Connecting at Conference

by Brockwell Bone, Director of Development

The American Association of Christian Counselors hold their World Conference every two years at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. This conference attracts pastors and Christian counselors from across the country, so you can understand the importance of our attendance in September. The L.I.F.E. Ministries booth was located in a prime location that received heavy traffic – and great interest.

The first year that L.I.F.E. attended this event, many people scanned our booth from a distance, quickly diverted their eyes, and walked by very fast. We were the only booth that addressed the issue at the time. Sexual addiction was still an unspoken problem in churches eight years ago. Now, we are one of the most heavily attended booths in the exhibit hall.

This year, rather than a skeleton staff, we had staff and volunteers travel from Florida, Wisconsin, and California to help out at the booth. And the crew was busy! Counselor and pastors would stop and ask questions about the materials, the ministry, and thanked us for the work that L.I.F.E. is doing. In addition, several of our already existing groups came by to share about the fruitful work of their L.I.F.E. support groups.

While there, Bob Hale and I traveled the eight rows of booths and connected with other ministries and organizations that could benefit from our resources. These organizations included residential treatment programs for sexual addiction, ministries for helping pastors with a range of difficulties, and troubled teen programs. We are following up with these contacts to help them integrate L.I.F.E.’s time-tested resources into their existing programs.

Our attendance at AACC’s World Conference creates a strain on the budget every two years as we do not recoup our costs at the conference. But the exposure and awareness pay off in the long run. If you agree that AACC’s World Conference was effective, and you are led to, please consider making a one-time donation to accelerate the recovery of L.I.F.E.’s expenses at www.freedomeveryday.org/aacc or by calling (866) 408-LIFE.

Updates (Summer 2007 Newsletter)

Upcoming Conference. We are excited to attend the American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference this September! Every two years, this important event gives L.I.F.E. the opportunity to meet thousands of counselors and pastors, and this will be our fourth time there. We were among the first exhibitors to openly address the subject of sexual addiction, and hundreds have visited our dougle booth over the years. Many have expressed their appreciation for the work of L.I.F.E. Ministries during the three previous conferences, and it will be great to see these old friends. While sales of L.I.F.E. Guides at this event have grown each time we’ve attended: getting the issue of sexual addiction and the L.I.F.E. Ministry program in front of these attendees is critical to our growth. There will be about ten of our staff and ministry leaders present to meet and greet the attending pastors and counselors. If you are able and would like to make a financial contribution to help cover the costs (like printing of brochures, preparation of booth, transporation of booth, etc.) of this conference, please call Headquarters at (866) 408-LIFE or visit www.freedomeveryday.org/aacc.

Where are Bob and Johna? They are focused on the upcoming American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference. Their column will appear in the Fall newsletter. Please keep L.I.F.E. in your prayers as we make all the preparations to attend this outreach opportunity.

XXX Church. The crew at XXX Church is successfully entering college campuses and other venues. If you recall, they released a co-branded L.I.F.E. Guide series to offer a tool of recovery along with their awareness efforts. For more information about XXX Church and their message about the destructive nature of pornography, please visit www.xxxchurch.com.

New resources. We are close to releasing two new resources. The first is the Orientation Guide for Men; a booklet designed to effectively educate and integrate newcomers to L.I.F.E. Groups. The second new resource on deck is the L.I.F.E. Guide for Young Women. Look for more information and availability on each of these soon.