Say to wisdom, "you are my sister" and make understanding your closest friend. For they will keep you from the immoral woman... Proverbs 7:4-5a

(This weeks lesson follows this important announcement)

THE FIRST ANNUAL
WATTS WOMEN’S ACTIVIST CONFERENCE
Friday & Saturday,
September 29-30, 2006

Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church
11328 South Central Ave. LA. (Watts) CA, 90059 

We will be ministering to the women of
Nickerson Gardens Public Housing

Guest speakers: Dr. Wanda Turner, Rev. Pat Ashley,
Rev. Deborah Pegues,
Rev. Theresa McFaddin, Rev. Terri McFaddin Solomon.

Please help WDG purchase tennis shoes for the children
in Nickerson Gardens Housing
Small size: $25.00
Larger size: $35.00
To donate online click below:

- ARE YOU READY TO BECOME A -
WM – Weekend Missionary at the Watts Women's Conference?
Register online at www.wdgonline.org
or call (626) 794-5402

Women’s Discipleship Group – 2006
HELPMATES, HANDMAIDENS & HARLOTS ON-LINE BIBLE STUDY
SEX LIFE SERIES
LESSON # 2 – SEX AND THE “DOWN-LOW” BROTHERS
Website: www.terrimcfaddin.org
Presented by: Terri McFaddin Solomon

Definitions: Helpmate – Handmaiden – Harlot
Helpmate: A married woman who is committed to the well being of her husband.
Handmaiden: An unmarried or married woman who is committed to serving the Lord.
Harlot: An unmarried or married woman who will sacrifice her soul or body for personal gain.

ABC ‘PRIMETIME’ SPECIAL – AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA
August 23, 2006

Excerpt: “Black Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for over 50 percent of all new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That infection rate is 8 times the rate of whites. Among women, the numbers are even more shocking— almost 70 percent of all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women in the U.S. are black women. Black women are 23 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women, with heterosexual contact being the overwhelming method of infection in black America.” For more information go online to: ABC – Aids In Black America.

OPENING STATEMENT:
Dear Friends:
In light of the above statement, I think it’s time to get straight to the point about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Especially since all the major research points to the fact that “bothers on the down-low” are the major reason for the skyrocketing HIV/AIDS epidemic among African American Women. Because this is a Bible study I want to first look at what the Bible says about homosexuality and the spread of infectious disease. Is homosexuality wrong? Is gay okay? Is HIV/AIDS God’s way of punishing us for our sins? Why do straight people have to suffer? Can these answers be found in the Bible? Some of you may feel that the Bible isn’t relevant to the sexual issues of this day and age, but perhaps if you keep your heart open, you might find out that the ancient Word of God has the contemporary answers that you are seeking. Ecclesiastes 1:9 – What has been will be again, what has been will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

1. DOES THE BIBLE SAY THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS WRONG?
I Corinthians 6:9 – Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders... will inherit the kingdom of God.

Leviticus 18:22 –Do not practice homosexuality; it is a detestable sin.

Commentary: The Bible is clear that God views all sexual immorality as sin. But He called homosexuality a detestable sin. This is because homosexuality takes man away from the natural use that God intended for his body. No life can be transmitted in the homosexual act.

2. DOES THE BIBLE TALK ABOUT “DOWNLOW” MEN?
Genesis 19:4 – Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

Psalm 59:6-7 – Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. They bellow with their mouths, with sharp word on their lips—for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

Commentary: The Bible says that homosexual men prowled around at night on the DL looking for male sexual partners. In this day and age, nothing has changed. Bi-sexual and homosexual men still go around in secret to gay bars and bathhouses to have sex with other men.

3. DOES GOD PUNISH HOMOSEXUALITY AND FORNICATION WITH DISEASE?
Romans 1:27 – And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty in their bodies that they so richly deserved.

Deuteronomy 28:58-59 – “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.

Commentary: God requires that we obey His sexual laws in order to protect us from disease. When we go away from the natural use of our body, there are always negative consequences. You would not eat after a stranger because you fear disease. God warns us that if we break His laws concerning morality and cleanliness, disease is always the result.

4. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE?
Proverbs 5:16-17 (Living) – Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with anyone? You should reserve it for yourself. Don’t share it with strangers.

Leviticus 18:20-22 – “Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife. Do not practice homosexuality, it is a detestable sin.”

Commentary: The word defile means to contaminate or make yourself unclean. Fidelity in marriage is God’s way of building strong families and keeping us safe from sexually transmitted diseases. Homosexuality is anti-marriage because same sex relationships cannot reproduce life and the families that reflect the image of God.

5. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE CHURCH?
1 Kings 15:12 – He (King Josiah) also tore down the houses of the male prostitutes who were in the Temple of the LORD.

