Email to team after meeting last night

Thank you all so much for coming! Your input and support and even presence there was great. However, the reply on coming...come on people I know we're in South Africa but you could at least let me know so we have enough food and even know if I should have a meeting :) Thank you

A lot of great ideas and input came out. I fully also appreciate NK's wonderful friend the submarine :) With her ideas.

I want you all to know and realize, that as I've tried to get my mind away and relax, which I can't, BUT God is still showing me that no matter what the 'wording' or the 'audience' or the 'target' of prevention etc., we choose, look at what we're ALL here trying to do. We're trying to do something better for HIS Kingdom. We're trying to help. We're choosing out of our own free time on a Friday night to spit out about a campaign to change lives for His people. Now remember that, in itself, He sees and He doesn't turn away from us.
I know that we all reference back to saying, if it's HIS 'vision' it will work, but also we have to remember that He's in control and if we touch 1 person, (maybe that person is the one sitting next to us or our neighbor next door who overhears our passion for this change) then we've done good. God knows our hearts. Remember that.

What was discussed:
We know our time is the World Cup. We know that we're making this campaign 'happen' for a month to make it really stand LOUD. Just like Sisanda said in that country where there was a massive natural disaster, and because of it everyone was running campaigns because the whole world was looking at the country.

We know that we cannot as followers of the God ask married couples to abstain. Not that the Bible says it specifically but more for the reasons that it's probably not going to spread a healthy relationship to marriages across the board. We hear mostly that marriages are struggling with sex, and it just aims more in the wrong direction of this sacred thing. It may be super powerful for a man in a relationship declare he's going to 'fast' abstain for a month for a cause, but for the majority the request will get warped and we can/will tank our campaign.

Great points were brought up about our audience and our victims. Our victims aren't even just girls/young girls being trafficked but ALSO the children here in South Africa who are young, going to be out of school, and easily lured into a sex trade especially for money or captured, etc. SO, we need to be aware and conscious that we really want to be able to touch those in that area as well.

We also want to remember that this campaign is designed for the aim of major impact! Loud to get the nation's attention to push something big beyond, hopefully an abstain campaign.

We NEED a single CLEAR message. If we say, well "single people abstain from sex and married men who are traveling need to abstain too to remain faithful" is all so long and many campaigns are already doing so. A, B, Cs and aren't working clearly!

In South Africa it has to reach their minds/hearts!

Where we got, was the concept of asking MEN, yes MEN to abstain from sex during the month of the World Cup. This whole 'escaping the box' and pointing it to the men, getting them out of the box and standing up for a cause! This puts the responsibility on the men. Here in SA the men are the ones who are in charge, YET it's the women who are doing most of the work etc. This is what I'm hearing. SO, we're giving MEN a challenge to stand up to. Be a REAL man. BE A HERO!
This also then has the men becoming role models, which in turn reflects to the boys. We all realize that women will support and nurture this as the beings that we are, and so it doesn't necessarily take women out of the picture, WE will support the men! We will probably push this campaign even harder to help make it work for this great change on the male side, of HERO'S that we desire.

If we let men realize that they can be Hero's by saving victims from slavery, which is basically what's happening, then we make them aware by challenging them to abstain. That's someone's daughter. Yours could be next. So care!
You as a man, take a stand!
It's crazy, never been done that I know of, and attention grabbing! It can also be done not just here in SA, (even though we're pushign to just market here because of time constraints) but men everywhere can join the cause.

This ALSO crosses all borders especially towards non-Christians.

We're looking for a catchy phrase to go with this. We could still use the abstain 2010 and just have the male symbols, but use something like, Take A Stand or Be A Hero? It could even be we use ABSTAIN2010 as our main logo, and we can then use slogans for different audiences. For instance if we make shirts for a Kosa area, we use something they relate with better, or in thier language. Get it?

I would love feedback if you have any, ideas?

I will be holding a gathering Monday at The Coffee Bean, 7-8:30 or ANYONE interested in helping abstain2010. It will be real informal, probably play a video, get contacts #s and emails, have the different ways of marketing on papers, and people can see what they are, sign up in those categories, write other ideas/thoughts/connections, and I will just brief on where we're at to be honest with the specific 'vision' and at least begin to get man-power and support gathered. I don't want to wait til this whole 'strategic business plan' is honed perfect and THEN go looking for help. We soon need to have 'teams' WITH passion to do this work out of their own will and passion for the cause on their own time.
If you KNOW you want to be a part of this no doubt and see the area you best desire to be in, then YES please chime in asap that you want to be on THAT specific area and in the near future we will have 'team's organized by their 'designated' leader we appoint.

Lots here folks, I Know I'm just trying to do my very best.

Please enjoy the weekend, keep US all in your prayers and this campaign, and especially the HEARTS it's going to reach!
Blessings,
Noel Cameron