|
 In
1991, Terry Webb responded to a call from Creating A Sober World, a
California group devoted to spreading recovery in the Soviet Union. They
sought family members to help establish Al-Anon groups. Then, in 1992, a
delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church came to Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania seeking help with the massive problem of alcoholism as the
former Soviet Union collapsed. GOAL (then Theodosian Ministries) sent
its first mission team over in 1994 to assist an Orthodox Temperance
Fellowship establish a treatment center. Theodosian Ministries assisted
in the training of physicians and counselors between 1994 and 1997. In
1997, GOAL helped to organize a conference in Moscow initiating the
Russian OPORA ecumenical project, a mission project of World Witness of
the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, to train church leaders and
professionals. The OPORA Center sends out Russian trainers to lead
basic addiction trainings and has started over 100 12-step recovery
groups. OPORA now has set up a program to train addiction counselors and
a prevention training program for social workers.
 GOAL
has been sending joint GOAL/OPORA teams of trainers to lead basic
addiction seminars throughout Russia and the former Soviet Republics
since 2000. Teams have helped establish both AA and Al-Anon in cities
such as St. Petersburg, Volgagrad, Chebyskary, Sablino, and Izhevsk.
One
of GOAL’s Board members serves on the Advisory Committee for OPORA and
one of our missionaries, Kevin Fisher, prepared an interim report on
OPORA’s model program. GOAL also has regularly hosted Round Table
discussions with the fledgling treatment centers in Moscow with the hope
of setting up a professional collaboration. GOAL needs a long term
missionary to help Russian professional treatment providers to form
their own association.
To visit the
OPORA Project website, please click here. |
