This article is adapted from a story in the May/June 2019 issue of the stewardship newsletter of the St. John Apostle and Evangelist Parish, Mililani, newsletter, written by Catholic Stewardship Consultants, Inc., and used with permission.
A relatively new lay ministry in town is giving three-day retreats for men and for women as opportunities to take a breather from life’s routines and distractions to spend time in the quiet company of God and one’s brothers and sisters in Christ.
ACTS (Adoration, Community, Theology and Service) Ministry retreats offer a variety of “spirit-lifting talks” and activities in an “environment of safe, honest and open discussion,” said Armando Lopez, ACTS Ministry facilitator, and parishioner at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Parish in Mililani.
The live-in retreats take place from Thursday evening through noon on Sunday at St. Anthony Retreat Center in the lush Kalihi Valley. The daily schedule includes talks by the retreat team, discussions by attendees, and activities that bring meaning to the Christian faith.
The details of the activities are not disclosed before the retreat, said Lopez, “because we have found that experiencing those events with no expectations or foreknowledge seems to have a more profound impact.”
“The things we experience at the retreat speak to us in very specific ways to help us see our inner issues, problems and concerns,” he said. “But at the same time, it helps us connect externally with other men or women who are going through the same process.”
The retreat “allows us to search and reveal what our faith means to us,” Lopez said. “It speaks to us personally in terms we understand.”
ACTS retreatant Paul McKay said the experience set him on a right road.
“I was spiritually wandering around before the retreat,” he said, “but after, the retreat helped me dial in my spiritual path and now I am going full throttle to achieve my spiritual goals,”
“When you surround yourself with people living Jesus’s commandment, ‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ you find it easy to do the same to others who are not,” he said. “The retreat helped me put the right people in my life to achieve this.”
ACTS began in 1987 in Texas and have since expanded to 27 states and five countries. In Hawaii, ACTS has given nine retreats since 2013, five for men and four for women.
Lopez has been with ACTS for four years.
“I believe I am a better man because of it,” he said. “Those who love and know me best will say that I am a different man. During that segment of my spiritual journey, I was introduced to the Holy Spirit and I believe he spoke to me in ways I could understand and internalize.”
“Through ACTS, I have also met men who have become my brothers,” he said. “These are men with whom I can share my concerns, and confidently and comfortably ask for help when I need it. In turn, I have made myself available to them when they are in need.”
Like Lopez, many who have made an ACTS retreat, continue with the ministry as part of the team that leads future retreats.
Participants get together monthly to share what’s going on in each other’s lives, and to pray for each other. The ministry also encourages its members to participate in outside spiritual events and service projects.
The next ACTS retreat, for men, Aug. 22-25, includes three nights lodging and all meals. A women’s retreat is in the planning stages.
For more information, contact Armando Lopez at 799-4740 or amlopez777@me.com.
