Our everyday lives and stories are the canvas in which God uses to reveal, speak to us, shape us, grow us, and lead us.  

Some of the stories that shape my life: 

I am a ministry leader- I served 20 years in full-time ministry leadership with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Everything from student ministry, training staff, leading teams, overseas projects, discipleship, spiritual direction, and supervision. Leadership is hard. There is failure, immense responsibility, questions of calling, sacrifice, burn-out, rejection, dealing with organizational structure, and yet there is the exhilaration of partnering with God in bringing the Kingdom on earth in such tangible, powerful ways. 

​I am a woman of color - Over the years God has brought me to understand that my identity as a Chinese American woman is both beautiful: a reflection of God AND purposeful: has a role in bringing about the kingdom.  But it has been a tough journey to lead multi-ethnic communities, deal with racism and misunderstandings in the work environment, and yet hold onto the truth that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and empowered to lead.  I have come to know God much more intimately as a God of justice and as my greatest advocate. 

I am a mother to a child with special needs - My son Caleb was born with Down Syndrome and Autism. He is charming, funny, sweet, mischievous, stubborn and a total handful!  It has been a roller-coaster of a ride since his birth. There are feelings of grief of what he may never do or experience, a high learning curve of how to care for his needs, our own exhaustion from caring for him, and joy at the person that he is.  Caleb is a constant, flesh-and-blood reminder to me of what is truly important to God.  It is not our academic success, our intellectual aptitude, or our striving that defines our worth or our belovedness.  I know this is true when I look at my son.

I am an adoptive parent - My youngest daughter, Promise, is adopted from China. The privilege of being able to bring her home and call her my own is something that I cannot get over. She is beautiful and full of life and yet I always remember the advice we were given to remember: "When you adopt a child into your family you are not saving that child from a life of pain, you are inviting that pain into your own life." Navigating this life of adoption and walking with Promise through her pain is now part of my story. 

I believe God is constantly writing our story.  But we need to pay attention if we are to fully embrace it and we are not meant to attempt to live it out alone.  Through all of this fodder I have had spiritual direction and coaching to help me become the cross-cultural leader, parent and person that God is calling me to be. 
Ellen Lo Hoffman
Spiritual Director + Coach

Spiritual direction and coaching changed me

  • Gave me hope and allowed me to see the bigger picture.
  • Allowed me to pay attention to all the ways God was present, loving and leading me.  
  • Empowered me to make goals and take concrete next steps so that I could fully embrace what God was trying to do in my life.​

What's your story?

It changed my life to have people come along side me and help me move forward and it is why I am passionate about helping others in this way.  It would be my privilege to hear your story and walk alongside you through spiritual direction or coaching: 
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  • I have 23 years of ministry leadership experience leading, supervising, and providing spiritual direction for BIPOC across the country. 
  • I am a certified trainer in the Enneagram by Dr Jerome Wagner of The Enneagram Spectrum and often use this as a framework for all the work I do to facilitate deep and lasting transformation.
  • I am a Certified Growth Coach through both Life Forming Leadership and the Christian Coaching School.
  • I am certified by the Cultural Intelligence Center to train and assess you and your team in order to grow your cultural intelligence leadership.
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​What I love

Besides my passion for helping people grow,  I am passionate about following Jesus, racial justice, good dumplings, and science-fiction.  
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Soul Reparations: A new endeavor

Together, my husband Phil and I have started a non-profit called Soul Reparations. Our mission is to provide free spiritual direction to Women of Color as reparations for the soul. Find out more here: SOUL REPARATIONS

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Find out how spiritual direction or coaching could help you in this season of your life.