Celebrate Recovery International

Celebrate Recovery Canada 2011

2012-01-17T16:43:00.003-05:00

We had an amazing conference in Guelph, Ontario, Canada this past Oct. Lakeside Church hosted this event with excellence as always. There were almost 600 people present for this One Day training. Many CR groups have been started as a result. Grateful for everyone that participated.

At this event we also had the first Canadian National Rep retreat, with all the regional reps from all across Canada. The team had a time of prayer, sharing refreshment and planning for the future. The Canadian team is doing an outstanding job building the Kingdom across Canada.

Celebrate Recovery Taiwan 2011

2012-01-17T16:32:00.004-05:00

In September we were invited to Bancaio, Taiwan the 3rd CR Conference. There was a small team of 4 people that went from Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV. We were blessed to have an audience of a couple hundred people from different congregations all eager to learn about Celebrate Recovery. Our host church had previously started CR prior to our arrival and had the foundation from which we worked. They realized that without the proper training CR was not all it could be at there church. Below is an email I recently received from Pastor Samuel Chang the Senior Pastor of Banciao Gospel Lutheran Church.

The good news is we just had the CR anniversary this past weekend, and over 200 people came, with much great food, worship, testimony, and many changed lives~God has truly done miracles among us!!

We are so grateful we had the time with Pastor Samuel, his wife Gloria, their family and our new CR family in Taiwan. We look forward to returning next year.

CR Norway Expanding

2011-06-09T17:35:00.010-04:00

Our team is just returning from a fantastic conference and team building week in Iveland Norway. CR leader and Norway director Karl Inge Thomassen and his team have been hard at work coordinating a 2-day conference and finalizing the CR materials in Norwegian. Karl has been growing relationships with other churches all around the west, east and south parts of the country and sharing his experience, strength and hope in getting their own programs ready. Our team saw first-hand to see how amazingly ready the Iveland team is in helping spread the good news of recovery throughout the nation. The Iveland team taught almost every session at the conference which included hosting their regular Friday night meeting to demonstrate how a CR program works. By them taking the helm and doing this showed how mature the team has grown as CR leaders and it demonstrated how the international model for CR is one that works. There were 40 other participants in attendance from 7 other churches.

Our team consisted of Dave and Cathy Dent from Union Bridge, Maryland, Tony and Val Turner from Derby, England and Bobby and Dot Arnold from Wimberely, Texas.

With the materials now ready to go to print, it is exciting to see the next phase of this ministry begin to unfold. A few of the churches in attendance were already well into their kickoff strategies and are about to launch. We look forward to meeting up with the team at the annual CR summit and August and continuing our working together in this amazing journey.

Great job Iveland CR team!

Celebrate Recovery Conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador establishes a firm foundation

2011-05-23T11:01:00.009-04:00

A 2-man team from Union Bridge, Maryland traveled to Ecuador on May 10th and spent several day's connecting with a local Celebrate Recovery group to aid in training its ministry team. The team was CR International Trainer Dave Dent and a Maryland CR Team Member Brian Hoff.

We were invited to come and review what the Iglesia Bautista Israel Church http://www.iglesiabautistaisrael.com/ had been doing the last 2 years with the curriculum and to make suggestions on how the church might improve its ministry and to work closer with the Celebrate Recovery International movement as a whole. The local church has invested in the curriculum and without any formal training had set off and launched the program. Our first night there, we were invited to sit in on two of the six small groups that the church had operating. It was a great encouragement to see the groups working diligently through the participants guides and to see such large numbers of men and women involved in the program. We spend most of our second day meeting with the local team, led by Julio Bermeo and answering many questions about how to use the materials. We also met that day with their senior pastor Parrish Jacome who shared his passion and vision for taking the gospel throughout Latin America and to include in that, the ministry of Celebrate Recovery. On Thursday, we conducted a seminar all day, with 40 participants from several churches from the area of Guayaquil and also from Quito. Most of the participants of the conference had been using the Celebrate Recovery materials, but had never acquired any training. It was a week of establishing some great relationships and connections with churches who share our vision and we trust that this will open the door for more training and networking in Ecuador and other nations in Central and South America. Several team members are expected to be at this years annual CR Summit at Saddleback Church where we are sure to continue to connect, encourage and see great changes ahead for Ecuador and beyond.

Latvia Set to Launch Celebrate Recovery

2010-09-20T12:49:00.001-04:00

Katie Roth, BBI Missionary to Latvia wrote:
As a missionary working in fairly ‘non-traditional’ Latvian Baptist churches, I have felt much frustration over our inability to reach out effectively with the hope of true freedom. The desire is there, the belief in Christ’s saving power is there, the need is everywhere, but we have experienced so much failure! For many years I felt utterly impotent in this area. Then there are other, more traditional, churches which honestly believe that they don’t have a problem! “We don’t have any of ‘those sort’ of people in our church!” People have to get their act cleaned up before they join the church or else claim instantaneous deliverance upon receiving Christ.

But that is all about to change! This fall ‘True Freedom’ is coming to Latvia! ‘True Freedom’ is the Latvian name for the Celebrate Recovery program that started at Saddleback Church in California nineteen years ago. At the recent Celebrate Recovery International Summit we heard how Christ is bringing freedom all over the world to people struggling with all kinds of hurts, habits and hang-ups. There were CR leaders there from Haiti, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, England, Norway, African countries and every state of America.

Life's Healing Choice Conference in Middle East

2010-09-06T13:18:00.004-04:00

Rodney Holmstrom led a team from Fellowship Northwest in Springdale, Arkansas to Syria. God showed he could really use a group of thieves, liars, sex addicts, alcoholics, drug addicts, grief stricken, codependent, sexually & physically abused dysfunctional people to bring Good News, hope and the message of healing to a completely different Nation? Well….as crazy as it sounds, apparently YES!

There ended up being two different conferences going on simultaneously with 11 countries, 4 different languages and around 150-200 people in attendance between the youth and the adults.

The team was initially scheduled to lead the youth thru the conference in a local church but the pastor feared that if he hosted the conference that it would make some serious problems for him. So, God in His great sense of humor, with several of the team being recovering alcoholics, had the conference meet in a bar, yes a bar. A local bar owner graciously allowed the use of the space. It was closed due to the Ramadan. During this time Muslims don’t eat or drink anything. Pretty ironic isn’t it?! J

As the team kicked off the conference, they heard the same words as other countries, “our people are different, no one in our country opens up and shares” etc, etc. During the conference the two groups representing their two countries would not even interact, let alone sit next to one another due to ongoing bitterness that had occurred sometime back.

The next morning right after worship, one of the leaders said he wanted to share something. It is customary for a man to stand and represent his country and apologize on behalf of his country. So one of the leaders asked if anyone from the other country would like to stand and say anything in apology. Three more men stood and asked for forgiveness to the other country for what had taken place. Then, unbelievably, the other country had four people stand and do the same thing in return.

Someone asked the translator if this was a normal thing and he said “I have never seen anything like this before in my life” Unbelievable! How powerful our God is! And that was then followed with the most open and transparent discussion you could imagine. The flood gates opened!

The door was opened to coming back and doing a CR conference and equip our friends on the how to do it now. They now know “what” recovery is thru Life’s Healing Choices translated into Arabic and now they need the “how” to do recovery. More specifically, they want to learn how to get CR going in the different churches and communities and countries.

