Initial Addressing Alcoholism Conference
- Details
- Category: Addressing Alcoholism
- Published on Tuesday, 22 October 2013 21:13
Last year, Mardochee Nadoumngar, the head of the evangelical seminary in Chad, completed his dissertation on the dramatically growing trend of alcoholism in Chad. He felt a strong conviction and calling to mobilize the church to be salt and light on this issue. When Duane met him, he told him we wanted to help. This vision developed from there. We formatted and printed booklets to begin the program, and I brought some with me when I came. The 90-page booklet provides practical and biblical teaching on alcoholism, as well as suggestions for setting up recovery groups in local churches. We helped put together a conference for members of twelve of the largest churches in N’djamena from eight different denominations.
Each church sent the pastor, an associate, a woman, and a youth. Duane Naron came to share his experiences with alcoholics in various support and recovery groups. We both participated in Q&A panel, which sparked a lot of great questions for both of us. The national satellite TV station also put together a 30-minute segment on teaching from the conference. There was a uniform response on the need to do something. Each church agreed to educate people on the consequences of alcoholism and the biblical view of alcohol. Pastors will discuss the issue openly with their congregations. The second part involves reaching out to alcoholics in the community and the church. Each church will setup recovery groups that walk alcoholics through the twelve steps to Christian recovery. Church leaders will lead the recovery groups, and in many ways they serve as discipleship groups.
Each local congregation will have flexibility to setup the program as they see fit. As an organization, we will continue to partner in this ministry. Duane Naron will provide guidance, input, and teaching. We will continue to print and update manuals as necessary. We may even help with a recovery retreat center down the road. We hired a young man here to coordinate the program across churches. He will follow up with support group leaders, and he will work to foster collaboration between the local efforts.
