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In a powerful display of commitment to their beliefs, hundreds of teenagers and youths from the Assemblies of God Church (AGC) participated in the annual Chastity Parade, weekend to counter Valentine’s Day immorality and vowed to uphold sexual purity.
St Valentine’s Day is usually celebrated yearly on February 14 worldwide as a festival of love.
The Chastity Parade aimed at promoting purity and holiness, even as participants vowed to lead lives aligned with their values.
This initiative sought to counteract the perceived immoral behaviours often associated with Valentine’s Day, fostering a culture of chastity and holy living.
The event, in its 14th edition, saw hundreds of youths with other members of the congregation marching through the major streets of Surulere, Lagos.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as; ‘Chastity is a Choice, not a Chance’, ‘Be Proud, Be Pure, Sexual Purity,’ ‘Reflecting God’s Beauty,’ ‘They Break, Jesus Fixes,’ ‘Your Chastity Sets You Free’ and ‘Flee From Sexual Immorality’, among others.
Speaking at the occasion, Rev. Bright Unuane, Senior Pastor, AGC, Surulere, Lagos, tracing the origin of Chastity Parade said that the programme is targeted to counter the notion that Valentine’s Day is for immoral behaviour.
According to him, the parade is targeted at creating awareness among the AGC teenagers on the negative effects of immoral behaviour so that they in turn will carry the message to their friends and other youths in the larger society.
Unuane, the host of the programme, also said that the Church wants young people to understand that purity and
abstinence are not wrong values.
Therefore, according to her, a young person can remain a virgin until he is married, while couples in marriage should remain faithful to their partners, in line with their marital vows at God’s altar.
“So, what the Church is saying is that there is no need for fornication for those who are single, or adultery for those who are married, and that February 14 is not a time to engage in immorality, because, apart from it being a sin, there are a lot of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies now in the society,” she explained.
Chidi Udo, Pastor of the Teen Church and the Convener of the programme, stressed that the rally became important because the devil had taken over February 14, causing many young boys and girls to lose their virginity on that day.
“We are taking a bold stand today to tell our teenagers to choose purity and chastity and to wait for that special person and that abstinence is what we stand for because our body is the temple of God and should not be defiled.
“We also want to remind Nigerians that there are health implications in immoral behavior, because there are a lot of diseases all over the place and they are increasing every day.
“The parade is equally important to remind the girl-child that when a boy tells a girl that he wants to sleep with her, he wants to take away her destiny, he wants to tell her lies and go to bed with her.
“He does not love her and that is lust and we are saying that chastity empowers them and purity is their strength,” he added.
Chidinma Isinguzo, President of the Teen Department, explained that the message is not limited to teenagers alone, but includes married couples.
He noted that what the Church is preaching is that it is good to be chaste before marriage, and after marriage, remain faithful to your partner.
Also speaking, a teenager, Joy Oji, posited that the rally has really impacted her life as she has vowed to remain a virgin until she gets married to the right man.
She advised other teenagers to be chaste and avoid engaging in immoral acts, especially as Valentine’s Day (celebrated on Friday) was around the corner, in order not to sin against God.
In his remarks, an elder of the Church and Liaison Deacon of the Teens Church, Francis Ehiguese, explained that Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a period in which people share love and affection.
He lamented that the day has been turned into worldly things, prompting the Church to organise the event yearly for proper orientation of the youths.
Elder Ehiguese further stated that the rally basically was to make people understand the importance of living a Christlike life as well as understand the true value of love; not the worldly love, but the one Jesus Christ laid his life for mankind.
“There is a need to teach the youths the importance of being pure and the decency of life and that Valentine is showing love to people and not for immoral behaviour.
“We want them to live a life that is not abused, a life that conforms to the standard and dictates of the Bible. A life that people will see and say, you have value for yourself and a life that people will see and say, this is a child of God,” he concluded.
The parade, which began from the Church premises in Clegg, Surulere, took the participants through Funsho Williams Avenue, to the National Stadium, Shitta, Randle Avenue, Akerele Street, and Hakeem Habeeb Close by Randle General Hospital, and back to the Church.
At the end of the parade, the teenagers renewed their vows to remain chaste until they go into marriage.
English (US) ·