Welcome Puerto Rico to the Celebrate Recovery Family

2010-09-01T22:43:00.006-04:00

A team of 10 from Bell Shoals Baptist Church of Brandon, FL traveled to Puerto Rico recently to train churches in Puerto Rico on the 7 Keys of Celebrate Recovery. The conference had over 125 in attendance, representing 7 churches in Puerto Rico. The host church was Restauracion en Cristo, located in Bayamon and has had a Celebrate Recovery up and running for the last 2 and half years. Pastor Jose Alvarez had attended the Celebrate Recovery Summit in 2007. After attending the Summit, his Senior Pastor took the entire church through the “Road to Recovery” series before launching CR. It is the desire of Restauracion en Cristo to have Celebrate Recovery spread across the island nation.

They have a good start with the conference and now they have had 2 separate churches that attended the conference start coming to their Friday night CR at Restauracion en Cristo to learn and begin a CR at their local churches.

Celebrate Recovery is up and running in Puerto Rico and beginning to spread! The team from Bell Shoals has already outlined plans to go back to Puerto Rico and work with Restauracion en Cristo and other churches to saturate and spread Celebrate Recovery across Puerto Rico partnering our brethren to the south.

Celebrate Recovery Continues to Grow in Kenya

2010-08-30T16:14:00.003-04:00

From Jana O'Guin of Saddleback Church. Friday, in spite of it being declared a national holiday for the signing of the new constitution and the pouring rain, pastors and prison chaplains came to the CR follow up meeting. Senior pastors came from Eldoret and another brought 2 associate pastors and they all rode their bicycles 20k to be there. Did I mention it was raining?

After presenting an overview of CR we had a lot of great discussion about how to get CR started. They were very excited about how it can bring healing to their congregations but a little overwhelmed with how to get it going. We brainstormed different ways of starting poly, poly (slowly). They had lots of great, thoughtful questions about how to make it work culturally. Many shared how CR has impacted their own lives. Overall it was a very encouraging meeting, both for us and for them. For more updates click the link above or CR Africa

Celebrate Recovery starts in Nigeria

2010-08-25T21:59:00.005-04:00

Let us thank God and celebrate with Rhema Chapel International churches Ikeja! With leadership from Debola Oni and her Celebrate Recovery Team and excellent Senior Pastor support from her husband, Rhema Chapel, Ikeja now offers Celebrate Recovery meetings.

After following the 90 day kick-off plan (and continued leadership training), the group began meeting with 39 people at the first meeting. They will continue meeting every other Saturday and offer women's open share groups for Chemical Dependency, anger and other life issues. The next meeting is scheduled for Aug 28th.

Please join us in praying for God's healing work in this church and in the lives of those who lead and participate in this CR group in Ikeja.

CR Shown to Tens of Thousands in Indonesia

2010-02-09T12:02:00.002-05:00

Over the last 2 weeks of January Vivienne and I were invited to visit Indonesia to let senior pastors of churches know about Celebrate Recovery.

On Sunday Jan 24 the opportunity was given for the largest church in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city (4.5 Million people) to hear about Celebrate Recovery as Keith was invited to preach at each of 4 services. In total something over 50,000 people heard the good news that CR is coming to Indonesia.

In the following days senior pastors from several other churches also gave us the opportunity to talk with them about Celebrate Recovery and a local radio station gave us and hour of talk back radio to let many know about God's plan for their lives free from their Hurts, Hang ups and Habits.

We plan to be back in Surabaya in April with other leaders to conduct several one day seminars,with several hundred churches expected to attend and have also been invited to large churches on 2 other islands to conduct seminars and preach in services.

Later in the year we will also conduct one day seminars in Jakarta Indonesia's Capital where we expect many more groups to get started there.
It's exciting to see how God is moving in His way through CR.

By Keith Lehmann Celebrate Recovery Australia

Celebrate Recovery Mission Trip to Kenya, Feb 2010

2010-02-07T13:59:00.002-05:00

Our team (left to right) is Joann Willems, Richard Bojorquez, John Brennan, Jana and Michael O’Guin. Our team leader, Jana, will depart on February 16. The rest of the team departs February 26 and the entire team will return home on March 15.

Our team of Celebrate Recovery leaders from Saddleback Church & Emmanuel Church will train and equip leaders from across the Rift Valley in Kenya to start CR programs in their respective churches and prisons while we visit and encourage those that have existing programs.

Iceland CR Team Visits the US

2009-07-05T20:51:00.006-04:00

It's really inspiring when an Celebrate Recovery team from another country comes and visit the US for encouragement! For the past year a team from Iceland has been working on implementing a Celebrate Recovery in their church. After attending a conference in 2008 in Atlanta, this team returned home and began praying about bringing the ministry to their country. After much prayer and planning, the team started their program in January of 2009. The team has not only taken on a new recovery ministry, but has also been working on translating the CR materials into Icelandic. The team has spent time over several months emailing the CR International Team for prayer, encouragement and for help as they prepared to kickoff. In June, the team from Iceland travelled to the US, arriving in New York and travelled down the east-coast. The team stopped in Maryland and spent time visiting with a CR team there. The CR team from Maryland was encouraged by the testimony of one of the leaders of their CR team and it was great to build relationships that will last a lifetime.

Norway and Finland Host 1st Celebrate Recovery Conferences

2009-05-12T06:20:00.009-04:00

The first ever Celebrate Recovery conferences in Norway and in Finland were recently held.

On May 1st and 2nd, a team from the US and the UK travelled to Kristiansand, Norway where they conducted a 'live' CR meeting on Friday and an all day conference on Saturday. The team demonstrated what a Large group and what Open Share groups look like to a crowd of about 50 and then taught the basic instructions on how to begin and grow your CR. In Norway, there is an existing CR group which has been operating now for just under 2 years. This team has travelled to the annual CR Summit over the past few years as well as attended a CR conference in the UK and in Ireland in preparating for their launch. This same team is spearheading the initiative to translate the materials into Norwegian and are just a few months away from completing that exhaustive effort. The contact for this team is Karl Inge Thomassen karlit@c-r.no.

On May 4th, the team travelled to Helsinki, Finland where they conducted 2 different conferences. The first training took place on May 6th in Tampere, Finland at the home office of Operation Mobilization (http://www.fin.om.org/). Here the team spent all day sharing the details of what CR is and how to start the ministry. On Friday May 8th and on Saturday May 9th, the team repeated the same meeting demonstration and training that was conducted in Norway. A local church in Finland is currently taking a group of potential leaders through the Kickoff Strategy and working through the Participants Guides in preparation for a fall 09' kickoff. Since this church will be using the english version of the materials, no work is currently being done on translating into Finnish.

Celebrate Recovery Festival in Tokyo, Japan 2009

2009-03-20T09:32:00.009-04:00

Today was day one of the CR Festa (Festival) in Tokyo www.celebraterecovery.jp. A CR Mission team from Central Christian in Las Vegas are here to share what God has done in our lives through CR. It was so great to hear the testimonies of those that have been through CR here in Japan.

Tonight, we went to the Large Group that was done in Japanese and a couple from our team shared their testimony. It was great! One of the highlights was hearing the 12 Steps and Biblical Comparisons read in Japanese and the Serenity Prayer at the end.

Celebrate Recovery Philippines Summit 2009

2009-03-19T08:40:00.002-04:00

What an amazing two days in Manila!!! We had over 200 people come to the 2009 CR Summit in the Philippines. It was awesome to work together with the Philippines National TEAM and our team from Central Christian. This year we spent the first day going through the 8 Principles and Open Share Groups. It was great to see so many people with changed helping others begin the journey of recovery. The second day was split into three different tracks for churches interested in starting CR, those that have established ministries, and those wanting to start Life Hurts God Heals for students. It was great to see God move in so many different ways and help people go to the next level in their recovery and ministry. God is definitely expanding CR in the Philippines and lives are changing!!!

