PUEBLO, CO. –Universal Chastity Education (UCE) hosted a series of outreaches earlier this month to bring the message of chastity, abstinence until a faithful marriage, to teenagers throughout the state of Colorado. Five UCE team members delivered a message of hope and renewal to students in youth groups at Christ the King and the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo, and St. Michael’s in Delta.
Sponsored by the Catholic Foundation of Pueblo, each outreach resulted in several students signing chastity pledge cards, promising to God, their future spouse, and themselves to refrain from sex while they are single, and to seek purity in all aspects of their lives. The Catholic Foundation of Pueblo is a key partner of UCE and its missions in both America and Africa.
Visiting from Tanzania was Mr. Isaac Lema, Director of Africa programs for UCE. He brought with him a wealth of grassroots knowledge from the heart of the ministry’s greatest needs. Along with a team of dedicated chastity speakers, Mr. Lema is touching the lives of young Africans daily by shifting their perspective to fully understand the importance of virginity in order to avoid contracting AIDS. Once in a faithful marriage or holy vocation, Africans witness the value of having waited, as evidenced by their good health in having avoided HIV/AIDS epidemic.
UCE Executive Director Mr. Andrew Dernovsek, along with Mr. Lema, shared their first-hand experiences at St. Joseph’s in Grand Junction on December 1st, and at the annual Agape Meal held at St. Paul the Apostle in Pueblo West on December 3. They spoke fervently about the life-saving lifestyle changes occurring right now throughout Tanzania, Burundi, and Uganda as a direct result of the UCE ministry. In the past 10 years, UCE has watched the HIV/AIDS rate plummet in regions of the African continent where UCE programs exist.
“This is a change that also brings inspiration back to Americans. As it turns out, the western world has much to learn from the African model of success,” says Mr. Dernovsek about the connection between missions in Africa and America. “The students we serve in Colorado take with them concrete evidence for living a healthy life by choosing chastity.”
