On June 26, True Love Waits (TLW) celebrates 10 years of helping teens commit to sexual abstinence before marriage with two rallies where pledge cards to form the international TLW display at the 2004 Summer Olympics will be collected.
Teens who gather at the Centennial Park in Nashville, Tenn. will be able to listen to performances from Christian music artists Shaun Groves, Barlow Girl, and Jadyn Maria and get to hear inspirational words on sexual purity from Comedian Keith Deltano and Former Miss America Tara Dawn Christensen. The free event will take place 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
STAND, Students Taking A New Direction, will also celebrate TLW's 10th Year Anniversary in the Reunion Arena during its second rally of year. Long-time speaker for TLW Rebecca St. James will be leading the rally, which offers early admittance into to the arena as early as 7 a.m. Actor Stephen Baldwin will also speak. A Youth Evangelism Conference will take place in the morning also led by St. James. The rally begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 5 p.m.
Pledge cards asking students to commit to sexual abstinence before marriage will be collected at both events. The TLW pledge cards read:
"Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."
The deadline to send it the cards to be included as part of the Olympic display on August 22 will be August 17.
An estimated 2.5 to 3 million young people have signed a pledge to be abstinent until they are married during the past decade.
True Love Waits, started in April 1933, is sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources, the world’s largest provider of religious products and service.