Celebrate Recovery Continues to Grow in the Philippines

2009-03-11T20:42:00.004-04:00

A team from Celebrate Recovery at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas just arrived in the Philippines for the 2009 Summit here in South Metro Manila. Last year we had over 400 people in attendance and saw the growth of previous years of training. The ongoing ministries continue to grow and get stronger. Since last year, a National TEAM has been formed and are providing leadership to the ongoing work being done here. We look forward to what God will do over the next few days. The conference will be held at GCF South Metro on March 13th and 14th. From here we will leave for Japan for a two day conference there on March 21st and 22nd.

Conferences set for Norway and Finland

2009-03-05T07:26:00.011-05:00

A small team from the US (Dave Dent) and UK (Tony and Val Turner) will be heading to Norway and Finland in early May, 2009. The journey will begin in Norway on May 1st with a Friday night meeting followed by an all day Saturday conference covering a wide-variety of topics and testimonies to help kickoff ministries in this nation. Karl Inge Thomassen and his team from Norway have been busy translating the materials and using them in their local CR group. Karl and his team have made several visits to the Celebrate Recovery Summit in CA and have attended other conference in the UK over the past years in preparation for leading the way for their country. The US/UK team will depart Norway on May 4th and head to Finland where they will repeat the same agenda in efforts to assist a local church and others to get Celebrate Recovery successfully off the ground. Mary Serna Ramos from the Celebrate Recovery group at Radiant Life Church in Sacramento, CA recently moved to Finland and is coordinating the conference. Our team is praying that these two countries will be encouraged and effectively trained to help their countries establish healthy and growing Celebrate Recovery ministries for years to come. We are so grateful to have individuals like Karl and Mary who are committed and dedicated to the ministry and for their efforts in coordinating these ground breaking events.

Celebrate Recovery Launches in El Salvador

2008-12-14T21:28:00.002-05:00

Valley Baptist in Bakerfield, CA is on the frontlines of launching CR in El Salvador. The original plan was for Debbie and Jim D'Amato to go to the El Salvador church and teach the Advanced Leadership Training to the selected El Salvador TEAM and volunteers (15).

Their CR TEAM decided that it would be better for the El Salvador Ministry leader to come to Bakersfield and see every aspect of there CR program. We felt that it would be much easier to understand CR when they actually see it in operation. They scheduled his trip so that Fredy Benavides (CR Ministry Leader) would see every aspect of their CR program:

Monthly TEAM Leaders meeting
Monthly leader / volunteer meeting
Actual Open Share Group leader training
Step-Study Group
Large Group (Friday Night)

Fredy stated that being able to see all the aspects of CR helped him get a better understanding of the CR process. He stated that it also cleared up some confusion he had in just reading the material. He also got to be an active part in every aspect of the CR program.

Another unique piece was that they introduced Fredy at the Large Group Friday night meeting and prayed for his upcoming launch and the success of CR in El Salvador. They also prayed, each week together, prior to his launch and in fact, are continuing to pray for their ministry at every large group meeting. They get and give reports to the large group as we get them. It is awesome to see our CR playing an active part in another CR thousands of miles away.

El Salvador Status:
El Salvador launched 12/7/2008 and had (45) in attendance with (14) attending groups – (9) woman and (5) men. Fredy said that it went off without any problems and that it was a result of actually seeing CR work in a live setting.

Support Strategy:
I currently stay in contact with Fredy via email on a weekly status. In the next month we will be connecting our TEAM Leaders with their TEAM leaders for additional support. Their TEAM also utilizes the CR website for additional support and new ideas. Their church has over (700) members and Fredy feels that their CR will grow each week. Debbie and Jim are also looking at traveling to El Salvador some time in early 2009. The plans are to hold additional training using the CR Advanced Leader’s Training curriculum.

All in all they are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Fredy, his church and their TEAM. It is truly a blessing to also see our CR group getting involved. We will give updates as we get them.

CELEBRATE RECOVERY COMES TO CENTRAL ASIA

2008-12-05T16:01:00.001-05:00

I will be heading to Almaty, Kazakhstan with a team for the 1st Celebrate Recovery training conference in Central Asia. Pastors and key lay leaders from all over Kazakhstan and the other Central Asian countries are invited to come and learn how to provide Christ-centered, church-based recovery for alcoholics, drug addicts, and persons with other addictive behaviors. Conference materials will be provided in English, Russian, and Kazakh. Training materials will also be made available for conference participants to take back to their home churches to start this wonderful ministry to persons in their communities suffering from addictive disorders.

Attached is a brochure (in Russian) that gives dates (January 16-18th), location (102a Utegen Batyra, Almaty, 050062, Kazakhstan), and contact information if you are interested in coming to the conference. Meals, materials, and lodging will be provided for a minimum fee. Please join us for this first ever Celebrate Recovery Training Conference. The training will be provided in English with Russian translation. For additional information, contact the Center of Hope in Almaty, Kazakhstan (7-7272-754-523; 7-7272-754-533; e-mail: HOPE@pactec.kz).

Bob Wood, Pastor
International Director
Celebrate Recovery

Celebrate Recovery in Taiwan

2008-11-10T23:35:00.002-05:00

In September we were invited to Taipei, Taiwan for 4 days for training. There was a small team of 4 people that went from Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV. We were blessed to have an audience of 350 people from 63 different congregations all eager to learn about Celebrate Recovery. Our host church had previously started CR prior to our arrival and had the foundation from which we worked. They realized that without the proper training CR was not all it could be at there church. Below is an email I recently received from Pastor Samuel Chang the Senior Pastor of Taiwan Banciao Lutheran Church.

I can't wait to share with you the CR meetings (large group and open share groups) held in our church in the past four weeks. After the conference you had in Taiwan with us, we eagerly started to prepare for the whole new CR in October. Beside the time (we use Sunday afternoon 3:30-6:30), we follow all your model and materials.

1. For four consecutive Sunday afternoons, there are 100-120 people attended the large group and open share groups. There are 7 open share groups; everyone is sincere and willing to share.
2. After the open share groups. 50-70 people joined the fellowship in our Church Cafe. People enjoyed the time with each other. Thank you very much for your advice on this.

3. Every month, the T&E meetings are going well. All the group leaders as well as co-leaders joined; we dine, share, and learn together.

4. LHGH also begun in October. 5-10 students between the age 13-15 came.

5. We will start 7 12-step groups in November.

Moreover, in the meeting with denomination leaders and church leaders, everyone appreciated the ministry which you're doing. I believe that by Sept. 2009, there will be some recovery in the church in Taiwan. I really want to thank you one more time for the effort you put in for the Lord's ministry as well as the recovery of all the people in Taiwan.

We are so grateful we had the time with Pastor Samuel, his wife Gloria, their family and our new CR family in Taiwan. We look forward to returning next year.

Celebrate Recovery is alive in Europe

2008-11-07T08:48:00.012-05:00

Our journey began in the Netherlands, where we were greeted by two very energetic vision casters of the ministry of CR (Eugene Poppe and Jan Baan). These two men have been paving the way for recovery there. They have worked diligently at preparing the materials in Dutch and have worked closely with 2 local churches to pilot the program. The conference we facilitated went very well - with close to 60 participants from a variety of denominations and areas from the Netherlands. Our team spent a full day explaining the details behind the 7 Keys to a successful recovery ministry and sharing our stories of personal experiences. Currently there are (2) two very strong CR groups running in the country and through their experiences, their abilities to reachout and teach other churches, we trust that others will consider taking this ministry back and beginning their own programs. We believe many seeds of encouragement were laid - and now we pray and wait. Recovery takes time!

