We were very honored to host the July 2023 “In God We Trust” IC as well as the very first in-person General Delegate Assembly outside North America. The beginning was difficult. We had first planned to organize the convention in our capital Warsaw, but found out that we couldn’t afford a venue suitable for this kind of event there.
In order to best share my experience at the Poland International SA/S-Anon Convention I thought it best to describe my personal road traveled.
The Israel SA fellowship has seen tremendous growth in numbers and quality of recovery since it began in 1996. At our annual national SA conferences, with S-Anon’s participation, we often have between 400 and 500 attendees.
The SA Israel fellowship, with our local S-Anon’s participation, is super-excited to be hosting the International Convention for the second time. In 2017, just at the beginning stage of becoming our own SA Region, we hosted the International Convention the first time it was held outside of the U.S.
In July 1990, our oldtimer Yoshi attended AA's 55th Anniversary World Convention in Seattle, WA, USA. He was in Seattle for a week, but as the convention was for three days, he thought about how to use the remaining days. Since he was a social worker working at a children's center at the time, he wanted to visit a local children's home.
There are 19 physical meeting groups that are held regularly in Japan. One of those groups is for women only. Each group has their own schedule and may meet anywhere from weekly to once a month. In addition, there are two online groups that meet on a regular basis.
Aussies and Kiwis are very committed to recovery. Over a decade ago, in a place called Mount Tambourine in Queensland, an English fellow ran a 12-Step workshop where a dream was born. The English man, an Irish man, and a bunch of Aussies and Kiwis got together with the vision of forming a region.
Can you help? SA’s Board of Trustees is served by a number of committees who assist it in administering the policies and decisions of the General Delegate Assembly. One of these is the Legal Committee whose mission is “to advise the Trustees on legal matters affecting the Fellowship.” (SA Service Manual, Ch. 13, p.2)
As of January 15, 2023, we are approaching 1000 Registered meetings of out of an expected 1700. We have extended the deadline once from December 31, 2022, to January 31, 2023. For several reasons, we have not yet approached the critical mass we had hoped for
Participation in conventions is one of the strongest recovery tools, which I was able to experience again last weekend, together with almost 50 fellows from seven countries. Beginning of January has become a priority in my diary since I first went to the Exeter winter convention last year.
