Hi, my name is Marsha F. I am a gratefully recovering lustaholic from Cleveland, Ohio. I have been sexually sober since March of 1990, thanks to the grace of God and this fellowship. I am serving SA as the Corrections Committee (CC) Chairperson. A better description might be “prison coordinator.” The letters from prisoners that are received at Central Office are sent to me. I then attempt to find an SA contact on the “outside” to correspond with the prisoner.

Tonight I attended an SA meeting on the “inside.” Several SA members from the inside shared with us. As I watched and listened to these men share, I felt more of the walled fortress where I keep my heart selfishly and safely isolated being slowly and peacefully dismantled, brick by brick. God really does do for me what I cannot do for myself.

I was sexually and emotionally abused, and physically and emotionally abandoned by the men I loved and trusted in my life up to young adulthood. At the age of 21, I chose to become the hunter. My lust preyed on men it perceived as weaker than I—emotionally, socially or intellectually. What ego-centered illusion! I had become what I hated; I had become like those that abused me. Spiritually I was dead.

Today, God loves and honors me through the people in this fellowship. He has changed my heart through the 12 Steps. God has shown me how to love and accept others through this simple program of recovery. The wrongs I have committed are certainly no less wrong than the wrongs I heard shared tonight, at least not in the eyes of my God. As I looked around the circle of the faces of those 19 SA members, I saw only good people with a terrible disease that has taken much from all of us. Yet just as evident to me was one of the paradoxes of this program—that God had turned the ugliness of this disease through the SA program into something truly wonderful. We had each other! We were no longer alone. My life was truly colorless until I met so many of you in this fellowship—friends who have enriched my life with their laughter and tears. I am honored to serve SA and God.

Currently the Corrections Committee has need of contacts in all areas of the country. I have contacts in several areas, but it is helpful to have more than one in each area. A contact person serves in a variety of ways, such as corresponding, sponsoring, visiting, attending meetings and/or assisting in meeting start-ups with prisoners and prisons. Each situation and individual, of course, is unique.

The Intergroups have been asked to consider having a person to coordinate prison activities in their areas. These coordinators will save time and money for the Corrections Committee and put the responsibility at a more local level where the prison can be better served.

The COOC has been asked for suggestions, feedback and procedure regarding the idea of a newsletter for prisoners. The objective is to connect them with other SA members on the inside and outside so they will know they are not alone. Almost everyone I have talked with has been willing to go to any lengths to help those who still suffer. My sincerest gratitude.