Our second stop was in Bremen, Germany. We spent the first day there sharing with participants from all over the country about the principles of CR. This conference was structured a bit different, which proved very beneficial, because it allowed for a lot more discussion and questions. The hosting church is the only church we are aware of running CR and they are modelling it very well. The progam has taken on a slightly different name; 'Liben Finden', which means 'Finding Life'. We are grateful to the leaders in this church (Andreas Schroder and Doris Wolfer) for their steadfast commitment to bring the ministry to their church and community. The PD contact's there (Kai Scheunemann, Lothar Bublitz) have been a great resource for spreading the news of this ministry throughout the country. Their efforts have really set the course for new groups to springboard out of this conference.

We want to thank Tony and Val Turner (CR Director for UK) for making this journey with us. Their passion for the ministry was felt in each country and their location will be a great asset as new groups consider starting in the upcoming months ahead. Thanks for taking your precious time to travel abroad!

We also want to thank Gesa George from the CR team at Saddleback. You're excitement was contagious. Your testimony and your life as a citizen of Germany was amazingly welcomed! I think your connection to the people there made a huge difference! Thanks for making the trek out there and for your vulnerability. God has great plans for you!

Celebrate Recovery in The Netherlands & Germany

2008-11-02T11:43:00.005-05:00

Dave Dent, one of our International Trainers, just completed 2 conferences in Europe. One in the Netherlands and the other in Germany. There was a good turnout at both locations….around 70+-….which is really good. The Team did a great job, and learned a whole lot about what’s been developing there in that part of Europe. There was a good response from pastors and leaders in the 2 countries – in the Netherlands, the participants were taking in all of the information very optimistically and in Germany there was a great deal of enthusiasm. The Purpose Driven Coordinators that we worked with are great and are very excited about Celebrate Recovery…fully supporting it and leading the way. We will have more details to follow.

Poland Launches Celebrate Recovery

2008-08-29T18:12:00.002-04:00

I have one word for the International Missions trip to introduce Poland to Celebrate Recovery, Wow!

Our names are Ken and Tanya Orihood, we are grateful believers and we no longer struggle with not going on a Celebrate Recovery Missions trip! We went on our first and definitely not our last (Lord Willing) CR Missions trip. We didn’t really know what to expect never going before, and we were so blessed to have the opportunity to go to Poland, that I would encourage anyone who hasn’t been on one of these trips to go.

Our host Country of Poland was so hospitable, warm, and friendly that any concern we had was all for nothing. One of these concerns was that we were told the Polish people would not open up and share. We were told that it was part of their culture, with the infiltration of the Communist Party and the many occupations by other Countries they would not express themselves, or speak of their struggles. Fear of repercussions would keep them silent and we’d have a hard time.

When the time came for them to break up and do the share time together, we found them everywhere talking and sharing. The questions were just what they needed along with testimonies of struggles by others; they had all the permission they needed to break the silence. They did even want to come back in together when it was time to start once more! Praise the Lord!

Understanding the Polish culture was a big help in being able to communicate, appreciate, and connect with the Polish people. The big planet was not quite as large, and the Countries not so different, neither are our issues. September 20, 2008 they plan to kick off the first Celebrate Recovery in Poland, please
join us in prayer for them.

Celebrate Recovery Summit is here!

2008-08-01T07:42:00.003-04:00

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" (1 Chron. 16:31)

In just a matter of days, the nations of the world will come together to celebrate and fellowship through the ministry of CR...will you be there? If you are attending this years CR Summit and you live or serve outside of the US, please let us know! We'd love to make a connection with you while you're there. Email us at cr-intl@utown.org

For more information on this years summit, click HERE to see the brochure!

hope to see you there!

CR International Team

2nd National Team Conference held in the UK

2008-05-20T12:51:00.003-04:00

Various members from the US (Maryland, Connecticut and California) worked with the UK Director of CR and his team to host a 2 day conference in Derby, England on May 16-17. This was the second conference of this size and focus to help train existing and new CR groups in their local ministries. This conference was different, in that, the team help 2 concurrent tracks - focusing on (a) existing groups in track 1 and (b) new groups in track 2. Modelling the conferences held in the states, we were able to meet more of the specific groups to help encourage them whatever stage of their ministry they are in.

Wayne Luman, the CR Northeast Regional Director, along with Tony Turner, the CR International Director for the UK led the groups who are looking to start the ministry. Sherry Scott from a CR group in the San Francisco area shared her testimony during this track and spurred the teams on to how to effectively lead open share groups. Val Turner, Tony's wife and co-leader of their local UK ministry also shared on various training modules.

Dave Dent, one of CR's International Trainers, led the Track for existing CR groups. He, along with one of his leaders from Maryland, Lisa Mowers, dove into modules specifically tailored to help existing CR's to grow stronger.

Teams were represented from all around the UK - and groups from Norway and Italy were also present - searching to grow their existing programs.

Valley Baptist Introduces Celebrate Recovery to Pastors in Nicaragua and El Salvador

2008-04-15T02:05:00.004-04:00

Jim D'Amato from Valley Baptist was part of a team that is equipping churches in Nicaragua and El Salvador to help people in their churches and community overcome their hurts, hang-ups and habits. Here is his report from that trip.

Our Nicaragua trip went well. The primary focus for the trip was evangelism and outreach to the local community to help our church plant in Managua. We met up with teams from Texas and North Carolina. We had over 650 people accept Christ (400 kids).

While the teams went out during the day, my wife (Debbie) and I met with the Sr.Pastors and key leaders to present CR. It went well. Both the Church in Managua (75 members) and El Salvador (725 members) have Sr. Pastor support and a dedicated Ministry Leader selected. We sent them each a Spanish CR kit prior to our visit and they have gone through the Leader's Guide and understood the program basics and process. I utilized the Type B agenda. The rest of the time we had together, I reviewed the 90 Day implementation plan in detail and did an overview of each area of CR (Utilizing the Advanced Leader's Curriculum).

At the end of the week I met with the Sr. Pastors and potential Ministry Leaders and discussed in detail the next steps. Each Church would like to enter into the 90 day plan after they are done with the follow-ups that came from the outreach.

Prior to the 90 day kick-off, they are going to visit the established CR programs in El Salvador and Guatemala. After they start the 90 day plan, I will return back to El Salvador at about day (45), after they select their TEAM and potential group leaders and train the leaders utilizing the Advanced Training curriculum. The Pastors and Ministry leaders are very excited to implement CR and they want to do it the right way. I have a main point of contact that I will converse through email and phone if as needed. There are major needs for CR in both Nicaragua and El Salvador. Alcoholism is rampant in each country and there are virtually no rehabs or AA / NA groups established. In fact, about (400) of those saved, need some sort of recovery support.

Thanks for your help!
Jim D'Amato

This is such a great example of a church implementing the Celebrate Recovery International Mission Strategy. For more about the strategy you can download the document here on the blog called CR Mission Strategy. Thanks Jim for the great job!

"Taking Celebrate Recovery to the Church, the Community and the Philippines."

2008-03-14T01:20:00.005-04:00

It is so good to connect with all of you again! Karrie and I just returned from the Philippines with our team from Central Christian Church. If you listen to the CR Podcast available on iTunes or at http://www.celebratereoverypodcast.com/ you will hear Johnny Baker the National Ministry Leader and me talking about the trip. We recorded it while I was in the Philippines. On the show we discussed some of the CR mission strategy and how it has played out overseas.

We were in South Metro Manila where we partnered with Green Hills Christian Fellowship. The Senior Pastor, Larry Pabiona and the Ministry Leader Vincent Syyap were both tremendous to work with and through their planning and preparation we had the most successful Philippine Summit yet with over 500 people in attendance! Vince and his wife Anna organized and ran an event that rivaled any conference I have been (and I am kind of a conference addict). This was our third visit and the growth was amazing for Karrie and I to see. One of the biggest highlights was introducing all of the ministry leaders that have ongoing CR ministries and the changed lives as a result of our original mission in 2005.

