2016 World Service Meeting

“I A.A., . L O W, . E A.A. , O A.A., . B W. — O L . S , .” —Terrance B., General Service Board chair, U.S./Canada H ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS TH WORLD SERVICE MEETING Rye Brook, New York | October 23-27, 2016 Copyright © by A.A. World Services, Inc., Box Grand Central Station, New York, N.Y. 6. 1 All rights reserved. INDEX “One World, One A.A., One Language of the Heart” 24th World Service Meeting 2016 Rye Brook, New York Final Report Copyright © 2017 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Mail address: Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163 All rights reserved. Contents THE TWENTY-FOURTH WORLD SERVICE MEETING One World, One A.A., One Language of the Heart (Overview) . 5 Welcoming Address . 7 Keynote Address . 9 Presentations . 11 International Literature Fund . 11 International Literature Fund Receipts . 11 A .A . Literature Translation and Licensing . .. 13 Country-to-Country Sponsorship . 15 In Countries Where There Is an Established Service Structure . 15 In Countries Where There Is No Established Service Structure . 17 A.A. Without Frontiers: Many Languages, Many Cultures, One Unique Message . 20 In a Multilingual Society . 20 In a Multicultural Society . 21 From Recovery Without Ego and Pride Comes True Leadership . 23 The Twelve Steps Lead the Way . 23 Practicing the Twelve Traditions . 25 Following the Twelve Concepts . 27 The A.A. Home Group — The Spiritual Foundation of Our Recovery . 28 Do You Need a Home Group? . 28 Spiritual Growth in the Comfort of My Home Group . 29 Growing Up in My Home Group . .. 31 A.A. Service and Spirituality . .. 33 Basics of My Recovery . 33 Service: An Indispensable Tool for Spirituality . 34 Service and Spirituality: Two Sides of the Same Coin . 37 Fellowship (The Meeting After the Meeting) . 40 Identification . 40 We’re Not a Glum Lot . .. 41 Benefits and Pitfalls . 42 Social Media and A.A . 42 Advantages . .. 42 Disadvantages . 44 New Developments in Safeguarding Anonymity . 46 Country Service Highlights . 48 Committee Reports . 82 Agenda . 82 Literature/Publishing . 83 Policy/Admissions/Finance . 85 Working With Others . 87 Site Selection . 91 Workshop Reports . 92 Resentment: What Does It Mean for Individual Recovery and for Group Survival? . 92 Communication Between the Generations: Are We Succeeding in Carrying the Message? . 93 The Spirituality of Our Financial Contributions . 94 Reports of Interim and Zonal Service Meetings . 96 11th Asia-Oceania Service Meeting . 96 18th European Service Meeting . 98 19th Meeting of the Americas (REDELA) . 99 7th Sub-Saharan Africa Service Meeting . 102 Closing Talk . 107 Summary: Twenty-Fourth World Service Meeting Evaluation Questionnaire . 109 GSOs and Literature Distribution Centers . 111 Financial Report . 115 2016 WSM Committees . 115 The Twelve Concepts for World Service . 116 One World, One A.A., One Language of the Heart From October 23 through 27, 2016, 60 delegates representing 41 countries or zones where Alcoholics Anonymous has a national service structure or service office gathered at the Hilton Westchester Hotel in Rye Brook, New York for the 24th World Service Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous . The World Service Meeting (WSM), whose purpose, as is the aim of all A .A . activity, “to carry the message to the still-suffering alcoholic, wherever in the world he or she may be…” was established in 1969 and since 1972 has been held every other year, alternating between New York and a city outside the U .S ./Canada structure, chosen by the WSM itself . While many countries have been participating in the WSM over a wide span of years, atten- dance is fluid with each meeting, and, for the first time, Paraguay and Slovakia were represented in 2016 . Simultaneous interpretation from Spanish into English and English into Spanish was provided at all plenary sessions, and all committee reports and report backs were available onsite in the two official languages . World Service Meeting presentations and workshops centered around the theme “One World, One A .A ., One Language of the Heart .” The five-day meeting was filled with lively and thought-provoking discussions that addressed various aspects of the experience in many countries of A .A .’s Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity and Service . At the opening session, the chair of the U .S ./Canada General Service Board warmly welcomed all delegates and support staff to the meeting, expressing gratitude for the sacrifice each one had to make to get there . Noting the World Service Meeting theme, he said, “Our meeting has been described as a living and growing exchange of experience, responding to the needs of A .A . worldwide . It reflects the founders’ vision that there would always be one consistent message — the message that A .A . would always be available for sick alcoholics, wherever they might be or whatever language they might speak . Our World Service Meetings prove that this Fellowship will continue to thrive and grow wherever the need for recovery exists .” The Keynote Address was given by Jatta K . of Finland, which, she noted, “is one of the most A .A .