How we Got Involved with Celebrate Recovery

By Katie Roth

    ERGLI, Latvia – One evening last Spring I was idly surfing the internet after putting the kids to bed when I happened upon the Celebrate Recovery section of the New York Redeemer Presbyterian Church website.  I had never heard of Celebrate Recovery before, but thought it looked interesting, so I watched a video testimony of a woman who had been abused as a child describing her journey of recovery.  Her story impressed me deeply and I went to bed that night thinking about what she had shared.  

    The next morning, as I was still in that half asleep state before truly waking up, I had a dream in which God showed me that our new house in Ērgļi would be a house of healing. I shared this dream with others on our BBI team and was absolutely amazed when Chuck replied with news of his meeting planned for that day with Bill Specht, a CR leader in Salem, OR, who wanted to know how he could put his knowledge and experience as a drug and alcohol counselor to use in Latvia.

    One thing led to another and this summer, during our three months in Oregon, we were able to attend a one day training seminar in Idaho and a couple of CR meetings in Bend, where we got a better idea of what it was all about and heard many powerful testimonies of changed lives. We met people who had been in prison, addicted to drugs, in co-dependent relationships and many others with other hurts, habits and hang-ups.  

    We started using the youth version of CR - Life Hurts, God Heals - with our 18 year old Latvian foster sons (two cousins named Gintis and Viktors) during Sunday school hour in Christmas Valley and were amazed to see them gradually start to open up and take the first steps out of denial.

    We returned to Latvia at the end of August holding a dream in our hearts, that one day we might see CR groups started in Latvia, where so many are held captive by either their own addictions or those of their family members.  

And last week (10 December) we held our first meeting in our house here in Ērgļi!!  

    We introduced the idea of recovery and read out the eight principles, twelve steps and serenity prayer.  We didn't get much chance for personal sharing as they had a sauna planned for 7 o'clock, but in the sauna, Zigmunds accepted Christ!  He is the third cousin to do so in the past year, after many years of persevering in prayer for this family, in which their parents' generation is almost entirely alcoholic.  

    Then, on Sunday in church, during an open time for people to come to the front and share 'two line' testimonies of who they used to be and the difference Christ has made in their lives, Zigmunds came forward and shared from his heart about the difference Jesus had already made in his heart.  I stood and cried as I heard it!

    This evening we had our second meeting and I was so imp

ressed by the openness and honesty of the young men who came again, as well as the two new guys who joined us.  They talked openly about their desire for deep connection with others that would provide a safe place to share hurts and step out of denial and start to experience recovery from life's pain.  Their responsiveness and eagerness to talk and pray and participate fully defied all stereotypes of uncommunicative teenagers!

    I am so excited about the potential for healing in their lives and the healing they can bring to others as they walk through this journey. Please pray for God's Spirit to continue to work powerfully.