Students Taking A New Direction (STAND), a Florida-based Christian non-profit for student development, partnering up with True Love Waits to hold a free rally teaching the youth “self respect through sexual purity”, as stated on STAND’s website. On June 4, organizers expect a large turnout for the rally held at T.D. Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida, the same place that drew 13,500 teenagers for a STAND rally in 2002.
Executive Director of STAND Terry Kemple told the Florida Baptist Witness, “I want things to be better for them in the future than it is now.” “I feel God has called me to make a difference in our culture.”
Kemple, former executive director Christian Coalition Florida, was part of the team that organized the 2002 Orlando rally along with STAND’s president Bob Touchston The two, who are both Southern Baptists, had met while working at Florida Right to Life and started STAND from their shared beliefs and values, including teaching children about sexual abstinence.
Those who attend the Orlando rally won’t only benefit from the positive message but the stellar line-up of Contemporary Christian music artists and speakers. Music will be provided by recording artists Salvador, Jeff Deyo, Rachael Lampa, Urban D, and By the Tree Speakers. Speakers will include TV and film actor Stephen Baldwin; Richard Ross, founder of True Love Waits and a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas; Frank Reynosa, pastor of House of Hope, Orlando; and David and Kris Toyne of Shiloh Place Ministries of Conway, S.C.
According to Florida Baptist Witness, Touchston said, “These groups are a hook to draw young people to hear about God’s love and God’s moral plan for sexual purity.”
“We want it all to be positive. I believe that even the ‘don’ts’ in the Bible are positive,” he said.
Future venues for STAND rallies this year will include Dallas, Texas, on June 26 and Jacksonville, Florida, October 2.
For more information, visit STAND’s Web site, www.standtrue.org.
