Take Charge video will prompt honest discussions among young people

Beyond the Where Is the Good Samaritan Today? outreach package, another UBS product is following a similar successful development from print to video.

Take Charge came to life as a Bible study booklet. It was written by a Norwegian pastor called Sindre Eide, with help from Norwegian Church Aid, and aims to get young people to resist peer pressure and adopt the kind of behaviour which will keep them free from HIV/AIDS.

Let God rule

In his introduction to the book, published by UBS in the latter part of 2002, Pastor Eide describes it as a book about HIV/AIDS and a book about sexuality, but, first and foremost, he says, it is a book about “letting God rule our lives”.

Now a video based closely on the booklet is in the final stages of production. Made by the same team that was behind the video of Where Is the Good Samaritan Today?, it addresses the issues in a manner that will appeal to young people and will help prompt frank and honest discussions.

Visual

Also entitled Take Charge, the video follows the same chapters as the booklet and is designed to be used in combination with it.

“Scripture will become real through the visual experience and could lead to an easier application in their lives,” says Dr Francois Sieberhagen, who, as well as being the Executive Producer of the video, is Consultant to the Take Charge project. “Young actors re-enact certain Bible stories and when the Bible study questions are raised, the video makes it easy for a young audience to engage with the Bible’s teachings on the issue. The hope is that it will help young people to ‘Take Charge’ of their own lives and, ultimately, of their own destiny.”

The English version of the video is due to be released this month, the French and Portuguese versions later this year.

Distribution of the English video Take Charge is being handled by the Bible Society of South Africa. Linette Masiga, the UBS HIV/AIDS Desk Coordinator based at the Area Service Center in Nairobi, linette@ubs-afrsc.org, can assist with orders for the French and Portuguese versions. (WR 390/35 - 02.05)

The March edition of World Report will feature AIDS programs in UBS in other regions