“When we really want to live a life of prayer and seriously ask ourselves what the prayer of our heart may be, we will also be able to express the type of guidance we need and find that someone is waiting to be asked. Often we will discover that those whom we ask for help will indeed receive the gift to help us and grow with us toward prayer.The openness and the honest seeking of the directee are of primary importance to both individuals in a spiritual direction relationship. It is also the search and openness of the directee that calls forth and creates the power and gifts of the director.” —Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out
We know how important yet arduous the search for the right spiritual companion for our journeys can be. We have a community of qualified directors we can potentially pair you with, and our goal is to grow this community of spiritual directors as the Holy Spirit brings them to our awareness.
If you happen to not have any direct access to a spiritual director in your area and are seeking one who can do direction via email, phone, Facetime, FB Messenger Audio/Video or Zoom, feel free to fill out our intake form below. We will get back to you within a few days, after discerning whether there may be a good match for you. Should you have further questions or need for clarification, you may contact us through our contact page. Thank you
- Read the above FAQ thoroughly to make sure you understand and agree with the arrangements.
- Review our list of Recommended Spiritual Directors and choose one who seems suitable for you. We may be able to suggest a good match for you based on the data you provide us and our knowledge of the unique qualities and expertise of our recommended spiritual directors, but we would ultimately defer to your choice, especially if you feel strongly about it.
- Complete and submit the Spiritual Direction Intake Form.
- We will initiate contact with you after receiving your completed form and give you specific instructions on how to proceed.
Gerard Booy, D.D.
I am originally from South Africa but has lived in Delta, near the Vancouver area, British Columbia for more than twenty years now. As an ordained pastor with a doctorate in Old Testament studies, I have served in a variety of church contexts since 1990. I have received a certificate in Spiritual Transformation through The Transforming Center based in the Chicago area after completing a two-year experience of spiritual formation in community. Trained under CenterQuest School of Spiritual Direction (CQ SSD Cohort 3), I currently serve as one of its mentors. Regularly, I offer individual and group spiritual direction, retreat facilitation, and guided contemplative worship experiences.
Criselda Castillo, M.A.
I belong to the Order of Virgins, which dedicates its life to the sanctification of the Church and the salvation of souls. My relationship with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit has brought out my passion for spirituality, leading me to the ministry of accompaniment, which I express in spiritual direction, supervision of spiritual directors, retreat giving, mentoring, facilitating prayer workshops, and human formation sessions at various seminaries, and mentoring at CenterQuest Asia School of Spiritual Direction.
Schooled at the Loyola School of Theology for my MA in pastoral Ministry and Theological Studies, Center for Ignatian Spirituality for Spirituality and Retreat Directing, Ignatius Centre, Guelph, Canada, and CenterQuest School of Spiritual Direction for further studies and enrichment on Spiritual direction, and Fordham University for supervision of spiritual directors, I continue to sense the Spirit leading, inspiring, encouraging, and empowering me to accompany others in their search for deeper meaning in life. It is my joy to be part of this community who want to care for souls for God's greater glory.
Maria Chan, D.Min.
Upon marrying my Chinese-Malaysian husband, I emigrated from England to Kuala Lumpur where I was introduced to spiritual direction. We, and our three children, then emigrated to Toronto, Canada where I answered God’s call to Tyndale Seminary in 2008 to train as a spiritual director. I have since conducted an Ignatian Retreat in Daily Life (RDL) at my home church in Kuala Lumpur and oversaw the first RDL for Tyndale seminary staff and students. My Doctor of Ministry from Tyndale University focused on spiritual formation, which underscored my belovedness in Christ and forms the bedrock of how I engage in ministry. My practice of spiritual direction is trinitarian-based with a contemplative-evocative stance that enables attention to God’s work in the directee’s life and exploration of how the directee is experiencing and responding to God’s love. I have served as a supervisor since 2011, providing encouragement, professional development and ministry care for spiritual directors. I co-lead the Spiritual Directors Learning Community where in my capacity as supervisor, I encourage directors to integrate theory and practice through triad work, that in turn augments their own practice. It is a joy to be part of this graced community offering spiritual direction.