This year participants were both brand new to CR and leaders from current ministries. The first day we introduced the 8 principles and helped them process it real time through small groups. This created a better understanding of the process of recovery. That night GCF held their normal General Meeting Night and was very effective in allowing people to experience Celebrate Recovery. Our team and the GCF team both shared testimonies of changed lives. The second day included the 7 Keys to help them start and grow the ministry and a time to nail their struggles to the Cross. We had many people break down the walls of denial and pain they had been carrying for years. The most important element the participants walked away with was the concept: Recovery starts with me. “I cannot transmit something I haven’t got.” This was well received and understood on so many levels.

CPR started there about four weeks ago with 4 pastors and now 12 more desire to join. It was encouraging to see Pastors willing to go where so many are not. I pray for God’s blessing on them for the courage they are showing their congregations.

My heart was touched the most by the warmth and hospitality of the Filipino people and the way we were welcomed. We were blessed to stay in the beautiful home of Gaudy, Isabel and their daughter Monica. They were so amazing we feel like we were part of their family.
I am truly grateful that God would use me a recovering drug addict and sex addict to carry this message of hope. God never ceases to amaze me at how He can take the foolish people of this world from the pit of despair to the throne of His grace.

Celebrate Recovery - Germany

2008-02-12T13:54:00.000-05:00

The Celebrate Recovery Materials are now available in German!
For ordering information, please contact Kai Scheunemann at scheunemann@gerth.de

visit Gerth-Medien for more details at http://www.gerth.de/

CR Trips Shaping Up for 2008

2008-01-06T16:06:00.000-05:00

New 2008 Missions Trips Beginning to Schedule. The first quarter of 2008 is already shaping up to be an exciting time for taking CR Outside the US. The following trips are already planned and are expected to draw many new and existing groups to attend and grow deeper as teams from the US head abroad to train.

Dominican Republic - February

Philippines - March

Japan - April

United Kingdom - May

Below are a few encouraging statistics on various countries who have visited the CR International Blog.

CR in the DR (Dominican Republic)

2007-12-15T10:41:00.000-05:00

By David Calhoun - Lead Pastor, Hope Springs Church

Hi. My name is David, and I’m a follower of Jesus Christ who struggles with addiction. I’m also the Senior Pastor, or as some prefer the “Head Addict” at Hope Springs Church in Lexington, KY. We are an almost 7-year-old United Methodist congregation that started with a focus on recovery as a core value of our church’s mission. An integral part of our vision is to be a center of recovery for the Lexington community and a safe place where the hurting and broken can find healing and hope. Not everyone in our church is an addict (some are still in denial!), but everyone does share a passion to reach the unreached with the good news that real recovery happens in a relationship with the One, true Higher Power, Jesus Christ!

In the past six-plus years our mission has called us beyond our walls and even beyond our borders as we have taken Celebrate Recovery to Santiago, Dominican Republic. Through G.O. Ministries, Inc., based in Louisville, KY, Hope Springs has developed a partnership with Pastor Eduard Gabriel of Iglesia Centro Cristiana (Central Christian Church). Pastor Gabriel is planting his church in the center of Santiago and ministers weekly at a residential treatment center for men in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Several of the 70 residents at Hogar Crea attend the church on the weekends. What began as an impromptu ministry visit to the center in 2005 has led to a full-blown opportunity for establishing Celebrate Recovery ministries in churches and communities throughout the Dominican Republic.

A beautiful thing about how this ministry opportunity began and how it’s growing is that it happened exactly like Bob Wood and Dave Dent said it should during the “International Missions Strategy” workshop at the 2007 Celebrate Recovery Summit. And, even though we didn’t know we were doing it by the book (so to speak) at the time, it’s pretty obvious that God knows what he is doing! It happened something like this:

June, 2005 - Hope Springs Church sends twelve persons to the Dominican Republic for our first ever short-term mission experience. Somewhere in the midst of conducting Vacation Bible Schools and construction on a church/children’s feeding center, I share with the missionary about Celebrate Recovery and my own story of recovery. He then invites me to go with Pastor Eduard to Hogar Crea on a Friday evening (the same night of the week Hope Springs holds CR for those of you keeping score!) to share my testimony with the men. I do, and seven men take their 3rd Step and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ!

June 2006 - Our second team of 20 included an evening for the entire team to visit Hogar Crea as a part of our mission activities for the week. After a time of fellowship and a few songs two of our CR members shared their testimonies. This time 16 men received Christ! On a different night I met with approximately seven pastors and leaders from churches in the immediate area and gave a general introduction to the Celebrate Recovery ministry.

August, 2007 - While our third mission team (again, 20 persons) continued offering VBS and doing construction, I and Pastor Iosmar Alvarez (Hope Springs’ Hispanic pastor) conducted a full three-day Celebrate Recovery training for 17 Dominican Pastors! The people of Hope Springs and G.O. Ministries, Inc. also provided Spanish CR Leader guides and other materials for the pastors. Then, our entire team of 20, along with the G.O. staff, held a full Celebrate Recovery meeting at Hogar Crea, complete with the CR Barbeque (we actually roasted a pig!), worship band, 8 recovery principles (in Spanish) and two more testimonies by Hope Springs members. And, yes, more fruit, as 25 men trusted Jesus Christ as their Higher Power!

August, 2007 - Hope Springs brought Pastor Eduard Gabriel to the United States to attend the Celebrate Recovery Summit at Saddleback Church. Eduard called it the most powerful spiritual training he had ever experienced as a pastor. He returned home excited and determined to expand the ministry of Celebrate Recovery at his church and throughout the Dominican Republic.

Best of all, we’re just getting started. February 11-18, 2008 I will travel to Santiago along with Pastor Alvarez and Travis Reynolds, one of Hope Springs’ CR leaders, to conduct a full week of Celebrate Recovery training for approximately 75 Dominican pastors and church leaders. During the evenings we will hold Celebrate Recovery open-air large-group meetings in a public park! Then, in June 2008, Hope Springs will send its fourth mission team to the Dominican Republic as we continue offering support and resources to pastors involved in CR. If you are interested in mission opportunities in the Dominican Republic or Haiti or if you have questions about CR in the DR feel free to contact me at dcalhoun@hopespringschurch.com

Texas Celebrate Recovery Team Shares the Good News in Costa Rica

2007-12-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

At the invitation of Dale Pond, Minister of Missions, the Green Acres Baptist Church Celebrate Recovery Ministry of Tyler, Texas, got an opportunity to reach out to a church far away that wanted training in how to start and run a CR program for their community. A team of four – Marty Kennedy, ministry leader, Marian Collins, training coach, Carri Kennedy, co-worship leader, and Bobbie Burks, assimilation coach – set out on November 15, 2007 for Jaco, Costa Rica, located on the Pacific coast of this lush coffee-producing country. Green Acres actively partners with the Nissi congregation and its pastor, Rudolfo, and the CR group was asked to provide training at the request of the church, which wants to expand services through a weekly recovery celebration.

Costa Rica – and particularly Jaco – is located near to the South American country of Colombia, and this fact reportedly has accounted for the dramatic rise in substance abuse there in the last decade. Scores of people – Costa Ricans and expatriates from other countries – live on the beaches of Jaco amid the driftwood and trash that accumulated in the areas under the trees of what could be called a possible paradise. Each Saturday morning, the outreach team from Nissi Church in Jaco takes vans to the beach areas, offering beans and rice, bread, fruit, and coffee or juice to the addicts who make the dunes their temporary home. For many, this is the only solid meal they will get without going through the refuse on the town’s streets.