Job 36:13 – “The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help. They die in their youth, among the male prostitutes of the temples.

Commentary: Homosexuality in the church is nothing new. In Biblical days homosexuals in the church were called Temple prostitutes. Godly leaders in the Bible destroyed them. Ungodly leaders allowed them to flourish in the church and in the land.

6. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT PROMISCIOUS WOMEN AND DISEASE ?
Isaiah 3:16-7 – Next the Lord will judge the women of Jerusalem, who walk around with their noses in the air, with tinkling ornaments on their ankles. Their eyes rove among the crowds, flirting with men. The Lord will send a plague of scabs to ornament their heads.

Numbers 31:15 – “Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded… “They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD’s people. Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man.”

Commentary: Women who have experienced multiple sexual partners in the past and even now are putting their lives at risk. In Biblical times there were no medicines to cure sexual diseases. For this reason women and men who were contaminated with sexual diseases were put to death. Unfortunately, because sexual promiscuity is so rampant, many innocent women become the victims of HIV/AIDS and of sexually transmitted diseases.

REMEMBERING LYNN CHAMBERLAIN 1969 – 2004
Two years ago, I took a trip to South Africa with some of the people from my church. Among them was a beautiful young lady named Lynn Chamberlain. She was 34 years old and she owned a business and had recently married the man of her dreams. Once we arrived in South Africa she shared her testimony of how she contracted HIV from a young man she dated in college. He did not use a condom, nor did he tell Lynn that he was HIV positive. She was diagnosed with HIV a few months after their relationship ended. For the next fourteen years Lynn battled HIV, most of the time looking healthy, beautiful and full of energy. When she met her future husband, she hated to tell him that she was HIV positive – but she did. Lynn was 33 years old when they married and she was very happy. Six months after we returned from South Africa where she encouraged so many young people, Lynn was hospitalized with a lung infection. December 20, 2004, she lost her battle with AIDS. I wish I could say that her home-going was a joyful occasion. Perhaps for some people it was. But even though I knew that Lynn was with the Lord, I couldn’t get past the pain on her husband’s face and the words of my pastor as he preached her eulogy. A young girl—her mother’s only child, made the wrong decision and paid for it with her life.

Your Story
Would you like to help other women by telling the story of the consequences you or someone you know faced because of sexual sin? Or perhaps you have questions regarding sexual sin. Please send in your emails.

OBSERVATIONS AND PERSONLIZATION:
Read Numbers 25: 1-9

1. What caused the plague among the children of Israel?

2. How did Moses stop the plague?

3. How many people died in the plague?

4. How would you deal with someone with HIV or AIDS?

Read Roman: 1:21-27

1. What did the Romans think about their philosophy and lifestyle?

2. What was God’s response to their attitudes?

3. What was the result of their sexual practices?

4. How does their culture compare to the culture that we live in?

5. What behaviors have you changed in your own lifestyle to protect yourself from HIV/AIDS?

How Women's Discipleship Group Got Started

The Women's Discipleship Group was organized in 1999 by Terri McFaddin and Janet Bailey. The purpose of the discipleship group was to assist women in becoming rooted and grounded in their Christian faith. It was designed to also help women reach the level of spiritual maturity that would enable them to use their gifts and talents in various arenas of service and ministry.

We move toward these goals by implementing the following principles:

1. Building spiritual strength by a systematic study of the Word of God, including prayer; memorizing scriptures and weekly meetings.

2. Building strong relationships within the discipleship groups. This includes encouraging one another and being sensitive and supportive of one another's needs.

3. Training women to become servants and ministry leaders in their churches, mission fields, communities, schools, businesses or wherever God has called them to serve.

What We Believe

The women of WDG are a mixture of many different Christian denominations. But we all believe that we have eternal life through our personal confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that the entire Word of God is true and we govern our actions by the counsel of the Holy Bible. We believe that we are called by God to be examples of godliness by loving one another and ministering to those who are in need of our help.

About Terri McFaddin Solomon

Terri is an ordained minister, author, speaker and songwriter with two Grammy Awards to her credit. Terri co-wrote two theme songs for the movies: Big and Men In Black . She authored three books: God Made Me Beauty-full ; Only A Woman and Sapphires And Other Precious Jewels.

Terri was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she attended Temple University. She holds a Masters Degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.

In 1999 she and close friend Janet Bailey, founded WDG, which prepares women for service in various areas of ministry. There are currently five WDG bible studies taking place in various locations.

In October, 2005, Terri married Charles Solomon and resides in Los Angeles. She is a member of Faithful Central Bible Church and the mother of two adult daughters, Roslyn and Theresa who are also in the ministry.