped me grow and been a place of healing.
For the past 20 years, ISC programs and workshops have helped me see God in all things and been a pathway to a place of deeper understanding. As a member of the Board, I appreciate the planned intentionality of retreats and programs that grow spirituality and practice, especially in community with others. I appreciate that ISC has a long-standing history of spiritual practice, contemplative prayer, and spiritual direction. The staff work tirelessly and are passionate about guiding others.
As we celebrate the ISC’s 30th anniversary, I believe Ignatian spirituality crosses all cultural boundaries and is a function of daily life. The ISC understands the changing landscape of the Church and the world and seeks to invite all people, including more young people, people of color, and multifaith participants and partners in this work. I hope to be a part of this transformational change that empowers future leaders.
Barbara Henderson is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington. Barbara is a member of the Black Catholic Advisory Circle and a parishioner at St. Leo Catholic Church. She is a member of the ISC Board. She attended Seattle University and received her Masters in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College.
FROM RETREATANT TO RETREAT LEADER
When my family first moved to Seattle in 2017, I couldn’t believe my luck that the Ignatian Spirituality Center was right in my backyard. I was fairly new to Ignatian spirituality and so hungry to learn more. I jumped right in, attending several retreats, including the annual one at Palisades Retreat Center, which was a beautiful time of getting in touch with my own sense of purpose in the midst of parenting two small children.
I loved getting to be part of an ISC book club and attending a contemplative parenting retreat with my husband.
As Covid hit, I continued to enjoy ISC programs via Zoom, often from my closet, the only truly quiet place in our house! As my vocation as a writer and retreat leader developed, I was honored to be able to contribute to the Ignatian Family Handbook and lead a parenting retreat myself. It was a delight to work on both of those projects with Maria Ochoa Vazquez.
As my work continues to grow, I’m so grateful to have the ISC as a guiding presence in my life, always bringing me back to the fundamentals of finding God in all things and listening to the call of the Divine through my own desires.
After completing her PhD in Russian literature, Cameron Bellm traded the academic life for the contemplative life. Her poems, prayers, and prose can be found at the intersection of mysticism and activism, linking our modern lives with our ancient faith. Cameron’s work has been featured in America Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, Jesuit Media Lab, and Catholic Women Preach.
FROM THE PRAGMATIC TO THE POETIC
Jonathan Went came to the Ignatian Spirituality Center for Seek and Find spiritual direction services last spring, looking for guidance while in the middle of a big decision. The Dartmoor School teacher was considering undertaking a PhD program in English and wanted to know whether God was truly calling him to it. According to Jonathan, ISC’s Carla Orlando provided him with a perfect match for spiritual direction.
“I started crying during our first initial interview,” Jonathan recalled. “What started as a discernment process about his schooling, soon went to a very different place. It became apparent that I was really set on finding the holiness of God and my own relationship to his presence. There was this deepening movement within my soul.”
Raised Catholic, Jonathan experienced stages of atheism and rebellion,explored Protestantism, and had more recently been drawn back to his Catholic heritage. He described it as coming full circle.
As a result of the spiritual direction, Jonathan found his practice of writing poetry had become something more.Instead of pursuing the PhD, Jonathan started writing a daily haiku, a chance to practice “presence” in nature,finding glimpses of the divine. “It shifted from me just using art as a practice to this deeper knowing and longing that I had in my soul. That was surprising, because here I was being very pragmatic—should I go for a doctoral program—and then there’s this deeper undercurrent of being struck by the holiness of God and who I’m called to be.
SPIRIT OF DISCERNMENT AT ST. LEO PARISH
Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? Last spring, the St. Leo Faith Formation Commission sought to add adult formation content to the calendar. The volunteer committee was unsure what to offer and how to present without a dedicated staff person to plan. Then we heard that the Ignatian Spirituality Center was looking for a place to offer Ignatian Discernment: An Unfolding Story of Love series presented by Marilyn Nash in the South Sound. We had our answer!
With Marilyn’s creative approach, participants explored ways to listen to the spirit in their lives. Through prayer, reflection, and conversations, all were able to consider everyday life examples of inviting God into decisions, large and small. As a Jesuit parish, learning the practices of St. Ignatius in more depth was helpful in matching intuitive senses to actual practices.
What wasn’t on the syllabus was the sense of community the parish was thirsty for after the long stretch of Covid. The parish had fallen out of practice of gathering kindred spirits. The 30-plus participants of primarily St. Leo parishioners enjoyed the social aspects of gathering, including food, milestones, travels, and personal challenges. Person-to-person contact only enhanced the experience offered by the ISC.
