Contact: Don Beehler, ABC&D Communications, 615-566-0776, don@abcdcommunications.com  

NASHVILLE, Feb. 7 /Christian Newswire/ -- True Love Waits and Holman Bible Outreach, both divisions of LifeWay Christian Resources, have jointly produced a special True Love Waits New Testament that includes a salvation message, an introduction to True Love Waits and a commitment page.

The TLW New Testament is being released to coincide with Valentine's Day, a time in which a large number of True Love Waits' abstinence-until-marriage commitment ceremonies are held in churches and other places around the world.

Thanks to a major donation to LifeWay's A Defining Moment philanthropic campaign, 100,000 copies of the new TLW New Testament will be distributed for free throughout Africa in places where True Love Waits International has staff in place.

Another 30,000 copies will be sold in the U.S. to churches, youth groups and individuals for $1.95 each.

"As the Baptist Bible society, we are very excited about partnering with True Love Waits in producing this New Testament, which not only will help young people keep their commitments to remain abstinent until marriage, but also will provide spiritual guidance for a variety of challenges they face each day," said Phill Burgess, executive director of Holman Bible Outreach.

"Having a New Testament available to compliment our abstinence message in Africa, a place that has been ravaged by AIDS, gives us an added dimension," noted Jimmy Hester, cofounder of True Love Waits. "For some young people in Africa, this may be the only New Testament they ever receive and may be the only opportunity to engage God's Word."

Hester said he expects youth groups to buy the TLW New Testament not only for individual and group use, but also for outreach to their friends. In some cases, he envisions U.S. students sending New Testaments to students in Africa.

True Love Waits International will be very cautious in making sure the TLW commitment is for no gain than the blessing of being obedient to God, with the New Testaments used in follow up, according to Sharon Pumpelly, lead consultant for True Love Waits International.

"In areas where we have had New Testaments donated to us, we have seen a great number of youths make commitments to Christ in the follow up of their abstinence commitment," she said.

"A New Testament may be given during counseling following a TLW presentation, based on the need of that moment," Pumpelly continued. "We also are talking about encouraging young people who are in follow-up groups to memorize scripture and then receive a New Testament."

True Love Waits®, a biblically based initiative, is one of several approaches to challenging young people to make a commitment to sexual abstinence until marriage. More than one hundred organizations and thousands of churches have adopted the use of True Love Waits throughout the world. The first True Love Waits national celebration took place in July 1994, when more than 210,000 covenant cards were displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Today, an estimated 2.5 to 3 million youth have signed commitment cards pledging sexual purity until their wedding day, and that number continues to grow worldwide. For more information, visit www.lifeway.com/tlw.

Holman Bible Outreach is an entity of Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources and provides discounted or free Bibles and Scripture portions for evangelism, mission projects and training. For more information, visit www.HolmanBibleOutreach.org.

For more information or to purchase a TLW New Testament, call (866) 627-7796 or visit www.BaptistBibleSociety.com.