The GABC CR team led the church in a two-day training session that covered everything from the implementation strategy for a CR group to a joint worship session, which featured Carri Kennedy singing a song in English as it was sung by Kenneth, a Nissi Church worship leader, in Spanish. The languages meshed perfectly and the harmony was inspiring to all who attended. The team also accompanied the Nissi group on their Saturday trip to the beaches and to “The Hole,” a riverbank village that virtually washes away when the heavy rains come. They were privileged to watch this seasoned outreach team minister to the people on the beach, offering physical food as well as spiritual meat. The beach-dwellers and the citizens of “The Hole” seemed hungrier for the spiritual direction and hope offered by the groups, with the little children gathering around the Americans in wonder as they sang ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and asking to go to the church to get more of what they were hearing. The group saw addicts in the process of using and prostitutes getting ready for their business day, but all were open to talk and receive food accompanied by the message of the Gospel and the church that loves them enough to cross over into their world to offer them nourishment and hope.

The GABC team was so moved by what they saw that they have undertaken a prayer burden for the group. The Nissi Church hopes to move into a new building to offer more services to the needy of Jaco, but it will take money to do so, and the Texans are exploring ways to connect other Churches with Jaco to provide financial as well as construction and prayer support. Participants in this first trip to Nissi Church have been forever changed by their experiences, and have tried to communicate their experiences to others in the GABC CR family. Plans are forming to take more CR workers from Green Acres back to Jaco to experience the humbling and amazing work of this little church with big dreams that now include Celebrate Recovery.

First CR Conference in Bogota, Colombia

2007-12-07T13:42:00.000-05:00

A CR team from Maryland and California merged on the town of Bogota, Colombia to host the first ever training workshop on Celebrate Recovery. The team consisted of 3 members of the Uniontown Bible Church (Dave Dent, Cathy Dent and Terry Cook) and 1 member from Saddleback Church's Celebrate Recovery Team (Oscar Farfan).

The team taught a group of approximately 50 participants on the 7 Key's of a successful recovery ministry. Teams from Ecuador and Cuba were also represented at the Conference. Participants spent 2 day's in workshops learning the concepts of how to begin their Celebrate Recovery Programs, how to Form their Teams, the differences between the Celebrate Recovery Groups, Small group guidelines and other components outlined in the 7 Keys. The participants also listened to a real life change through 3 testimonies. There were CR Startup Kits on hand as well as other CR resources for participants to purchase.

Maru Gutierrez and her team from the The Purpose Driven Latin America office coordinated the event. During the teams visit, they experienced several opportunities to share the gospel message.

Banishing alcoholism from the land of blue sky

2007-11-18T15:48:00.000-05:00

Tsogoo was once a long term alcoholic who brought his family close to financial ruin and abused his wife and children. Today he's a whole man thanks to the Celebrate Recovery (CR) 12 step programme that assists those wanting to give up drink in Mongolia.

CR came to Mongolia five years ago and today is active in 14 churches across the country – amazing growth considering the remoteness of some parts of Mongolia.

Read the complete story.....

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/banishing.alcoholism.from.the.land.of.blue.sky/14644.htm

Russian Materials Available!!!

2007-11-08T17:11:00.001-05:00

After much sought after prayer - the latest translation of the Celebrate Recovery materials is now available in Russian. Thanks to everyone who vested tirelessly in the coordination, cost and production - God is good. With this new translation, the Lord will open many new Celebrate Recovery groups abroad. Below is the contact information on ordering:

New Hope International
6208 Lehman Drive, Suite 302, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
1-800-297-9591
Roman Matviyiv
RMatviyiv@newhopeinternational.org
or roman.matviyiv@newhopeua.org

Upcoming Missions Trips

2007-10-25T19:37:00.000-04:00

We've been receiving some very encouraging emails and phone calls about upcoming CR Missions Trips. It's so exciting to hear and see all the places God is at work in and through this ministry. If you have recently visited another country and have shared your testimony - believe that God is already at work watering that seed of hope. Perhaps you feel a sense to 'go' and share the good news. Where is God calling you to? What is He saying to your heart? Is God calling you to a particular place in His world? Where is that?

If you've recently been considering visiting a country to share CR, let us know. We want to join you in your prayers and planning. Maybe some other team is headed there too - wouldnt it be great to join forces?

There are several teams already lining up trips for later this year and some are already being planned for early next year. Keep a watch on our BLOG - we'll keep posting where teams have gone and are going.

CR Seed Planting in Spain

2007-10-07T19:16:00.000-04:00

A team from Northwest Bible Church in Dallas introduced Celebrate Recovery in Sevilla, Spain by teaching over 6 nights beginning September 24, 2007. Responding to a request by several Spanish pastors for teaching on Celebrate Recovery, we taught to over 25 Spaniards every night. During our Time in Spain, we shared a vision for Celebrate Recovery, gave our testimonies and taught lessons on the 12 Steps. We were humbled by the Spaniard’s hospitality and willingness to be vulnerable about their struggles. We saw God in our midst for the whole week and saw our new Spanish friends embrace the truths in recovery for the first time.

The Spaniards led a celebration service at the week’s end without any assistance from us and two people shared their testimony of hope that came from the training. One of the Spaniards summed up his experience with one word- “Freedom”. He can see the hope of living in the freedom of Jesus Christ because of what he experienced with us. Another person referred to us as her “four angels” who walked with her out of her prison of bondage as with Peter in Acts 12.

Please pray for Pastors Manolo Reyes and Jose Luis who are going to begin a 12- Step study with at least one other man in the near future. Pray for a group of women from the Camas Church who will start a 12-Step study soon. Pray for Pastor Miguel Angel who desires to see Christ-centered recovery take root in the culture of his church (the largest evangelical church in Sevilla- the Horeb Church -200 people). Pray for their experience to make them hungry for more as they pursue their dependence on Christ and face the insanity of trying to make their life work on their own.

Celebrate Recovery - Norway

2007-10-04T10:59:00.000-04:00

Coming November 30th - the first Celebrate Recovery Group in Norway. The T.E.A.M. consists of Minister leader: Karl Inge Thomassen karlit@c-r.no Encourager Coach: Helene Sandaker. helene@c-r.no Assimilation Coach: Rune Dahlslier rune@c-r.no and Training Coach: Eva Thomassen eva@c-r.no Be praying for their kickoff and for the translation of the CR Materials into the Scandinavian language! Visit their website at http://www.celebraterecovery.no/

Comments now available on CR Intl Blog

2007-09-13T10:05:00.000-04:00

We welcome your questions and comments to our blog.....got questions about recent trips or future trips? We'd love to hear from you!

Celebrate Recovery "Inside Kenya"

2007-09-08T13:36:00.000-04:00

A Saddleback Church Celebrate Recovery mission team traveled to Kenya on August 20th and returned September the 5th to teach Celebrate Recovery to Prison Chaplains so that they can start CR in their respective prisons and home churches. About 60 attendees, representing 10 different prisons from as far away as Rwanda and Western Kenya in addition to the commissioner’s staff, attended the 5 days of training in Nairobi.

The team also visited existing CR ministries in Kitale where they heard many encouraging stories of how Celebrate Recovery is growing and helping people from across Kenya, Uganda and Sudan face and deal with their hurts, hang-ups and habits. They visited the Kitale men’s and women’s prisons and officially launched CR in the men’s prison that has over 100 men already participating in CR meetings 3 times a week.

The team included Jana O’Guin, Linda Messner, Joe Clark, and Jan Thomas. This was the fifth Saddleback mission trip to Kenya sharing CR.

To read Jana’s blog with updates during the trip, go to http://www.myspace.com/janasjourneys.

