A group of Hispanic evangelicals have announced an alignment with the nation of Israel intended to “advance and deepen” the connection between Hispanic Christians and Israelis.
The partnership between the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem will revolve around the Feast of Tabernacles.
“Our objective is to exponentially increase Hispanic participation and attendance at the annual Feast of Tabernacles, held each fall in Jerusalem under the sponsorship of the Christian Embassy,” said Samuel Rodriguez, president of the NHCLC to the Christian Post. “We will encourage all followers of Christ in the Latino world to come to Jerusalem at this divinely appointed time, to see the biblical sites, stand in solidarity with Israel, and take part in this dynamic worship experience with believers from all over the world.”
The ICEJ’s Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles is the biggest annual tourism event in Israel.
“We are excited about partnering with Dr. Samuel Rodriguez in this new initiative to bring more Hispanic pilgrims to the Feast each year,” noted Dr. Jürgen Bühler, ICEJ executive director. “Their presence in Jerusalem will have a great impact on the Israeli people, and it will only enhance the incredible fellowship we enjoy with Christians from across the globe at this unique biblical festival.”
A panel at the Values Voter Summit says that the national media is missing the boat when it comes to young people and sex.
“When young adults are asked what they are looking for, they’re not looking for hook-ups. They’re preferring romance over sex, relationships over sex. But most people don’t recognize that,” Valerie Huber, president and CEO of the National Abstinence Education Association said.
She cited a survey from the Centers for Disease Control that showed a 15 percent increase in the number of young people waiting to have sex until marriage.
Huber added that many young people are looking to the media to portray reality rather than pushing a hyper-sexualized agenda on the community.
“Here is what this generation wants: they want the media to show more youth not having sex. They want to hear more reasons to wait for sex — and this is according to a very broad national study — and they want to hear that waiting for sex is realistic; and they want to know waiting for sex is, in fact, quite normal,” said Huber.
David Knopp of Summit Ministries said parents, mentors and peers need to step up and take back control of sex education from those who want to make sex appear as something just for fun or something insignificant to the larger parts of life.
Chelsen Vicari of the Institute on Religion and Democracy said that young Christians need to better defend the Biblical view on sexuality to those inside and outside the church and strive for the purity that God calls for everyone before marriage.
