Origin

I was walking in Broadmead, the centre of the City of Bristol, UK, just thinking about the society I find myself living in. It’s a very sexually promiscuous one where teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the highest in Europe.

We know that England is not isolated in its fight against teen pregnancy and STD’s. HIV/AIDS is spreading viciously in Africa with over 28 million people infected and if we don’t do something about it we will see generations lost. There are over 15 million cases of sexually transmitted disease cases reported annually in the USA and over 200 thousand in the UK. There are 340 million cases world wide. Adolescents and young adults (15-24) are the age groups at the greatest risk for acquiring an STD, 3 million becoming affected each year.

I sensed God pulling on my heart strings to do something about it and He gave me a name, “Promise of Purity”. He said to me that our focus should not be on virginity because many people have a ‘past’ and we would give them no hope if we excluded them. God is a God of restoration and not condemnation and He will embrace ALL who are truly repentant. See Luke 4:18-19; Romans 8:1. The other emphasis of POP is one of sexual purity BEFORE and AFTER marriage – before in abstinence and after in fidelity.

I ‘sat on the idea’ for nine months, waiting for the right time to implement Promise of Purity in the church. After some in-depth discussions with Gerri Di Somma, senior minister of carmel: ministries international, he came up with the structure and subjects of the course and we introduced POP in January 2004. We run the course on a regular basis and at the end we present a certificate and silver ring to all who have taken part as a symbol and reminder of the Promise Of Purity that they have made.

We have seen the most amazing changes in peoples’ lives, which we know will positively influence both their own future and that of generations to come.

Since we’ve implemented Promise of Purity in our local church, God has given us a vision to take this course to the world.

Loulita Di Somma

Check out for yourself the real-life stories of people of all ages who have done the course and see how their lives have been changed.