Youths told: Delay sex until marriage

by Sheron Garraway

At a time when sexual promiscuity around the world has become rampant and the HIV/AIDS virus has struck mainly young people, the youth of this country are being encouraged to delay sex until marriage.

This plea has come from a team of 10 persons from the Youth for Christ who visited this country last week. {{more}}

Lissa Qualls, ministries director for the Americas and Caribbean Area of Youth for Christ International, said students have been taught how to make good choices and take control of their lives.

Qualls stated that at times, too much emphasis is placed on protecting oneself from the physical consequences of sexual intercourse, but the emotional aspect is often neglected. “Everybody may say that being sexually active is a choice, and it is. But if you truly have goals, the best choice is to abstain from sexual activity until you are married. Condoms may protect one part of your body, but it doesn’t protect your spirit, your soul or any of the other things that go with being sexually active.”

The Youth for Christ director indicated statistics revealed that about 25 per cent of the young people who have been sexually active are now choosing to abstain. She said this is because they have realised that to have control of their lives they need to delay sex, which is a huge responsibility that many cannot handle at so young an age.

She said the response from students and teachers had been great and believed that after their message of chastity, positive changes would be made in the lives of those they had ministered to.

She noted that since unintended pregnancies could tremendously change the future of teenagers, one way to avoid becoming pregnant is to refrain from sexual activity.

Qualls also stressed that the bad choices made with drugs and alcohol would also negatively affect the lives of young people in the future and warned of the consequences of getting high on such substances.

She however insisted on the alternative of getting “high on Jesus” to combat the feeling of euphoria that young people look for in drugs and alcohol.

The 10-member team came from the Caris Prevention Services group based in Chicago USA and was brought by Youth for Christ International to minister to the Vincentian youth. They left on Monday, June 13.