On Sunday 22 August, True Love Waits, the America-based sexual abstinence ministry of LifeWay Christian Resources, gained victory in a massive initiative held in Athens, Greece. It called upon the youth of the world to make a stand for sexual purity by remaining sexually abstinent until marriage.
The old city of Athens is currently changing so much under the heat of the Olympics Games, and spiritually, new light has been brought to the city through enthusiastic evangelism and special ministries from overseas outreach teams.
Last Sunday, a gathering at the Dora Stratou Theatre located on a hill adjacent to the Acropolis, the site of the Greek Parthenon, saw a few hundred young people joining the event. The event was held in cooperation with Lay Witnesses for Christ International.
One of the co-founders of True Love Waits, Richard Ross challenged the audience, “You stand before a holy God today and you have to make a decision. Do you love God to the point where you are willing to set yourself apart from what the world is doing so that you can be a holy vessel through which He can work?”
Another speaker, Carl Lewis, voted the Greatest Olympian of the 20th Century said “set yourself apart in your group by being a leader and not giving in to what others are doing.”
True Love Awaits, at the same time, celebrated its 10th Anniversary. The ministry has capitalised the international setting of the Olympic Games to raise the awareness of the world for a biblical approach to abstinence. True Love Awaits has been running very successfully across the U.S. with more than 3 millions American youth alone who have made an abstinence pledge under guidance and counselling.
A sexual abstinence ministry of this kind is the first ever in Europe. The event has opened a path for the movement in the continent which is in the chaos of sexual and life issues, especially among young people. Athens has also once been a site of sexual indulgence during the time of the apostolic churches. The venue itself adds meaning to the event and signals a recovery of the sinful history.