Mary Gorman is a member of St. Leo’s Parish in Tacoma, Washington and serves on the Faith Formation Commission. She is also the Lead Spiritual Director for Puget Sound SEEL – Tacoma/online community. And she is a big fan of collaboration!
COMPANIONSHIP AND THE LOVE OF GOD
As the youngest in a brood of eight, I was always accompanied by someone from my family, whether I was going to school, going to church, or attending social events. As I got older, I found myself being a companion to my family, friends, and sometimes strangers who became my friends.
These days, living in a world amidst COVID-19, I find myself, increasingly, accompanying people: being a companion to someone who was recently diagnosed with cancer; being present to another who is suffering from mental illness; accompanying an elder on her last few hours in this world; being there to celebrate 100 years of being alive.
As a healthcare professional, I find it humbling to walk with patients as they navigate the world of healthcare. In my mind, I think about being of help or giving some sort of assistance to them. At the end of the day as I reflect, I find myself at the receiving end of these patients’ generosity and wisdom.
Most recently I joined a community of women of color, co-led by Carla Orlando and Cezanne Hardy. We started this journey of becoming companions to people of color. This experience has been truly enlightening and uplifting. What a gift to walk with each other as we grow to be able to accompany others on their journeys.
There is a great need for companionship these days. And it is truly humbling for me to be able to be that for another human being – to be a companion. Whether it is only for a few precious moments or for a longer term, being a companion to another human being is such a gift. And in my heart, I have come to know that surely this is made possible with the love of God.
Mercy Lazo is an Ilokana mom who moved to this country about 30 years ago. At present, she is a healthcare worker in supportive housing. She considers St. Therese Church her spiritual home.
CLA ALUM REFLECTION
My time in CLA 3 (Contemplative Leaders in Action training program) proved pivotal in my walk of life. When I started the program, it was in the fall of 2014. I was in a place in my life where I felt stuck. I was working a couple of part-time jobs that weren’t fulfilling for me and wasn’t doing any theatre at that time. In my final year in the CLA program, my mentor, Ariel Rosemond, encouraged me to follow my passion to be a performer in musical theater, even if it meant losing a day job. It was his support, along with others at CLA, that
allowed me to continue to live a life of purpose, filled with passion and reflection, while also pursuing my love for the arts.
I recently met with Ariel back in December for an Advent CLA gathering, and he reminded me of the impact I have on other people, including him and his family. It is these affirmations that continue to remind me of having a purpose in life while being open to what God has planned for me. CLA continues to be a group of support I can count on to this day.
DuWayne Andrews, Jr. is a Seattle native and CLA 3 alum. He graduated from Seattle University, majoring in both Political Science and Humanities. After graduation, he became the Youth Choir Director at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Seattle. He has developed a career as a performer in both musical theater and opera. Since 2018, he has been a member of the Seattle Opera Chorus, appearing in nine Seattle Opera productions.
AN UNEXPECTED TRANSFORMATION
When travel agency manager Rufo Calvo was invited by his partner Curtis to join him for ISC’s three-day Summer Ignatian Retreat, Calvo was leery. “I was a little concerned,“ he said.
“As a gay couple, would we be accepted? That was the big thing.” But it wasn’t the only thing. While his partner Curtis had made many Ignatian retreats over the years, Calvo’s own experience with the Spiritual Exercises was more limited.
Arriving to the United States from Guam in the late 1960s, Calvo learned about prayer by watching his mother, who prayed to God and the Blessed Mother in hymns, songs and formal prayers like the Rosary. He had never considered that prayer could be conversational, one person talking to God as with a friend.
A self-described “chatterbox,” Rufo wasn’t sure about the silent aspects of the retreat, or surviving long stretches without his phone. Nevertheless, he decided he would go, even if he felt that real spiritual formation might be unlikely. “Going into that retreat I felt like the oddball. I don’t have this kind of relationship with Jesus.” But that’s exactly the kind of relationship he found.
At the retreat, Rufo’s spiritual advisor suggested that Rufo could with Jesus as a friend. “That resonated big time,” said Rufo.
This invitation to an unexpected friendship with Jesus has broadened Rufo’s understanding of prayer. “It’s a work in progress,” Rufo said. “It’s casual. I feel like I can talk to him if I need to.”
“I look forward to learning more, and getting a closer relationship with him. But I’ve
liked the casualness of it. My mom taught us that you have to be very serious when you pray, very focused. I feel like, with Jesus, he understands if I’m not 100% focused, he gets it, you know.”
Rufo is looking forward to more opportunities to expand and deepen his spiritual formation in the coming year, both at ISC and at his local parish, where he recently joined the choir.