Book: Twelve Steps with Jesus

Addiction is a major problem of our time, affecting far more people than we realise.

Twelve Steps with Jesus is a wonderful book, written by an intelligent and committed Catholic, who also proves to be an excellent and very readable author - Charles Whitehead writes. In her own words this book is designed as an introduction for Christians and others to Twelve-Step programmes and to the subject of co-dependence. I could not put it down , and I am certain it will be enormously helpful and encouraging to anyone whose life as affected by someone suffering from addiction.

It is also a fascinating account of the author's life, taking the reader from her childhood through adolescence, various jobs, into a happy marriage and the birth of twin boys, and on to the pain, hurt and confusion of watching her much-loved husband battling alcoholism, having to face up to the reality of her own powerlessness to stop it despite her living faith in the person of Jesus Christ and His power to heal, She explains it like this - the more I admit my personal powerlessness the more I am likely to call on the power of God.

We journey with her through the years when she had to come to terms with her own feelings of poor self-image, guilt, shame, frustration, anger and depression, as she struggled to make sense of what was happening to her. All of this against the backdrop of a fascinating family life - their home and friends in France, the flat inn London, visits to family, the support of believing and praying Christians , time spent at Charismatic Christian conferences - as Daphne battled to keep things as normal as possible and to come to terms with her own life in the midst of all this.

For me, the most fascinating window into her world is the journal she kept, in which she recorded her amazing conversations with Jesus. This is what makes the book full of hope - a moving account of the power of God to change lives today and to bring healing to us when everything seems to be out of control. Daphne's succinct description of the key parts of the Twelve Step programmes is summed up as : " I can't, He (God) can. Let Him."

The programmes are all about spiritual values such as love, truth, kindness, honesty etc. They are also about connecting or reconnecting with God as we understand Him. But there are no religious observances and the spiritual values are universal ones.

… It's a story which should be read by anyone who feels there may be a conflict between Twelve-Step programmes and their Christian faith, and it clearly shows this need not be the case. .. challenging , humorous , encouraging , thought-provoking and very readable - it deserves to be a best seller.

Twelve Steps with Jesus by Daphne K is available from all good book shops and online.

For more information see: www.12stepswithjesus.com/

Twelve Steps with Jesus has been translated into Slovak and Polish. The Slovak edition is currently sold out. Some copies of the Polish version, published by Serafin, are available from 154 Ifield Road, SW10. £10 including postage.

Daphne K is wanted as a main speaker in a Al-Anon conference in Slovakia and then she is invited to the Czech Republic for the national meeting in September.