APPENDIX I- THE CHALLENGE AND THE HOPE

Some of the groups use the following as a litany to open each meeting.

THE CHALLENGE

Our lives are filled with so many challenges, struggles and hurts. They make it hard to be the free people God longs for us to be. What makes it even harder is that we are isolated we feel disconnected from others and find it hard to trust each other.

THE HOPE

We believe that new ways are possible. We know that when people come together, new things can happen. One amazing example is Alcoholics Anonymous, which 70 years ago no one knew about. Now the 12 step program is practiced around the world and has saved millions of lives. This gives us hope. Maybe there can be a group that meets for support and prayer that can help all of us deal with what life brings our way, a group that helps us all to grow more free to become the people God wants us to be. Maybe this can save our lives.

Our desire is to be a group that claims our birthright as children of God. We will take into our hearts a deeper understanding that each of our lives is a blessing needed by the community and the world.

OUR HIGHER POWER IS JESUS CHRIST

Jesus loves all people. He challenged the oppressive systems of his time. Our desire is to follow his way of love in our time, in our lives. Our world says that we are not supposed to care about and love people who are different from us. Our world tells us not to be friends with or to love people of different races and backgrounds. Our world says our worth is measured by what we own, how much money we have, who our friends are and what we look like. We believe these worldly assumptions are lies, and we desire to break down these walls of hatred, mistrust and isolation, and to become the free people God created us to be.

AN AFFIRMATION or BELONGING

Having been called out of the world’s systems into God’s system:

• we recognize the injustice of the world’s systems; we recognize our addiction to these systems
• we recognize our helplessness to break our addiction and to heal ourselves
• we cry out for a Saviour and a community of support
• we commit ourselves to becoming recovering cultural addicts
• we will give pioneering servant leadership in every dimension of Christ’s call on our lives.