Roberta (Robbi) Chiang
I am a Canadian expat currently residing in Texas, US. My husband and I met in Toronto, started our married life in Dallas, and then headed for Hong Kong, where we resided for 25 years, serving three different mission organizations, and traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia. After our kids headed to other countries for post-secondary education, I felt a calling into spiritual direction formation. I landed in the Fairfield University 4-year program in spiritual direction and have since been engaged in the practice for 8 years now. My ‘style’ of direction integrates Ignatian spirituality with contemplative practices. The directees I meet with are mostly in some form of Christian leadership, but on the other hand, and in my service as a volunteer case worker at my local mission, I meet ‘the least,’–the homeless, the immigrant, the addict and the felon. What I hope I bring to all of it–enriched by my time as an immigrant (and still an immigrant)–is an awareness of ‘the other.’ My passion is tending to the soul, which transcends all geographical boundaries, all skin color, all names and all faith practices.
Cynthia (Cynch) Concepcion-Baga, M.S.
I graduated with an AB in Psychology and a Master of Science in Social Psychology (majoring in Community Psychology) at Ateneo de Manila University. With 33 years of ministry experience in human formation for diocesan seminarians, clergy, and religious men and women plus rich exposure and training in the ministry of spiritual direction through the 40-day Spiritual Exercises Experience at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, Emmaus Center (Philippines) and at Mercy Center, Burlingame, Northern California, I co-founded G.A.M.O.T. Resources (Growth Alternatives for Managing Ongoing Transformation) in 1993 with a community of friends dedicated to facilitating personal and communal transformation through bio-psycho-social-spiritual programs. The year 2010 proved to be a profound affirmation of my ministry calling when Pope Benedict XVI bestowed the papal award Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice on me. Offering spiritual direction face-to-face or online is a sacred privilege I humbly embrace with delightful gratitude.
Grace Kim, M.A.
My husband, Chong, and I have served as members of a Protestant missionary order for over 30 years. In the midst of our missionary service, we experienced a thirst and desperation for a deeper spiritual reality, which led us to the contemplative spiritual path. This led me to spiritual direction, and I received my training to become a spiritual director at CenterQuest School of Spiritual Direction (Cohort 3). I was born in Korea and immigrated to the US in elementary school. Having lived as a bicultural in the US has given me a particular life story and experiences that help me to sit with directees in Asian cultural contexts. I have served as spiritual-director-in-residence at William Carey International University and am currently serving participants in 2nd Half Collaborative, a training for seasoned field missionaries who are seeking second half of life flourishing through growing the inner life. In addition to individual spiritual direction, I offer group spiritual direction, using the model I learned at CenterQuest. It has been my joy and privilege to prayerfully companion those who are seeking a deeper life with God.
Nina Lau-Branson, M.B.A.
I received my training in spiritual direction with CenterQuest’s School of Spiritual Direction (SSD) as part of its inaugural cohort. The majority of the people I companion in spiritual direction are Asian and Asian-American whose ancestors lived across various countries across Asia. I have a particular interest in contextualizing spiritual practices and direction for cultural communities outside of the European heritage and believe my story especially equips me to do that in the Asian context. I am the first US-born child of Chinese immigrants who fled a country that was in chaos. During the past 20 years I have pursued a particular passion for communion with God which has led me more deeply into my Chinese story. Aside from directing the Mentoring Community and co-facilitating the Prayerful Discernment 1 course for the SSD, I also lead groups in spiritual practices and discernment. These groups are with churches, denominations and at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.
Lance Ng, M.A.
I have been a spiritual director in the Ignatian tradition for nearly a decade (based in Singapore), devoting my energies chiefly in the area of Spiritual Direction and Retreat giving (8 and 30-Day/Week retreats), and Spiritual Formation. Specifically, my focus in the area of formation is in accompanying people through the process of human growth and transformation via circles of listening, discernment and leadership within the context of group facilitation. While I have received my formal training and formation at the Sentir Graduate College of Spiritual Formation (now known as the Jesuit College of Spirituality), University of Divinity (Melbourne, Australia) with a Graduate Diploma in Theology and a M.A. in Spiritual Direction, my human formation and call began years ago when facing up to grief I was awakened to begin listening and seeing life beyond the lenses of the ego-self. It has since been my mission to continue this journey of awakening, becoming “woke,” as I accompany others on their journey of awareness, integration and wholeness.
