By Andrea Madambashi ("The Christian Post," October 9, 2012)
Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/38276/
Pastor Sarah Sheeva, who is a prominent speaker promoting abstinence in Brazil, held a women's only service in Kearny, New Jersey recently where she appealed for a return to a more conservative way of life to combat current day sexual immorality.
Sheeva suggested that people return to a 50's-like conservative fashion to eradicate sexual temptations abundant in modern day society.
The pastor preached in Portuguese in a so called "Princess Service," at the Abundant Life Community Church (CEVA) last Thursday night. English and Spanish speakers also attended the event with respective translation given.
"She [the character of the 50's] wants to rescue a fashion that has been lost, a fashion that makes women beautiful without sex appeal. It's a fashion that rescues and values the female body," Sheeva said in an interview with The Christian Post.
Some feminists have criticized Sheeva's proposals as taking women a step backwards. However, Sheeva explains, "I am fighting for our right to be respected without having to use sex appeal."
"Women are increasingly wearing vulgar clothes, devaluing themselves. And that is a sexist way of thinking."
Pastor Sheeva made her point by wearing a frilly blue with white polka-dot dress for the "Princess Service." She admitted that it was not the kind of dress she would ordinarily wear in her every day life, but she wanted to show women that they didn't need to be "sexy" in the more crude modern way of thinking, to be "beautiful and attractive."
Sheeva's preaching on the subject may seem backwards from most modern day women's way of thinking, however, her words are having an affect, and it has been noticed that attendees of her service are changing the way they dress.
"They embellish themselves to go to the Princess Service, learning how to love themselves without having to be 'sexy'."
The women-only service consists of lessons that teach women how not to attract the wrong type of men, and are promoted as based on biblical principles. The message highlight the fact that women should send the right signals to men, and that all begins from the way they are dressed.
Sheeva points out that many women attract wrong men even inside the church and, according to her, this is due the way they act outwardly, which is caused by cultural influence as well as a lack of biblical knowledge.
In the first of her lessons during her Princess Service in CEVA she spoke about the book of Song of Songs, and in particular highlighted chapter 9, verses 8 and 9. She used these passages to explain how it describes two kinds of women: one who is like a wall and another who is like a door.
According to Sheeva, a "wall" describes women who value themselves, otherwise known as the ones who are "hard to get." These kinds of women, she said, are "princesses."
In contrast, a "door" describes those who easily compromise their own values to please men, and satisfy the desires of the flesh.
In order to change from a "door" to a "wall" lifestyle, Sheeva said women have to not only accept Christ deeply but equip themselves with the word of God, as well as putting it into practice in their daily lives.
Sheeva declared firmly that the Bible clearly teaches that sex should only be within the boundaries of marriage. "There is no such thing as 'dating'," she said.
She suggested though that a kiss was not necessarily a sin if conducted prior to marriage, but that it could trigger preparation for sex.
The pastor stated her belief that churches have the responsibility to monitor believers from the beginning of their path of faith, as well as provide proper discipleship and spiritual counseling. She also feels that all church pastors should provide counseling on sexuality to believers.
"In general, we should work with single people, because they often end up marrying because of external pressure. And often the solution is not marriage, but to first restore the individual emotionally. A person who has a lot of emotional baggage is not a person who is restored emotionally and certainly is not one ready to get married," she said, recalling her own experience where she first came to church, but had to spend years being restored.
Sheeva also spoke of her dream to hold a Brazilian Marcana stadium-sized conference for "Princes" and "Princesses" in 2013. She wanted to do this "so they can unite in true fellowship, already knowing the principles of how to behave with each other."
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