So much has happened since my trip to attend the Amplify Asia Conference in Hong Kong and then to the United States to attend the Exodus International conference. It would take me a week to write about it everything. But I know no one has the time to read all that! You MUST know about this though.

At the Exodus conference in Orange County, CA, I met two lovely people, Linda and Rob Mueller Robertson. The theme of the Exodus conference was “True Stories” and I could tell from the first conference meeting that there was a new authenticity coming from those who shared. Linda’s brother Don, an openly gay police sergeant, who works for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, kept saying “you must see Rob and Linda presentation tomorrow morning” (said several times for emphasis).

I wanted to be there (even though I didn’t know the full extent of the story) but I HAD to write a newsletter and blog about the ground-breaking announcement the night before, when the president, Alan Chambers, announced that Exodus International was closing down. It took the entire morning to write, so I arrived back at the conference at lunch time just as the meeting was finishing.

Linda’s brother Don, kept saying, “you should have been here”…”you should have been here”

I felt guilty, but I knew I had to let supporters and friends of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International know ASAP about that Exodus was closing its doors.

The following week after the conference, I had time to watch Linda and Roberts presentation on DVD. Sitting in front of my laptop in my West Hollywood hotel room, I began sobbing and continued till after I turned the computer off.

And I realised it was probably meant to be that I missed that morning meeting. Had I actually been there, I’d have wept so loudly that I would have had to leave the auditorium.

Since commencing this work, I have heard lots of personal stories. And when I say lots…. I am talking 1,000s. Many had never been shared with anyone. Always moving ….many heart-wrenching. Rob and Linda’s story stands out as one of the most powerful of all.

Make sure you WATCH and SHARE the video with as many people as possible. Particularly pastors, church leaders and Christian friends who are yet to understand that being gay or lesbian is not a sin, a choice or can be changed. And that holding on to these outdated beliefs can be devastating for individual and families.