Summit Hosts First CR Short Term Missions Workshop

2007-08-30T14:55:00.000-04:00

We're a few day's beyond the Summit now and the dust still hasnt settled! It was an amazing time and we met many wonderful people from around the world who have a heart for helping hurting people. There were over 15 countries represented this year! We also had a great time hearing the hearts of CR leaders here in the US who have a passion to share CR with the rest of the world. Our thanks to everyone who shared their hearts with us - you are the champions - and you are inspiring!

This year marked the first workshop ever on CR Short Term Missions and that was a true highlight of the week for our team. The workshop started with Cheryl Baker welcoming the attendees and saying how she and John realize that God is at work in CR around the world and how God is using folks like Jana, Bob and Dave to help cast a vision. Dave Dent shared on where in the world CR currently is, where have teams gone in the last 4 years and what translations currently exist. Jana O'Guin then shared her experiences in travelling and noted the importance of identifying relationships and not just going to a country one time. Jana encouraged the participants that the goal is to mentor an in-country 'champion' for CR - a church that can help other churches begin and grow their own ministres. Bob Wood then closed our workshop by casting a strategy for doing CR short term missions and the various types of trips a team can take and what might be included in each type of trip.

30 Days of Prayer

2007-07-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

Every year - 30 day's prior to the Annual CR Summit - we invite the friends and family of CR to pray! What a great way to model our Lord and Savior - before setting off to meet, fellowship, learn and grow at the Summit - we STOP and spend time with the Father. And isnt that exactly how Jesus approached every situation?

So, whether your coming to the Summit personally or not - you can get involved - and in the most powerful way there is. What an encouragement to know that people from all over the world are praying in unison for the upcoming event.

Click below to download a copy of the 2007 CR Summit Prayer Guide

Prayer Guide

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12: 10-12

2007-06-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

A group from Faith Christian Fellowship (FCF) in Clarksburg, West Virginia arrived for the third year in a row to work alongside the Good Samaritan Church in Las Delicias. This year the group was able to do more than make friends while sharing manual labor efforts with church and community members. Pastor John Eklund, outreach minister of FCF, conducted a training seminar for over thirty pastors and leaders in the area on starting and implementing a Celebration Recovery (Christ-centered addiction recovery) program in the area. It turns out that a local pastor has started the program in San Salvador and will be helping the churches in the Las Delicias area walk through the process.

SUMMIT 2007

2007-06-07T22:02:00.000-04:00

August is just around the corner and it'll be here before you know it. Something new this year at the Summit, will be a workshop on Short-Term Missions. Come hear some amazing things going on around the World in CR!

Guatemala Conference A Success

2007-04-29T00:07:00.000-04:00

Wow! What a weekend. We just completed a Celebrate Recovery Conference at Vida Real Church in Guatemala. The team, consisted of 8 members from Perimeter Church (Georgia), 2 members from Asbury United Methodist Church (Alabama) and (me) Uniontown Bible Church (Maryland). The team from Perimeter had visited previously over the past several years and has done a great job in planting the seeds for the first ever CR group at Vida Real Church. On Friday night the team demonstrated a 'live' CR Meeting - led completely by the US team with worship, teaching and open shares. Over 100 participants were in attendance to experience what a CR group looks and feels like. Groups from as far as El Salvador were in attendance. On the following day, the participants returned to hear teachings on TEAM development, meeting formats, kickoff strategy, testimony writing along with a couple of real life-changing testimonies. Over 20 churches took a step of faith and made a purchase of the Startup Kit with plans to set out and begin their kickoff strategies. Plans are already underway for a return visit in 2008 to help continue to train and grow Celebrate Recovery in Central America. Pictured above are the team members from Perimeter and Asbury singing a song to the participants as an ending to our conference!

Update from "Down Under"

2007-03-29T07:13:00.000-04:00

Celebrate Recovery Australia and New Zealand

Report March 2007

General
Firstly, apologies for not sending a report sooner, preparations for the 2 day seminars we are doing soon in New Zealand are taking more time than anticipated, and trying to stay abreast of new groups and their needs is also eating into our time. Since we last reported to you there has been more growth in CR in both Australia and New Zealand. At the start of the year it looked as though we were going to average a new group every day as we were getting e mails every day from churches ready to start. The pace has slowed a little now as churches get back into their normal routine but we have still had around 20 new groups added so far this year.

The growth states have been Queensland and New South Wales and this is progress, especially considering that until late 2006 Queensland was a desert for us.

TEAM
Our national team has suffered a setback with the loss of our Assimilation Coach and we are looking for a replacement there. However the Encourager Coach Penny has really worked hard and is sending out regular e mails to well over 150 groups and leaders. Penny is also in very regular touch with the Encourager coach from the USA and they have been sharing ideas and encouraging each other. Wendy, the Training Coach has also now started to send out regular training tips to the same group and these have been well received.

We are in the process of completely overhauling the website to make it more vibrant and alive. We will also be including Blogs from the TEAM and making the Q&A and Forum sections more user friendly. We anticipate this process will take around a month as we want to get it right.

We have now appointed a Victorian State rep. and have approached a leader in NSW to take on the role there.

Seminars
Starting on April 24 we will be doing 2 day seminars in New Zealand. We will visit Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton. The first day will be an updated one day seminar to introduce the program and the second day will be a training day for those who have either started the program already or who want more information to take home after the first day.

We have been under some pressure to offer training seminars around Australia and are looking at doing at least Queensland and New South Wales in late July –early August and then proceeding on to the Summit at Saddleback. This will be the most economical way of covering these 2 states without additional travel.

Finances
With the increase in groups and the need to offer more services to cover them it is important that we have a steady income flow. To facilitate this we have decided to use the fact that we are a tax exempt body to ask individuals to take on the role of sponsors of CR on a regular basis .With the incentive that sponsorships will be tax deductible. We also have made arrangements with our bank to accept all the usual Credit cards for these donations and a section of the new website will enable sponsors to donate on line and receive an automatically generated receipt. We are aiming for between 500 and 100 sponsors this year giving us a regular income to fund training needs and the like.

Thank for your continuing interest in the work of CR. It is important to us and valued.

Keith and Viv

Kenya PEACE Plan Trip

2007-03-29T07:05:00.000-04:00

A team from Saddleback Church is headed to Kenya as a part of the PEACE Plan. The team will be leaving for Kitale, Kenya on April 18 and returning on May 4.

They have really been touched by the Kenyan people and feel a close connection with them. The people have so few materials possessions and lack the things we take for granted – food, clean water, a roof over our heads, education and medical care. One thing they do have in abundance is amazing faith and the team has learned a lot from them.

On this trip they will be teaching a class for Celebrate Recovery (CR) at Impact Bible College in Kitale for five days to pastors and church leaders from across Kenya and neighboring countries. This class is actually part of the degree program at the college. We will be meeting with the CR program at Deliverance Church that was started in August 2005. The team will visit their meetings to support and encourage them. We will also visit the women’s prison and follow up on the CR program that was started during their visit last year. The team is very excited to see the women again as they have a special place in their hearts. We will also visit Sister Freda’s hospital and Oasis of Hope while we are in Kitale to see the amazing ways they are ministering to the least of God’s children.

CR United Kingdom Sudbury Prison Inmate Moves to Poetry

2007-03-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

Celebrate Recovery

Celebrate Recovery will help you to better your life,
So that you can leave behind all your trouble and strife.

The recovery programme will only strengthen your heart,
And make it so that the Lord will never depart.

From opening your heart to what is right,
Then seeing life through a better sight.

To stepping out of denial into Gods grace,
And then leading your life at a better pace.

The spiritual journey that you will undertake,
Will always get safer and stronger and will never brake.

