“This is a way for me to do something, even a small something, about an issue that can bring a lot of pain”

Carrie Marston
Special to Spur Ottawa

Strength to Fight’s skating fundraiser was a stunning success. The one-year-old ministry took more than 30 volunteers skating on the Canal, January 18, to raise money and spread awareness about the dangers of pornography.

“We chose skating on the canal because it’s fun, it’s different, and it very Canadian,” explains executive director Josh Gilman. “I was blown away by how passionate all our participants were and the response was incredible.”

Gilman launched Strength to Fight with some of his friends, last February, hoping to reach out to men and women struggling with pornography.

“Canada didn’t have a single full-time organization focused solely on fighting porn,” Gilman states. “If nobody else was going to start it, then we felt we had to try. Our goal is to create a porn-free Canada. We fight for that by equipping Canadians to live porn-free lives and build porn-free communities.”

Gilman says his friends essentially “voluntold” him to lead the ministry. At the time he had a six-month-old daughter at home, which made him glad he had found freedom from a porn addiction. He explains he didn’t want his daughter growing up in the same world, with access to porn that’s everywhere.

There are a few major steps to help overcome a pornography addiction. On their website, Strength to Fight offers support and links to other resources, like filters that block inappropriate web content, but the first step, Gilman says, always starts with Jesus Christ.

“I’ve never met someone who successfully got free without putting their faith in God.”

Rene Fortier is one of the passionate volunteers who joined the team on the canal.

“I got involved with Strength to Fight’s fundraiser because of my friend Jonathan Gilman,” Fortier explains. “Jonathan sent me a stirring email that first made it clear why porn is a big problem and then was like, ‘Hey, let’s do something about this.’ The ‘something’ was to raise $15,000 as a group by skating 15 kilometers on the canal, while spreading the message that porn is worth fighting.”

Fortier says the number of men and women who access porn daily is staggering, even in Christian circles. He points to statistics where 64 percent of Christian men and 15 percent of Christian women reported that they watch porn at least once a month. The average age people are first exposed to pornography is just 12.

“So this ministry is a way for me to do something, even a small something, about an issue that can bring a lot of pain,” Fortier says.

Gilman says that as a first time fundraiser they initially hoped to raise $10,000, but some of his friends convinced him to aim for $15,000. In the end, they raised more than $21,000.

The money will go towards their plans for 2016. Strength to Fight is planning several awareness campaigns this year and possibly hiring part time staff. They are also getting ready to release a book talking about the process of overcoming a pornography addiction.

In addition to this, Gilman says one of the fundraiser’s goals was simply to make a statement that Canadians care about fighting porn.

“With more than 30 volunteers spending a cold January afternoon to do this, and over 300 people contributing financially, I think we accomplished that goal.”