Wouldn’t it be great to attend a convention without leaving home? That’s exactly what some SA members around the world discovered when the EMER Convention in Birmingham, UK, was live-streamed on the Internet. More than 20 people are believed to have listened online, and numerous expressions of thanks and even delight were received.
I’m Bernd, a sexaholic from Munich, and I’m grateful to have been a part of the Munich team that organized (with God’s help) the German-Speaking convention this year. The convention was held in Zavelstein near Stuttgart. The theme for the weekend was “Honesty.”
At EMER’s first Regional Convention in Warsaw in 2013, five women met from five countries (Luxembourg, Ireland, Holland, Spain, Poland). We had never met before, and most of us were the only women in our home meetings. This was a wonderful experience, and we started two projects: a Women’s Skype meeting and an EMER Support for Women Committee.
On May 15-17, SA’s Europe and Middle East Region (EMER) held its third annual Regional SA Convention, with S-Anon participation, in Birmingham, UK. After our first convention in Warsaw in 2013 and our second in Jerusalem last year, our UK fellows took the initiative to host this annual event.
How is your program going? Are you enjoying all of the sobriety, serenity, and sanity that your Higher Power has for you? Are you looking for opportunities to be of service to God and others? Do you want to foster new friendships with those who are seeking a shared solution to a shared problem?
In countries where there are no SA groups, SAICO depends on member volunteers to carry the SA message to those who seek help. SA’s International Committee (IC) is attempting to organize those volunteers to focus on specific areas where help is needed. We are currently looking for volunteers to answer inquiries from several countries.
On January 1, 2014, a new SA group was started in Zwolle, the Netherlands. We meet on Wednesday in a room that was kindly rented to us by an organization that deals with all kinds of addictions. The members of this meeting, however, felt that we needed another meeting in Zwolle, on another night.
SA’s French-speaking Intergroup was founded March 2, 2013, and in December 2013 we joined EMER. Currently, there are three French-speaking meetings in Europe: one in Lille, France; one in Brussels, Belgium; and one in Luxembourg. Our meetings are still quite small (five to nine members) so we always appreciate getting input from long-term SA members from other countries.
Last May I attended the Europe and Middle East Region (EMER) Convention and Regional Assembly meeting in Israel. From the time I left my home in Ireland until I returned, I was in fellowship almost the entire time. This was the trip of a lifetime!
The city of Detroit has a rich and varied heritage. It was the birthplace of the American auto industry and brought on the age of assembly line manufacturing, which led to unprecedented growth of the US economy. Detroit became known as the Motor City.