Spiritually cleansing your soul,
So that you can feel secure and whole.

Step by step day by day,
Celebrate recovery will help you all the way.

So enter celebrate recovery with an open mind,
Then the Lord I promise you will find.

To the Philippines and Back!!!

2007-03-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing experience in the Philippines. Our medical missions trip was actually a good exposure to the culture that I believe was helpful to have before our Celebrate Recovery seminar. We made some minor adjustments to our presentation as a result.

We had 35 to 40 people attend the seminar. At least 18 of those in attendance are pastors in the metro Manila area. Others in attendance included students from the Conservative Baptist Asia Seminary and other local church leaders.

The presentations went very smoothly. The host church provided all the technical support needed to run the power point presentations, the video, and music. The seminar actually began around 9:20. We had a break in the morning. The church hosted a lunch that started at noon. After lunch, we had a run-through of a typical Friday night large group. The seminar ended around 2:30 PM.

We were very fortunate to be able to add testimonies from two local people to the seminar. Marianne Francisco gave her testimony and another very powerful testimony was given from Vince Syyap, who is the ministry head of one of the local Celebrate Recovery ministries. Vince attended last year's Summit at Saddleback. Testimonies from our team included a 5 minute testimony from my wife and a 25 minute testimony from Johnny Villanueva. Johnny's testimony seemed to impact many of the attendees. Johnny also did a very good job presenting the Denial lesson during our run-through.

There appears to be significant interest in starting Celebrate Recovery ministries in metro Manila. The General Director of CBAP is very supportive of starting Celebrate Recovery ministries in the CBAP churches (there are now 600 CBAP churches in the Philippines).
The Word of God is spreading like wildfire in the Philippines. I met quite a few Bible Students and rural pastors who are very effective at sharing the gospel message. Many people are responding to the message. The biggest need of these people appears to be the lack of copies of the Bible to provide to the many new believers.

This has been a tremendous experience and I am thankful to have been able to be a part.
In Christ's Service,
Steve Rough

Ps. It is not appropriate to use the initials CR for Celebrate Recovery in the Philippines since that is the common abbreviation for "Comfort Rooms" or restrooms.

A Reason to Celebrate in the United Kingdom!

2007-02-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

When a Derby church saw the potential of a programme taking America by storm, which aims to solve all manner of life's problems, it launched it in the UK. Nine years later, and with Celebrate Recovery now operating at 30 places around Britain, Community Church Derby has decided it's time to shout about its achievements. More than 400 people in this area have been helped. Jill Gallone reports.
Gordon Glover is 80, a perfect gentleman and a retired chartered quantity surveyor. He is also a recovering alcoholic who used to drink up to 15 bottles of red wine a week."In the end, I wasn't even tasting it," said Gordon. "I was just gulping it down. I drank quality wine. It cost me around £100 a week. The more I drank, the more I was able to drink. The inevitable results were the shakes, foul hangovers and, more often than not, forgetting what I had said or done the night before."I gradually realised that I was killing myself. My life was a mess and I had to do something about it. I was existing, not living."You don't have to look far to see why Gordon, an articulate and intelligent man, turned to drink for comfort.He said: "My wife of 51 years has dementia. I cared for her for nine-and-a-half years. I did everything - looked after her, shopped, cooked and ran the home. I began to drink to shut out what was happening. Marjorie was the most amazing thing to me - and still is."However, last September Gordon finally had to take the heartbreaking step of allowing his wife to go into a nursing home, such were the demands of caring for her. He visits her regularly, though she can only hold "a conversation of sorts" with him."I take pictures in to show her," he said. The couple have two children and five grandchildren.The pain of losing someone you love, not to death but to an illness that destroys the mind, is something many people have to face. But that is scant comfort to those going through it.It's not difficult to see why, after completing the nightly care routine, Gordon looked forward to a glass or two of red wine. It's just that it turned into a bottle - or two."I finally admitted that I had a drink problem in 2004," said Gordon, of Heritage Court, Belper. "I was referred to Addaction and completed a 16-week course. That was helpful. I did not drink for eight months and felt that I was cured. But pride goes before a fall and, on a holiday in Majorca, I became so tired of drinking mineral water that I decided the occasional glass of wine would not hurt."Gordon was on the slippery slope yet again. However, towards the end of 2005, he was introduced to Celebrate Recovery.He said: "I was sceptical at first. I could not believe that you could deal with all types of addiction and issues at one group."Tony Turner, a pastor at Community Church, Pride Park, went to America to learn from the Celebrate Recovery developers because he realised that so many people were carrying issues like these around with them."Celebrate Recovery is a 12-step recovery programme similar to the one Alcoholics Anonymous uses, but it is not purely for people with drink problems," said Tony, of Albert Road, Derby. "It's for anyone with hurts, habits or hang-ups."Through my work at Community Church I began to see that lots of people were suffering and there didn't seem to be anywhere they could turn to for support. I thought the programme could be really helpful in this country."He was right. Tony, who runs Celebrate Recovery with wife Val, helped a handful of people in the first year and numbers gradually grew.About 50 people were on board when the 2007 programme began this month and that figure is expected to increase."We've helped 400 people so far and 70 per cent of those people have changed," said Tony. "It's a vehicle which helps them to begin to take responsibility for their own actions."The first 30 minutes of a Celebrate Recovery meeting take place in a large group setting but the rest of the evening is spent in small, gender-specific groups. Each group has a leader, who offers on-going support. Celebrate Recovery meets for 50 weeks of the year, people can join at any time and stay as long as they want.Gordon is still a regular and has not touched alcohol for 11 months. "It's an enormous help to hear from other people with similar problems. Even my course leader has dealt with an addiction."Along the way, Gordon became a Christian in March 2006 but the course leaders are keen to stress that religious beliefs are not necessary to seek help."It's open to anyone," said Tony. "It works because people feel that it's a secure place where they are accepted."Celebrate Recovery meets every Wednesday at The Riverside Centre, The Riverside Court, Pride Park, Derby, from 8pm to 9.30pm. All are welcome. The meetings are free. People are just asked to pay £12 for the necessary work books. For more details, call Derby 332044, or e-mail mailto:tony.turner@emcf.net

Translation - Translation - Translation

2007-02-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

We're working hard to get you the latest information on what translations are available and where! Check back with us soon and we'll get you what you need to be successful as you travel the globe to bring this good news. To date, there are 20 languages in the process - some are ready and some are in the works.

Philippines trip in mid February scheduled

2007-02-07T20:06:00.000-05:00

A missions team from Yosemite Church in California is preparing to head to the Philippines to share CR with a the Conservative Baptist Association. The team will be hosting a introductory workshop for pastors. Steve Rough and his team will be doing an orientation about Celebrate Recovery, sharing personal testimonies of how God used this mnistry to change their lives, and they will model a typical CR for all those who come. The workshop will be February 24th from 9am to 1pm at Capital City Baptist Church in Quezon City. The For details on this trip contact Bob Wood at Bob.Wood@centralchristian.com

Guatemala Trip Scheduled

2007-02-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

We are currently working on plans to visit Guatemala and host a seminar on April 28th of this year. The team from Perimeter Church in Georgia is leading the trip and is preparing the venue.

The trip will consist of a 'live' Friday night CR meeting, followed by an all day seminar on the 7 Keys. Our main goal will be to establish an in-country point of contact so that future churches wishing to implement CR will have a mentor church to help them.

For details on this trip contact Dave Dent at dave@utown.org

Short-Term Missions

2007-02-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

To date, we have conducted seminars in Canada, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, England, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, Mongolia, Japan and Malaysia.

See the report and presentation made at our recent CR National Team meeting

Click here to see: (PDF's)

the PRESENTATION

the REPORT