Reprinted from The NA Way Magazine, April 2003

Not too long ago a member from Wisconsin was visiting Lima, Peru, on a business trip. For three weeks, this member was unable to attend an NA meeting due to his workload. However, his need to stay in touch with addicts in recovery soon became overwhelming for him.

Even though he could not speak Spanish well, he was able to communicate with a local NA member through the NA helpline in Lima and learned about a meeting close to where he was staying. He left his apartment to catch a taxi to go to that meeting.

Lima has a population of approximately eight million people, a high percentage of whom work as taxi drivers. In spite of this, he had to wait a few minutes until he caught a taxi. Many of the taxicabs were occupied, and some simply did not stop. At last one stopped. He then showed the driver a piece of paper with the address of the meeting’s location.

The driver was not familiar with this address, since it did not specify much. He actually did not have the slightest idea where this address was located, but he decided to try to find it. The driver did not want to miss the opportunity of making a run, and the NA member did not want to miss the opportunity to attend a meeting. He simply had to trust the driver.

On the way there, the driver asked for some type of location reference for the address, but the member did not know anything. He did not know the city very well, except for the route he took from his apartment to work and back every day.

The driver noticed the member’s foreign accent and asked where he was from, why he was in Lima, if he liked the food, and how he liked the Peruvian [people]. The member began to feel more comfortable. The driver was somewhat loud but funny.

After a few quick turns, the driver concluded that these directions would not take them anywhere, so he decided to contact some friends who could possibly help him find this address. They arrived at the place where the taxi driver’s friends were. The driver asked some questions. The address was very strange, and the language written on the paper was very confusing.

The driver went upstairs to look for someone who could give him better directions. Instead of waiting in the taxi, the member decided to go with the driver. They went upstairs and found a room full of people.

Suddenly the member felt his heart skip a beat. He smiled in disbelief. On the back wall, he noticed a big board with the NA logo. He realized that he had finally arrived at an NA meeting. After the meeting ended, they all laughed a lot about how the taxi driver, who had brought him to the meeting, was also an NA member.

Without a doubt, a loving and kind Higher Power drove that member to the place he loved. That loving and kind Higher Power used the driver to accomplish this task—especially if we consider that this driver, who is also an NA member, had not attended a meeting in a while.

We can find the support we all need as long as we do the footwork.

Once again, I have the chance to see that when it comes to recovery, we all speak the same language!

Fernando, Peru