The Sunday West SA group of Portland, Oregon is alive and well. Our fellowship has around ten attendees on any given Sunday night.

The working paper has hit the nail on the head. Thank you for naming the problem. When I first came into SA, I came into a very strong group. The group was my sponsor as there were no women sponsors available in SA. I knew I could stay sober going to this group every week. I came into the fellowship in March 1989. I had wanted SA sobriety for a long time before I knew that there was a group with this sobriety.

Here are a few of my own SACC and prison experiences I would like to share with you:

COOC continues to receive advice and consultation on various tax and employment issues concerning employee vs. contractor status for former employees of the Central Office. The new accountant in Nashville has prepared the Annual Report for 1994, pending double checking of some figures. The accountant will file an extension on the 1994 tax return, Federal and California State.

Regarding the article in the December 1994 Essay on raising/creating the Essay consciousness and ideas for offsetting the cost of Essay, in our group conscience, here are thoughts and ideas which came up:

You should have received a new and very important “working paper” from the SA Literature Committee titled “Practical Guidelines for Group Recovery” with the last issue of the Essay newsletter. This material has already proven very helpful in improving meeting quality, sponsorship, and in reversing the tide of slipping most groups experience.

Question: “How can SA as a fellowship work the Steps; I thought only individuals could do that?”
Response: “The idea does sound kind of new and strange, doesn’t it? But let’s see what it might look like.”

Our situation as a people coming out of sexual slavery is not unlike the story of the people coming out of bondage from Egypt. Years of enslavement brought them to utter despair, crying out to God for help. Through an amazing series of events. they were led out—often kicking and screaming in unbelief—only to find themselves wandering in the wilderness. Free at last, on the outside, they soon discovered the harsh reality that theirs was a spiritual malady inside. The severity of withdrawal brought back the craving for the old way of life.

Excerpts from two inquirers’ responses, July 1981:
“Thank you and God bless you in your work. You’ll never know how many lives you have helped.”

This is my story. It is not very pretty and I made some real bad choices in my life. Understand that I do not blame all the things in my early life for the things I did later. I used to use the fact that my own father turned me out when I was 12 as a reason for what I did. This was only a way for me not to accept the responsibility for my own actions.

It does not surprise me to find that the majority of us are too busy working on ourselves to be of much use to others. That’s been my story for years now! Recovery intensifies feelings which consume my time and thoughts and it takes years to reorganize life out of the insanity of my past.

As an active sexaholic, I always wanted to get back to feeling what I referred to as “normal.” I would look at other people and think: “Hey, they’re normal, why can’t I be like them?” Then I’d automatically go after my drug, and soon enough, I’d feel what I fancied was “normal” again. And this worked pretty well for a number of years, except that to continue feeling what I called “normal,” I needed a constant supply, and lost my life in the process.

Our Wednesday London SA group is going strong. We are now averaging between 8-12 people a meeting and we are gaining good, honest sobriety. Thanking you.

On the first day of the conference I shared at a taped meeting about New York’s progress and got a warm confirmation from many members on how healing it is for them to hear that SA here is active and grateful. I told them we had adopted the standard meeting format and the kind of results that this had produced, and many people came up to me afterwards asking how we did it.

Hi, I’m Marsha F. a gratefully recovering sexaholic by the grace of God and this Fellowship. I have come to discover there is very little difference between myself (a SA on the outside) and the SA’s I have met on the inside.

During the March 26, 1995 Central Office/Steering Committee meeting, the following issues were raised:

The COOC and the Central Office want to express sincere gratitude for the generosity of the fellowship in response to our appeal for funds. This makes it possible for us to continue to “carry the message to the sexaholic who still suffers.” If contributions continue at this level, we will be able to serve our basic needs.

SA’s Central Office needs to have an updated completed list of all local groups with the following information, if possible:

There has been a surge of interest in SA for unity through representation. Many are asking how they can start an intergroup or communicate with other people in their region. The answers will come; the key is willingness and an open mind. Every area can do what best suits their current situation. The overall goal is to have each SA group represented in their respective regional assembly this year.

The Literature Committee is considering a new book for SA that would address such topics as developing healthy groups, guidelines for meetings, sponsorship, helping newcomers, a history of SA, and more. Parts of Discovering the Principles and the SA Meeting Guide will also be included. But help is needed from each group (and Intergroup).