AA's "step 3" and the role of faith in Buddhism

Reading through the book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions put out by Alcoholics Anonymous, I do truly appreciate the work that this group does for so many people, and helping to change so many lives around.  But the God language as written in this material continually alienates me as a Buddhist.

The themes of step 2 and 3 are, respectively, "Come to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity" and "Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him." 

There are some themes that I think can easily apply to Buddhism.  The ideas of leaving aside our ego, for example.  And some branches of Buddhism - like parts of Pure Land, which emphasizes "ta-riki" (other-power) might jive well by easily replacing the word God with Amitabha in many cases.

But in most cases even the clause "as we understand Him" is described by language that is very centered in the Christian tradition.  Although I can imagine the ways non-Christians and non-theists can still benefit from these chapters, I am curious how its used.

One issue I see is a discrepancy in the idea of faith.  The idea of faith presented in the AA literature feels extreme in its willingness to give over to that idea of God.  They speak of this as being so necessary.  Yet I wonder about just having faith in the process, combined with faith in those who have succeeded with it already.  I am reminded of Thanissaro Bhikkhu's article on Buddhist faith - a very non-theistic, yet interesting view on the usefulness of faith.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/faithinawakening.html

One main point he makes at the beginning of the piece is "even though the Buddha recommends tolerance and a healthy skepticism toward matters of faith, he also makes a conditional request about faith: If you sincerely want to put an end to suffering — that's the condition — you should take certain things on faith, as working hypotheses, and then test them through following his path of practice."

Thanissaro cites the famous passage in the Kalama sutra, which asks people to test things they hear with their own experience, but he points out that the Buddha also discussed the value of faith in good teachers.

There are many things to test in the world, but we have to look to what has worked for those who have succeeded, and put a little trust - or faith - in that, really try it out.

Look for different roads that have worked before for others and give it an honest good effort. 
I think there are those options available even from an AA perspective - with groups and people who have succeeded without a theistic view.  I wonder how they interpreted these sections of the AA literature... well I have my next question for my professor now.