In December 2013, after months of planning and anticipation, eight SA members finally gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, at the intersection of Europe and Asia, in the shadow of St. Sophia Cathedral and the Blue Mosque. Four more unlikely countries coming together would have been hard to imagine—we were three from Russia, two from Iran, two from the UK, and one from the US. The stated reason for the gathering was to reach out to Iran and Russia, where SA is active but not yet integrated into SA worldwide.

By day, we talked service structure, Step work, and seminars. By night, we revealed our hearts in SA meetings through shares that echoed in three languages. We were seven men and one woman, plus an Iranian member who joined via Skype.

Despite our different nationalities, we instantly formed a new family. Our group of eight love cripples was joined together through a bond of love that we all dared to let ourselves feel. Two of our group—both former army officers trained to fight one another—had breakfast together in perfect brotherhood.

We did not always perfectly understand each other’s languages, but we all knew the language of recovery. Throughout those three days, we encouraged one another and forged genuine ties that have since extended to others back in our home countries.

For me, going to Istanbul was like going home, twice. This is where my father was born and raised, and I have cousins there and many memories of spending time there as a kid. But now, I was going home in another sense: to be with brothers and sisters in SA, most of whom had never met but who instantly formed a new family.

We felt like we were walking slightly off the ground—as if God had lifted us together to a higher place, onto that spiritual plane that forms through honesty and mutual vulnerability. You can’t create this if you try; it just happens. We were witnessing the transformation that recovery brings.

By the end of the weekend, we saw that beyond all the practical discussions and the seeming challenges, God had planted in us a love for each other that would sustain us after we parted. Roy K. had foreseen it. We had made the real connection. We were home.

Postscript: Following our gathering, the seven SA Iranian Intergroups met and resolved to convey to AS’s General Delegate Assembly their collective desire to establish a new Farsi-speaking region within the SA Service Structure. That petition is now under review by the Regional Alignment Committee. The Iranian fellowship began in March 31, 2003, and today is some 2,000 members strong, with over 100 meetings and four country-wide meetings per year. The Iranian members are eager to carry the message to linguistically related Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The Russian-speaking SA fellowship is also growing, with a Moscow Intergroup in complement to the Russian-speaking Intergroup that encompasses members in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Israel, Poland, Belgium, and the US. Founded in 1999, there are at present 11 face-to-face and virtual meetings, and an active meeting-on-line, with a membership of approximately 100. The fellowship holds an annual fall convention. Russian-speaking SA is examining options regarding representation at the international level, while focusing efforts on strengthening the fellowship from within.

We urge members around the world—especially Persian- or Russian-speaking—to contact SAICO (saico@sa.org) to connect with these two fellowships, offer sponsorship or other service, join virtual meetings, or visit face-to-face groups if you travel.