March 17, 2003

True Love stems tide of AIDS in Uganda
___By Barbara Brake
___LifeWay Christian Resources
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--"I've saved myself for you," Carol and Daudi told each other during their 1999 wedding ceremony. As they exchanged wedding vows at Kampala Baptist Church, the Ugandan couple also exchanged True Love Waits commitment cards each had signed, promising to postpone sex until entering a biblical marriag

BAPTIST young people in Uganda march to promote True Love Waits, the Baptist sexual purity campaign. True Love Waits has been credited with reducing AIDS in the African nation.(BP Photo)

e.
___Carol and Daudi met at the Baptist Student Center and fell in love while enrolled at Makerere University in Kampala. One of their common bonds was that had decided to be sexually abstinent until they married.
___Daudi decided to remain a virgin until marriage and to marry only one woman despite having a polygamist father. When Daudi's father died, 98 of his children could be accounted for, while other children's whereabouts were unknown.
___"I want something different," Daudi said. "I want one wife and the number of children I can care for. I want a better life." The couple's first child was born last year.
___True Love Waits' message is making a profound impact in Uganda, where people like Carol and Daudi are saving sex for marriage. The sexual abstinence campaign has been credited as a factor in reducing the AIDS rate in the East African country. The rate of HIV/AIDS infection has fallen from 30 percent of the population in the early 1990s to around 10 percent today.
___Government leaders and some HIV/AIDS activists in Uganda cite True Love Waits for much of the success. Sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, True Love Waits got its start in the United States in 1993. Word quickly spread not only across America but also to other nations, due in large part to worldwide media coverage.
___Uganda is a country where Christian leaders see True Love Waits as a God-sent way to combat the growing menace of HIV and AIDS.
___Joining with other Christian leaders, Southern Baptist missionaries Larry and Sharon Pumpelly led the way for True Love Waits in Uganda. They launched the campaign in Kampala July 29, 1994, with a large public celebration and parade to coincide with the first national True Love Waits celebration held the same day on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
___True Love Waits has the support of Uganda's first lady, Janet Museveni, a Christian who is outspoken in promoting sexual abstinence until marriage. Last year when addressing the International Christian Conference on HIV/AIDS, she said her husband, President Yoweri Museveni, has set the tone for his government by emphasizing a return to sexual fidelity.
___Uganda is one of many success stories in the worldwide reach of True Love Waits. The Baptist World Alliance has carried the campaign's message to 44 million Baptists in 206 countries. True Love Waits covenant cards representing countries on every continent and all 50 states have been signed.
___

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