Page 3 of NAWS News, Volume Ten / Issue 5 / August 2013 I wondered if you even read it. So here you go, How Can We Help? More than two decades ago, World Services began a process focused on how to improve NA services. Starting with World Services’ inventory in 1992 and continuing into this decade, we have been looking at service issues relating to groups, members, areas, and regions. We have gathered and reported on information from Issue Discussion Topics such as Infrastructure; Atmosphere of Recovery; Leadership; Our Freedom, Our Responsibility; etc. We reviewed all the data, and everyone involved seemed to agree that apathy, lack of trusted servants for carrying the message of recovery, low GSR attendance, poor fund flow, and inadequate service delivery (for instance, phonelines that don’t get answered) were some of our issues. No one seemed to argue with these facts. Our most requested workshops have been helping members get involved in service and Building Strong Home groups. More than five years ago World Services proposed initiating a comprehensive change from a service structure to a system which we hoped would help resolve some of our ongoing struggles. The World Service Conference agreed, and together we decided to move forward. This proposal was not a magic bullet; none of us anticipated that overnight we would have all the money to do service, all GSRs participating at area service, and an abundance of trusted servants. Rather, we began building on our foundation, our primary purpose. With that in mind, our first job was to revise A Vision for NA Service. Now, years down the road of proposed change into a service system, some members appear to be blaming World Services for forcing a change upon us, when in fact we have done our level best to partner with the Fellowship every step of the way to bring the Service System Project closer to a common vision. We seem to agree on where we fall short in our service efforts and even have common concurrence of identified problems, and a shared vision for NA service—so how can we move forward together? We know from our personal experience that change is messy; many of us, most likely, recall our lives being in flux as we worked Steps Six and Seven, yet we also know how our lives improved—as did our relationships with others once we were on the other side of change. This analogy is true with the Service System Proposals. We believe that change is necessary for the future stability and flourishing of NA. It is our responsibility as trusted servants to inventory, analyze, and suggest ways to improve. As a fellowship, we have inventoried our service efforts repeatedly through the years and have shared those “assets” and “defects” openly with each other. As It Works: How and Why tells us, “When the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than our fear of change, we will surely let go.” (IWHW, Step Six) Did any one of us know how we would be on the other side of Steps Six and Seven? No. The proposed service system changes ask us to let go of the old and risk moving to something new. Now that we are presented with the opportunity to change, our road has gotten narrower. Many are excited at the opportunity to improve our services and to grow. However, there are those who are standing their ground, defending NA’s right to continue in the same way we have always done things. As responsible leaders, the board has found ourselves obligated to make suggestions that some find off-putting or objectionable. Some may see the exercise of this responsibility as overbearing, and some may disagree with our suggestions, but doing less than our best to serve the future of NA was never an option for us. In a paragraph just as true today as when it was written decades ago, the Basic Text cautions us that, “Everything that occurs in the course of NA service must be motivated by the desire to more successfully carry the message of recovery to the addict who still suffers. It was for this reason that we began this work. We must always remember that as individual members, groups and service committees, we are not and should never be in competition with each other. We work separately and together to help the newcomer and for our common good. We have learned, painfully, that internal strife cripples our Fellowship; it prevents us from providing the services necessary for growth.” We have, as a Fellowship, adopted A Vision for NA Service and now we must figure out how to move forward to realize this vision. At the 2014 World Service Conference the Fellowship, through the CAR, will have the opportunity to choose the direction for our shared future. Our option is a leap of faith. Each and every one of us, everyone on the World Board and everyone reading this issue of NAWS News, is motivated by our desire to carry the message of recovery to addicts. In a sense, we are planting trees that someone else will be sitting under. What is the legacy we want to give to members who are not here yet? How can we move forward together and how can World Services help?
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 06:03:45 +0000