Hellen Pratama, M.Th.
After I have served as a full-time minister in a Presbyterian Church in Indonesia for over 32 years and amidst the dynamics of playing many roles as an edifier evangelist, counselor, trainer, speaker who traveled a lot to minister to the Body of Christ, both in communal and one-on-one settings, I felt drained inside and hungered for a more profound experience with God. Growing up in a Reformed faith tradition have shaped me to become a serious learner of the Bible and deep thinker, but I had sensed something was missing in me that I could not put my finger to. In some mysterious providence, God led my life to intersect with Center Quest, and since then, my journey with Spiritual Direction began. I became the first Indonesian participant at the Center Quest School of Spiritual Direction (Cohort 4). My dream is to bring the ministry of spiritual direction (both individual and group setting) close to every genuine seeker in Indonesia. I yearn deeply to minister to my own people whose culture and history I share.
Daisy Santos, M.A.
Listening is one of my passions in life. In the ministry of spiritual direction, listening is the gift of the spiritual director to his/her directees. In the many years of receiving spiritual direction from compassionate and contemplative spiritual directors, I felt the call to be one myself. I received my first training from Emmaus Center and Center for Ignatian Spirituality in the Philippines two decades ago. Since then, I got involved in spiritual direction and retreat giving in different formats. I also availed of the 40-day Spiritual Exercises Experience at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Canada and Pauline Charism and Spirituality course in Rome, Italy. Throughout the years I have been privileged to accompany a lot lay, religious and clergy in spiritual direction and Ignatian retreats in 3, 5, 8, 30 day-retreats and Retreat in Daily Life (RDL) format, both 18th and 19th Annotations. Along with my master’s degree in Religious Studies, my ecumenical experience has broadened and deepened considerably with my recent participation in the School of Spiritual Direction of Centerquest – an ecumenical hub for the study and practice of Christian spirituality.
Anthony Siow
I am a Spiritual Director from Singapore trained in the Ignatian tradition at the Sentir Graduate College of Spiritual Formation (now the Jesuit College of Spirituality) in Australia. Like Peter, I left behind a fulfilling advertising career to follow God’s call to cast the net elsewhere. So I channel my creativity and love for the arts into my ministry, where my work as Spiritual and Retreat Director helps Christians find God in music, dance, drama, film and the non-traditional areas of encountering God. In this way, I reclaim those so-called secular spaces back for God, who can be found in all things. Although Catholic by affiliation, my ecumenical vision for my ministry has attracted both Catholics and Protestants to its programs, where they share space and sacred story as one community. This extends to my work as a spiritual mentor and adjunct lecturer at the Biblical Graduate School of Theology in Singapore, where I also lead a spiritual formation retreat as part of an executive certificate course for leaders. As a spiritual director, I feel privileged to witness the transformative work of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.
Katherine Tam
I was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when I was 16. I currently live in Vancouver, British Columbia where there is a large Asian population. After making my own Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life, the Jesuit priest who directed my retreat invited me to take the training to direct the 19th Annotation Retreat under Fr. Elton Fernandes, SJ. Aside from receiving a certificate in Spirituality from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, I also completed a 4-year certificate program at Fairfield University in Spiritual Direction Formation. Currently I serve as a spiritual director at the Jesuit Spirituality Apostolate of Vancouver, directing people through the Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life as well as offering 8-day retreats virtually. In addition, I co-facilitate bereavement support groups at my parish, and offer training workshops on grief and loss at our local hospice.
Sharon Wada, M.A.
I have been passionate about spiritual formation ministry ever since my graduate days at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I’ve completed a master’s degree in Cross Cultural Studies. My special interests include multi-ethnic issues and leadership development in church and non-profit ministries and Ignatian spirituality. With a history of Vineyard pastoral ministry, I currently serve as co-director of Sustainable Faith – a non-profit dedicated to the well-being and spiritual formation of leaders. I have ongoing experience in the formation of new spiritual directors and particularly enjoy offering supervision. My spiritual direction training was through the Mercy Center in Burlingame, USA and my supervision training through Together in the Mystery program.