Eagan woman coordinates California abstinence banquet
by Karena Tapsak
For twenty-year-old Jaime Rau of Eagan, making a pledge of sexual purity until marriage was not just a personal decision—it has become a full-time outreach ministry.
Jaime, a junior in communications at Westmont College in California, is coordinating an abstinence banquet for college-aged women in Santa Barbara. Her organization, Purely Committed, is planning the “One Knight Only” Banquet, to take place on April 20, 2002 at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Barbara.
Jaime first conceived the idea when she was a freshman in college. “I had signed a pledge commitment with True Love Waits in high school, but I was disappointed and discouraged when I got to my Christian college to find so many women being influenced by our pop culture and its glamorization of sex. I really felt like I wanted to encourage other women to commit to abstinence.”
Fortunately, Jaime realized that college students needed to be reached differently than high school students. “Not until you are in college do you encounter the kinds of freedoms you never had before and the social pressures and sexual temptations that accompany those freedoms.”
Feeding that the time was right, Jaime has dedicated this semester to prepare for the conference, placing school on hold. “I want to be able to give the conference my full attention. I’m thinking of it as an internship, with God as my supervisor, and want to be free [of other commitments] in order to do whatever it is God is leading me to do.”
Her vision is for 250 college-aged women to be given the opportunity to hear about the benefits of abstinence and be able to make a memorable commitment, or even recommit themselves to remain sexually pure until marriage. “Our society at large treats sex as a trashy activity and casual occurrence. Our banquet will treat this subject, and the major commitment involved in abstinence, with the class it deserves.”
The banquet itinerary will include four speakers throughout the evening, including a physician, a testimonial, a married couple, and a motivational speaker. There will be musical performances during the evening, including recording artists, and a fully catered three-course dinner by the Radisson. The evening will conclude with a beach commitment ceremony, where the young women will light candles and sign their commitment cards, followed by an informal celebration.
“We really want the women to be able to remember this evening, especially if they find themselves later to be in a tempting situation. We want them to be able to picture themselves and the other women at this event when they all together made this important commitment.”
Jaime and her committee of organizers have committed to raise $24,000 for the conference. They have teamed up with a Santa Barbara pregnancy care center, Life Network, in order to facilitate the handling of donations.
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