Twin Cities woman leads college crusade for abstinence
by LaDawn Osmundson
When Jaime Rau was asked who inspired her to found the movement “Purely Committed,” the 20-year old Minnesota native responded, “God has called me, and no one person has encouraged me to do this.”
“Purely Committed,” an outreach ministry which encourages abstinence on a peer level, was initiated by this Eagan High School graduate who is now completing her junior year at Westmont College in California.
This year has been a unique one for Rau, as she took a semester off from her studies to focus on getting “Purely Committed” off the ground and organizing its “One Knight Only” banquet. “I’m thinking of it as an internship, with God as my supervisor,” she said.
The banquet, scheduled for April 20 at the Radisson in Santa Barbara, will present college women with the consequences of premarital sex and offer them an opportunity to make a memorable commitment to sexual purity until marriage. The night will include a three-course meal, a speech by actor Kirk Cameron, and music by recording artists.
A doctor will explain the physical harms of premarital sex and a married couple will talk about the benefits of waiting for marriage.
In addition, a college woman will share her testimony of how God gave her a second chance at sexual purity, and actor Austin O’Brien (My Girl II), who is now a junior at California’s Azusa Pacific University, will offer a video-taped message giving a man’s perspective on the issue.
The night will conclude with a candle-lighting ceremony on the beach, and commitment card signing.
Rau is particularly enthusiastic about the young woman who will give her testimony, as she is one of the 11 women from Westmont College who originally responded with passion when Rau explained her vision of Purely Committed. Together, the twelve ladies are encouraging others to make the commitment to stay pure.
Rau noted the importance of the peer-to-peer focus of “Purely Committed,” and said she hopes God will raise up more young women to carry the vision at Westmont, as well as at campuses all over the nation.
She also hopes the “Purely Committed” vision will impact young men as well. “My calling is to college-age women specifically,” she said. “I know that if I want to make an impact, I need to focus on one target audienceÉcollege women relate to other college women.” She added, “I would love to see a team of men initiate a similar movement among their peers.”
When asked about particular Scriptures that have inspired her, Rau said, “One thing that I lead my whole life by, is the truth that my body is God’s temple.” Rau remembers as a young teen writing in her journal a pledge to remain sexually pure, and asking her mom to sign it as her witness.
The issue of purity became more important as Rau began college. “God put the idea for the banquet on my heart when I went back home after my first semester,” she said. “I ran across a ‘True Love Waits’ card that I had signed back in high school. Being at a Christian college and watching people still fall into temptation increased my burden and drive to do this. If it’s this bad at a Christian college, I can’t imagine what it must be like at a secular campus.”
Asked how she thought our culture might be impacted if abstinence was the norm, Rau said, “So many things would change. If people could resist, we’d have more confidence in our self-control in so many areas. We keep thinking that these urges are uncontrollable, and that our sexuality is the hardest area of our life to control… I don’t really agree with that, but if we can take a stand in this area, it would be a statement of self-control.” She added, “Relationships, families, marriages would be so much stronger, self-control, respect, making decisions, following through even when it’s difficult—difficult but not impossible, that’s the key.”
To young people who ask, “Why wait?”—particularly those in dating relationships, Jaime encourages, “If they want that love to last, and want it to be as strong as they can, they should set up those boundaries, so that they don’t have any hindrances for the intimacy they could achieve. You have already broken a bond of trust with that person if you have premarital sex, because if they gave in for you, how do you know they won’t give in to temptation again?”
Looking ahead to the crucial issues they will be dealing with at the “One Knight Only” banquet, Rau said, “Our society at large treats sex as a trashy activity and casual occurrence. Our conference will treat this subject, and the major commitment involved in abstinence, with the class it deserves.”
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