ORLANDO (FBW)-Organizers of the upcoming STAND [Students Taking a New Direction] Rally in Orlando hope to unmask the “just do it” philosophy of today’s culture in the massive event June 4. The God-sized task of teaching sexual abstinence to America’s youth is a passion for two Southern Baptist laymen who have years of experience in public service.

Bob Touchston, a resident of Brevard County, first conceived of star-studded rallies to promote sexual abstinence among teenagers.

The veteran of Desert Storm and General Norman Schwarzkopf’s legal office is a civilian federal court reporter for the Air Force. He and his wife, Diana, home-school their five children. They are members of The River Church in Palm Bay.

“I love children,” Touchston said. “I really am just a big kid myself.”

His zeal for the sexual abstinence movement among teenagers grew from his volunteer work with Florida Right to Life, and his involvement in the Brevard County chapter led to a term as president of the state organization. It was there that he met Terry Kemple who was working as executive director of Florida Right to Life. The two Baptists struck up an immediate friendship, sharing similarities in faith, politics and philosophies.

Kemple, although older than Touchston by 15 years, shares his friend’s passion for teaching abstinence. Also the father of five, Kemple boasts of 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

“I want things to be better for them in the future than it is now,” Kemple said. “I feel God has called me to make a difference in our culture.”

Kemple became a Christian at 40 and immediately involved himself in church and church activities. He is a member of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon.

Taking “the political route” to change the world, Kemple worked as executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida before moving to Florida Right to Life. He works now as the executive director of STAND.

Kemple, who Touchston describes as a “fabulous guy in strategic thinking,” traces his organizational skills to a career in computer consulting and program management.

“After I was saved, I decided to put all my experience to work in a Christian environment,” Kemple said.

Kemple and Touchston serve on the organization’s board of directors along with Mike Crawford and Albert Ethridge, members of Methodist and non-denominational churches. The four planned and promoted the hugely successful STAND rally in Orlando in 2002. More than 13,500 teenagers packed the T.D. Waterhouse Centre to hear popular singing groups, including Audio Adrenaline, and speaker Austin Rammell, former director of the Personal and Student Evangelism Department of the Florida Baptist Convention.

“We believe the reason it was so successful is that God was honored,” Kemple said. “We were simply overwhelmed with the response.”

The 2004 event also will feature recording artists Salvador, Jeff Deyo, Rachael Lampa, Urban D, By the Tree and others. Speakers for the event will include TV and film actor Stephen Baldwin; Richard Ross, founder of True Love Waits and a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas; Frank Reynosa, pastor of House of Hope, Orlando; and David and Kris Toyne of Shiloh Place Ministries of Conway, S.C.

“These groups are a hook to draw young people to hear about God’s love and God’s moral plan for sexual purity,” Touchston said. “We want it all to be positive. I believe that even the ‘don’ts’ in the Bible are positive.”

Admission is free and board members of STAND hope to again fill Orlando’s T.D. Waterhouse Centre. Sponsorships and exhibition area rentals will help finance the event. For more information on how to support the event, contact Terry Kemple at tkemple@integrity.com, or call 800-613-4822. Doors will open for the general public at 5 p.m. June 4. Students who wear a STAND T-shirt may enter at 4:30 p.m. The shirts are available through STAND’s Web site, www.standtrue.org.

STAND also plans rallies June 26 in Dallas, Texas, and October 2 in Jacksonville.