Of most controversy is a program to help homosexuals overcome same-sex attraction.

But director of Living Waters ministries, Ron Brookman, said the controversy was misdirected.

Mr Brookman married his second wife, Ruth, in 1994, and the pair have three children. But he said he can recall being attracted to men from age five.

"I believe homosexuality is a tendency, not a tyranny,'' Mr Brookman said.

After successfully completing the program, Mr Brookman said he had not acted on homosexual impulses.

"I'm so thankful to God, and I want to proclaim his goodness, and give other people hope that change is possible,'' he said.

"The years I was gay were the worst of my life ... This is the happiest time of my life.''

A Sutherland Shire man, 40, who did not wish to be named, completed the Living Waters program and is now married with two children.

He said he was never content with his life as a homosexual man.

"The gay scene is known for its promiscuity and for its lack of commitment. There were days where I had more casual encounters than people have hot meals in a day,'' he said.

"But I dealt with depression, I felt suicidal, because the lifestyle I had conflicted with what I believed in my heart.''

Ben Gresham, 20, went to programs similar to Living Waters. But for him, they did more harm than good.

"I had really bad depression when I realised nothing was changing, and I started to self harm. Then I started to attempt suicide. I thought because I couldn't change, I needed to be punished.''

He was jolted out of his fixation with change when a fellow program member committed suicide.

Lloyd Jones, 24, was encouraged to embrace his homosexuality when his mother came out as a lesbian after experiencing many conversion programs, including Living Waters.

Despite their experiences, both Lloyd and Ben said they believed that people who ran conversion programs were only trying to do good.

STRAIGHT TALK

Living Waters began as part of Exodus International, an inter-denominational Christian organisation founded in 1976.

It came to Australia in 1972 to help homosexuals change their sexual orientation.

Using Christian counselling and prayer, it is a six-month program that encourages people to confess homosexual acts or impulses and pray for healing.

For some time it was offered as a referral service from Hillsong Church, but this is no longer the case.

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