Serving God
does not always look the same, as one exceptional group of young Tucsonans
has realized. Their calling involves being a light in their own city, and
sharing their message through hip-hop dance and drama. The group is BreakDown,
and their message is sexual purity.
The team is
made up of mainly high-school aged teens who understand first-hand the
struggles that many kids are facing in a generation where sexual promiscuity
is accepted and expected.
"I've had people tell me there was no way I could be abstinent before
marriage," said 15-year-old Hannah Waddell who is part of the drama team. "It's
also all over the media, but I find my strength in God to stay abstinent. That
is more powerful than any influence that anyone else would have on me."
The
team performs at schools and churches in the Tucson area, encouraging teens
to abstain from sex before marriage. Along with this message, they educate
their audience with statistics about the physical and emotional consequences
that can come from having premarital sex.
What makes BreakDown so dynamic is the delivery of the message through
dance and drama. "BreakDown is a show that gets teens involved
and gets them excited about abstinence," said Waddell.
Waddell
herself was inspired to join the team by a BreakDown performance
she saw last year at Calvary Chapel. Now Waddell strives to bring her excitement
to other teens who may feel the pressures of society too great to bear. "It
shows high school students that there are kids living this way, and that
it's not an unachievable goal."
Seventeen-year-old
dance performer Casey McClellan also appreciates the peer-to-peer approach
that BreakDown takes.
"There is only so much a teen can get from an adult. To have it presented by kids your own age makes a huge impact," he said.
Throughout the year there are between 30 and 50 members participating in the performance. All the members come from various schools and churches in the Tucson area.
"I like that we're not all from the same church," said McClellan. "Sometimes churches forget what church is supposed to be, and they become all about their denomination. We are all united in the same passion."
Last July the members of BreakDown were united as they flew to Kampala, Uganda to share the message of sexual purity with a nation ravaged by AIDS. They met up with BreakDown Uganda, a team of about 50 teens that was started over a year before the Tucson team arrived.
Elisa Medina, assistant director for BreakDown Tucson, said this year the team is showcasing a new performance they have been working on for months. The new show will combine dance and drama simultaneously, and will touch on some very difficult issues teens are facing, including substance abuse, said Medina.
BreakDown Tucson is a ministry affiliated with the Crisis Pregnancy Centers of Tucson, and was the vision of founder Aimee Dobbins. Since the ministry began, BreakDown teams have started in many other cities across America, including Phoenix, Chicago and Indianapolis. For more information on this ministry, visit their website at www.ibreakdown.com.
© 2008 Good News Tucson™
