The Disclaimer: Before reading the following I must give a disclaimer. All of you who are familiar with working for the “Business of God,” know that it is completely unpredictable. No matter how together we think we might have things, He seems to take our perfectly laid out, comfortable plan, and turn it upside down. This keeps us dependent on his direction day in and day out. A long time ago I chose Proverbs 3:5–6 as my life verse, it says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will set your paths straight.”
The goal and plan stated below are what I am working towards currently, but I am daily seeking God with all my heart, with the realization that he may have a different way for me to fulfill his purposes in S. Africa then what I have predicted. I need all of you to know I am open to any direction God may send me and am not in any way going to limit how he may work or where his paths may lead. So, this said, if you have guidance, words or wisdom, or God lays a plan on your heart for me, that may not fit exactly with what is listed below, please share it with me. I want to be a servant to those in Africa and am open to suggestions. I’ve just gotta start somewhere and cast my nets, even if the outcome is unknown or the path may be rough.
The Goal: My goal is to bring God’s love, hope, health, and a life free from AIDS to the black community of South Africa through the truth of the gospel and the message of sexual abstinence until marriage.
James describes pure and undefiled religion as this… “to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). He goes on to say in Chapter 2, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
South Africa has the need, like the rest of the world, to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They also have a need which many of us can not completely relate. They struggle daily with hunger, consequences of sexual immorality, poverty, unemployment, drunkenness, and death, all of which are byproducts in most cases of the toll that AIDS has taken on their nation. In this time of distress my goal is to offer them the love of Christ, a hope in eternity with him and a life glorifying to him as they grasp what it means to live life according to His principals, specifically His principal of sexual morality.
The Plan: God willing, this is what I anticipate the future of Purely Committed in South Africa to look similar to…
Stepping Stones…
In order to learn more about the South African culture, to become more familiar with the country and its townships, and to gain a level of comfort that is needed to bring a future team with me to S. Africa, I would like to serve there with an organization for anywhere between 3 months to a year. My hope is that this sending organization will give me more experience in the field of abstinence education and encouragement in some way. I also hope to have some time available to network with churches, schools, organizations, and housing possibilities in a number of townships. The need for networking however, may be met in an extended visit in which I am not committed to any organization, but in this case I would for sure need a travel companion or two.
With my new found knowledge, direction, and contacts, I will return to the US to prepare to bring a Purely Committed team to South Africa. While in the US, I will work on accomplishing the following three tasks before returning to S. Africa. First, I will recruit a number (6 or so) of college/post college young adults from churches around the country that have a variety of talents and skills to commit to the team for at least a year. These people will join with a team of young people in S. Africa to coordinate events, teach classes, lead support groups, organize social events, and start small community centers.
Secondly, I and the team would work on grant writing and other fundraising venues to raise the funds necessary for our year there and to support a stipend for the locals we bring on for help. We would also dedicate time to gathering material donations such as Bibles, books, abstinence curriculum, games, sport equipment, etc.
Thirdly, a time would be set aside for the team to meet, pray, plan, and bond before venturing to the unknown.
The first Purely Committed team will serve in S. Africa for a year. During that year we will hopefully be concentrating on 3 (meaning about 4 months in each township) townships and organizing and conducting four projects. While doing so we will also be training the black nationals (so that someday they can be self sufficient) and networking in the white S. African community (getting white youth involved in serving the black communities and hopefully gaining financial and prayer support from the white churches). The three projects our year will focus on will be…
These conferences will be the initial community outreach to draw the youth together to be introduced to the concept of abstinence, focusing on the emotional, mental and physical consequences of sex before marriage and the benefits of abstinence. The primary focus will be HIV/AIDS education and the roll abstinence plays in protecting from the disease virtually 100%.
The initial conference will be a call out to the youth of the township (16-32 is typically what is considered youth). The second conference will invite the parents of the youth. The third conference offered will be specifically for couples. Offering a fourth conference for married couples and encouraging them in leading pure God honoring marriages is also a possibility.
The following four groups will give youth the opportunity to strengthen their commitment, gain knowledge, and invite friends to hear more about their commitment. All in all these groups will provide at least four and possibly more nights of organized activity where they will be busy not having sex or getting into trouble, supporting each other, and growing in their faith and knowledge.
One reason a sexually abstinent lifestyle is so hard to maintain within the black townships is that there is very little to do. When speaking to youth in Philippi I was told that “a date” or “getting to know someone of the opposite sex” meant having sex. They said that there isn’t really anything else to do. They lack the resources for games, money for dining, and transportation to go anywhere. One of our goals will be to offer resources to encourage them in their commitment to purity (related books and videos) and offer other activities, besides sex, for entertainment (games, sporting equipment, instruments and maybe a small kitchen or diner). This area/room/building will serve the community as a resource center and a place to facilitate and organize “group” sessions for years to come.
It will be a goal to introduce abstinence curriculums to local primary schools, encouraging their educators to add one to their health curriculum if there is not something already established. If the opportunity arises we will also offer to teach the curriculum ourselves in health classes during our time in the township.
