#16: Not the Hero of This Story | Facing Addiction & the Journey Towards Healthier feat. Bob Vander Meer

Addiction. As leaders we will either walk with those caught up in it, or find ourselves facing our own. In this episode, we have a raw and real conversation with Bob Vander Meer, a Pastor and Clinician for Pure Desire Ministries. Bob shares about his own journey with sexual addiction with honesty and vulnerability, wisdom to leaders struggling with addiction and the opportunities ministry leaders have to walk with others in the lifelong process of recovery.

Guest Bio:
Robert is a clinician at Pure Desire Ministries, pastor, and businessman. Not always in this order. Though all three of these positions take place in different locations, they all work toward the same goal: helping people become who they were created to be and present with those who are right in front of them. He has been a clinician at Pure Desire for 10 years, along with his wife. Prior to this, he and his wife worked as the Latin America representatives for Pure Desire, traveling in Latin America and speaking on the topic of sexual health. He has been a pastor and/or in ministry for more than 20 years and currently is part of a neighborhood church where he and his family live in North East Portland.

While working as a senior pastor in Las Vegas, NV, Robert began to face his own sexual addiction. Not without the loss of ministry and relationship. The journey toward healthier is always continuing and a launching point for much of what he does now.

Robert and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for 13 years and have two children: their son Amadeus and their daughter Carmela. They met in 1998 on a short-term mission trip in Costa Rica; however, they went their separate ways for a few years and made a mess of life. Fortunately, those messes helped them reconnect and pursue health together later on.

Connect further with Bob at robertv@puredesire.org or visit https://puredesire.org/speakers/

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Pure Desire Ministries
• The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

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