Our district ministers met for three days this week at the Marianhill Monastery where we were taken through several sessions led by two addiction counsellors. I assumed I already had a decent understanding of the issues around substance abuse, but there was so much to learn about the disease of addiction and the typical recovery journeys of addicts and their families. Both facilitators were themselves in recovery and it was really refreshing to hear their openness about a condition that often still has a stigma attached to it.
On our last day together, our entire group visited the Ethelbert Child and Youth Care Centre, which, as you know, is a Methodist project that has been serving vulnerable young people and their families for well over 100 years in Durban. The centre is well worth visiting - a place of compassion and excellence that we should be very proud of as Methodists. The children who come to Ethelbert have experienced horrific trauma and we were told as we walked around the centre to expect older children to smile and offer hugs, but that some of the little ones would still be very cautious and sceptical until they too "found their joy". In addition to WMC's existing financial and practical support, there are other ways we can all get involved at Ethelbert - contact the office for more info (or chat to Adrienne at the 9am service, or David / Felicity at the evening service).