-covered countries in Europe . Actually, we share first place among A .A . density with the Irish . All other European countries have fewer A .A . groups per population compared to us two .” Shar- ing some of her experience, strength and hope, she added, “I hit my bottom 18 years ago . My story is a very typical, sad female alcoholic story . In the beginning, I truly believed that I could handle the drinking . Seven years later, I did not know if I wanted to live or die . Someone chose that I should live, and I found my way to A .A .” As her sobriety grew, she began to get more deeply involved in A .A ., eventually coming to be selected as the World Service Meeting delegate from Finland . “These past three years have been great,” she said . “I have learned a lot about A .A .; I have met wonderful people, heard amazing stories and felt that we are on the same side .” Speaking about A .A .’s borderless message, Jatta shared one example of how the A .A . message crosses all boundaries: the book The Language of the Heart, which has recently been translated into Finnish . “This book consists of stories that were written in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s by an elderly man in English . Now various people in Finland read the very same stories in Finnish — and the reaction and influence is the same as originally: these stories are about me, one world, one A .A . and one language of the heart .” 5 INDEX In a number of sessions spanning the five days, one delegate from each country or zone represented provided service highlights from their country . These included brief A .A . histories of the countries and information on current structures and activities . In addition, delegates heard reports from the Zonal Service Meetings, gatherings of the general service structures of whole sections of the globe held in the year when there is not a World Service Meeting . Zonal meetings have been particularly helpful for emerging countries beginning to get involved in A .A . beyond their own borders, and countries are encouraged to participate in zonal meetings before applying to participate in the World Service Meeting . The four World Service Meeting committees (Agenda, Literature/Publishing, Policy/Admis- sions/Finance and Working with Others) met during the week, and their conclusions were reported to the body, which deliberated and voted on their recommendations . World Service Meeting recommendations set policy for the WSM itself, and are not binding on any participating country . In addition to committee meetings and Country Service Highlights, the five days of the meeting were packed with presentations, 22 in all, on topics ranging from how to use new communication technologies and social media more effectively to how to carry the message in multilingual and multicultural societies . A major topic, as at previous World Service Meetings, was the devel- opment of Country-to-Country Sponsorship and the role it plays in the growth and effectiveness of A .A . around the world . Greg T ., general manager of the General Service Office U .S ./Canada, reported on the Interna- tional Literature Fund, which was established at the 11th World Service Meeting to provide start- up literature for those countries unable to finance their own translations and acquisitions . “Around the world,” shared Greg, “about 20 translations or re-translations of the Big Book are currently underway, and during the past year translations of the Big Book have been completed in Twi (Ghana) and Rarotongan (Cook Island) . Two years ago, a new Arabic translation was completed .” Recent international translations at GSO are continuing at a steady clip . “Just in the first half of 2016,” said Greg, “the number of translation reviews have totaled 45 (in 38 languages) . In the past two years, we have been shepherding the review of projects in Afrikaans, Farsi, Russian, Turkish, Czech, Hebrew, Swedish, Polish, Filipino, Portuguese, Arabic and others .” Adding to the discussion on the publishing of international literature, David R ., A .A .W .S . publishing director, provided an overview of the process and procedures for the translation and licensing of A .A .W .S . copyrighted materials and met individually with interested delegates to review specific circumstances and situations faced in different countries . In addition to the sharing during the presentations, delegates met in three workshops . They discussed the topic of resentments and what they can mean for individual recovery and group survival; communication between generations and how the Fellowship is succeeding in carrying the message to all alcoholics; and the spirituality of financial contributions and the importance of Tradition Seven . Between sessions, delegates could be seen clustered around tables in the hotel, coffee or tea- cups on the table, sharing A .A .-style, one-on-one, with many delegates noting that this informal, individual sharing was as vital to their WSM experience as the formal sessions were .

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